The CIJA Report: Understanding the Weaponization of Antisemitism in Canada

A recent report argues that the national conversation about antisemitism in Canada is being weaponized to justify Israel’s actions in Gaza. According to the Jewish Faculty Network (JFN), several influential pro-Israel organizations, including B’nai Brith Canada, the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC), and especially the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), are shaping public opinion to secure broad support for Israel. In October 2025, JFN sounded the alarm and introduced “The CIJA Report”, which is titled “A Pattern of Anti-Palestinian Racism and Genocide Denial at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs”.

VIDEO: Jewish Faculty Network (JFN) online Press Conference & Launch of the CIJA Report (Source: Independent Jewish Voices Canada | Youtube

.
The acclaimed report accuses CIJA, a Zionist and Jewish advocacy organization and an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada -United Israel Appeal (JFC-UIA), of promoting racism and the dehumanization of Palestinians, while stifling criticism from Palestinian advocates and dissenting Jewish voices alike. Through social media campaigns, public messaging, and lobbying, the group allegedly downplays or denies what the authors describe as an ongoing campaign of mass violence in Gaza that meets the legal definition of genocide. In this searing report, JFN accuses the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), Canada’s most influential Jewish advocacy body, of perpetuating “a pattern of anti-Palestinian racism and genocide denial.”

DOCUMENT: The CIJA Report: A Pattern of Anti-Palestinian Racism and Genocide Denial at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, authored by: Larry Haiven, Avi Lewis, Sheryl Nestel, Shiri Pasternak, Jillian Rogin and Vannina Sztainbok (Source: Jewish Faculty Network (JFN))
cija-report (1)

The CIJA Report, released in October 2025, is already sending ripples through academic, political, and community circles. Framed as both a scholarly and moral intervention, the 48-page document challenges CIJA’s claim to represent Jewish Canadians and argues that its rhetoric “manufactures consent” for Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which the authors describe as genocidal.

“CIJA’s discourse makes Palestinian suffering invisible,” the report states. “By portraying violence as necessary for Jewish safety, it normalizes genocide and erases Palestinians as a people.”

A Growing Rift Within the Jewish Community

The Jewish Faculty Network represents professors and researchers across Canadian universities who identify as Jewish and are committed, in their words, to “an ethical life grounded in justice for all.”

Their latest report builds on months of research and public monitoring of CIJA’s statements, media interventions, and lobbying activity. JFN argues that while CIJA presents itself as “the voice of Canada’s Jewish community,” its positions on Israel and Palestine reflect a narrow, state-aligned agenda that marginalizes dissenting Jewish voices.

The authors stress that Jewish identity is not synonymous with Zionism, nor is criticism of Israel equivalent to antisemitism, two claims they say CIJA routinely conflates.

“Jewish communities are diverse,” the report insists. “No single organization can legitimately claim to speak for us all.”

Four Central Allegations

The JFN report outlines four interlocking patterns in CIJA’s discourse and advocacy:

1. Normalizing violence against Palestinians.
   CIJA, the authors argue, frames Israel’s military actions as essential for Jewish safety, promoting a logic that dehumanizes Palestinians and renders their deaths acceptable.
2. Linking Palestinian advocacy to antisemitism.
   The report accuses CIJA of advancing a “false narrative” that equates pro-Palestinian activism — including calls for boycott or ceasefire — with antisemitic hate.
3. Redefining Jewish identity as Zionist.
   By insisting Zionism is central to Jewish life, CIJA allegedly excludes large segments of the Jewish population who are critical of Israeli policy, or who define Jewish ethics through solidarity with oppressed peoples.
4. Eroding free speech and academic freedom.

CIJA’s lobbying for the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism has been used to censor criticism of Israel on university campuses and in public institutions, JFN contends. The Jewish Faculty Network concludes that these patterns constitute a “systemic form of anti-Palestinian racism”, a term gaining traction among scholars and human-rights advocates to describe the devaluation and silencing of Palestinian lives and perspectives.

While the IHRA definition asserts that “criticism of Israel akin to that directed at any other nation cannot be deemed antisemitic,” seven out of the 11 examples of antisemitism it lists relate to Israel, including the assertion that “the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.” In 2021,  the Jewish Faculty Network (JFN) rejected the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which members say has been used to stifle certain criticisms of Israel. According to the JFN’s website, more than 170 Jewish faculty from universities and colleges across Canada have endorsed a letter that challenges the IHRA definition.

Why CIJA Matters

The decision to focus squarely on CIJA is not incidental. As the principal Jewish lobby group in Canada, CIJA wields significant influence in shaping government policy, media narratives, and public understanding of antisemitism.

For that reason, JFN argues, CIJA’s framing has far-reaching implications. When the organization (CIJA), which asserted a singular Jewish voice in favour of Zionists, endorses the destruction of Gaza or suppresses Palestinian voices, the report warns that it risks making Jewish identity itself complicit in anti-Palestinian racism.

The authors call on Canadian universities, media outlets, and policymakers to stop treating CIJA as the sole or authoritative voice of Jewish Canadians.

The Battle Over Speech and Safety

The report situates its findings within a larger struggle over speech, censorship, and safety in Canadian public life. Over the past year, universities and city governments have faced growing pressure to adopt policies combating antisemitism, often based on CIJA’s guidance.

But JFN argues these efforts, though framed as protecting Jewish students, have too often resulted in the silencing of Palestinian solidarity movements, including student encampments and academic research.

“By securitizing pro-Palestinian activism,” the authors write, “institutions turn legitimate criticism of a state into a hate crime, while ignoring the racism experienced by Palestinians and their allies.”

Responses and Repercussions

The report’s release has drawn praise from progressive Jewish and human-rights groups, and sharp criticism from pro-Israel organizations. Just Peace Advocates, a Canadian NGO supporting Palestinian rights, urged the New Democratic Party (NDP) to formally endorse the report’s conclusions and boycott CIJA as a policy partner. Meanwhile, some Jewish leaders accused JFN of “demonizing” a community institution and “weaponizing” the term genocide.

CIJA has not yet issued a detailed public response, but in past statements, the organization has described its work as defending Jewish Canadians from antisemitism and standing up for Israel’s right to exist “as the world’s only Jewish state.” In an attempt to undermine the strength and legitimacy of the report, Jesse Kline, the deputy comment editor at National Post, felt he had to write a piece, accusing Canadian politician, journalist and activist. Avi Lewis, who contributed to this report, of “trying to silence Zionist groups”.

A Debate That Cuts Deep

At its core, the JFN report is not just about institutional accountability, but it’s also about moral responsibility. It asks difficult questions that reverberate far beyond Canada’s Jewish community:

• Who gets to define antisemitism?
• When does advocacy for one people’s safety become complicity in another’s oppression?
• And what role should academic institutions play in mediating these competing claims?

By naming genocide denial as a form of anti-Palestinian racism, JFN invokes a heavy moral charge. Denial, the report argues, is not only about rejecting facts, but about refusing empathy, a refusal that undermines the Jewish ethical imperative to pursue justice.

Looking Ahead

The report closes with a series of recommendations urging Canadian institutions to:

• Recognize anti-Palestinian racism as a systemic issue in public life.
• Diversify Jewish representation in government consultations and media platforms.
• Protect academic freedom and reject definitions of antisemitism that conflate criticism of Israel with hate speech.
• Publicly challenge genocide denial in all its forms, especially when voiced by influential community bodies.

Whether these recommendations will gain traction remains to be seen. But the CIJA Report has undeniably forced a reckoning, within Jewish communities and Canadian society more broadly, over how the language of safety, solidarity, and justice is deployed in times of war.

“As Jewish scholars,” the report concludes, “we reject the idea that our safety must come at the cost of another people’s destruction. To be Jewish is to resist genocide — never to excuse it.”

JFN conclusions

For the Jewish Faculty Network, CIJA fosters anti-Palestinian racism by promoting the idea that unrestrained violence against Palestinians is necessary to ensure Jewish safety. It perpetuates misleading narratives that link advocacy for Palestinian rights to a rise in antisemitism in Canada, framing legitimate critique as inherently threatening to Jewish communities.

CIJA narrows the definition of Jewish identity by equating it solely with Zionist and anti-Palestinian positions, thereby excluding diverse Jewish perspectives and silencing internal debates within the community.

Furthermore, CIJA’s advocacy for curtailing free speech, restricting academic freedom, and expanding securitization and criminalization functions to suppress dissent on issues related to Israel and the treatment of Palestinians, effectively stifling critical discussion and accountability.

The CIJA Report has sparked a vital debate about power, representation, and moral responsibility within Canada’s Jewish community. By challenging CIJA’s influence, JFN has pushed Canadians to confront difficult questions about justice, free speech, and the cost of silence amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza…

Freddie Ponton
21st Century Wire

READ MORE CANADA NEWS AT: 21st CENTURY WIRE CANADA FILES

SUPPORT OUR INDEPENDENT MEDIA PLATFORM – BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV

VISIT OUR TELEGRAM CHANNEL

21st Century Wire is an alternative news agency designed to enlighten, inform and educate readers about world events which are not always covered in the mainstream media.

Source: https://21stcenturywire.com/2025/10/31/the-cija-report-understanding-the-weaponization-of-antisemitism-in-canada/