Professor Veldon Coburn
Indigenous scholar Veldon Coburn introduced a panel discussion on the similarities between Canada and Israel on Friday with a blunt observation:
“Nobody’s slaughtering my people anymore,” he said. “They’ve taken everything.”
Coburn, whose mother is a status Indian and whose father’s side descended from white settlers, is Anishinaabe, a citizen of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn whose reserve at Golden Lake, Ontario is a mere 6.9 square kilometres.
“That’s what was left for us out of about 145,000 square kilometres,” he told an audience of about 30 in the Windsor Grand Room at Mount Allison University.
He noted that while Indigenous dispossession is all-but complete in Canada, Israel is currently inflicting extreme violence on Indigenous Palestinians in the occupied territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem because it is determined to take their land.
Coburn, who is a professor of Indigenous studies at the University of Ottawa, said that although mainstream media do not show it, the “horrors and atrocities” committed by Israel in Gaza during the past week would turn anyone’s stomach.
“More Palestinian children were killed this past week. It’s incomprehensible and it’s difficult to avoid words like butchered, massacred, slaughtered,” he said as he introduced Jeremy Wildeman and Muhannad Ayyash, co-editors of the 2023 book Canada as a Settler Colony on the Question of Palestine.
Canada’s settler-colonial history
The book argues that in spite of many Canadians’ belief that their country champions democracy, human rights and peace around the world, Canada’s steadfast support for Israel’s dispossession of Palestinians is rooted in its own history as a settler colony whose white European settlers violently displaced Indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands.
“Settler colonialism is, first and foremost, defined by the elimination of Indigenous peoples from the land and their replacement with settlers from elsewhere,” the book’s introduction says.
Professor Muhannad Ayyash
“You can make sense of Canada’s position on Palestine on the very basis of its settler-colonial nature, not just its foundation, but its continuing existing structure today,” said Muhannad Ayyash who was born and raised in Silwan, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) before emigrating to Canada where he is professor of sociology at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
“Canada is completely uninterested in decolonizing this settler colony,” Ayyash said. “It is uninterested in decolonizing Palestine. It is completely uninterested in decolonizing the world imperial order in which Canada plays a supporting role to U.S. imperialism.”
He added that neither Canada nor Israel will ever accept the sovereignty of their Indigenous peoples.
In Canada’s case, he said, it’s safe to talk about truth and reconciliation because its Indigenous inhabitants have been dispossessed of their lands and their sovereign powers.
In Israel’s case, there is continuing fierce political, military and judicial resistance to Palestinian sovereignty.
“They’ve never said Palestinians can have self-determination,” Ayyash said.
“They’ve never officially finalized their borders. Why do you think that is? Because, like, we’re not done. We’re going to take the whole thing.”
Canadian hypocrisy
Jeremy Wildeman, who is a Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa and who was raised in Treaty 6, in central Saskatchewan, suggested that Canada’s failure to stand up for human rights in Palestine and parts of the world where Canadian mining companies operate, may now be coming back to haunt us as the U.S. threatens to annex the country as its 51st state.
“Anybody who thought we can just ignore human rights and justice because it’s not going to affect us…[and who said] ‘Look, we’re such loyal allies to the United States. We’re such good subcontractors in the American empire’…and now the United States is saying, ‘Actually, you know what? You’re part of us, right?'” Wildeman said, adding that Canadians now feel a strong sense of injustice when Americans talk about tearing up our free trade treaties.
“This is the world we’re entering now,” he said, pointing to one in which Donald Trump threatens to expel Palestinians and turn Gaza into ocean-front beach resorts or take over resource-rich Greenland.
Media biases
Jeremy Wildeman
Both Ayyash and Wildeman agreed with Veldon Coburn that the Canadian media do not tell the truth about what Israel is doing to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
They referred to a chapter in their book by Rachad Antonius, an Egyptian-born adjunct professor of sociology at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
That chapter analyzes Radio-Canada coverage of Israel’s seven week war on Gaza in July-August 2014.
Among his conclusions, Antonius finds that the coverage from the French-language CBC was framed as a symmetrical contest between equals even though Israel was using one of the world’s most powerful militaries to attack a tiny, densely-populated territory that has primitive defences with no air power at all.
“Israel is in a position of self-defence, and Hamas is to blame,” he writes about media portrayals. He adds that Israeli justifications are given prominence while Palestinian perspectives are ignored or downplayed and that coverage explains military violence as a response to earlier military violence, not as a response to Israel’s occupation and its ongoing naval, air and ground blockade of Gaza.
And while “Palestinian suffering is amply represented,” coverage again follows the Israeli narrative of blaming Hamas for it.
Finally, Antonius argues that Radio-Canada coverage reflects Canada’s official position on Israel/Palestine and that any change “would put the CBC and its journalists on a collision course with its funders, the Canadian government, and with the Canadian political elite.”
During the panel discussion, Muhannad Ayyash said it is not bad journalism that is to blame for biased coverage. It is a structural bias arising from the mindset of settler colonialism.
“Canadian mainstream media, like American mainstream media, UK, any Western European onwards, they know that they’re not telling the truth on Palestine. Let me just be very clear about that. They’re not stupid. They know they’re not telling the truth,” Ayyash said pointing out that hundreds of Canadian journalists, including those working for CBC, have complained publicly about the lack of honesty and objectivity in reporting on Palestine/Israel.
“If you really don’t want to know what’s going on in the Middle East, watch the CBC or the BBC,” Wildeman said as the audience laughed.
To read a detailed report on the CBC journalists complaining about biased Middle East coverage that was featured in The Review of Journalism at Toronto’s Metropolitan University, click here.
For a transcript and analysis of a recent CBC Radio story on coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, click here.
To order a copy of Canada as a Settler Colony on the Question of Palestine from Tidewater Books, click here.
You have done a tremendous job of distilling the essence of this intense 2-hour talk and discussion, Bruce. By the end, I was ready to hop on a plane and move to Calgary so I could enrol in Professor Muhanned Ayyash’s courses at Mount Royal College! The rich background he so eloquently shared with us, and the overview detailed by these three courageous individuals during their presentation — and, of course, to be found in their book — was outstanding and inspirational. The clear message take-away I received was that although we may feel impotent in the face of the onslaught, we must take the necessary steps to give voice to what we know: that this is NOT alright by us, and that this must change. WE must change! And then we must take action — no matter how small – rather than sitting by. Collective action is more effective than individual action, and thoughtful consideration by a community, no matter how small it may be, brings people together, and can effect change. People in community, together in love, are strong!
Maybe you should be giving a forum to anti-semites.
It’s convenient to forget that (a) Jews are native to the country too and (b) that Hamas started October 7th, with an orgy of “freedom raping” and “freedom killing”.
This thing would have been long over if… Hamas released the hostages that it has.
Whatever deaths there are lie 100% at their feet.
You’re absolutely simplifying a situation that is not that simple. And before you throw out the “you’re anti-Semitic” trope that so many love to do, no. What I am is anti ZIONIST, which is not the same as anti-Semitic. And I’m sure that if there was a ‘forum’ for anti-Zionists (including Jewish people too) the “anti-Semitic” title would still be thrown around because people don’t normally understand the difference between the two.
Yes, the Jewish people are native to the region too, but it seems equally convenient to forget that for hundreds of years the majority of Jews lived outside the region and there are really only two reasons they returned to the area 1. no other nations on the planet wanted Jews in their populations and 2. Guilt over what happened to the Jewish people in the Holocaust.
As for Hamas “starting” things – no, what happened October 7th – while absolutely vile and terroristic – was just another retaliation to the brutal things the IDF and current Israeli “Government” have committed on Palestinians as a whole (and remember too, Israel KNEW this attack was coming, but dismissed it because they didn’t believe it would happen). The back and forth “blood for blood” has been going on since before the founding of current day Israel. And while yes, there are some people who seem to think what Hamas did was okay (and really those people are just as evil as Hamas) THE MAJORITY do not support it what so ever.
Just as they don’t support what Israel is doing in retaliation, which is the ethnic cleansing of a people and their genocide.
If you think things “would have been long over if they released the hostages”, you really aren’t paying attention, because Israel’s response has not been and never has been about the hostages (as proven by its breaking of the ceasefire). It is annihilation of the Palestinian people. Period.
Whatever deaths there are are the fault of BOTH Israel and Hamas and their terrorist leaderships.
When you have the families of the VERY HOSTAGES decrying their own Government, that’s a sign that things are NOT as they’re told in so called “Western Media”.
As for this discussion, I didn’t attend and while I might agree with the points made, I would like to raise this concern:
Indigenous peoples of Canada have every right to be PO’ed by generations of Canadians thinking they are lesser people. But I think perhaps that calling non-Indigenous people “Colonizers” to insult them does NOT help their case either. I can’t speak for others, of course, but most of my life, from the moment I could understand and learned about the disgusting treatment of the Indigenous peoples of Canada, I’ve not only felt empathy for them, but sided with them in their valid arguments with the Canadian people.
Having someone Indigenous call me a “Colonizer” though did a wonderful job of backstabbing and call into question whether the support is even wanted (actually I’ve been told it’s not wanted which is, IMO, just ignorant and stupid and would say that not all “Colonizers” actually do side against Indigenous peoples and that they need to stop assuming this just because our skin color is different).
It all depends on your definition of Zionism. The basic one means a support for existence of Israel. In this case. anti-Zionism is antisemitic. Living through the antisemitic governmental upheaval in 1968, I know that a word Zionist quite often is used to mean a Jew.
Zionism is the support for the existence of Israel, for the Jewish people to have a Jewish state in their ancestral homeland. Antizionism denies the Jewish people’s right to self determination. The term antizionist is just replaced for Jew. Antizionism is antisemitism. When Jewish people are verbally and physically harassed, Jewish institutions are vandalized in response to actions of the state of Israel all through the diaspora , it is antisemitism.
Release the hostages. Am Israel chai
Elizabeth and Sari – if you want to say being Anti-Zionist is anti-Semitic, that’s your choice.
It’s interesting that there are even Jewish people who are Anti-Zionists; so does that make them anti-Semitic as well?
Perhaps then anti-Zionist isn’t the word for my stance. I am not anti-Semitic or anti-Jewish. What I AM is against the current Israeli Government and its genocidal actions against the Palestinian people on the pure belief that because their version of their God “Gave them that land”, that they have more right to it than anyone. I am against how Israel came to be (despite not being alive at the time and not like anything could be done, anyway even if I had been) as I see it as not giving the Jewish people a homeland because they deserved it, rather they were given the land because of guilt of the holocaust AND because no nation wanted Jewish people to live there, at the expense of the indigenous Palestinians who already DID live on that land for generations.
To me, the last time Israeli Government was worth supporting was before Yitzhak Rabin was assassinate by one of his own people. Despite the issues with the man, he was the last person to try and broker peace, and just when it seemed possible, an extremist Jewish man killed him thus continuing the war. And now, we have Netanyahu, who is not only a war monger, but using Hamas and the conflict as an excuse/way to MAINTAIN his power and stay out of jail. He does not care about the hostages, he never has, and to suggest otherwise is pure ignorance.
This “blood for blood” Conflict will not end until both sides are destroyed or people truly want to stop the fighting and the stupidity of it all.
The ideology of victimhood and identity is strong today in academia. Mr. Coburn identifies himself as indigenous at the same time as saying that half his family history is non-indigenous. “Nobody’s slaughtering my people anymore,” he says, “my people” being the indigenous side. His statement is as provocative as it is dishonest: the 500 year history of indigenous people since the arrival of Europeans in North America has many terrible episodes, but is far more complicated than he insinuates when he makes it sound like it was 500 years of one-sided slaughter.
He’s eager, to support his desired narrative, to identify the weaker group in the Middle East conflict as “Indigenous Palestinians”, ignoring the fact that the Jews could logically be considered indigenous to Jerusalem and the surrounding territories, given their history. This is a dishonest presentation of the situation.
His effort to blame “Canada’s position on Palestine on the very basis of its settler-colonial nature” aligns with his own field and bias in favour of the racist delegitimizing of some Canadians by calling them “settlers” in the same way that others, usually on the right wing of the political spectrum, delegitimize citizens of some races by calling them “immigrants”, and doing that despite those “immigrants” living in the country for generations, discriminating against them because of their ancestry and idealizing a past that was “better” when one racial group dominated a territory. Both delegitimizations are racist.
By forcing his own ideology on affairs in the Middle East, Coburn ignores the issue of the Holocaust as being a primary reason why countries supported the creation of a state of Israel in a region that is the historic origin of those Jews. Blaming it on “settler colonialism” is better for getting grants, such as the $64,986.00 SSRC grant he got from “settler colonialist” Canada to study indigenous issues:
http://www.outil.ost.uqam.ca/CRSH/Detail.aspx?Cle=228278&Langue=2
Antonius’s comment that Radio-Canada coverage reflects Canada’s official position on Israel/Palestine and that any change “would put the CBC and its journalists on a collision course with its funders, the Canadian government, and with the Canadian political elite” is like the conspiracy theories emanating from the other side of the political spectrum. The right wing is always accusing CBC of being a mouthpiece for the leftist political elite. With Antonius, we get the leftist conspiracy theory that CBC is the mouthpiece of the American empire, settler colonialism, and the rest of his own bucket list of evils to defeat. Like Zionists blaming all criticism of Israel on anti-Semitism, Antonius and others blame any disagreement with themselves on imperialism and colonialism. Both are dishonest.
“It is a structural bias arising from the mindset of settler colonialism,” said Ayyash, whose origins are in Palestine. We have to turn a blind eye and assume he himself has no bias on this issue as he weaponizes Canadian history to stigmatize millions of Canadians as “settler colonialists” to further his own political agenda? This is propaganda, not an unbiased academic examination of an issue.
The war in Palestine is horrible from any perspective. It is not made any better by academics exploiting it to further their agendas to paint Canada as a horrible place, and millions of its citizens as illegitimate “settlers” because of their race.
Well said.
Zion translates into English as indigneous. A zionist is a person who wants to go home. WOKE has its very roots in recognizing that humans can do better. I’m a littke puzzked how a good dear could be come the mother od so mamy unintended consequences. CBC dosnt just plur the horrors of war. As kelsy Sheren a Canadian Soldier in the middle East they pick what is making the best news. Pick your poison.There are more than 20 counties were Democide is taking place, and there are conflicts over 10 000 and 30 000. Sweden has welcomed everyone unconditional has more explosions going than some war zones.There must be a name for former repressed peoples who inturn oppress others . Here at home I was surprised that Mikmag were not actually blood brothers with Wolastoqiyik and help finish off the Beothics. Has a Huguenot as survivors of the first holocaust you can make your self feel more Moral playing the victim even if is actually unethical. Lots of faction- fueds ever where.. Canada was a hair better than Anericans so Sitting Bull crossed the board. A lone mounties met the winners of The Battle of Little Horn. The Classic story of a last Stand in Canada Charcoals story. A CLASH of cultures One Mountie one Indigenous.
We are neglecting our History Red Crow almost lost. ” As a warrior,Diplomat and statesman he dominated the affairs in the west for more than two decades. Keeping his people at peace,yet never letting them surrender their pride and dignity.
The middle East you have no idea what’s coming .The paradox Arab,Christian ,Jew are all semetic hence The Abraham Accord. There was a cease fire and a Truce until October 7th. I’m in eightiest every day I’m trapped like Bil Murray’s Ground Hog Day movie. Houties Ben Gurian Airport fast backward 50 years Lod Airport Machined Gunned by the Black Setember group. The Jordian Civil War. Onc. In 1972 Beruit was the Paris of the east. The Gaza strip was a Garden of Eden. A jew won the Nobel prize for his discovery to turn te desert Green. There was second Exodus from Africa. [RED Sea Resort Diving Resort. Israel is the most DEI place in the world. Jerusalem city size of Jacksonville Florida population 600 000 had six murders .The newspaper report idnt know if it was love or politics. USA Jacksonville 600 murders.. Dud you know that 20 % of ISRAEL are Muslim Arabs. With full citizenship. They are not drafted, but can volunteer to fight. So many dialects they all speak Palestinian Arab. The Muslim cabsian GAD SAAds the book THE Parasitic Mind .It is the beginning of introducing at least one opposing opinion. Yuuah Noah Harari the book Sapiens. We have to start somewhere so thanks to mount Allison And Bruce.
“Antizionism denies the Jewish people’s right to self determination.” I love how zio’s use this term to mask a genocide. Who the hell told you it was ok to wipe an entire nation of people off the map because you feel you have the “right to self determination”
I thought “never again” meant never again for anyone but I guess we just pick and choose based on skin color and preference eh?
There’s a reason why the orthodox jews in western world do not stand with isreal or zionism as it goes against everything in your book.
I’ll finish with a question. Why does Hamas exist?
Why does Hamas exist?
For the same reason that Jews were on the receiving end of a pogrom in 1940s Baghdad, before the existence of Israel.
For the same reason as the Holocaust.
For the same reason as “traditional” European pogroms.
Both Christian and Islamic based religion have a fascination with Jews, presumably as a predecessor religion. In the case of some Christians, it comes out positively (thank God for and bless Evangelicals and their support!). That’s also true with some Muslims (see “Muslim Zionists”), but many fewer than among Christians. Unfortunately, in the case of many Christians (and even more Muslims), this is a negative fascination, and a very strong one. My guess is that they feel that their religion is incomplete as long as Jews populate the earth. Sadly, this has transferred to the current generation of Christian-themed “post-religious” people in this country.
You’ll note that Hindus, Buddhists, etc., have no great interest in Jews, and that includes in areas where Jews have lived for generations. India would be the most obvious example of this. Granted, many Jews have left India, but this is for economic reasons: Hindus have no history of being anything but friendly towards Jews.
Wait, you actually think Evangelicals SUPPORT Israel out of some sort of sense of… brotherhood?
That’s actually concerning.
Evangelicals have never really hidden the reason why they support Israel – it’s ONLY to fulfill their doomsday prophecy of Jesus returning. They don’t care about Jewish people really, only that they play their part and after that well it won’t matter, the Rapture will happen, all the Evangelicals will go to Heaven and the Jews will all go to hell as the killers of “God”.
The focus of Christians and Muslims on Jews isn’t out of some “negative fascination” of their religion being “incomplete”, but has mostly everything to do with perceptions of the Jews over time. To Christians – they killed God (Jesus; though that was a lie of course) and to Muslims – that depends on who you ask, which sect of Islam you’re asking and at what point in history. There’s not really one answer to why Muslims hate Jews, though some signs point to like Christians, a belief that Jews kill prophets (in Islam, Jesus is a Prophet) and it really kicks into gear when the British made a deal with Jewish people to give them parts of Palestine even though the Brits promised PALESTINIANS control over their land.
The question of why Hamas exists – if we’re talking just SPECIFICALLY Hamas – is simple but not. It came out of, of course, the conflicts between Israel and Palestinians over territory. But there is, as always, more to it.
Like in an echo of the US to the Mujaheddin – later the Taliban – Israel supported Hamas as an opposition to the PLO.
(more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas )
But why Hamas CONTINUES to exist, that’s actually simpler to answer.
Blood for Blood tribalism.
I do not accept, nor have read, responses from the local troll.