OPINION: Canada’s homegrown BDS Coalition more extreme than Palestinian original

When even the Palestinian BDS leadership says a Canadian group has gone too far, Canada's institutions have no excuse for looking the other way

Published Sep 12, 2026  •  Last updated 4 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Joanne Steinberg at a rally speaking out against antisemitism in Canadian society in front of the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre at Bloor St. and Spadina Ave. in Toronto, Ont. on Monday March 13, 2017. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun

The Canadian BDS Coalition and Just Peace Advocates have recently launched their National Two Weeks of Action – a campaign that aims “to end the Canada to Israel Charity pipeline.”

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They published a list of over 100 Canadian Jewish and Israel-related charities, and called on activists to “choose a complicit organization in your area” and “plan an action that targets them.”

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This is not merely a step to push Jews out of the Canadian public sphere, it’s a deliberate painting of targets. For activists who support “armed resistance,” how far does “any other creative idea” go before it turns violent?

It’s time to hold this rogue movement accountable.

Believe it or not, the global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement – an antisemitic project that promotes economic sanctions against Israel and only Israel – refuses to recognize its Canadian branch. The BDS National Committee (BNC) – part of the Palestinian civil society body, oversees the global BDS Movement. The global BDS movement, despite its own significant biases, officially holds a policy of non-violence.

The Canadian BDS Coalition made no such pretense: it is openly advocating for violence.

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This is why in 2021, the Palestinian BNC demanded that the Canadian BDS Coalition remove “BDS” from its name. The Canadian BDS Coalition acknowledged that this was because its positions “went against their (BNC) policy of non-violence.” That request came following Israel’s designation of Samidoun as a terrorist organization.

In turn, the Canadian BDS Coalition doubled down by rejecting the Palestinian demand, expressing support of “armed resistance,” and siding with Samidoun right after. Then, in 2024, Canada listed Samidoun as a terrorist entity. The Coalition again sided with Samidoun right after.

While extremist Islamist entryism into Canadian institutions is usually quiet, patient and deniable, the member organizations of the Canadian BDS Coalition openly endorse violence while simultaneously embedded across Canadian institutions.

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Just Peace Advocates, the main national collaborator on the current campaign’s target list, is a federally incorporated Canadian non-profit. While calling itself a “human rights” organization, it in practice focuses almost exclusively on campaigns and lobbying targeting Canadian entities linked to Israel, while also having advocated for armed resistance.

In Quebec, Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) officially “condemn(s) all violations of human rights.” Yet it promoted an October 2025 anti-Israel protest in Montreal using imagery of Leila Khaled – a commonly glorified PFLP terrorist across different sectors in Canada.

Khaled is infamous for her role in the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840 and the failed 1970 hijacking of El Al Flight 219, part of a PFLP campaign that helped trigger the crisis preceding Jordan’s 1970-71 civil war, known as Black September. PAJU also includes a song on its website that lionizes Ahed Tamimi, whose repertoire of extremism includes stating, “We are fighting Jews, not Zionism.”

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In Ontario, the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War (HCSW) sounds like a peaceful organization, but it has issued statements defending the Islamic Republic of Iran, waved its regime flag at public events, and proudly displayed it on social media. They, too, have endorsed armed resistance and have equated terrorist entities as resistance fighters. This activist group is formally embedded in McMaster University’s community, and brings local public-sector labour.

Toronto’s Al Quds Committee, another Coalition member, organizes what has been called an “annual hate fest against Jews” that was invented by the Iranian regime to incite hate and violence. Their 2023 Toronto rally featured genocidal antisemitic slogans, signs promoting terrorism, and calls for violence against Jews.

The de-legitimization of Jewish life, in addition to too-radicalized activists – that improvise who-knows-what when they get “creative,” is a recipe for tragedy. The Canadian BDS Coalition has given anonymous activists, some of them endorsing “armed resistance,” what amounts to a hit list of Jewish Canadian charities. Its decentralized campaign creates the perfect conditions for dangerous ideas to be turned into action on Canadian soil.

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When even anti-Israel Palestinian leadership is warning against the local BDS Coalition, it pays for Canadians to listen.

Canadian security and regulatory authorities such as CSIS, Public Safety Canada, and the CRA must examine the Canadian BDS Coalition and its affiliated members very closely. Institutions, especially universities, must do a far better job auditing the groups they formally platform and partner with. Union leadership must reject any member who normalizes violence.

The global Palestinian BDS Movement are already extremists. The Canadian BDS Coalition takes their positions further by explicitly supporting violence.

When even the Palestinian BDS leadership says a Canadian group has gone too far, Canada’s institutions have no excuse for looking the other way. If they do, they may very well end up with blood on their hands.

– Ori Freiman, Ph.D., researches the intersection of policy, technology, and social change

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