In shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza, Palestinian diaspora fights to be heard 

That systemic racism – how governments and other institutions, such as schools and media, dehumanise and erase Palestinians – is what does the most harm to the Palestinian community, according to Majid.

“The troll on Twitter who says something ... I don’t like it obviously, but they’re not the ones who are creating policies. They’re not creating laws,” she said.

Majid noted how, when Palestinians in Canada began protesting against Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip last year, Canadian politicians “set the tone” and accused participants “of attending ‘pro-terror rallies’”.

“That made our community very vulnerable – and what it did was open the door for the rest of society to adopt that line and act on it,” she explained.

Pro-Israel groups and right-wing commentators have also spent months vilifying Palestinians and their supporters in Canada, as well as condemning efforts to acknowledge anti-Palestinian racism.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), one of Canada’s most active pro-Israel organisations, has argued that recognising anti-Palestinian racism would shut down debate, undermine efforts to fight Islamophobia, and silence victims of anti-Semitism.

And when the largest school board in Canada, the Toronto District School Board, recently included anti-Palestinian racism in its guide for addressing hate in its nearly 600 schools, CIJA attacked the move as “redefin[ing] what constitutes antisemitism”.

But Corey Balsam, the national coordinator for the social justice group Independent Jewish Voices-Canada, said recognising anti-Palestinian racism would help institutions be better equipped to distinguish between genuine anti-Semitism and valid criticism of Israel.

“We see people being tired of anti-Semitism accusations and dismissing them and saying, ‘You know what, I’m not even going to listen anymore because everything is anti-Semitic.’ So if everything is anti-Semitic, nothing is anti-Semitic. It just blurs everything,” Balsam told Al Jazeera.

For years, many pro-Israel groups have sought to paint virtually all critiques of Israel or Zionism as anti-Semitic. They also have pushed a contentious definition of anti-Semitism — from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) — that critics say aims to shut down the ability to denounce Israeli rights abuses.

“If [recognising] anti-Palestinian racism can eliminate or neutralise arguments about anti-Zionism being anti-Semitism,” Balsam said, “then hopefully we can focus on what is really a danger for Jews and address some of the conspiracy theories and genuine anti-Semitism.”

Majid also rejected the idea that recognising anti-Palestinian racism would hamper debate.

“It’s about protecting our community — whether it be our allies or Palestinians themselves — to be able to talk about Palestinian human rights without having to fear being fired from their jobs [or] having their events cancelled in schools or community centres or art spaces.”