Hamilton pro-Palestine activists share stories of oppression
Local launch of Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada sees four city residents speak out about backlash to their efforts to fight for human rights in Gaza.
A number of Hamiltonians shared their personal and professional experiences during the local launch of a book chronicling the public backlash to pro-Palestine activism in Canada.
Organized by Independent Jewish Voices Hamilton and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, the Hamilton debut of the non-fiction anthology Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada, launched at the New Vision United Church this month. The book launch featured a table of panellists, four of whom are Hamiltonians.
Dr. Mohammed S. Zubairi, an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University, shared that he’s faced harassment for vocalizing support for Palestine.
“The public smear campaign calling for my removal after having been selected to the role as director for equity, diversity and inclusion for postgraduate medical education at McMaster was targeted simply because I had demonstrated solidarity and recognition of Palestinian human rights,” Zubairi told HCM. “I chose to be on this panel to share my experience that there is a real risk of punishment for dissent across all settings and environments, and healthcare or academia are no exceptions.”
Razing Palestine “is another indisputable collection of data and evidence that counters a rhetoric and narrative that in the past was able to prevail,” said Zubairi. “These panels, social media posts, independent journalism pieces and scholarly works are building upon a foundation that the truth will no longer remain hidden.”
Published by Baraka Books, the book was assembled and edited by Leila Marshy, the author of The Philistine and My Thievery of the People. Marshy’s Palestinian father was exiled from his home in 1948, and during the First Intifada, Marshy lived in Cairo and worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Mental Health Association.
Jillian Rogin, an associate professor from the University of Windsor Faculty of Law and a native Hamiltonian, was a contributor to the book. She’s an active member of the Jewish Faculty Network and Independent Jewish Voices and has been involved in various Palestine solidarity groups since 2002.
“My Jewish identity means that I have to do everything I can to stop genocide, and that is why I initially became involved in Palestine solidarity work,” said Rogin. “But, as Jews involved in this work, we have to ensure that we don't speak for Palestinians, that we speak in ways that don’t eclipse or further erase Palestinian voices ... It's a space we can and should intervene and disrupt the racist narratives, anti-Palestinian, and at times, antisemitic, that pro-Israel lobby groups promote.”
Mason Fitzpatrick, another Hamiltonian on the panel and a former McMaster student, said he also faced backlash for his Palestine activism within McMaster. Fitzpatrick was involved in the Palestine encampment protest in 2024, where students camped out on university grounds to apply pressure to the school to disclose investments, divest and boycott Israeli institutions, and declare the Israeli military attack on Gaza a genocide.
“Near the end, others and I went into the school and put up some letters on the door of the vice provost’s office,” said Fitzpatrick. “We chanted in the hall for 15-20 minutes, then left. Three weeks later I got notice from the school that I and three others were persona non grata from the university.”
Fitzpatrick called it a “really nasty tactic” and alleged the university’s actions were also targeting those involved in CUPE Local 3906, which is the largest union on campus.
Rabbi David Mivasair, a leader in the Hamilton chapter of Independent Jewish Voices, asked Hamilton activist Angelune Des Lauriers to contribute to the panel.
“We’ve been organizing together for a while and of course I would say yes, but I also want to share how I speak up about all kinds of causes all the time. I’ve been active in refugee resettlement for Syrians, but I’ve never faced the kind of repercussions that I have for speaking out about Palestinian human rights,” said Des Lauriers, the target of multiple reports to police and complaints to her place of work.
“There were concerted efforts by some of my neighbours, who are Zionists, to harass and target me and my family for our solidarity with Palestine. My kids and I, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk and kids paint, ‘Free Palestine’ … neighbours calling the police for that.”
Zubairi highlighted the significant history of activism in the Steel City, describing it as an environment that has historically mobilized against injustice, and fought for workers’ rights.
“There are amazing advocates here, and IJV Hamilton, for example, does incredible work to ensure that Jewish voices are not seen as a monolith,” said Zubairi. “Faculty for Palestine and Healthcare Workers Alliance for Palestine are an integral part of ensuring advocacy reaches all spaces in academia and healthcare.”
Rogin described the Palestinian solidarity community in Hamilton as one that is “anti-racist, energetic, creative, intelligent,” and one that she is “really proud to be a part of.”
“We all contribute to a community that ensures that we are empowered to continue to express our dissent and voice our critical opposition to Israeli apartheid, settler-colonialism, and genocide levied against Palestinians.”
Rogin told HCM that Razing Palestine will act as an archive documenting the repression of Palestinians and their allies “who have been courageous enough to refuse to be silenced and have suffered immense personal and professional losses as a result. The repression has been so swift and so immense that it is easy to lose track of all that has happened since violence against Palestinians escalated after Oct. 7, 2023.”
Fitzpatrick says community support was the most important resource for him in the aftermath of his conflict with McMaster, and stresses that everyday people must show up for one another.
“I think that people, once they realize that people are getting together and that they’re supported, that they’re going to feel less afraid to speak out.”
Razing Palestine is available for purchase on Baraka Books’ website, from The City and The City Books, the University of Toronto Press Distribution, among others.
