If we want to identify the real masters of cancel culture, however, we need to follow the modus operandi of the institutional pro-Israel lobby and its adherents, like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs or B’nai Brith Canada. They can teach us a thing or two about how to kill free speech, and how cancel culture works to stop an utterance before it is even spoken.

The word Nakba is used by Palestinians and others to describe the period between 1947 and 1949, when over 700,000 indigenous Arabs were driven from their homes during Israel’s comprehensive Operation Dalet—a self-described “cleansing” to make way for the creation of the state of Israel. Since the Nakba is intentionally excluded from mainstream narratives, most Canadians receive a narrow version of history.

Palestinians have long understood that no matter what type of struggle they are engaged in, the reaction from the Israeli military is always the same–killing, maiming and destruction. The Israeli government continues to respond with excessive force to all forms of protest in an effort to force Palestinians to abandon any hope of national independence and full rights. This is something that will never happen.

As many Canadians remain isolated in their homes due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Trudeau government quietly announced it was lifting its suspension of arms export permits to Saudi Arabia. It has also renegotiated the government’s $14 billion armoured vehicle deal with the belligerent and repressive monarchy.

Trudeau and Sajjan’s recent missions to Kuwait are part of the fallout from Washington’s decision to assassinate Iranian general Qassim Suleimani. After the January 3 killing some Canadian forces in Iraq were withdrawn to the base in Kuwait. Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution demanding foreign soldiers leave the country and Iran threatened to retaliate against US troops in the region.

Iranians have good reasons to tolerate their regime more than one the US and its allies would install, again. If it is argued that 1953 is ancient history, or that the US and its allies have changed, the recent failures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Venezuela should teach us all that regime change is a reckless strategy that is almost certainly doomed to fail.

A top diplomat organizing an event to celebrate Canadians fighting for another country’s military ought to generate criticism. Doing so while that force humiliates Palestinians at checkpoints in the West Bank, fires on protesters in Gaza and bombs Syria in violation of international law is an outrage that must be condemned.

The Trudeau government could have delisted Iran as a “state sponsor of terror”, or repealed Harper’s Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. Instead, it didn’t even keep its promise to restart diplomatic relations with Iran. While there is much to dislike about the government in Tehran, progressive-minded, peace-loving Canadians should reject Ottawa’s aggressive anti-Iranian policies.

Even though many are celebrating the fact that a handful of US politicians, even presidential candidates, are contemplating conditioning aid to Israel - in effect, broaching the possibility of sanctions - what we must celebrate is the fact that US politicians who have so far provided complete immunity to Israel are finally understanding that we, the voters, wish to hold Israel accountable. And we are making that very clear.

The US military’s assassination of Qasem Soleimani, one of the top military commanders of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s expansionist regional policies and its proxy wars in the Middle East, can lead to retaliation by the Islamic regime. Such retaliation, the threat of further US retaliation and a chain reaction could further destabilize the region and endanger the lives of thousands of Iraqis, Iranians and other ordinary people in the Middle East.