A pro-Palestinian activist group had repeated access to Canada’s former Islamophobia representative, receiving advice from her office before seeking help over what it alleged was “significant anti-Palestinian bias” within Canadian police, intelligence and national security agencies.
The Access to Information disclosure contains emails between Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and Amira Elghawaby starting in her first year in the role of Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. The correspondence refers to at least two meetings by January 2024.
Following a November 2023 meeting, CJPME parliamentary affairs director Alex Paterson thanked Elghawaby for her “candor and advice” and said the organization looked forward to “future collaboration and engagement.”
The correspondence discusses Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and CJPME’s objections to treating anti-Zionism as antisemitism.
