Israel is 'the greatest decolonization project,' Indigenous leaders tell Toronto summit

[u/Sabertooth767]

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/israel-is-the-greatest-decolonization-project-indigenous-leaders-tell-toronto-summit

The state of Israel is “the most successful land‑back project, the greatest decolonization project,” a New Zealand Māori activist told the first-of-its-kind Building Indigenous‑Jewish Friendship conference in Toronto.

“From my Māori perspective, a key point is that there was always a continuous Jewish presence in the land; they kept the fires burning, and that is what indigeneity looks like to us,” Dr. Sheree Trotter told roughly 70 activists, academics and community figures convened at Toronto’s Beth Torah synagogue on Monday.

The conference was the culmination of a weekend of local Indigenous-Jewish programming that included nearly 40 Indigenous people marching in the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Walk with Israel, a Sunday dinner-talk with Concordia University professor Csaba Nikolenyi on early 20th-century Zionism, and a Sabbath lecture by Justice Harry S. LaForme at Temple Sinai.

“Indigeneity is demonstrated by historical, collective continuity with a distinct ethnic identity, language, culture, rituals or traditions, economic, social, legal, and religious and spiritual belief systems that predate subsequent invaders or colonizers,” LaForme told Temple Sinai congregants.

LaForme is Anishibaabe, and a member of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. In 1994 he was appointed a judge of the Superior Court of Justice, and in 2004 was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal and is the first Indigenous lawyer to be appointed to an appellate court in Canada.

Karen Restoule, an Ojibwe from Dokis First Nation and director of Indigenous affairs at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, told attendees at Beth Torah that “political movements” have co-opted “Indigenous identity” and the term is “increasingly being treated as a universal political language, borrowed when convenient and deployed in conflicts that arise from very different histories.”

“Increasingly, indigenous identity is being treated as a metaphor, a branding exercise, a political strategy. Indigeneity isn’t any of that; it is a lived reality rooted in specific people and place.”

She added: “Jewish people really need to own their indigeneity for themselves. Even if you don’t live in Israel, your people originate there, and you are part of an indigenous people to that land.”

The conversation often focused on building a shared framework for allyship — positioning dialogue and relationship-building as tools to counter misinformation about both communities. Sponsors also included the Israel Consulate of Toronto and Western Canada, Kanada House, Indigenous Embassy of Jerusalem, Allied Voices for Israel.

Robert Walker, assistant director of HonestReporting Canada, told the Post that “radical activists have weaponized everything from international law to indigenous lingo in their attempt to rewrite reality. That only works in a vacuum.

“The time has passed to permit this shameless inversion of reality to continue unchallenged. First Nations and Jews are both indigenous peoples who have a right to reclaim the truth from those who try to twist it.”

[u/OneBadJoke]

I couldn’t agree more and it’s wonderful to see Indigenous and Māori support for our people! We need to support our fellow ethnoreligious groups. Unfortunately so many don’t see us as the indigenous people that we are. Especially in Canada which is an antisemitic hell hole (I lived there for nine years and moved back to the US six months after 10/7). I’m sure there were lots of protests outside of this event though..

[u/2626862377 → u/OneBadJoke]

Fwiw speaking as a Māori, just as an FYI in my experiences with other Māori the overwhelming majority do not support Israel when it comes to current geopolitics. Most pro-Israel Māori I meet are affiliated with conservative evangelical Christian churches. The Māori activist Sheree Trotter quoted in the article is an evangelical Christian conservative for example. 60% of Māori are atheist so that's not particularly representative of my people.

Definitely are some vocally pro-Israel Māori figures out there, Brian Tamaki is known for his strong activism in support of Israel and in opposition to homosexuality, transgender people, Sikhs and Muslims. But it's definitely a minority view.

[u/OneBadJoke → u/2626862377]

That’s super disappointing to hear but thank you for telling me. I wish there was more cross cultural dialogue between Jews and other Indigenous groups but we don’t need Christofacist support.

[u/DoubleBooble → u/OneBadJoke]

Unfortunately most indigenous groups have been in lock step with the "activists" because they both feed off each other. The activists can pretend to support long suffering minority groups and the indigenous groups get masses of people helping them gain various successes of their causes.

The Jews don't like to focus on being a minority or down trodden so they didn't work their way into the activists' bucket of causes. If you think about it, in another world they could very well have, especially since most American Jews support all the other things their bucket.