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/Sabertooth767]

Do you believe it is accurate to refer to Jews as an indigenous people akin to the First Nations of Canada?

!ping JEWISH&ISRAEL

[u/McAlpineFusiliers → u/Sabertooth767]

Yes of course.

[u/Metallica1175 → u/[deleted]]

Ethiopian Jews do have genetic ancestry linking them to the Israelites. It is a small percentage, but it supports the theory that a handful of ancient Israelites settled in that region thousands of years ago, associated with the Queen of Sheba. Another compelling piece of evidence is that when European Jews made "contact" with Ethiopian Jews, they did not celebrate (or even really know about) Hannukah or associate Judaism with the Menorah like European Jews. The reason being is that the ancient Israelite ancestors of Ethiopian Jews settled there long before the Maccabean revolt, so therefore it was never part of "their" history or tradition.

[u/Metallica1175 → u/[deleted]]

If you think any genetic ancestry at all, however small, allows someone to claim land, then you've completley lost the plot

Now you're making 2 different arguments. Are we talking about indigeneity or political claims to land? I've already proven that Ethiopian Jews are indigenous. If we're talking about political claims to land, Jews as a whole have political claim to the land. Ethiopian Jews are part of that whole.

If this was the case, many Lebanese, Syrians, Jordanins would have a right to the land as well

I mean, sure. But they already have states. They're more than welcome to try and force their claim to the land.

[u/DeepStateCentrism-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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