In a country fractured by distant violence and domestic polarization, two Canadians—one Jewish, one Muslim—have turned a decade of difficult friendship into a public act of conscience. Writing together to the next Liberal Party leader, Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau argue that the question of Palestinian human rights is no longer one that Canadian governance can defer or obscure. Their appeal arrives at a moment when the gap between what citizens believe and what their government does has grown wide enough to erode trust itself.
Next Liberal leader must address Palestinian rights, say Jewish and Muslim organizers
Jewish and Arab communities in Canada report daily exposure to violence reports from the Middle East; harassment of children and vandalism of parliamentary offices documented.
When people feel silenced, some turn to hostility and violence.
Mark
Why do these two organizers think the next Liberal leader will actually listen to them?
Mimi
Because they're not alone. Sixty-nine percent of Liberal supporters think Israel's campaign is too heavy-handed. More than fifty Liberal staff signed a letter demanding change. There's real pressure inside the party.
Luke
But pressure and action are different things. The Trudeau government announced a dialogue grant and never funded it. What makes them think the next leader will follow through?
Mimi
Fair point. But they're also naming something concrete—eight specific policies, not vague promises. And they're writing as insiders, people who believed in the party.
Mark
What's the human cost they're describing?
Mimi
Jewish and Arab communities in Canada are living with daily reports of violence from home. Kids are being harassed. Parliamentary offices vandalized. When government stays silent, people lose faith in the political process.
Luke
That's real. But the authors also acknowledge they don't speak for everyone—they say they won't get every word right. How much of the Jewish and Muslim communities actually agree with them?
Mimi
That's the gap. They're speaking for themselves and the organizers they work with, but they're not claiming to represent all Jewish or Muslim Canadians.
Mark
So what happens if the next leader ignores this?
Mimi
They're suggesting the despair deepens. People turn away from politics entirely, or toward more hostile expressions of their frustration.
Luke
Which is a real risk. But it's also worth noting—the authors are asking for something specific and achievable. They're not asking the next leader to solve the Middle East conflict. They're asking Canada to take a position.
Mark
And that position is?
Mimi
That Palestinian rights matter as much as Israeli security. That Canada should recognize Palestine, stop funding settlements, and support international courts investigating both sides.
Il Polso
- A Jewish lawyer and a Muslim community organizer, shaped by opposing inheritances, have found common ground in human rights—and are now demanding their party find it too.
- The Trudeau government's record on the Israel-Palestine crisis has left both communities feeling abandoned: unfunded dialogue grants, arms policy ambiguity, and blocked parliamentary studies signal evasion over leadership.
- Polling shows 69% of Liberal supporters believe Israel's military campaign has been too heavy-handed, and over 50 Liberal staffers have formally demanded a policy shift—pressure is building from inside the tent.
- Children harassed for keffiyehs, Jewish artists canceled, parliamentary offices vandalized—the authors warn that when government fails to lead, communities turn their grief into hostility.
- Eight concrete commitments have been laid out—from recognizing Palestinian statehood to formally naming anti-Palestinian racism—framed not as justice achieved, but as a first step toward it.
- The next Liberal leader faces a defining test: whether the party can still be trusted to govern a diverse country toward something resembling justice.
In a country fractured by distant violence and domestic polarization, two Canadians—one Jewish, one Muslim—have turned a decade of difficult friendship into a public act of conscience. Writing together to the next Liberal Party leader, Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau argue that the question of Palestinian human rights is no longer one that Canadian governance can defer or obscure. Their appeal arrives at a moment when the gap between what citizens believe and what their government does has grown wide enough to erode trust itself.
Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau first met on a snowy Montreal night in 2012, before a Liberal Party convention. She is a social worker and Muslim community organizer who grew up in Beirut; he is a lawyer rooted in Jewish community life who grew up in Toronto. The Middle East was, for years, a source of friction between them—their families had handed them different maps of the same territory. But over time, a shared commitment to human rights became the thing that held.
Now, more than a decade later, they are writing together to the next Liberal leader with a single request: take Palestinian human rights seriously. The violence between Israelis and Palestinians did not begin on October 7, 2023, but what followed has fractured something in Canada. Jewish and Arab communities here live with daily reports of horror from the region while navigating a poisonous polarization at home—children harassed, artists canceled, offices vandalized. When people feel unheard by government, the authors warn, some turn toward hostility.
Both joined the Liberal Party believing it could lead a diverse country toward justice. The Trudeau government's record has disappointed them: ambiguous arms policies, silence on anti-Palestinian racism, a dialogue grant announced but never funded, and few Gazans finding safety in Canada. Meanwhile, a June Angus Reid poll found 53% of Canadians believed Israel's military campaign was too heavy-handed—among Liberal supporters, that figure rose to 69%. More than 50 Liberal staffers signed a letter demanding change.
Dakroub and Morgenthau have outlined eight concrete commitments for the next leader: recognizing Palestinian statehood based on 1967 borders, ensuring Canadian tax dollars don't fund illegal settlements, supporting the ICC and ICJ, formally naming anti-Palestinian racism in Canada's anti-racism strategy, funding inter-community dialogue, upholding the right to protest, and supporting ceasefire efforts and hostage release. These are not, they write, a path to justice—they are a first step, what their traditions call Tawbah and Teshuva: reflection and return. The next Liberal leader will inherit a country watching to see whether government can still be trusted to stand for something.
Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau met on a snowy night in Montreal in 2012, ahead of a Liberal Party convention. Dakroub is a social worker and former school board trustee who has organized within Canada's Muslim communities. Morgenthau is a lawyer who has worked in Jewish community organizing and served as vice-chair of JSpaceCanada. They connected over shared political hopes that winter, but one subject created friction between them: how to see the Middle East, a region their families had taught them to understand in fundamentally different ways.
They have not always agreed. Dakroub grew up in Beirut; Morgenthau in Toronto. Yet over the years, something shifted. Their commitment to human rights became the thing that mattered most. Now, more than a decade later, they are writing together to the next leader of the Liberal Party with a single, urgent request: take Palestinian human rights seriously.
The violence between Israelis and Palestinians did not begin on October 7, 2023. But the atrocities of that day and what followed have fractured something in Canada. Jewish and Arab communities here report living with daily news of horrors from home. At the same time, they navigate a poisonous polarization that has seeped into Canadian public life. Children have been harassed for wearing keffiyehs. Jewish artists have been canceled. Parliamentary offices have been vandalized. When people feel unheard by government, Dakroub and Morgenthau write, some turn to hostility and violence.
They joined the Liberal Party because they believed it could lead a diverse country toward justice. They believed government could be a force for good. But the Trudeau government's response to the crisis of the past year has disappointed them both. The record, they argue, shows failed attempts to navigate the issue: ambiguous arms trade policies, silence on anti-Palestinian racism, obstruction of studies at the foreign affairs committee. The government announced a grant for inter-community dialogue but never funded it. Few people from Gaza have found safety in Canada.
Meanwhile, Canadians frustrated by inaction on Parliament Hill have sought change elsewhere. Peaceful protests, aid fundraising, and movement-building have gathered incredible energy across the country. Yet without meaningful political engagement from government, despair has set in. A June poll from Angus Reid found that 53 percent of Canadians thought Israel's military campaign was too heavy-handed. Among Liberal supporters, that number rose to 69 percent. In August, more than 50 Liberal political staff signed a letter demanding a shift in government policy.
The next Liberal leader will have no choice but to answer the Palestinian question. Dakroub and Morgenthau have outlined eight concrete commitments they believe such a leader should make: official recognition of Palestine as a state alongside Israel based on 1967 borders; ensuring Canadian tax dollars do not flow to illegal settlements in the West Bank; committing to a study of Canada's impact on Israel and Palestine at the Foreign Affairs Committee; funding the announced inter-community dialogue grant; fully supporting the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court; formally recognizing anti-Palestinian racism in Canada's anti-racism strategy alongside antisemitism; upholding Canadians' right to protest under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and supporting efforts to sustain a ceasefire and secure the release of all hostages.
These proposals, they write, are not a path to justice for victims of October 7 or the war crimes in Gaza. They are a first step—what they call Tawbah or Teshuva, reflection and reconciliation. They are steps toward a Liberal Party grounded in what millions of Canadians are asking for: a better way of living together. The party's next leader will inherit a country watching to see whether government can still be trusted to stand for something.
Citazioni salienti
The next Liberal leader will have no choice but to answer the Palestinian question.— Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau
When we joined the Liberal Party all those years ago, we were each looking for a political home that would celebrate our distinctive heritage and give voice to our shared belief in egalitarianism.— Nokha Dakroub and Michael Morgenthau
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