Anti-Israel protest (illustrative)
Anti-Israel protest (illustrative)Flash 90

A pro-Arab organization in Canada, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), has resorted to a supreme court petition after its ad campaign smearing Israel was blocked.

The ad campaign features a map series entitled "Disappearing Palestine," depicting the Israeli "occupation of Palestine since 1946." The spurious maps show a "Palestine Mandate" in 1946 occupying nearly all of Israel, in reference to the period of British, not Arab, control. The current end of the spectrum shows only Areas A and B of Judea and Samaria, administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA), as "Palestine."

CJPME submitted the ad last March to the ad firm Cogeco/Pattison, for publication in public transportation through Toronto and Calgary. The firm rejected the ad, leading CJPME to hire an attorney and bring the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) into the picture, reports Shalom Toronto.

However, the anti-Zionist group's troubles didn't end there. TTC similarly rejected the ad in a letter last October, citing inaccuracies and lack of clarity in the ad's contents. CJPME claimed the Jewish organization B'nai Brith Canada reported on the rejection three days before it was received by CJPME.

The dogged anti-Israel group didn't take no for an answer, making light changes to the ad and resubmitting it. Nevertheless, once again it was rejected, this time with the notice that the ad did not conform to Ontario's human rights laws and publication regulations.

At this point, CJPME petitioned TTC's supervisory committee, only to have their request rejected in January. Similar attempts in Calgary met similar negative results for the group.

Given the negative feedback which it blamed on a "pro-Israel lobby," CJPME decided to pursue a ruling in the supreme court, despite the six to nine-month-long process, and the $15,000 price tag.

CJPME noted it intends to rely on a 2009 supreme court ruling, which favored the Canadian Student Federation over the transit authorities, who had rejected their ads for not meeting regulations by being political and negative towards others.