In August 2025, HonestReporting Canada released an investigation into the campaign to combat so-called ‘Anti-Palestinian Racism,’ promoted by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association. The report, “Unmasking Anti-Palestinian Racism: An HRC Report,” revealed a troubling assault on free expression under the guise of combatting racism. As the Israel-Hamas war progressed, HonestReporting Canada monitored Canadian coverage of both domestic and international affairs and found increasing numbers of references to the concept of APR and its proliferation in Canadian affairs.

Only a few weeks after the report was published, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) gave its testimony to the House Committee on Education and Workforce’s

Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education in Washington, D.C. The report, “Understanding the Root Causes of Antisemitism in K-12 Education‌,” reveals that ACLA’s framework for APR has “generate[d] publications that fuel anti-Israel activism in U.S. schools…[and] has become a key source for U.S.-based activists.”

As reporter Melanie Bennet pointed out, ACLA’s co-founder, lawyer Ameena Sultan, also works with a group called Toronto Palestinian Families. As noted in a recent alert about Toronto Palestinian Families, the organization utilized Canadian funding to “combat antisemitism” despite, like ACLA, rejecting the internationally-recognized and Canadian-adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.

Yet again an organization receiving Canadian Heritage funding toward an initiative that directly advocates against the Canadian government’s definition of antisemitism.

ACLA received Canadian Heritage funding in the sum of $99,950 for the period of January 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026, toward a project titled “Understanding Anti-Palestinian Racism: Educational Resources and Training for Inclusive Practices.” They also received Canadian Heritage funding in 2023 to translate their “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framings and Manifestations” report to French.

As reported this year, ACLA’s framework for anti-Palestinian racism politicizes efforts to promote multiculturalism. The framework affirms the political perspective of a foreign conflict, particularly the definition of the Arab-Israeli conflict as a matter of settler colonialism, rendering its denial a form of discrimination. It hinges on the idea that the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, particularly its assertion of Jewish peoplehood and connection to the land of Israel, silences criticism of Israel – despite IHRA explicitly saying otherwise – and thus threatens free speech. The APR framework does exactly that which it claims to be fighting against, thus opposing Canada’s values of multiculturalism and principles for promoting diversity and combatting discrimination.

According to the testimony from FDD Director of Education and National Security Program, ACLA’s framework has been utilized by entities such as the Institute for Understanding Anti-Palestinian Racism (IUAPR), a group that partners with organizations to train for APR. One organization that IUAPR has partnered with, the Islamic Network Group, has operated for over 30 years across all US states in various primary educational districts.

This is no longer a framework that is impacting Canadians and Canada’s values alone. As FDD noted, because of these frameworks and the organizations that advocate for them, “classrooms are becoming breeding grounds for anti-Jewish bigotry” in the United States. In Canada, APR is being implemented in the Toronto District School Board’s strategy.

Organizations like ACLA and Toronto Palestinian Families are being given Canadian funding to combat bigotry via a framework that aims to delegitimize bigotry against Jews through historical revisionism and political weaponization.

NGO Monitor has a map of the organizational network driving anti-Israel advocacy and antisemitism in Canada, and ACLA is on the list – connected to various organizations and noted for its Canadian funding. ACLA’s influence does not end with Canada. The influence of its APR framework has dangerous repercussions for the North American Jewish community, its safety, and ability to combat antisemitism.

The Canadian government has a responsibility to address its role in funding, and thus promulgating, the anti-Palestinian racism framework in education and policy.