- This event has passed.
CANCELLED: Defending Liberal Democracy in an Illiberal Israel (Toronto)
22 March 2020 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
This event is now taking place online on Monday, May 23rd at 12 PM Eastern Time. For more information and registration, click here.
A “peace” plan that advocates annexation. A sitting Prime Minister indicted. Three deadlocked elections in one year. A “court override” proposal and the Nation-State Law. The worrying trends in Israeli democracy continues to accelerate.
At this pivotal moment, the head of Israel’s oldest and largest civil liberties agency comes to Toronto to share her analysis and work from the front lines. As illiberal populism in Israel takes aim against the pillars of democracy – a vibrant media, independent judiciary, active civil society, and separation of powers – so too are progressive Israelis pushing back in defense.
Join us to meet Sharon Abraham-Weiss, Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, in conversation with renowned Canadian lawyer Nathalie Des Rosiers, for an in-depth and frank analysis of Israeli democracy.
About Us
The New Israel Fund of Canada supports projects and programs in Israel that strengthen and safeguard civil and human rights, bridge social and economic gaps, and foster tolerance and religious pluralism for all of its residents.
About Our Speakers
Established in 1972, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel is the country’s oldest, largest human rights organization, and the only one dealing with the entire spectrum of rights and civil liberties issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories.
Sharon Abraham-Weiss is the Executive Director of ACRI. As a staff attorney previously, Sharon represented ACRI in many principle cases, among them dealing with land issues, socio-economic dignity, and worker’s rights. She’s founded and led a legal clinic and a feminist legal agency. She’s been selected by The Marker and Haaretz newspapers as one of the most prominent and influential women leaders in Israel.
Nathalie Des Rosiers is the Principal of Massey College. Previously, she was Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier. Prior to entering politics, she was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, at the University of Ottawa. She also served as the General Counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, a national organization that acts as a watchdog for the protection of human rights and civil liberties in Canada. She is a recipient of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.