CAEF Letter to Sault Ste. Marie public library regarding the use of library for anti-Israel event
- CAEF
- May 14
- 3 min read
May 13, 2025
Mr. Matthew MacDonald,
Executive Director
SSM Public Library
Dear Mr. MacDonald,
It has come to the attention of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation that a group called SSM4Palestine has booked space in the Sault Ste. Marie public library for a viewing of the controversial, anti-Israel film, No Other Land. This film claims, falsely, that Israel is forcing Palestinian Arabs from land that they claim to be “Palestinian” when facts clearly provide an alternate,and true story.
There is no state of Palestine and there has never been one. The area that the film describes as Masafer Yatta is comprised of illegal squatter villages in the middle of an area legally under Israel’s civilian and military control ie Area C. This designation was negotiated with the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords. This area has never been “Palestinian” land.
”Palestinians” have never even had a treaty or comparable agreement granting them legal ties to eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. On the contrary, the original 1964 Palestine National Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) expressly disclaimed Palestinian rights to those three domains because they were occupied (illegally) by Jordan and Egypt, following the invasion of 5 Arab armies in 1948.
Facts are important, and this film neglects most facts, such as the 22 years of litigation against the squatters for building illegally and without any permits and without meeting any construction standards for structures. The Israel High Court of Justice ruled in 2022 that the outposts must be removed. The villagers of Masafer Yatta were relocated. Every country has the right to enforce its laws, and Israel, a country that abides by the rule of law, did follow due process.
So, we bring this to your attention, not to only provide you with historical accuracy and legal facts, but most importantly, to point out that at a time of rising and dangerous antisemitism across the globe, with attacks on Jews across Canada, with the increasingly anti-Israel campaigners failing to disguise their hostile antisemitism, this film will only engender more Jew hatred. The purveyors of Jew hatred hide behind their supposed concern for Palestinian Arabs but there is no evidence that all the protests, parades, riots, and threats expressed by groups supposedly “pro-Palestine” have any merit. They do absolutely nothing for the “Palestinian” people, but they do enflame Jew hatred. Gaza has been Jew-free since 2005 but that is overlooked by the Jew haters. The Palestinian Authority governs Areas A and B in Judea and Samaria, but that is overlooked by the Jew haters. Both Hamas and the PA have charters that openly declare they want to eradicate Israel—that is Jew hatred.
The film, No Other Land, misleads viewers, possibly intentionally, and will bring harm to your local Jewish community. This is no different than the use of antisemitic tropes against Jews which fueled hatred over the centuries across Europe and the Middle East. Does Sault Ste Marie’s public library have a role to play in fomenting hate or might you consider taking a stand that hatred and lies do not belong in publicly funded facilities?
We trust you will seriously consider our concerns and not subject any audience to the disinformation and defamation portrayed in this film.
Respectfully,
Andria Spindel,
Executive Director
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