Interview with Apartheid-Free British Columbia’s Jeeda Musleh

In addition to our 850+ Apartheid-Free communities around the world, we’re proud to have 6 municipalities signed on to the Apartheid-Free pledge. The newest and Canada’s first Apartheid-Free municipality is Burnaby, British Columbia. Burnaby’s city council unanimously passed the resolution to sign on to the Apartheid-Free pledge at the end of August.

The motion that pledged Burnaby, B.C. as our newest Apartheid-Free municipality also included calls for the federal government to impose a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel, and expand the visa program that allows Canadians to help resettle family members from Gaza. The passing of the motion, sponsored by Councillor Alison Gu, represents a powerful step for the future of Apartheid-Free municipalities.

We sat down with Apartheid-Free British Columbia’s lead organizer, Jeeda Musleh, to talk about the campaign behind the motion, and the next steps for the British Columbia chapter, one of our fastest-growing regions of Apartheid-Free Communities.

Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us. We’re hoping to ask you some questions about the campaign to make Burnaby Canada’s first Apartheid-Free municipality. Can you tell me a little about yourself and your team, and about Burnaby, B.C. for those who may not be familiar with it?

Apartheid-Free Communities British Columbia launched our Apartheid-Free campaign back in December 2024. We first started working with faith communities, businesses, NGOs, and now we’ve expanded to work with cities as well. Burnaby specifically is in the greater Vancouver area, in an area called the Lower Mainland. It has about 263,000 residents. It’s a very diverse city, without a majority ethnic group; the residents of Burnaby speak about 120 languages. The city council is very progressive, and each councillor is working on different initiatives like anti-racism, the environment, and other amazing causes. For example, the council developed an anti-racism framework that’s something to be proud of, tackling anti-Indigenous racism, anti-Black racism, and supporting people of color. Burnaby was the first Canadian city to pass a ceasefire motion, and now it is the first Canadian city to declare itself as an Apartheid-Free city as well, so these motions around Palestine are only an extension of the amazing work that the city council has already been doing. 

What was your strategy to approach the city councillors about the Apartheid-Free pledge, and how did it incorporate your prior organizing for Apartheid-Free in the region?

We first started working with smaller communities, and once we got enough pledges from those communities, we approached the city of Burnaby. We first approached two of the city councillors to start the conversation. We didn’t have to do a lot of convincing in terms of what is happening in Palestine, because they were already knowledgeable about the situation there, and aware of the apartheid and the genocide. They were more concerned with what to do about it, so we discussed and shared some ideas back and forth before we introduced the Apartheid-Free pledge. In the beginning, the question that the city councillors asked about the pledge was, “Is it the most practical thing that could help the Palestinians?” We helped them understand the power of the Apartheid-Free pledge in naming apartheid, naming the injustice, calling it out, and pledging not to support it in any way. 

How did you get in touch with the city council members to talk directly? 

The city council had previously passed a ceasefire motion, so we reached out to two of them. We told them that although they had passed that ceasefire motion a year ago, the genocide is still ongoing, and asked to talk about what we could do, because we have to do something. They responded right away, and we had an informal meeting with them to chat about things that could be done. But them passing the ceasefire motion had already set that precedent.

Along with signing on Burnaby as an Apartheid-Free community, the motion also calls on Burnaby’s mayor, Mike Hurley, to advocate for a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel. How do these two parts of the motion connect to each other, and why did you choose to include both as part of the same motion?

The motion that passed has two parts. The first part is short-term, with an arms embargo component and a family reunification component. These are really important in the short term and need to happen right now to save lives and to stop the bloodshed. The second part is because if they focus only on the short-term, this council or future councils won’t necessarily support Palestine in the future. This is where the importance of the Apartheid-Free pledge comes in. The pledge is a long-term commitment, legally binding, for future councils to stand with humanity and stand for the human rights of Palestinians. And even the pledge is only a first step, so our next step is to approach the city council again soon for them to recognize the [Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East] definition of anti-Palestinian racism. If that passes, it will be shared with the school systems and public libraries. We started talking about this because according to the Legal Centre for Palestine, the anti-Palestinian racism cases in Canada have increased by 600% since 2022, and I think passing that definition will definitely help with reducing these cases. 

What obstacles did you face in your campaign, and how did you overcome them? 

The day after the motion passed, everybody was celebrating, and suddenly we found out that the council had received about 800+ angry emails about the motion within one hour. And then someone techy on our team realized it was AI-generated emails. All our opposition had to do is use a certain website, punch in certain keywords, and the website automatically generates emails to city councils telling them how bad their decision was. But there was no power behind that opposition, it was AI-generated, and our opposition can’t really mobilize 800 residents of Burnaby to write these emails within one hour. So when the city council tech team figured it out, they blocked this website, and then they received nothing else except for supportive emails. That was the biggest hiccup that happened around this motion.

What did you learn as an affinity group of the larger Apartheid-Free network, and what advice would you give to other Apartheid-Free municipality campaigns?

The biggest lesson that we learned is never to lose hope. The motion was passed at a time when most if not all of us were feeling so helpless. We were doing everything within our reach to stop the genocide and fight for Palestine: advocating, spreading awareness, speaking to politicians, in the streets drumming and chanting, and we felt like we were going nowhere and not changing anything on the ground. But when the motion passed it gave us so much hope. We started receiving emails and messages from all over the country saying how encouraged and hopeful everyone felt. For example, somebody said that they felt a fire was re-lit in their heart. We got many similar messages, even from cities that are not familiar to us, or people in rural areas who we had never heard from before. The motion had an effect that echoed to so many places, in Canada and beyond, and the messages we got were so heartwarming. To see people having hope again is really inspiring. 

Say more about what this victory means for the Palestine movement in British Columbia, in Canada, and around the world.

I would answer this question with three points. First of all, this motion challenged the federal government’s complicity in the genocide and structural injustices in Palestine. We thought that complicity couldn’t be challenged, but it can, and this is proof of that. The second thing is, these brave leaders who passed this motion in Burnaby fulfilled their role as our politicians as they’re supposed to do, reflecting the desires of the people they represent. We live in a messed-up world that we’re celebrating this amazing win as an exception when it should be the norm. What they did is what every politician should be doing. And the third thing is that they set a precedent. Burnaby city council became a role model to every politician, locally and across the world. They sent a strong message that even if standing up against apartheid and genocide doesn’t align with the global colonial powers, it is doable and we can do it. It takes a brave person and a brave group to start it off, but it is doable. 

What’s next for Apartheid-Free British Columbia?

We’re building Apartheid-Free British Columbia as a network. It’s not just a pledge to sign and forget about or do your own thing, we’re staying connected. In the beginning of November we have our first Apartheid-Free Conference, where all of our local signatories will be invited to connect and share how they are living out their pledge. The whole Palestine movement and especially the Apartheid-Free initiative is all about friendships and connections, with pro-humanity people from all different backgrounds coming together and opposing injustice in Palestine and around the world. In addition to building our network, we’re also responsive to what is emerging from the work that has started. For example, a community member and a dear friend of ours from Gaza has been trying to sponsor her family for a visa. She reached out to us to see if we could ask our local signatories, especially the businesses, if they can offer entry level jobs for people coming from Gaza. And we said of course we could help with that. It wasn’t on our agenda, but it’s a huge need that Apartheid-Free Communities is stepping up to help with. We’re creating this platform and calling it Apartheid-Free Workspaces where all our signatories and pro-humanity businesses can upload whatever job postings they have, and people coming from Gaza can get help with creating resumes in English and posting them on this website. It’s really important to help people coming from Gaza establish their lives in workspaces that are Palestine-friendly and that can understand that these people are coming from trauma, being thrown out of genocide and starting their lives below zero in a different country against their will. We’re also talking about offering some mental health assistance, because we have some people in the movement that are specialized in counseling and psychology. So we’re taking advantage of all our resources in the movement to put this project together, from tech to networking and mental health support.

What else would you like to share with other Apartheid-Free groups?

I’d encourage them to keep doing their amazing work, and to approach new communities. There is power in names and numbers, and the more numbers we have on board, the stronger our case, especially in front of politicians. We’re using the names and numbers as an advocacy tool; when we approach politicians, it makes such a difference to tell them that a huge number of communities in their city are all saying the same thing and signed on this pledge. Also, if it’s possible, build as a network as much as possible. Having signatories meet in person makes all the difference in the world for communities in your network to connect, build bridges, and feel more and more empowered.