Razing Palestine edited by Leila Marshy

Reviewed by Ian Thomas Shaw

Before picking up a copy of Razing Palestine, it is worth considering what this anthology is—and what it is not. It is not a collection of literary short stories, nor a volume of meticulously footnoted analysis; readers seeking either of those will find them amply elsewhere. Instead, the book gathers first-hand testimonies from Canadians who have confronted what many consider the defining moral dilemma of our era: the destruction of Gaza and the suppression of Palestinian rights. Through diverse formats, the anthology illuminates the actions, risks, and repercussions experienced by activists, scholars, journalists, and cultural workers who have spoken against the previously dominant narrative in Canada. Their collective message challenges the longstanding assertion that Israel’s security needs can only be met through the diminishment—if not erasure—of Palestinian freedom and equality. More profoundly, it humanizes this tragedy by showing how some Canadians chose engagement over indifference, and paid for it in reputational, professional, and personal costs.

Taken as a whole, Razing Palestine discusses a shift in Canadian public consciousness regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, a shift very much engendered by the actions of small groups of activists across the country. The once-dominant mythology of Israel as a small democratic haven rising from Holocaust ashes to defend itself against hostile neighbours no longer neatly aligns with the images and testimonies emerging from Gaza—images that, for many, have exposed state violence rather than existential defence. The book argues that the current Israeli government’s policies amount to the forced removal and political extinguishing of Palestinians in Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the West Bank, and that efforts to suppress discourse within Canada now mirror that erasure on a cultural and institutional level. As Dr. Gabor Maté writes in his foreword, drawing on his own childhood survival of the Holocaust, “This anthology is subversive in the most positive sense of the word ... It subverts the subversion of the truth.”

While every contribution in the anthology is deserving of mention, space in this review allows only a few examples.

Razing Palestine opens with a compelling reflection by Libby Davies, a pillar of the Canadian Left. Former Deputy Leader of the New Democratic Party and an MP for 18 years, Davies recounts how a 2010 answer to a question on the Nakba, the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948, abruptly cast her into a political storm. The backlash—quick, organized, and intensely personal—accused her of antisemitism despite scholarly consensus on the historical reality of Palestinian displacement. Davies does not shy away from naming those who joined the cancellation effort, noting how the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism has become a powerful tool for silencing legitimate critique. Tom Mulcair, Bob Rae, Stephen Harper and Marc Garneau all played their part. Her testimony not only sets the tone of the anthology but establishes its ethical centre: a refusal to retreat from truth-telling, despite institutional risk.

In a striking interview, journalist Samira Mohyeddin recounts her departure from the CBC after years of celebrated reporting on women’s rights in Iran. Once praised as a leading feminist voice, she found herself ostracized when her attention turned to Palestinian civilians. Harassed online and in public spaces, attacked through misogynistic and homophobic slurs, Mohyeddin offers a stark example of how dissent is managed in Canada’s mainstream media ecosystem. Her pivot to independent journalism through her podcast On the Line marks not capitulation, but renewal.

The anthology also includes principled, collective responses rather than solely individual testimonies. One notable entry is the “Open Letter from Jewish Faculty in Quebec,” written in opposition to the weaponization of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in educational settings. Concerned by a provincial inquiry seemingly triggered by the simple inclusion of Palestinian literature in course syllabi, sixteen Jewish academics publicly denounced the chilling effect this posed. The subsequent wave of solidarity from unions and faculty underscored a central theme of the anthology: support for Palestinian rights transcends ethnic and religious identity, and suppressing debate ultimately impoverishes Canada’s democratic and intellectual life.

A deeply personal account from award-winning children’s author Lise Gravel offers a poignant narrative on cultural censorship. Targeted not for her published work but for social media posts explaining the Nakba, she suddenly found her books removed from the Jewish Public Library in Montreal, faced pressure on her publishers, and received anonymous threats. Yet, she also recounts the solidarity—from readers, writers, and Jewish colleagues—that ultimately restored her place in that library’s collection and affirmed that principled speech can withstand intimidation.

The value of Razing Palestine lies not only in its emotional immediacy but in its documentary importance. We live in a moment when history is being rewritten in real time, and when silence—whether chosen or coerced—will be remembered. One day, younger Canadians will ask what was known, what was done, and what was risked as Gaza burned and as repression rippled outward. This anthology will not offer them policy blueprints, but it will offer names, voices, and moral testimony. It may also, in some small way, encourage others to close the distance between awareness and action.

Razing Palestine is published by Baraka Books.