Silenced Voices: The Impact of Terrorism Designations on Palestinian Advocacy in Canada | Basema Al-Alami
When and Where
Speakers
Description
Join us for the second seminar in the 2024-2025 Seminar Series presented by the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality and co-sponsored by Hearing Palestine. The talk by speaker Basema Al-Alami will be followed by a moderated panel discussion.
This is a free event, however, registration is required.
Prior to the seminar, join us for a light lunch from noon to 12:30 pm in the library. Please indicate your lunch RSVP for catering purposes when you register.
Abstract
This project examines the coverage of Palestinian solidarity protests and statements within Canadian right-wing and centrist media, alongside political and institutional discourse—particularly statements from politicians, lawyers, and law schools—surrounding pro-Palestinian voices. Focusing on events such as protests and student encampments, Basema Al-Alami explores how the Canadian media landscape and institutional narratives employ framing techniques that align with criminalizing narratives, often using labels such as "terrorism" and "violence" to delegitimize Palestinian voices. Through an archival analysis of media articles, legal statements, and public commentary from October 7, 2023, to August 30, 2024, this research shows that these discursive practices reflect broader processes of securitization, which align with dominant political narratives. Moreover, the project highlights a significant gap in Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS) concerning the nuanced understanding of how these narratives shape public perceptions of Palestinian social movements.
About the speaker
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Basema Al-Alami is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, specializing in the intersection of counterterrorism, entrapment law, and anti-Muslim bias in Canada’s legal system. Her research examines systemic issues in national security practices, particularly the litigation and over-policing of Muslims in post-9/11 Canada. Basema has presented her work at national and international conferences, and she is currently teaching Constitutional Law at Windsor Law. Her thesis title is "Inside the Courtroom: Litigating Islam and Muslimness in Canadian Entrapment Trials." |
About the panellists and co-moderators
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Fahad Ahmad (panellist) is an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University. Prior to joining Toronto Metropolitan University, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto. He obtained his PhD at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University. His doctoral research, supported by SSHRC and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, comparatively examined the securitization of Muslim civil society organizations under national security regimes in Canada and the U.K. He is currently preparing a book manuscript based on his dissertation. |
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Sonya Fatah (panellist) is an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Journalism where she has taught since 2017. Sonya’s teaching, research and practice are invested in areas of community-based live journalism, representation in the newsroom, press freedoms and media narratives on international reporting. |
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Beatrice Jauregui (co-moderator) is an associate professor and graduate studies coordinator at the University of Toronto Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, cross-appointed to the Centre for South Asian Studies at the Asian Institute, and the Department of Anthropology. She chairs the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality. Professor Jauregui’s research addresses how governance and security institutions and actors reflect and shape dynamics of social order and state power. |
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Alejandro Paz (co-moderator) is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He finished his joint PhD in anthropology and linguistics at the University of Chicago in 2010. His research addresses the role of language in globalization, transnationalism and diaspora. He is also interested in the relation between public communication, media and citizenship, and regionally he researches Israel in the Middle East. His publications to date and work in progress are based on extensive ethnographic, archival and linguistic fieldwork in Israel/Palestine. |
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Kent Roach (panellist) is professor of law at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He is a former law clerk to Justice Bertha Wilson of the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Roach has been editor-in-chief of the Criminal Law Quarterly since 1998. In 2002, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2013, he was one of four academics awarded a Trudeau Fellowship in recognition of his research and social contributions. In 2015, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2016, named (with Craig Forcese) one of the top 25 influential lawyers in Canada (change-maker category) by Canadian Lawyer. He was awarded the Molson Prize for the social sciences and humanities in 2017. |
Accessibility
The Canadiana Gallery main entrance is served by a ramp and the entrance door features an automatic no-touch wave switch for door opening. The all-gender washroom on the main floor is accessible. The CrimSL Library is accessible by vertical lift.
If you have any access needs, or if there are any ways we can support your participation in this event, please email csri@utoronto.ca and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.
Notice of photography and videography
Photography, audio and video recording may occur throughout this event. Therefore, by attending, you hereby authorize the University of Toronto to take your photograph, video and/or record your voice and grant the university all rights to these sounds, still or moving images in any medium for educational, promotional, marketing, advertising or other such purposes that support the mission of the university. If you do not consent to this, please speak with a university representative upon your arrival.
About co-sponsors of this event
This event is presented by the CrimSL Research Cluster for the Study of Racism and Inequality and Hearing Palestine, an intellectual hub at the University of Toronto that centers the study of Palestine and facilitates advanced interdisciplinary research on Palestine, past, present, and future.