‘Divisive’ and ‘one-sided’: Brampton motion to denounce Gaza genocide put on pause amid criticism from Jewish group

“Divisive,” “one-sided,” and “disingenuous virtue signalling” – that’s how one Jewish-Canadian advocacy group is describing a now-paused Brampton City Council motion denouncing Gaza genocide.

“We unequivocally urge Council to reject and vote down this divisive motion,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said in a letter addressed to Mayor Patrick Brown and Brampton City Council on Tuesday.

The letter was issued a day before Brampton City Councillors were set to vote on a motion which would condemn “all illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and across Palestine.”

It would call on Canada “to recognize and take immediate action to address the genocide and ethnic cleansing occurring in Gaza,” while demanding an end to “all military operations by Israel in Gaza and facilitating full, unfettered humanitarian aid access to the region.”

The city would also sign the Apartheid-Free Network’s Community Pledge, committing to “freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people,” and “join others in working to end all support to Israel’s Apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.”

But the CIJA says the motion “strays far beyond municipal jurisdiction,” and urges council to stay in their lane.

“Foreign policy, arms controls, and the recognition of states are matters for the government of Canada, not for a local council,” the letter reads. “Using City Council to adjudicate international conflicts risks deepening community divisions and stigmatizing Brampton’s Jewish residents.”

Tomorrow’s Brampton City Council meeting will include a motion titled “Canada’s Role in Peace for the Palestinian People.” CIJA Ontario’s Director of Government Relations @JoshLandau_CIJA wrote to Mayor Patrick Brown urging Council to reject and vote down this divisive motion.… pic.twitter.com/JVJaUzafOR

— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) October 28, 2025

The CIJA called the motions “disingenuous virtue signalling,” and that residents of Brampton “deserve leaders who cool the temperature, rather than use global conflicts to score cheap political points and sow division.”

Brampton City Coun. Gurpartap Singh Toor put forward the motion, which was seconded by Coun. Navjit Kaur Brar.

Toor did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Rather than vote on Toor’s motion on Wednesday, council passed a motion from Coun. Martin Medirios to refer the motion to the Interfaith Council of Peel for input before coming back to Brampton council.

Hamas militants and affiliates attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 civilians and soldiers and taking roughly 240 people hostage. Israel responded by bombarding the Gaza Strip, killing more than 67,000 civilians and militants, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

The CIJA says it “supports a two-state solution that ensures peace and security for both peoples,” and that the motion from Toor “omits critical acknowledgement of the hurt and pain of the Jewish people following the October 7, 2023 massacre.”

The group also criticized the Apartheid-Free Network pledge, saying endorsement in Brampton “would effectively endorse a divisive boycott agenda that would alienate Jewish residents,” and “could embolden those who seek to express anger and hostility” towards Jews.