The March to Ottawa initiative gave birth to the Wall of Shame, a space where Canadian MPs were publicly denounced for their alarming lack of humanity after refusing to read the names of more than 20,000 children killed by Israel in Gaza.

That proposal — to make voters aware of their representatives’ stance on such a painful issue — has since evolved. Its goal is now also to expose those who stand behind these politicians, setting the rhythm of Zionism in Canada.

In this new phase, the Wall of Shame introduces us to Irwin Cotler, a key and deeply controversial figure. From his privileged position within the Liberal Party, Cotler has helped give political and moral oxygen to Israel while promoting the criminalization of protest and silencing voices that dare to speak out against a state committing crimes against the Palestinian people.

Irwin Cotler – former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada – has long opposed Canada’s recognition of the State of Palestine. He is also the chief architect behind Canada’s formal adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a political tool designed to silence legitimate criticism of Israel.

According to Joshua Sealy-Harrington, associate professor and chair of equality law at the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law:

“It casts not just anti-Zionism but international law and, in particular, Palestinian human rights as antisemitic. … [It is] an Israel immunity handbook and must be understood as such.”

Throughout his career, Cotler has disguised his defense of Zionism under the mantle of humanitarianism, using his influence in Canada and abroad to shield Israel from accountability. In November 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed Cotler as Canada’s first “Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.” His mandate was to “advance the implementation of the IHRA definition across the country and promote its adoption internationally.”

This appointment led to the publication of the Canadian Handbook on the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, issued by the federal government. The handbook provides guidance to law enforcement, the Canadian legal system, and institutions on how to frame criticism of Israel as antisemitism.

The organization Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) has strongly condemned both the IHRA definition itself and Cotler’s handbook in particular, warning that it undermines free expression and shields Israel from scrutiny.

Cotler’s opposition to Palestinian statehood is not new. In 2012, he advised then–Foreign Minister John Baird to reject Palestine’s recognition at the UN—just as he continues to do today.

He was also among a group of legal scholars who argued, unsuccessfully, that the International Criminal Court should not have jurisdiction over crimes committed in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, claiming that Palestine is not a state.

In January 2024, Cotler publicly attacked South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, asserting that “Israel consistently seeks to minimize harm to civilians”—even as evidence mounts of Israel’s deliberate targeting of health workers, journalists, and children.

When confronted with the reality of apartheid, Cotler insists that “to say Israel is an apartheid state is not only false and prejudicial to Israel, but it undermines the real struggle against apartheid.”

Perhaps one need only know that Cotler is a close friend of Alan Dershowitz, who has called him “a modern-day Abraham.” Dershowitz, in turn, has publicly justified the killing of infants in defense of Israel.

For Cotler—as for so many so-called “humanitarian Zionists”—the phrase “Never Again” applies only to the Jewish people. For Palestinians, any atrocity appears permissible.