Canadian Arab Federation

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The Canadian Arab Federation was formed in 1967 to represent the interests of Arab Canadians with respect to the formulation of public policy in Canada. It presently consists of over 40 member organizations.

In discharging its political tasks, it relies on building media and government relations. CAF builds its grassroot support through various capacity building projects within the Canadian Arab community, also promoting the richness of Muslim and Arab culture.

CAF objectives include protecting civil liberties and human rights as well as combating racism and hate within Canada. It has been most vocal against recent anti-Arab and anti-Muslim activities in Canada, and has issued many position papers to the government with respect to its policies in the Middle East and its domestic policies dealing with immigration. ^[1] CAF, in cooperation with the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, presented before the Arar Commission, a Canadian special commission set up to investigate the extraordinary rendition and torture of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen of Syrian origin. Arar was detained by American immigration officials at a NY airport when his flight to Toronto from Geneva had a stopover there. He was sent to Syria where he was imprisoned and tortured for a year before finally being released. ^[2] ^[3]

In a press release responding to the recent stepped up Israeli attacks on Gaza known as Operation Summer Rains, CAF urged the Canadian government to "join Canadian churches and unions by boycotting Israeli goods, divesting from Israeli companies, and imposing sanctions until Israel withdraws from all the occupied Arab territories, dismantles all settlements and tears down the Apartheid [sic] Wall." ^[4]

The current president of the CAF, Khaled Mouammar, was elected to the post in early 2006. Mouammar was also president of the CAF in the 1970s, and again from 1980 to 1982.