Every Saturday at Toronto’s Dufferin Mall, I join a group of people in my neighbourhood to hand out leaflets with a call to action “Boycott Israeli Apartheid,” encouraging shoppers to boycott products that support Israeli apartheid. A small group of us started doing this every weekend a few months ago, and since then we’ve distributed tens of thousands of leaflets directly to people encouraging boycotting specific Israeli products, with pictures of the company logos and a brief explanation.
Leafleting for a cause is a great experience for anyone supportive of a movement. You get the opportunity to hand someone something directly, far more tangible than seeing the same content as a social media post. Unlike a social media post, a leaflet offers the opportunity to have meaningful one-on-one conversations with people about a cause.
This weekly leafleting effort is loosely affiliated with “Davenport for Palestine,” part of the Toronto Neighbourhood Groups for Palestine that focus on organizing neighbourhoods to put local pressure on their Members of Parliament. And a community and organization can grow out of it. Two people started leafleting at Dufferin Mall in June 2024, and now there is a group of over thirty people, grown entirely by word of mouth.
The Dawn Massacre
On Tuesday, March 19th, in response to Israel’s genocidal bombing campaign on Gaza, our leafleting group mobilized and printed hundreds of leaflets about boycotting Israeli products to distribute to passersby at a Palestinian Youth Movement emergency protest in Toronto.
The response was phenomenal. So many people walking past who didn’t understand the protest suddenly did after taking a leaflet and having a short conversation about why we were distributing them. So many people who support Palestine already but didn’t know what they could do about it now have an action they can take to show their support. A lot of people who were already pro-Palestine were excited to be able to put their energy towards something tangible.
Movement tactics
Every movement needs a diversity of tactics to succeed. By no means is distributing leaflets the end goal. But simply printing out leaflets like this and handing them out to people is an excellent way not just to raise awareness and get people to boycott Israeli apartheid (as was an important part of the movement against South African apartheid); it is also an excellent and inexpensive way to build a movement.
Leafleting, especially to people passing by a protest:
- Builds popular support for Palestine,
- Pulls more people into the movement, and
- And inspires people already in the movement to take action, which helps build overall confidence to escalate tactics.
The battle for a free Palestine is unfortunately a long one. Successful decolonial and anti-apartheid struggles historically have taken years. Boycotting is an effective mechanism to support liberation struggles, and played a pivotal role in overthrowing South African apartheid. Any movement needs a diversity of tactics to succeed.
Leafleting is not the only tactic, but it is a great way to build popular support while promoting a boycott that materially affects the state of Israel. Leafleting pulls more people into active participation. It is cheap to do and can start with just one or two people and build from there. I’ve been leafleting on most Saturdays for over six months, and the simple act of saying “products to boycott for a free Palestine” has made it far easier for me to talk about Palestine in general—and I can honestly say I’ve never once regretted it.
Our small leafleting organization started as two people and has grown to over thirty. We have since helped other groups start their own leafleting campaigns in neighbouring communities, translated flyers, and organised a best leafleting practices workshop attended by eight other neighbourhood groups. We have targeted specific stores, and in doing so succeeded in getting a large grocery store in our community to stop selling Israeli produce. And if you’re interested in doing any of the actions mentioned here, we would love to support you in your efforts in any way we can.
Wherever you are, getting involved in local organizing for Palestine can be as simple as finding one other person to go leafleting with you. And for those of you in Toronto, please come join us at Dufferin Mall in front of the Marshall’s entrance from 1-2pm every Saturday! We have a movement to build and a world to win.
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