The Canadian Hadassah-WIZO is holding its 38th National Convention in Vancouver, November 19th – 23rd, 2005. In addition to the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Alan Baker, as one of their “Distinguished Guests”, also in attendance will be the new Jordanian Ambassador to Canada, Nabil Barto. Barto will be addressing the Gala Banquet that will be held Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 and will also be speaking on Monday, Nov. 21 alongside the same Israeli Ambassador at a forum called “Partners in Peace”, moderated by the Canadian Minister of Western Economic Diversification and Sport, Stephen Owen, a leading member of “Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel”.
The Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) is by name a Zionist organization, although it claims to be “a non-political women’s volunteer organization”. It is “the largest constituent organization of the Canadian Zionist Federation”; it “serves on the Board of Directors of the Canada-Israel Committee” and is “represented on the Executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress”; and part of its Mission Statement says it “highlights the role of Israel in today’s world”.
Simply put, this Canadian Hadassah-WIZO, as part of the Zionist movement, is directly responsible for the dispossession of the Palestinian people and the physical liquidation of the Palestinian nation.
Without peace and security for the Palestinian people, without recognizing the injustices that befell the Palestinian nation since 1917, without the realization of the Palestinian inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination, the right to be free from occupation and the right to return to their homeland, Israel, as a supremacist state, should not be rewarded for its continued war crimes against the Palestinian people.
For all the above reasons and recognizing that peace will not be achieved without justice and equality for all, we the undersigned organizations denounce the Jordanian ambassador to Canada and all those* who are giving a cover for brutal Zionist practices. We hold them responsible for Israel’s flaunting of international law and conventions, and accordingly hold them complicit in Israel’s war crimes and military ventures.
Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver www.cpavancouver.org
Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec (CPFQ)
Palestine Community Centre www.palestinecommunitycentre.com
Palestine House www.palestinehouse.com
Palestine Solidarity Group – Vancouver www.palsolidaritygrp.org
Robin Hood Collective, University of Toronto
Voice of Palestine, Vancouver www.voiceofpalestine.ca
Please send individual letters of protest to:
Embassy of Jordan
100 Bronson Avenue, Suite 701,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6G8, Canada
Tel: (613) 238-8090
Fax: (613) 232-3341
Or email the Embassy of Jordan in the USA at: [email protected]
Others attending the Canadian Hadassah-WIZO National Convention in Vancouver are:
- Iona Campagnolo, Lieutenant Governor of British Colombia
- Joy Macphail, Former Head of BC NDP Party
- Dr Martha Piper, President, University of British Columbia
- Kathleen Bartels, Director, Vancouver Art Gallery
- Patricia Graham, Editor in Chief, Vancouver Sun
- Dr. Grace McCarthy, OC, OBC, former B.C. Cabinet Minister
- Barbara Yaffe, Vancouver Sun Journalist
- Marc Gold, Chairman, Canada Israel Committee
- Rosalie Zalis, Member of the Executive Committee of AIPAC
- Dr. Karen Gelmon, Head of BC Cancer Society, Breast Cancer Screening