Author: cpaadmin

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: HKJEmbassyDC@aol.com

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

The Coalition Against Israel’s War Crimes delivered a letter on October 28 to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration asking him to prohibit Ariel Sharon from entering Canada pursuant to section 35 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which renders individuals guilty of committing war crimes or crimes against humanity inadmissible for entry. Sharon is scheduled to speak on November 14 at the United Jewish Communities 2005 General Assembly being held in Toronto and one of the invited speakers is Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

The letter has been endorsed so far by 71 organizations across Canada including Lawyers Against the War, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – Canadian Section, Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Islamic Congress, Al-Awda – Palestine Right of Return, Canadian Peace Alliance, Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, Canadian Union of Public Employees – Toronto District, and Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation.

The letter further asks that the Minister of Foreign Affairs exercise his authority under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and declare Sharon persona non grata so that any entry he might make will be denied the protection of diplomatic immunity.

Canada has obligations, under several international conventions to which it is a party, to arrest and prosecute international criminals such as Ariel Sharon. In pursuance of some of these obligations Canada has enacted the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act 2000. Hence, the letter also requests, should Sharon nevertheless enter Canada, that the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General commence proceedings under section 9(3) of the War Crimes Act to have him prosecuted for the offence of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, contrary to section 6 of the War Crimes Act.

Sharon’s responsibility for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity as a result of his role in the 1982 Sabra and Shatilla massacres has been well-documented. In addition, multiple sources have documented continuous breaches of international law that have occurred throughout Sharon’s tenure and under his direction and tacit authority.

Amnesty International, B’Tselem, Human Rights Watch and United Nations organs have reported incidences in which the Israeli government committed war crimes or crimes against humanity with respect to combatants as well as civilians. The documents attached and referred to in the letter include 600 pages of reports from government and non-governmental organizations, as well as reports published in the International media.

Contact: Khaled Mouammar
Telephone: 905-508-0562
Email: benwalid@rogers.com

The following 70 organizations have so far endorsed the letter:

• Al-Awda – Palestine Right of Return – Toronto (Al-Awda)
• Al-Huda Lebanese Muslim Society
• Al-Wilayat Islamic Center of Hamilton Arab Law Student’s Association, Osgood Hall (ALSA)
• Alternative Perspective Media / Regard Alternative Media (ARM-RAM)
• Arab Students’ Collective (University of Toronto)
• Arab Students’ Collective (York University)
• Canada Palestine Association (CPA), Halifax
• Canada Palestine Association (CPA), Vancouver
• Canada-Palestine Support Network (Ottawa)
• Canadian Arab Federation
• Canadian Arab Human Rights Organisation (Montreal)
• Canadian Druze Society
• Canadians for Jerusalem (CFJ)
• Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC)
• Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF)
• Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Quebec (CPFQ)
• Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA)
• Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) – Toronto District
• Centre de ressources sur la non-violence, Montréal
• Coalition for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel
• Coalition of Arab Canadian Professionals & Community Associations (CAPCA), Ottawa
• Creative Response CUPE’s International Solidarity Committee – Ontario Division
• Hamilton Council of Canadian Arabs (HCCA)
• Hamilton Muslim Association
• Ihya Foundation International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS)
• Islamic Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada
• Islamic Forum of Canada, Brampton
• Islamic Foundation of Toronto
• Islamic Society of York Region
• Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation (JWCEO)
• Jordan Canadian Friendship Society
• La Fondation Canado-Algerienne du Quebec
• Lawyers Against the War (LAW)
• Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP)
• Moroccan Association of Toronto
• Movement for Universal Justice
• Muslim Canadian Congress
• Muslim Council of Montreal
• Muslim Unity Group
• Near East Cultural Education Foundation (NECEF)
• Niagara Coalition for Peace (NC4P)
• Niagara Palestinian Association (NPA)
• November 16 Coalition (N16C)
• Palestine Community Centre, Vancouver
• Palestine House Palestine Solidarity Group, Vancouver
• Palestinian & Jewish Unity / Palestiniens et Juifs Unis (PAJU) – Montréal
• Pickering Islamic Centre
• Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)
• Solidarity for Palestinian Rights (SFPR), University of Waterloo
• SPHR Carleton University
• SPHR McMaster University
• SPHR University of Western University
• SPHR York University
• Socialist Action
• StopWar.ca Coalition, Vancouver
• Students for Peace in Iraq (University of Toronto)
• Sumoud Political Prisoners Solidarity Group (Sumoud)
• Syrian Arab Association of Canada
• Syrian Canadian Cultural Association
• Teach-In on Diversity, Democracy and Dissent within the Jewish Community
• The Muslim Services, Toronto
• Toronto Coalition to Stop the War (TCSW)
• Toronto Forum on Cuba
• United Front Canada
• Voice of Palestine, Vancouver
• Women for Palestine
• Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), Canadian Section

Dear Friends:

We are pleased to tell you that VanCity has reversed its decision regarding closing the business account of B.C. MARKET. David Mowat, their CEO, personally informed us that the decision had resulted from a misunderstanding and also offered an apology for what had happened.

Therefore, we consider the matter resolved. We would like to thank all those people who took the time to write or phone and express their concerns about this incident. We know that it was only because of the overwhelming support that we received that this issue was brought to a successful conclusion. We also know that it was because we were dealing with a credit union, that your input was able to influence the final outcome.

Once again, thanks for helping the Arab and Moslem community feel that they are not alone and that democratic grass-roots actions are worthwhile and effective.

In Solidarity
Hanna Kawas,
Owner, B.C. MARKET

The Honourable Irwin Cotler Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Mr. Cotler:

It has came to our attention that Retired Israeli Colonel Zeev Raz, who led the illegal Israeli aggression against Iraq in 1981 and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor, will be in Vancouver to speak at Temple Shalom on September 17, 2005.

Canada and the UN condemned this terrorist raid that endangered the lives of the Iraqi civilian population and encroached on the sovereignty of a UN member state.

We demand that you immediately ask the Canadian courts to issue an arrest warrant against this war criminal, who is being brought to Vancouver to publicly brag about his illegal exploits.

If Canada truly upholds international law and behaves in an even-handed manner, Colonel Raz should be held accountable for his and his government’s illegal actions.

If Canada does not take action immediately, it will show the world that Canada practices hypocrisy and the worst kind of double standards. It will also clearly demonstrate the total pro-Israel bias of your government and its disregard for the human rights and the sanctity of human life in the Arab world.

Waiting for your prompt action,
Hanna Kawas
Chair, Canada Palestine Association www.cpavancouver.org
Host, Voice of Palestine www.voiceofpalestine.ca

cc The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister
The Honourable Anne McLellan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Other Parliamentarians

Following is an open letter sent to VanCity credit union in Vancouver. If you agree that their actions are discriminatory and outrageous, please let them know.

Email: VanCity Board of Directors board_directors@vancity.com
Phone/Fax: VanCity Branch 17 Financial Services Manager Tel: 604-877-7171 or Branch Manager Tel: 604-877-7170 Fax: 604-877-7917
(Please c.c. the chair of the Vancity Community Foundation, Tim Louis vcf@vancity.com, the body mandated “to develop relationships with …. immigrant/refugee groups”.)

Hanna

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August 24, 2005
OPEN LETTER
Re: DISCRIMINATORY POLICIES OF VANCITY TOWARDS ARAB-CANADIANS

B.C. MARKET is a small business in New Westminster, a convenience and Arabic food store, which has banked for many years with VanCity Credit Union. However, on August 15, 2005, VanCity sent a letter to B.C. MARKET, informing us that they would be closing our accounts in a month, because they have “been unable to fully understand the nature of the business’ revenue”.

For the last year, they had intermittently been asking us for confidential financial information, which we diligently provided, even sending them a copy of our official business tax return. We sent a letter, detailing the nature of running a convenience store and how it entails handling a lot of cash. We told them, in that letter of June 23, 2004, that we were long-time credit union supporters and were disappointed with their behaviour towards a small community business. We also questioned if all of this harassment was not motivated by the fact that the business in question is owned by two people of Palestinian Arab descent. At the time, they denied any such intentions.
However, this new outrage, done in such a crude manner, has confirmed our suspicions that we are being targeted because of our racial origins. We are sure that our business activities are no different than any other convenience-type store and we are equally sure that we are being singled out due to anti- Arab hysteria by both our government and this financial institution. We are also sure that the fact that both owners are community activists and staunch supporters of Palestinian rights, and that B.C. MARKET has developed into an information hub about pro-Palestinian and anti-war activity, has only heightened the discrimination we are currently experiencing.

Consequently, we are most certainly closing our accounts at VanCity without delay, not just our business account but also any personal accounts. We are horrified that a credit union could behave in this arbitrary manner and we are calling on all progressive groups and individuals (trade unions, small businesses, church and community groups) to also close their accounts at VanCity and inform them why. We are also telling our broader community, both in Canada and internationally, about this situation, and asking them to terminate any dealings they may have with VanCity.

The Arab-Canadian community is becoming increasingly fed up with these kind of racist actions, be it police and security services harassment towards community members or financial discrimination towards small businesses. Regrettably, it seems Canada did not learn the painful lessons of wrongfully incarcerating the Japanese-Canadian community half a century ago, despite recent apologies to the contrary.

Hanna Kawas
Owner, B.C. MARKET
c.c. VanCity Board of Directors