Author: cpaadmin

End the Siege – Free Palestine

Rally to Commemorate 2014 Gaza Massacre and the Media Complicity
Wednesday,… Read more

Rally to Commemorate 2014 Gaza Massacre and the Media Complicity
Wednesday, July 8, 2015 at 5:30pm
CBC – Corner of Hamilton & Georgia St
Facebook Event
“Operation Protective Edge”, the most recent Israeli massacre of Gazans, began on July 7, 2014 and ended on August 26, 2014. Over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority civilians, by 6,000 air strikes and over 50,000 tank and artillery shells, four times the explosives used in Operation Cast Lead. According to Mary McGown, Chair of the UN Human Rights Council Commission on Gaza “the extent of the devastation and human suffering was unprecedented and will affect generations to come”.

We cannot allow this episode in 67 years of brutal occupation and violence to be forgotten.

Please join us.

Current organizers and endorsers: Boycott Israel Apartheid Campaign, Canada Palestine Association, CanPalNet, Independent Jewish Voices, United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel.

Picket the Jewish National Fund JNF Dinner & its Honouree John Baird

Sunday, June 7, 2015, 5pm
Four Seasons Hotel (W. Georgia and Howe St.) Vancouver… Read more

Sunday, June 7, 2015, 5pm
Four Seasons Hotel (W. Georgia and Howe St.) Vancouver
New – Great photos of the picket at Facebook Event

No Greenwashing Apartheid! No Charity Status for the JNF!

In a classic “greenwashing apartheid” move, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Pacific Region is holding its annual Negev dinner to raise funds to build a park in Sderot, a “green lung” they claim. At the same time, not far away, the Bedouin village of Al Araqib in the Negev/Naqab has been destroyed more than 80 times by Israeli and JNF paramilitary forces, but the Palestinians of the village refuse to surrender, returning time and time again to rebuild (more info at stopthejnf.org).
The JNF also notes in its publicity for the event that the park will “honour the memory of the 66 soldiers who were killed during Operation Protective Edge”, better known as Israel’s horrific aggression on Gaza last summer.
And equally fitting is the guest speaker that the JNF is honouring for the evening, John Baird, who signed the infamous January 18, 2015 Memorandum of Understanding as one of his last acts as Canada’s Foreign Minister that committed to develop “a coordinated, public diplomacy initiative both bilaterally and in international and multilateral fora to oppose boycotts of Israel, its institutions, and its people within three to six months”. This is the same John Baird that in an address to another 2012 JNF dinner explained to the audience, “Why Israel holds such a special place in my heart.”

Organized by: Canada Palestine Association, email info@cpavancouver.org
Endorsed by: Independent Jewish Voices-Vancouver

Download Poster

Conference on Christian Zionism

Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem:
Overcoming Christian Zionism in the Quest… Read more

Seeking the Peace of Jerusalem:
Overcoming Christian Zionism in the Quest for Justice

April 23rd – 25th
St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Church, Vancouver, B.C.

Upcoming conference presented by Canadian Friends of Sabeel (CFOS)
Co-sponsored by:
Anglican Church of Canada,
Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA),
Presbyterian Church in Canada
United Church of Canada

This conference includes action workshops on the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign and Authentic Christian Pilgrimage, as well as education workshops on the history of Christian Zionism and its local and international impacts.

Jim and Jeanie from Strathdee Music will be leading the Thursday evening worship service in song.

For complete and updated conference details visit CFOS website
Registration Info:
Registration Rate: $160
Student/Low-Income Rate: $35
To register, endorse (and subsidize student costs) and connect on Facebook, please click the buttons below:

ENDORSE THE CONFERENCE AND HELP STUDENTS ATTEND
INVITE YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS AND SPREAD THE WORD
VIEW CONFERENCE SCHEDULE AND WORKSHOPS
COMING FROM OUT OF TOWN? VIEW OUR TRAVEL PAGE

Vancouver marks Palestinian Land Day 1976-2015‏

On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians marched in towns and villages… Read more

On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians marched in towns and villages across the Galilee region, in the north of present-day Israel, to protest Israel’s expropriation of vast tracts of Palestinian land. In coordination with the Israeli military, some 4,000 police officers were dispatched to brutally quell the one-day general strike. At the end of the day, six Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by state security forces.
In Vancouver, Canada, on April 3, 1976, local Palestinians added their voices to the outcry over the killings and Israel’s policies of land confiscation (Check out this link). Since that time, Land Day has become a significant event for Palestinians as they commemorate not only their attachment to, and struggle for their homeland, but also to protest continuing Israeli ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.
As Ali Abunimah pointed out in an article on the Electronic Intifada:
“Day of the Land – or Land Day – marked a turning point as the first mass mobilization by Palestinians within Israel against internal colonialism and land theft. Its commemoration is a reaffirmation that the Palestinians who remained in the areas on which Israel was declared in 1948 are an inseparable part of the Palestinian people and their struggle.”

In recent years, Land Day has also been marked by global Days of Action on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions BDS. This year, Vancouver again joins in with Land Day activities by leafleting at a local university campus to highlight Air Canada’s role in supporting Israeli Apartheid and war crimes through its contracting with state owned Israel Aerospace Industries.
As the BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish campaign leaflet states –
“Air Canada recently signed a maintenance agreement for its B787 jets with Israel Aerospace Industries IAI, a military defense company wholly owned by the government of Israel. IAI is the subject of boycotts across Europe and is well-known for its drone technology and production. It is truly shameful that Air Canada is “outsourcing” its maintenance work to this Israeli defense company that is directly responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians.”
The campaign also started an on-line petition to Air Canada’s CEO, that set a target of 1000 signatures by Land Day, a target that was met and exceeded. And global support continues to increase as more groups and individuals are outraged by Air Canada’s open complicity with Israeli war crimes.

We call on all supporters of the Palestinian peoples’ struggle for liberation world-wide to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. The Western governments have proven over the last seven decades that they are the ones empowering Israeli war crimes; and we certainly can’t count on the Arab regimes, who rather than using their vast resources to challenge Israeli aggression, are busy trying to solidify their own dictatorships and suppress liberation movements across the Arab world.

Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver
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Details of Land Day Leafleting
** March 30: Palestinian Day of the Land **
Boycott Israeli Apartheid – Boycott Air Canada

Leafleting at Simon Fraser University
Burnaby Mountain campus
@ convocation hall near Bennett Library entrance
Monday, March 30
11:30 – 1:30pm

Boycott Air Canada: Tell Them We are not On-Board with Human Rights Violations

Air Canada still listing Sabra Hummus in their onboard menu.
Important … Read more

Air Canada still listing Sabra Hummus in their onboard menu.
Important Update:
Canadian BDS Coalition Declares Partial Victory in #AirCanadaComplicity
Article on the Electronic Intifada: Air Canada ends contract with Israeli arms firm

Interview with Hanna Kawas conducted by Sawssan Kaddoura for Under The Olive Tree “Air Canada Under Fire over IAI partnership and Sabra Hummus on its planes”
UPDATE Interview: Air Canada ends its partnership with IAI

New Article:
Technology of Israel Aerospace Industries: Tested on Palestinians, Exported to the World
#AirCanadaComplicity launched nationally by the Canadian BDS Coalition.
Read the statement on their website. Keep up the pressure on Air Canada until they end their complicity with the Israeli military defense industry!
Background articles on Palestine Chronicle:
#AirCanadaComplicity: Air Canada and Israel Aerospace Industries
Air Canada Is Complicit in Israeli War Crimes and Must be Held Accountable!
Sign our petition from BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish.

Background Info:

In 2015, we found out Air Canada has maintenance agreements with Israel Aerospace Industries IAI, which is wholly owned by the government of Israel. The IAI company website states: “Over the past 60 years IAI delivered, supplied and supported advanced systems for the Israeli Ministry of Defense..” Yet another compelling reason to boycott Air Canada.

Here are some further notes about Israel Aerospace Industries IAI, the company that Air Canada chose for “outsourcing” some of its maintenance work. IAI is the subject of boycotts across Europe, in particular, and is well-known for its drone technology and production. It is truly shameful that Air Canada is doing business with this Israeli government-owned military defense company that is directly responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Finally, and not surprisingly, Calin Rovinescu, Air Canada’s CEO, was part of PM Stephen Harper’s delegation to Israel in 2014.

Israel Aerospace Industries IAI and Israel’s drone wars
(according to Corporate Watch)
“IAI was one of the earliest developers of drone technology and launched its first surveillance drone, the IAI Scout, in 1979. Since then the company has launched a number of drone models (see below). Drone development is handled by IAIs MALAT divisions. IAI writes on its website of its drones’ “unsurpassed track record of over 1,200,000 operational flight hours for over 50 users on five continents”. According to Drone Wars UK, IAI has exported their UAVs, sometimes through joint venture agreements, to various European countries as well as South America, Australia, Canada and India and the company has a growing market in Africa.
Most of IAI’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) are surveillance drones, but the Heron 1 and Heron TP both have strike capabilities and have been used in Gaza. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW),i the Heron can fly up to 40 hours and can carry four Spike missiles. It is also used for surveillance and to identify targets on the ground.”

Previous Article from Palestine Chronicle on the campaign.

Article about the Air Canada Boycott on Mondoweiss.net
Under the Olive Tree interview with Aiyanas Ormond on BDS and Air Canada Boycott

Download the Fact Sheet

دعوة لمقاطعة شركة الطيران الكندية

وقعت مؤخرا شركة ألطيران الكندية اتفاقية لصيانة طائراتها من نوع بوينج (ب 787) مع مؤسسة “الصناعات الفضائية الإسرائيلية”، وهي شركة للصناعات العسكرية الني تمتلكها بالكامل حكومة الارهاب الإسرائيلية. ان شركة “الصناعات الفضائية الإسرائيلية” هي هدف للمقاطعة في جميع أنحاء أوروبا وهي مشهوره بتصنيع وإنتاج الطائره بدون طيار المعروفة في قطاع غزة بالزنانة.
ومن المخجل والمستهجن حقا لشركة ألطيران الكندية أن تصدر أعمال صيانة طائراتها خارج كندا و تدعم شركة عسكرية اسرائيلية مسؤولة بشكل مباشرعن بث الرعب ونشر الدمار والقتل بين أوساط المدنيين الفلسطينيين والعرب.
الرجاء توقيع العريضة لمدير شركة ألطيران الكندية الموجودة أعلاه على هذه الصفحة.


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Original Callout for Boycotting Air Canada Regarding Sabra Hummus

Dear Friends:
In the last month, we have communicated twice with Air Canada officials regarding their unethical behaviour in serving Israeli products on their flights. They have refused to answer us and left us with no choice but to launch a campaign to inform people of their policies. There are two products in question – one is Sabra Hummus which is listed in Air Canada’s on-board menu and prominently featured on the last page of the Air Canada cafe menu.
Sabra Hummus has already been an issue of controversy on university campuses in the U.S. and Canada because of the deplorable human rights record of one of its partner companies, Strauss Group. Strauss is the second largest Israeli food and beverage company and is known for supporting two Israeli military units implicated in human rights abuses, the Golani and Givati brigades.
The other product in question is Eden Springs water that comes from an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Golan Heights. Air Canada refuses to confirm or deny if they are still handling this product which they did serve in the past.
We ask all supporters of Palestinian rights, both here in Canada and globally, to publicize and implement this call for a boycott of Air Canada until they respect the call of Palestinian civil society. Help us to send the message that Palestinian rights and lives matter and Israeli government abuses of international law will not be rewarded!
Please tell Air Canada to stop their complicity with Israeli war crimes and make them aware that you are not “on-board” with supporting human rights violations.
BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish Committee

Ways to contact Air Canada:
Email Air Canada CEO – calin.rovinescu@aircanada.ca
Air Canada Customer Relations – Webmail
Or Fax: 1-866-584-0380
Or Mail: PO Box 64239,
RPO Thorncliffe – Calgary, AB
Canada T2K 6J

Letters sent to Air Canada

Please join Facebook Group