Category: CPA Statements

Open letters and statements to the public from the Canada Palestine Association.

#IVotePalestine: Vancouver Election Edition

UPDATE: Final Report #IVotePalestine Vancouver

The following questionnaire was sent to all civic organizations running in the Vancouver municipal election. Here are the responses so far.
1. Response from Christine Boyle, OneCity Vancouver
2. Response from Sean Orr, Vote Socialist: YES to all five questions. Vote Socialist also included some of the points raised in our questionnaire in their platform.
3. Response from Jean Swanson & COPE
(Even though he hasn’t responded to us, IJV Vancouver reported that Kim Sim, ABC Vancouver was openly supporting the IHRA at a mayoral townhall meeting.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

QUESTIONNAIRE:

We stand for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people, and believe as Nelson Mandela did that “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” 

I Vote Palestine is a Canadian national initiative to hold federal, provincial and municipal governments accountable for perpetuating systemic anti-Palestinian racism and enabling ongoing Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian rights.  

In the name of Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver and the Canadian BDS Coalition, we are reaching out to all candidates and political parties in the upcoming Vancouver city election to know where you stand on the following issues. (We will make your answers public and ask our supporters and all anti-racist Vancouverites to vote their conscience. #IVotePalestine).

1.   No IHRA at Vancouver city council: 

A motion was submitted by Councillor Kirby-Yung on July 23, 2019 to adopt the anti-Palestinian definition of the “International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism”, which aims to silence criticism of Israel. The motion was not passed, although it was supported by all five members of the Non-Partisan Association (NPA).

Do you agree that such a definition, that equates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, “undermines both the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality and the global struggle against antisemitism”? 
Do you pledge to consult with Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and human rights organizations such as BCCLA when discussing city policies relating to race relations and racism, and to combat all forms of racism? 

2.   Vancouver Police complicity in Israeli apartheid:

A. On July 8, 2018, Vancouver police chief Adam Palmer hosted Israeli police Major General Avshalom Peled, commander of the Border Police Unit 33 and called him an “insightful leader“. Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), Vancouver called Mr. Peled “notorious for violent suppression of an entire population through widespread human rights violations including extrajudicial killings.” 

B. On June 19, 2019, a representative of the Zionist organization, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), addressed the Vancouver Police Board where he called on them to “formally adopt the IHRA definition…and to ask relevant units of the VPD to make use of it as a tool”. 

There is a growing movement across North America to scrutinize and hold police forces to account. In praising visiting Israeli war criminals and giving a platform for local pro-Israel advocates, the Vancouver Police have been complicit in legitimizing Israeli war crimes and promoting anti-Palestinian racism. We expect better!

Do you support calling on the Vancouver Police to stop exchanges with Israeli police officials and units, and to educate themselves on anti-Palestinian racism and its implications in their relations with the community?  

3.   Israeli Apartheid:

International human rights organizations Amnesty International(AI) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, have established that Israel is an apartheid state that practices institutional racism in all of the territories under its control “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea”.
Please check out Amnesty International’s Aug. 15, 2022 post: “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Report & Resources” and Desmond Tutu’s opinion: Israel guilty of apartheid in treatment of Palestinians. 

Would you be willing to work towards declaring the city of Vancouver and its institutions as apartheid free zones? 

4.   Jewish National Fund (JNF):

The Jewish National Fund(JNF) practices blatant and well-documented discrimination against Palestinians, as it does not lease nor sell any of the properties under its control in Israel to non-Jews, including Palestinian Israeli citizens. Further, a 2019 CBC report revealed that JNF Canada had solicited donations and issued charitable tax receipts for funds to go directly to the Israeli military and to illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
Israeli scholar Uri Davis stated in his comprehensive writings that “Central to the Israeli legal apartheid system is the Jewish National Fund (JNF)”. 

Regrettably, the City of Vancouver historically has been complicit in supporting this blatant discrimination through the actions of successive mayors and councillors. This included Mayors who attended JNF fund raising dinners such as Mike Harcourt, Philip Owen, and Larry Campbell to Gordon Campbell who sent greetings to a JNF gala, to the mayoral candidate and city councillor Jim Green who proudly hung a JNF donation certificate at his Vancouver City Hall office. 

Do you agree that it is unconscionable and inappropriate for City of Vancouver officials to support or promote an organization that is openly racist and discriminates against an indigenous population, in this case the Palestinians?

Regards,
Hanna Kawas, Chair
Canada Palestine Association

David Eby & BC NDP’s Failure on Israeli Apartheid Wines

Four years ago this month, the Boycott Israeli Wines campaign held a picket at the MLA office of BC Attorney General David Eby. At the time, his mandate included the BC Liquor Distribution Branch, which has been flaunting international law and Palestinians rights for over a decade by stocking Israeli apartheid wines linked to the illegal settlement enterprise.

And our delegation inside his office.

The picket also delivered a copy of the letter signed by 26 organiztions to Eby’s office, emphasizing our concerns with the BC NDP government’s policy. Eby finally sent a brief written response but refused to meet with our campaign representatives in person, saying “my schedule does not allow me to meet with you at this time.” Although he was finally obliged to meet with a small group of his own constituents on the issue, no action of any sort was forthcoming, not from Eby nor from the minister who inherited the BCLDB portfolio, Finance Minister Selina Robinson.

Recently, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh reiterated his party’s commitment to “end all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine”, based on the resolution already passed at their 2021 convention. As noted in our April 19, 2021 letter to BC Minister Selina Robinson:
“The sale of wines from illegal Israeli settlements in BC and Canadian liquor stores has been an ongoing travesty for over a decade; there is no better place for the NDP to implement its new policy (and for)… action to finally be taken on this issue.“

But despite stonewalling us for years with lame excuses, the BC NDP government joined other provinces in just 2 days in putting a “…halt to the importing and sale of Russian liquor products from our BC Liquor Stores and provincial liquor distribution centres”. Just two days! And supposedly all in the name of standing with those “who want to live in peace and against those who commit deplorable and illegal acts of aggression.” (Except when it comes to Palestinians of course). So it can be done and done quickly. It just depends on who you are and what political agenda is being served.

So we call on the BC NDP government to stop their crass hypocrisy and respond to the concerns of multiple individuals and organizations regarding the stocking of Israeli apartheid wines. We refuse to be made complicit in Israeli war crimes; your lack of any significant action on this issue puts your government and party’s credibility and ethics into question!

Stop the smear campaigns against Palestinian Advocacy!

New Article in Mondoweiss: Fearmongering and intimidation by Canada’s pro-Israel lobby – Mondoweiss

(Over 85 Canadian and international organizations have endorsed this statement, as well as numerous individuals including Roger Waters. Join with them and send your own letter to Canadian officials here.)

Today, we are witnessing an intensified campaign by the pro-Israel lobby in Canada to smear Palestinian activists and their supporters. Last week, the National Post (NP) ran an online article about Palestinian-Canadian writer Khaled Barakat and the advocacy organization Samidoun. On April 30, the same article was splashed across their front page of their paper and has since been referenced in the Canadian Senate and the Jerusalem Post.

A year ago, Canada Palestine Association and 35 other concerned organizations issued a statement detailing their rejection of attempts to criminalize Samidoun, a Palestinian advocacy group for prisoners, by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA). At that time, we said:  Should Canada’s policies on these important issues be decided by what the Israeli government dictates?

We repeat the question now. All of this recent hysteria can be traced back to the one article written by Terry Glavin. However, Mr. Glavin admitted in his own blog on April 29 that B’nai Brith first approached him with their “files” on the subject. He also thanked CIJA in the same blog entry for their assistance.

There seems to be nothing new in the recent defamation campaign, which relies heavily on already known social media posts and Israeli official and intelligence sources (which are mentioned at least 13 times in the NP article). So what pushed the Zionist lobby groups to resurrect this campaign at this specific time? Is it an attempt to deflect attention from the student union resolutions in support of Palestine at major Canadian universities? Or an effort to distract from the growing number of organizations that have expressly condemned Israeli practices as apartheid?

The French government recently tried to ban a Palestinian support group, “Collectif Palestine Vaincra”, but have already been forced by their own courts to suspend that decision.

We tell the Canadian government that the old smear tactics of “trial by fire” are not acceptable. As our statement last year concluded: “This criminalization of Palestinian advocacy is unacceptable and unfounded; Palestinian-Canadians and their supporters have no intention of allowing biased officials to suppress their democratic rights and their voices.”

Signed:
Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver
BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish

Endorsed by:
Academics for Palestine – Concordia
Actions4Palestine A4P, Toronto
Anti Imperialist Alliance, Ottawa
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians (APAC), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Bayan Canada
BDS Caucus UTGSU
Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Victoria BC
Canada Palestine Support Network (CanPalNet)
Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights
Canadian BDS Coalition
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid-Victoria
Communist Party Canada
East Indian Defense Committee (EIDC)
Edmonton Small Press Association
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle – Coast Salish Territories
Free Palestine Halifax
Free Palestine YEG, Edmonton
Global Peace Alliance BC
GTA Palestine Movement
GT4BDS (Greater Toronto 4 BDS)
Hamilton Coalition to Stop The War
HR4A Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK
Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
In Our Right Minds, Toronto
International League of Peoples’ Struggle Canada
Just Peace Advocates
Just Peace Committee-BC
Justice For All Canada, Toronto
Justice for Palestinians, Calgary
Labour for Palestine – Canada
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association (OPRA), Oakville, Ontario
OPIRG Carleton
Palestinian and Jewish Unity PAJU
Palestinian Student Society Association (PSSA), Guelph
Palestinian Youth Movement PYM
Palestine Solidarity Network – Edmonton
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Secours Rouge Montréal, Montréal, QC
Simon Fraser University Students for Justice in Palestine, BC
Socialist Action
Socialist Project, Toronto
Students Against Israeli Apartheid U of T
Sulong UBC
Toronto Raging Grannies
Vancouver Peace Council
Venezuela Peace and Solidarity Committee, BC

Al Naqab Center for Youth (مركز النقب للأنشطة الشبابية), Burj el Barjneh camp, Lebanon
Alkarama (Palestinian Womens Movement), Spain
Arab Palestinian Cultural Club (APCC) Tripoli-Lebanon
Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, California
Communist Youth of Sweden, SKU, Sweden
Free Palestine Movement, USA
Free Speech on Israel, UK
Friends of Sabeel North America
Indonesian Palestine Alliance IDPAL, Indonesia
International Solidarity Movement, Northern California
Jericho Boston , Boston
Jewish Network for Palestine (UK)
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, USA
Labor for Palestine, US
Nakba Tour, California and Lebanon
Nevadans for Palestinian Human rights, Las Vegas
NYU Law Students for Justice in Palestine, NYC
One State Assembly, Palestine
PAAF PEOPLE AGAINST APARTHEID AND FASCISM, Cape Town
Palbox, Oregon
Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund, California
Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South Africa
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Cape Town|
Palestinian Cultural Club – Beirut (PCC), Lebanon-Beirut
Palestinian Union in Latin America|
Party for Socialism and Liberation, United States
Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW, Florida
Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, Lebanon
(لبنان – المؤتمر الشعبي لفلسطينني الخارج)
Resumen Latinoamericano, California
Revolutionaire Eenheid, The Netherlands
Serena Shim Award, California
Shurok, Spain
Students for justice in Palestine – Rutgers, New Brunswick, NJ
Students for Justice in Palestine at Butler University
Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Davis, California
Students for Justice in Palestine, Chicago
Students for Justice in Palestine, Wayne NJ
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights – University of Washington
Syria Support Movement, International
Veterans for Peace, CA, USA

Individual Endorsers:

  1. Ali Mallah, Justice Activist, Toronto
  2. Allan Hansen, Industrial Pipefitter, Edmonton, Alberta
  3. Andrew Brook, Retired academic, Ottawa
  4. Angie Mindel, Retired, Nottingham U.K.
  5. Anna Willats, College Faculty and Coordinator, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  6. Barry Heselwood, Academic, Keighley, UK
  7. Beyaz Almas, Worker, BC
  8. Bill Skidmore, Retired professor, Ottawa, ON
  9. Cathy Cronin, Regular Canadian, Napanee  Ontario
  10. Cathy Gulkin, Documentary filmmaker, Toronto, Canada
  11. Christine McMillan, Retired teacher and tax officer, England UK
  12. Ciara Taylor, NYU law student, New York
  13. Claude Brasseur, Activist, St-Albert, ON
  14. Daphne Stapleton, Peace Activist, Toronto, Canada
  15. Dave Diewert, Retired teacher, Surrey, BC
  16. David Fairn, Journalist, N.S.
  17. David Low, Clergy, St. Catharines, Ontario
  18. Davidi Hadley Finke, Quaker leader, Peace Advocate, Oberlin, Ohio — Land of the Erie
  19. Dorothy Field, artist/writer, Victoria BC
  20. Dr. David Maxwell, Physician, Nova Scotia
  21. Dr. Dwyer Sullivan, Retired high school teacher of Social Justice and World Religions. Kitchener, Ontario
  22. Dr. Jodi Braine, Concerned global citizen, Fredericton, NB
  23. Egbert Harmsen, Activist for human rights, Leiden, The Netherlands
  24. Elie Halabi, Administrator, Repentigny
  25. Ellen Franzen, retired, Berkeley, CA
  26. Emad Hammoud, Self-Employed , London
  27. Enver Domingo, Retired, Oakville Canada
  28. Fahad Chowdhury, Professional Engineer, Elkford
  29. Faris Ziyad, Academic, Chicago
  30. Frances Combs, clergy, Toronto
  31. Frank Holden, Actor/folksinger/writer/human rights activist, St. John’s
  32. Genie Silver, Academic, Pennsylvania, US
  33. Giorgio Ramadhan, Lawyer, Indonesia
  34. Gord Doctorow, Ed.D, Retired educator. Toronto, Canada
  35. Greg Albo, academic and author, Toronto
  36. Haim Bresheeth-Zabner, Academic, author and filmmaker London, UK
  37. Henry Zaccak, CEO, Toronto
  38. Himani Bannerji, Professor, Toronto
  39. Issam Alyamani, Writer, Mississauga, Canada
  40. Jake Javanshir, Activist, Toronto
  41. Jalal Kawash, Academic, Calgary
  42. James Dickins, Academic, Leeds, United Kingdom
  43. Jan Corderman, Peace Activist, Pleasant Hill, Iowa
  44. Jan Steven, mother, grandmother, wife St. Catharines
  45. Jane Collier, Academic, United Kingdom
  46. Jane Story, former journalist, Toronto
  47. Jeff Winkelaar, Retired, Edmonton
  48. Jennifer Whitfield, Activist, Newfoundland, Canada
  49. Jim Mitchell, m.d., Toronto
  50. John Darling, Retired NDP activist, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  51. John Grant, Retired, UK
  52. John Liss, lawyer, Toronto
  53. John Mark Robertson, Social Service Worker, Belleville, Ontario
  54. Jonathan Kuttab, Executive Director, Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)
  55. Judith Goldschmidt, Jewish Human Rights Activist, Courtenay, BC
  56. Karen Platt, Jew with a conscience, Albany CA
  57. Karen Rodman, Ordained clergy, human rights advocate, Kawartha Lakes
  58. Kate Chung, Grandmother, Toronto
  59. Katerina Nikas, Writer, Halifax, Nova Scotia
  60. Kathleen Von Riesen, Reg, Nurse, Newfoundland & Labrador
  61. Kevin Gould, Associate Professor, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
  62. Khaled Husseini, Business Owner, Ottawa
  63. Khaled Mouammar, Former Member, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Richmond HIll, Ontario
  64. Khan Jooneed, Journalist, Writer, Human Rights Activist, Montreal, CANADA
  65. Laila Atallah, Lawyer,United States
  66. Laura June Rose, Food industry worker, Vancouver
  67. Lawrence Sutherland, Activist, Winnipeg, Manitoba
  68. Lesley McGorrigan, University worker, UK
  69. Lorraine Michael, Retired Politician, Newfoundland and Labrador
  70. Louise Seidel, Artistic Producer of Theatre, Saskatchewan,
  71. Lynette Bondarchuk, Artist; NPO Administrator; Tenants Advocate, Edmonton
  72. Manhal Alfalasteny, Artist, singer, Tunisia
  73. María Alejandra Torres, Law student, NYC
  74. Mariam Furre, Geographer, Ottawa
  75. Mark Hagar, Retiree, Hamilton
  76. Mark James, Academic, Ontario
  77. Marlena Santoyo, Jewish activist, Philadelphia, USA
  78. Martin Fontaine, agent de pastorale, Montréal
  79. Michael Hajjar, Student, Chicago
  80. Michael Kuttner, Teacher (retired), Toronto
  81. Michal Sapir, Writer and musician, Tel Aviv
  82. Mike Cushman from Free Speech on Israel (UK)
  83. Monica Harhay, Concerned citizen, Toronto, Ontario
  84. Nancy Withington, academic; wife of Palestinian refugee, Santa Barbara, Ca.
  85. Nora Lester Murad, writer, educator, social justice activist, Massachusetts, USA
  86. Norma Rantisi, Academic, Montreal
  87. Pete Firmin, Activist, London
  88. Peter Eglin, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Kitchener
  89. Peter Purich, Technical Writer (retired), Ottawa
  90. Phyllis Creighton, author; retired editor, scholarly publication, Toronto
  91. Rachel Marandett, NYU Law Student, NYC
  92. Rashmi Luther, Academic (Retired), School of Social Work, Carleton University
  93. Rebecca Hagey, Retired professor, Lion’s Head Ontario
  94. Rehab Nazzal, Visual artist, Toronto
  95. Rev. F. Mark Mealing, Ph.D., Anglican Priest & retired Academic, Meadow Creek, B.C.
  96. Rev. Lilian Patey, Clergy, Windsor, Ontario
  97. Richard Kuper, Researcher and campaigner, London, GB
  98. Richard Thoreau, Retired, Victoria
  99. Robert Assaly, Priest, Montreal
  100. Robert Fantina, Author and activist, Kitchener, Ontario
  101. Robert Kent, Emeritus Professor, Computer Science, Elkford, B.C.
  102. Roger Waters, Musician /Activist, NY
  103. Roland Verrier, Retired, Coquitlam, BC
  104. Roswitha Shaw, retired, Ottawa
  105. Salim Assi, Artist, Art of resistance, Copenhagen Denmark
  106. Samuel Miriello, Human Resources Professional, Montreal
  107. Sara Traub, educator, Thornbury
  108. Sean Phipps, Teacher, Vancouver
  109. Sheila Dunnachie, Retired union activist, Mayne Island
  110. Sherry Ann Chapman, Engaged citizen, Edmonton
  111. Sid Shniad, Founding member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Surrey, B.C.
  112. Simaan Khoury, President, Palestinian Union of Latin America, El Salvador
  113. Sue Lyon, Advocate, Kingston
  114. Susan Stout, union activist, North Vancouver
  115. Teresa Diewert, Teacher, Surrey, British Columbia
  116. Terri Ginsberg, film scholar, Montreal, Quebec
  117. Terry Gallogly, Retired, York
  118. Thomas Brown, Academic (mathematician), Vancouver BC
  119. Tony Greenstein, Writer and blogger, Brighton UK
  120. Vera Szoke, Retired Highschool Teacher, Toronto, Canada
  121. W. T. Beckett, Human Rights Activist, St. John’s, NL
  122. Walid Alawar, Businessman and social activist, Ontario
  123. Walid Eletry, supporter, Ajax,Ontario
  124. William Ruhm, Social worker, Boston, MA
  125. Wolfe Erlichman, Member, Independent Jewish Voices, Godfrey, ON

The False Foundation of B’nai Brith’s Data

Every year, B’nai Brith Canada releases its “Audit of AntiSemitic Incidents”. This report is then heavily marketed to multiple levels of government and often shows up in arguments for adopting certain policies, like the regressive IHRA definition and flawed online hate legislation.

The 2021 report hit a new low in attempting to conflate legitimate pro-Palestinian protest with actual vile acts of hatred against Jews. And this is the dangerous component here. B’nai Brith intentionally merges its reporting on anti-Jewish racism with its denunciation of “anti-Israel” activities. In fact, the pledge to fight anti-Semitism on the B’nai Brith Int’l website that people are encouraged to adopt includes as its second tenet: “To speak against demonization, delegitimization or double standards against Israel, as they are manifestations of anti-Semitism.”

On April 26, Canada Palestine Association questioned the credibility of the B’nai Brith report in a tweet that showed a photo of a picket sign from page 11 of their 2021 Audit, introducing the section on “Assessing the Data”.

This data led them to conclude that 2021 was another record year for anti-Semitic incidents. And although their report does include clear cases of vandalism against synagogues and hate graffiti, how much of their “assessed data” also includes cases of political protest by Palestinians and their allies? B’nai Brith claimed on page 12 of the report: “In fact, online hate has become the preferred method of targeting Jews. B’nai Brith logged 2,093 incidents of online hate, or an increase of 12.3% over the 2020 figures of 1,863 cases. This evidence should convince government that a review of current legislation regarding online hate is necessary.”

As the photo in the screenshot is presumably another case of alleged “anti-Semitic” behaviour, how many of their 2093 “online hate” incidents had nothing to do with hatred against Jews and everything to do with supporting the anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggle of the Palestinian people? Given that their info for the photo itself isn’t even correct (it was from a Vancouver support rally in June for #BlocktheBoat, not a Montreal rally in May), one questions the eagerness of the Zionist lobby to smear the growing solidarity with Palestine with the charge of anti-Semitism. In the “Highlights” section (page 34), B’nai Brith devoted half a page to denigrating Toronto students at Marc Garneau Collegiate that had staged a walkout to protest anti-Palestinian racism. This clear political agenda colours the whole foundation and intent of the B’nai Brith reporting and strips it of any credibility for serious anti-racism organizing.

This approach is not only flawed and promotes anti-Palestinian racism, but also extremely dangerous in that it serves to minimize the real cases of anti-Jewish hatred. It is preposterous that a person holding up a sign saying that Canada and Israel are partners in apartheid and colonialism is casually mixed with “Kill Jews, Gas Jews” graffiti at a religious centre (page 19). Or is this part of the effort to demonize the growing number of human rights organizations and officials that have recently classified Israel as an apartheid regime?

We denounce this attempt to create an institutional environment so hostile to pro-Palestine opinions, that activists and groups will either be censored outright or self-censor. The struggle against racism in Canada is too important to be manipulated by anyone with a self-serving political agenda, especially the Zionist lobby. Anti-racism organizing is not a competition to see who is the “most targeted religious minority in the country”; the fightback by multiple communities to deal with the systemic daily racism they face must be inter-connected and include a clear commitment to fight all forms of racism.

Masterclass in Hypocrisy from Canadian politicians

Send your letter here: Tell BC Government to pull Israeli Apartheid Wines Now! – Action Network

We have been campaigning for years to have illegal Israeli settlement wines pulled off the shelves of publicly owned liquor stores in British Columbia. Successive governments, including the current NDP one, have either ignored or rebuffed our demands to even investigate this situation. We have been told it’s a matter of “consumer choice” or under “federal jurisdiction”. The previous NDP minister responsible for this portfolio, David Eby, flat out refused to meet with us in 2018.

So imagine our shock when in just 2 days, the BC NDP government joined other provinces in putting a “…halt to the importing and sale of Russian liquor products from our BC Liquor Stores and provincial liquor distribution centres”. So it can be done and done quickly, it seems. It just depends on who you are and what political agenda is being served. And clearly, the “consumer choice” argument was nothing but a big lie.

This is just one small concrete example of the stunning hypocrisy displayed by Canadian and Western officials this week. This double standard has not gone unnoticed; social media has been abuzz with multiple comments, pointing out that what is framed as legitimate resistance in one country is labelled terrorism in another. That what determines the response of Western governments, as Palestinian writer Ali Abunimah put it, is a matter of “who we are, not what we do”. That Israeli occupation, oppression and apartheid that has lasted for over 70 years stands unchecked. And that the mass killing and forced starvation of civilians in Yemen goes unnoticed for 7 years, and is continuing in real time, as politicians here show they are capable of swift action within 2 days when it suits their purposes.

This action by the BC (and other provincial governments) is a slap in the face to not only Palestinian-Canadians, but to anyone who cares about the trajectory of political discourse in Canada. Because the message here is clear. International law and the much-touted “rules based order” are not neutral policies that will help the Palestinians and other oppressed peoples achieve their liberation. Activists need to rethink the approach of appealing to politicians’ moral compass, as clearly they don’t have one; their support of Israeli war crimes and apartheid is a conscious choice and we must acknowledge it as such.

Masterclass in Hypocrisy: Yes to pulling Russian liquor, NO to deshelving Israeli apartheid wines – Mondoweiss

Background Info:
Boycott Israeli Wines: New Article and Video
NDP: Your Credibility is on the Line