Category: CPA Statements

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

Open Letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper Regarding Israeli Piracy

By Kevin Neish, Farooq Burney and Rifat Audeh. Although not CPA members, we are publishing their open letter on our website on their behalf.

We are writing to express our outrage and indignation over our government’s despicable silence on what took place in the Mediterranean Sea on May 31, 2010. We are referring, of course, to the piracy, murder and kidnappings by Israel against the Turkish humanitarian aid ship in general, and the actions against the Canadians on the ship in particular.

In 2006, Israel launched a heinous war on Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. You, Mr. Harper, described Israel’s action as a “measured response”, and this implicit green light and tacit approval from Canada to Israel to continue the rampage of death and destruction killed eight Canadians within a couple of days.

Following this, the cold-blooded Israeli murder of a Canadian peacekeeper and three of his colleagues at a UN station in Southern Lebanon resulted in your outrageous and absolutely despicable remark effectively blaming the victims and asking what they were doing there in the first place.

On May 31st and in international waters, Israel attacked an unarmed humanitarian aid ship before the whole world, murdered nine civilians aboard and wounded dozens, and kidnapped the rest and detained them illegally. We were on that ship along with many other internationals.

And this time around, what was the response of our government? Once again, Canada did not condemn Israel’s barbaric actions and refused to demand our release, with Peter Kent incredibly stating “Canada doesn’t believe a lot of noise is required in this instance.”

It would be a gross understatement to say that we are appalled at the muted response of our government in general and with any politician who did not speak out against what took place. Canada and Canadians are loved throughout the world for many reasons, including their willingness to stand for what is right, peacekeeping efforts and compassion for global citizens in suffering. So why is it that the government has participated in an inhumane siege on 1.5 million people that we were trying to break with this flotilla? Hundreds of innocent men, women and children have died in the past few years as a result of this crippling blockade and lack of access to necessary medical care.

Further, why has the government not called Israel out on this piracy and blatant violation of international law? Why didn’t Ottawa summon the Israeli ambassador to express its outrage, or at the very least demand an explanation? Why didn’t you rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was meeting with you since you knew full well that the attack took place in international waters?

Finally, why, at the very least didn’t the Canadian government demand our release and try to protect its citizens? Receiving a visit from embassy representatives falls far short of what we’d expect from our government. Is this the best that Canadians can hope for in the future? In cases such as this, silence equals complicity.

Our government’s action –or rather inaction – is a disgrace. In assisting with the slow genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza and falling silent before Israel’s acts of piracy, murder and abduction, our government has not only tarnished the image of Canada and Canadians throughout the world, but has also shown its weakness and inability to stand up for those oppressed.

Shame on us for keeping silent.

(Kevin Neish, Farooq Burney and Rifat Audeh were the three Canadians
aboard the Mavi Marmara ship when it was attacked by the Israeli navy
in international waters.)

Letter to the Editor of the Ottawa Citizen Regarding the “Haters’ Test”

In response to the Ottawa Citizen’s attack on NDP MP Libby Davies
By Hanna Kawas

The Ottawa Citizen “Haters’ test” http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Haters+test/3139300/story.html, published June 11, 2010 is misleading, lacking in historic facts and crudely apologizes for Israeli occupation and discrimination. I am going to burden you with some documentation and references the Ottawa Citizen editors did not want to bother with.

Before 1948, there was no state of Israel. It came about as many historians (Jewish and otherwise) have now recognized – on the tragedy of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine from its indigenous people, the Palestinians. (See: All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 by Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi http://www.palestine-studies.org/books.aspx?id=591&href=details and also The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli historian Ilan Pappe http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/3041)

To say “Happily, virtually every major Jewish and Israeli leader has, over the years, come to accept in principle the idea of a Palestinian state” is simply dishonest. From day one, Israel was trying to prevent the establishment of any such state. “In fact, secret negotiations with the King (Abdullah of Jordan), involving Shiloah (Ben-Gurion’s chief advisor on intelligence), Moshe Dayan, and others in Ben-Gurion’s inner circle, resulted in a secret agreement, lubricated by bribes, that Abdullah would collude with Israel in order to ensure that the independent Palestinian state envisaged by the United Nations would never come into being.” (Dangerous Liaison: The Inside Story of the U.S.-Israeli Covert Relationship, Andrew and Leslie Cockburn, page 34.) And if any Israeli leader seriously wanted to accommodate such a state, the obvious question to counter your blatant propaganda is why successive Israeli leaderships have planted over half a million illegal settlers in the 22% of historic Palestine (complete with apartheid infrastructure) that is supposed to go to this phantom Palestinian state. No Israeli leader has ever embraced the concept of a Palestinian state that would be independent and sovereign and contiguous, something the Citizen editors seem to dismiss as trivial details.

To say that “Jewish nationhood, (is) a key aspect of Jewish identity for 5,000 years” is not only inaccurate but also against Judaism (see “Israeli Independence Day” by the Torah Faithful Jews http://www.nkusa.org/activities/Statements/20090429IID.cfm).

And the real “Hate Test” question we would ask the editors of the “Ottawa Citizen” is this … Do you believe in the equality of all humans in practice, not just in abstract words? Would you support equal rights for the twenty percent of Israeli citizens who are non-Jewish (one in five Israelis are Christians and Muslims) and insist that they should be treated equally? Would you call for the Israeli law of return to apply to all Israeli citizens and that all discrimination in land ownership, education, municipal allocations and freedom of association should end? If not, then the Citizen editors don’t believe in equality and that would explain why they are insisting on a theocratic and exclusive “Jewish state” in the 21st century that denies equal rights to certain citizens on the basis of their religion.

On May 11/1949, the U.N. General Assembly passed resolution 273(111) that admitted Israel as a state to the U.N. We should note that this resolution was co-sponsored by Canada.

The resolution stated: ” Recalling its resolution of 29 November 1947 (the Partition Plan) and 11 December 1948 (the Right of Return), and taking note of the declaration and explanation made by the representative of the government of Israel before the ad hoc Political committee in respect of the implementation (my emphasis) of the said resolutions the General Assembly … decides to admit Israel into the membership of the United Nations.”

However, to this day, Israel has not honoured either of these commitments made to the UN. In fact, since 1948 and in violation of UN Resolution 273(111), Israel continues to hold on to over 20% more of historic Palestine than what even the Partition Plan allotted to it, another “fact on the ground” accomplished by military force. This figure doesn’t even include the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. Also, Israel adamantly and openly refuses to implement the Palestinian Right of Return.

Finally, even though its apologists continue to call Israel a democratic state, it is a state with no defined borders, no charter of rights for all its citizens and no constitution. And the editors of the Ottawa Citizen pontificate about “bad faith”.

What a mockery of truth, logic and decency the Ottawa Citizen is promoting!

Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association

Palestinian Civil Society Condemns Repression in Canada

Following is a statement from the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) on the harassment and repression campaign against pro Palestinian human rights organizations and activists in Canada.

Our petition on line, O Canada or O Israel??, has over 560 signatures, please consider signing it at http://www.petitiononline.com/hkawas1/petition.html

Palestinian civil society condemns repression in Canada against Palestine solidarity campaigns and humanitarian efforts

Occupied Palestine, May 26 2010 – The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), strongly condemns the actions taken by Canadian state bodies, university administrations and pressure groups to defund, repress and otherwise attempt to weaken groups and individuals that provide assistance to, or campaign in solidarity with, Palestinians. Such blatantly anti-democratic measures are not only repulsive per se; they are forms of complicity with Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian rights and have far reaching adverse consequences for civil liberties. The BNC believes that this repression in Canada must be brought to an end.
The BNC is deeply troubled by the politically suspect and professionally unjustifiable defunding of organisations that advocate Palestinian rights and organise humanitarian efforts on behalf of Palestinians. In December 2009, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) cut funding to KAIROS, a faith-based human rights organisation it had funded for the previous 35 years[1]. This cut was a direct consequence of the KAIROS’s promotion of Palestinian human rights. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)[2], who provide assistance to 5 million Palestinian refugees, and the Al Haq and Al Mezan human rights organisations[3] have all been victims of Canadian funding cuts. The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) also had its funding cut[4] following its outspoken criticism of the failure of the Canadian government to speak out against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, described in the UN Goldstone report as “war crimes”.

Attacks on Palestine solidarity activism have become commonplace in Canadian universities. Student and faculty groups that highlight the apartheid nature of the legalized Israeli system of racial discrimination and work to bolster the emerging Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement have been targeted with aggressive bureaucratic delays and obstacles, the arbitrary charging of security fees, and outright banning of their activities.

At the centre of this battle on Canadian campuses is Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), a global series of campus-based events that seeks to educate about Israel’s system of discrimination and its conformity to the UN definition of the crime of apartheid. IAW began in Toronto in 2005, and since then its organizers have significantly suffered from repression and censorship tactics befitting institutions under totalitarian regimes[5]. Prior to the 2009 IAW, Carleton University banned the posters that were being used to promote the Week’s events, citing concerns that the posters might incite students to “infringe rights protected in the Ontario Human Rights Code”[6]. Three other universities followed suit. In March of this year, Laurentian University censored the announcement of IAW. At the federal government level, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney[7] and Leader of the Opposition Michael Ignatieff[8] joined the smearing campaign against the IAW. Although similar motions failed to pass in the federal Parliament and in the province of Manitoba, the Ontario government passed a non-binding private member’s bill condemning IAW in March 2010[9].

Another admirable example of activism continuing in the face of well-organised and well-funded attempts at censorship is to be found within the Canadian labour movement. The President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario received death threats and was the target of a vicious smear campaign, described as “tantamount to a new form of McCarthyism” after the union had overwhelmingly endorsed the Palestinian civil society call for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law. The state authorities did little to stem the vicious campaign.[10]

The most recent example of the repression that Canadian activists face concerns the Toronto-based group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA). Bowing to pressure from the Israel lobby and their allies at the Toronto City Council who threatened to cut Pride’s funding over QuAIA’s participation, Pride Toronto has banned QuAIA from 2010 Pride Week events.[11] The interference by the City and the subsequent banning of a group from Pride is unprecedented. The BNC deplores the attempt by politicians to infringe fundamental freedoms so as to protect Israel from a legitimate, not to mention accurate, analysis of its crimes and human rights violations. The most basic democratic principle of freedom of expression seems to be trampled upon in Canada when Israel is the target of this expression.

Other worrying developments in this context of repression include the decision taken by the Koffler Centre of the Arts to disassociate artist Reena Katz for her activities with Israeli Apartheid Week[12] and the pressure faced by the Toronto District School Board to remove from school reading lists The Shepherd’s Granddaughter, a book told from the perspective of a Palestinian girl whose family land is destroyed by an Israeli settler[13].

Perhaps the most high-level and coordinated attack on Palestine solidarity in Canada is the self-appointed Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti Semitism (CPCCA), which deceptively conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. Based on this definition of anti-Semitism, CPCCA has set out to eliminate all criticism of Israel in Canada. The group has no official mandate from the Canadian parliament, but held a series of hearings in late 2009 and early 2010. Moreover, without any public discussion, the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Canada will be co-hosting the second international conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) in Ottawa in November 2010.

This deep complicity of the Canadian government in supporting and protecting from scrutiny the Israeli apartheid state is discussed at length in a soon to be released report by the Palestine Freedom of Expression campaign. The report exposes the CPCCA’s undemocratic, biased and problematic attempts to shield Israel from legitimate criticism that is allowed against any other state committing similar crimes and violations of international law. [14]

It is not surprising that government officials and some university administrations in Canada have chosen to hone in on the use of the term “Israeli apartheid”. They would prefer to outlaw the term rather than engaging the facts, perhaps because doing so would lead them to the same conclusions of international law experts, scores of civil society organisations and Archbishop Desmond Tutu who argue that the label is an accurate one, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. The apartheid framing of the Israeli regime is long standing; in 2009, a 302-page legal study overseen by Prof. John Dugard, a former UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, concluded that “the State of Israel exercises control over the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the purpose of maintaining a system of domination by Jews over Palestinians and that this system constitutes a breach of the [UN] prohibition of apartheid”.[15]

The actions of Canadian state bodies, universities and the CPCCA to erase Israeli apartheid from public discourse, defund organisations that provide vital support to Palestinians, and shield Israel from criticism reduce the possibilities of a just and lasting peace, present a serious threat to freedom of expression, and bolsters Israel’s impunity in violating human rights. The failure thus far of Canadian state authorities and public bodies to hold Israel to account for its violation of international law and Palestinian rights is, furthermore, a violation of Canada’s obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice against Israel’s Wall and colonial settlements. The active suppression of Canadian organizations that work to promote Israel’s accountability before international law is beyond reproach.

The BNC therefore calls upon the Canadian government and public bodies to:

  • Safeguard freedom of expression of Canadian citizens and civil society organizations with regards to discussion of Palestinian rights and Israeli policies;
  • Reject the CPCCA’s deceptive and unfounded conflation of criticism of Israel or of Zionism with anti-Semitism;
  • Bring the CPCCA within the realm of public and democratic accountability;
  • Refrain from using public funding as a weapon to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from participation in Pride Week events;
  • Reinstate all funding cut on biased political grounds from human rights and community-based organizations.
  • And on individuals, groups and organizations of conscience to:
  • Lobby the Canadian Parliament and public bodies to take the aforementioned steps by lifting all censorship and other repressive measures;
  • Express solidarity with and support for freedom of expression by signing he Palestine Freedom of Expression Declaration posted on the website at www.freeexpressionpalestine.org/. To endorse the declaration, send an e-mail to pfex@freeexpressionpalestine.org
  • Send solidarity messages to Queers Against Israeli Apartheid quaia.toronto@gmail.com
  • Disseminate information about the repression in Canada against civil society groups.

It is the height of double standard for the Canadian government to advocate democracy and respect for freedoms elsewhere while suppressing freedoms and undermining democracy at home for political convenience. Palestinian civil society, represented in the BNC, condemns all repression, perpetrated by any party, including by governments that are ostensibly “democratic”.

The BNC Secretariat

[1] http://www.kairoscanada.org/en/who-we-are/cida-funding-cuts/
[2] http://www.thestar.com/living/article/750917–canada-redirects-funding-for-un-relief-agency
[3] http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/01/20/aurel-braun-jacques-gauthier-brad-farquhar-elliot-tepper-david-matas-marco-navarro-g-233-nie-and-michael-van-pelt-committed-to-accountability-and-oversight.aspx
[4] http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/26/khaled-mouammar-the-canadian-arab-federation-responds.aspx
[5] http://www.rabble.ca/news/exposed-university-toronto-suppressed-pro-palestinian-activism
[6] http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/594497
[7] http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/article974960.ece
[8] http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/03/01/ignatieff-condemns-israel-apartheid-week.aspx
[9] http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/771761–mpps-decry-linking-israel-to-apartheid
[10] http://cupe.ca/communications/Sid_Ryan_confronts_a
[11] http://queersagainstapartheid.org/2010/05/10/will-city-council-follow-harpers-lead-by-cutting-pride-funding/
[12] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/631984
[13] http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/education/article/800159–author-defends-the-shepherd-s-granddaughter?bn=1
[14] http://www.freeexpressionpalestine.org/
[15] Middle East Project of the Democracy and Governance Programme, Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (May 2009), Occupation, Colonialism, Apartheid? A re-assessment of Israel’s practices in the occupied Palestinian territories under international law, pp. 17–22, http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Document-3227.phtml,

BDS

Boycott Divestment Sanctions
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
National Committee (BNC) is a wide coalition of the largest Palestinian mass organizations, trade unions, networks and organizations.
Member organizations:
Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine
Gen. Union of Palestinian Workers Palestinian General
Federation of Trade Unions Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
Palestinian Nat’l Institute for NGOs
Federation of Indep. Trade Unions
Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Initiative
Gen. Union of Palestinian Women Union of Palestinian Farmers
Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (STW)
Nat’l Committee for Grassroots Resistance
Pal. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
Nat’l Committee to Commemorate the Nakba
Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem
Coalition for Jerusalem
Union of Pal. Charitable Organizations
Palestinian Economic Monitor
Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps
Union of Professional Associations
Web: www.bdsmovement.net
E-mail: info@bdsmovement.net

Boycott MEC Now

This Business Does NOT Advance Human Rights!!
Boycott MEC Now

A year and a half ago, it was discovered that Mountain Equipment Coop, headquartered in Vancouver, was carrying Israeli products and even partnering with an Israeli company, Source Vagabond, that brags of its connections with the Israeli military. Concerned activists across Canada tried in vain to convince both MEC leadership and those attending the 2009 Annual General Meeting to stop carrying these offensive products. There were meetings with the CEO and other officers, letters and emails, and a vibrant campaign around a resolution introduced at the 2009 AGM. However, none of these efforts were successful in convincing MEC to halt their ties with Israeli companies and MEC management reportedly even played an active role in defeating the resolution to not carry Israeli products. All of this, despite their pronounced commitment to ethical business dealings that “can advance human rights”.

And recently, to add insult to injury, MEC leadership introduced several special procedural resolutions for the 2010 AGM that would make it much more difficult to highlight the legitimate debate and criticism brought to the previous AGM. These special resolutions were regrettably passed and so now, MEC has the distinction of not only being complicit in supporting Israeli military war crimes and apartheid, but also adopting bureaucratic and anti-democratic means to squash further debate. Most of the activist campaign so far has been directed towards calling on MEC members to express their disapproval over the handling of Israeli products and, of course, to not purchase them. However, we feel the time has come to call for a boycott of MEC as a company that has shown it is neither ethical nor cooperative nor democratic. Please read the statement below put out by Canada Palestine Association, ask your organization and friends to endorse it and email your endorsement to info@cpavancouver.org for inclusion on our website. Then inform MEC of your position by emailing info@mec.ca and their CEO at DLabistour@mec.ca. Lets tell MEC that consumers in Canada do not need hydration systems from a company whose products are “field-tested” and used by the Israeli military, very likely in the assaults on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Tell MEC this kind of business does not advance human rights and we will have no part of it.

The Canada Palestine Association in Vancouver, BC calls upon all Palestine solidarity organizations and all those who support Palestinian human rights in Vancouver and Canada to focus their efforts on imposing a general boycott on Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC). Despite efforts to engage in constructive dialogue on various occasions, MEC has refused to divest from Israeli products. Within the framework of International Humanitarian Law, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all relevant international conventions, the Canada Palestine Association:

  1. Considers importing products manufactured in factories that have ties with the Israeli state or any of its instruments such as the “Israeli Defense Forces” as morally abhorrent and detrimental to efforts to uphold Palestinian human rights, and
  2. Calls upon all Palestine solidarity organizations and individual supporters of Palestinian human rights to impose a general boycott on Mountain Equipment Coop until it cuts all ties with Israel.

Who is Promoting Racism?

By Hanna Kawas
RE: Whose Interests are you Serving?
The following open response was sent to Manitoba MLA Heather Stefanson on April 14, 2010, answering her form email sent to those concerned about her motion “Denouncing Israeli Apartheid Week.”

Open Response to Manitoba MLA Heather Stefanson:

I just received the email, sent on your behalf, regarding the “debate” you say you are interested in having in the Manitoba Legislature. A reasonable and informed debate, you further state. However, given your statement (1) last month when this issue first came up, we seriously question any possibility of an open debate when certain parties have already said that Israeli Apartheid Week is something we should “condemn.. and eliminate”. We and many other concerned people in Canada have long called for an open and transparent debate on Canadian foreign policy in the Middle East and particularly on Israel/Palestine. However your party, the PC Party, nationally and now provincially, is instead singling out a small group of students for expressing an opinion you do not agree with. If any students feel unsafe on campus, it is these brave students who are trying to speak truth to power about what is really happening in Israel/Palestine and why Canadians should be concerned and are now being met with legislative censorship, intended to set a chill on campus activities.

As I said in my first email, let’s have a full debate. I even offered a few points for discussion that you refused to answer. When Palestinian Christians need special passes to pray in Jerusalem at Easter, when tens of thousands of Palestinians are facing expulsion from the West Bank for not having the correct Israeli Military permits (passes), then we say the time is ripe for Canadians to stand up and call on all levels of our government to question this uncritical support for Israeli government policies. We find it deeply offensive that you have labelled the students organizing IAW and all people in Canada asking these questions as being the “scourge of racism”(1). They represent a growing sector of the community (including many Jews and Semites) who serve no political lobby group, have no hidden political agenda and are simply working for what they feel serves the search for a genuine peace in Israel/Palestine. Some MPs in the House of Commons recognized this fact and that is why a similar resolution there was defeated last month. We can only hope that the Manitoba Legislature will have the same insight and dedication to genuine and open free speech.

Hanna Kawas

(1). http://www.heatherstefanson.com/news_det.asp?ID=706
See also: https://cpavancouver.org/Jason_Kenney_is_Promoting_Racism.doc

From: Kathleen.Cook@leg.gov.mb.ca
To: hkawas@msn.com
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:18:28 -0500

Subject: RE: Whose Interests are you Serving??

Please see below a response that I am sending on behalf of Heather Stefanson.

Thank you for your recent letter to my colleagues and I regarding our proposed resolution, entitled “Denouncing Israeli Apartheid Week.” I am pleased to respond on behalf of our Leader, Hugh McFadyen, and my colleagues in the Progressive Conservative Caucus.

It is important to note at the outset that a resolution provides for an hour of debate in the Manitoba Legislature. It is not legislation, and thus would not have the effect of making Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) illegal. Therefore it does not infringe on anyone’s right to freedom of speech, but allows us, as legislators, to express our views and the views of our constituents on the subject.

Our primary concern with Israeli Apartheid Week is its divisiveness, and the fear and anti-Semitism that it engenders on Manitoba university campuses. We believe everyone should have the right to feel safe on our campuses and that no individual group should be marginalized.

As the sponsor of this resolution, I am using my right of free speech to denounce hate, fear, and divisiveness on our university campuses. I believe that there are other, more effective ways to have a reasoned, respectful and informed debate on this subject.

Sincerely,
Heather Stefanson, MLA Tuxedo