Category: CPA Statements

By Hanna Kawas

Almost a month has passed since the BC provincial New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Carole James labelled anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism; by so doing, she accused the anti-war movement, the Palestinian support movement and all those human rights organizations that oppose the political ideology of Zionism of being “racist”.

We were hoping that some sane NDP leaders, MP’s, MLA’s or candidates would pressure Carole James into reversing her outrageous conclusions, after all the public criticism and outrage that followed her ill-advised libelling of people who oppose Zionism (1).

However, it does NOT seem it is coming especially before such a crucial provincial election.

We feel we should make our position clear, so the leadership of the NDP will not take the working class, the anti-war and the anti-Zionist movements for granted.

Let us start with some History.

The Zionist Movement is a settler colonialist movement that called for an exclusive Jewish state in Palestine.

Since its inception it worked on controlling the majority of Palestinian land and on changing the demography in Palestine and “reworking” the population to create a Jewish majority; all this was carried out through the barrel of the gun.

The settler colonialist movement wanted its followers to live on the land instead of the indigenous Palestinians rather than in peace and harmony with them.

The result was the Palestinian Nakbe (catastrophe) of 1948 where over 400 towns and villages were uprooted from the face of the earth and where two-thirds of the Palestinian people became refugees.

For Carole James information, the word Zionist does not always mean Jewish. There are 72 million Christian Zionists in the U.S. alone; it also refers to Muslims, Buddhists and even “socialists” who support the concept of an exclusive Jewish state in Palestine.

Ms. James herself would seem to be a candidate for such a definition.

Historically, the Jewish opposition to Zionism preceded even the Arab and the Palestinian opposition to it:

• In 1897, the Executive Committee of the Association of Rabbis in Germany issued an anti-Zionist manifesto on the occasion of the first Zionist Congress, where they declared: “Judaism obligates its adherents to serve with all devotion the Fatherland to which they belong, and to further its national interests with all their heart and strength.” (2)
• The strongest opposition to the Balfour Declaration within the British Government came from its only Jewish member, Sir Edwin Montagu, he wrote “When the Jews are told that Palestine is their national home, every country will immediately desire to get rid of its Jewish citizens, and you will find a population in Palestine driving out its present inhabitants, taking all the best in the country… I deny that Palestine is today associated with the Jews.” (3)

Many great leaders and historians of the twentieth century also opposed Zionism and Mahatma Ghandi was one such example. (4)

On the Canadian scene in 1935, the national leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) J. S. Woodsworth realised the dangers of the Zionist Movement in promoting anti-Semitism. He stated referring to Zionism that “if nationalism was ‘over-emphasized’ it would call forth a counter-nationalism that [would] be very disadvantageous.” He also said “the promotion of the interest of a sectional group tends to provoke a certain reaction in other sections of the population, and thus defeat the very object in view.” (5) (The CCF was the NDP’s predecessor and is the party that brought universal health care to Canada.)

Also in 1938, when Woodsworth was approached to get CCF support for the Zionist settler project by adopting a resolution seeking the right of Jewish settlers to enter Palestine, he was quoted as saying: “It was easy for Canadians, Americans and the British to agree to a Jewish colony, as long as it was somewhere else. Why ‘pick on the Arabs’ other than for ‘strategic’ and ‘imperialistic’ consideration…” (6)

As I recently told federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney when he tried to accuse Arab and Moslem Canadian organizations of anti-Semitism: “Zionism and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin; they both believe that Jews do NOT belong to their respective homelands because they are a “different race or nationality”, they are “superior” or “inferior” and they belong somewhere else. The founder of Zionism Theodor Herzl realised that early on. He made the connection and sought the help of anti-Semites to realize his colonialist project” (7)

It is outrageous, insulting and ignorant for Carole James to accuse us of racism. Human rights advocates, the anti war movement and the supporters of Palestinian liberation do not promote anti-Semitism; the ones who promote anti-Semitism are the ones who believe the Jews do not belong to their respective countries, and who libel all Jewish people by claiming that the atrocities and war crimes of the Israeli government are on the shoulders of every Jewish person.

Again, to educate Ms. James, Mable Elmore’s statement to “Seven Oaks” was very accurate. Local Zionists did support the war on Iraq, as did the government of Israel, and this was openly expressed on more than one occasion in local media. (8)

At the same time, large numbers of local Jewish Canadians were part of the anti war movement and part of the Palestinian support movement.

To equate Zionists with Jews is an insult to all those Jews who oppose Zionist practices and oppose Zionist war mongering in Iraq, Palestine, Central and South America, Africa and other countries in the world (9)

In a Vancouver Sun article “When asked if she has confidence in the vetting process, James said: ‘I’ll be talking to the party about that’.” (10) Yes, we agree that the NDP membership should have a vetting process where self-seekers and opportunists will not have a place in the party. The likes of Carole James, Ujjal Dosanjh and Bob Rae should not have a place in any party genuinely based on principles of democracy and social justice.

If you cannot win on your principles, deeds and practices, you cannot represent the people that entrusted you.

And if you dump your principles for the faulty perception that this will enhance your popularity with the electorate, this is the fatal mistake any party can fall into.

Finally, to Ms. James, all NDP candidates and the national NDP leadership, you will not get the Zionist (Jewish, Christian) vote whatever you do to appease or submit to them. Read what they say about you in their papers and pronouncements.

And if you really want to regain your reputation among the anti-war movement, the Palestine support movement including humane and non-racist Jewish Canadians, and all people in Canada struggling for human rights, we expect you to make a public apology to all these anti-racist organizations for calling them anti-Semites.

We hope to hear from you, although our previous experience in communicating with you and other NDP leaders does not bode well for any quick communication.

Finally; after seventy-one years, we would like to repeat what J. S. Woodsworth, the national leader of the CCF, said: “Why ‘pick on the Arabs’?”

Hanna Kawas,
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association www.cpavancouver.org
Cohost, Voice of Palestine www.voiceofpalestine.ca

The Georgia Straight also published this letter under the title: “Hanna Kawas: Antiracists wait for NDP Leader Carole James to apologize”
————————————————————-
1. http://www.straight.com/article-209187/mable-elmore-controversy-over-zionism-truly-embarrassing and http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/candidate+forced+apologize+2004+anti+Semitic+remarks/1419716/story.html
2. Unease in Zion, Ehud Ben Ezer, page 22
3. http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/United-Nations,-The-Palestine-Problem/Story714.html
4. http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/mideast.htm
5. Canada and the birth of Israel, David J. Bercuson, page 18
6. Ibid, page 19
7. Jason Kenney Is Promoting Racism
8. The city’s foreign policy, Americans offer us hope and Age-old question revived
9. http://www.straight.com/article-210112/ndp-and-big-lie-about-israel-open-letter-carole-james
10. http://www.vancouversun.com/Life/candidate+forced+apologize+2004+anti+Semitic+remarks/1419716/story.html

By Hanna Kawas

An Open Letter to Canadian Immigrant Magazine

Thank you for writing the article “Airwaves of hope” (The updated title and link is: Veteran radio journalist Hanna Kawas hosts show about his homeland Palestine) that featured my volunteer work on Voice of Palestine.

Your reporting was generally positive and accurate except where you state: “But Kawas, who says he acknowledges the right of Israel to exist as a state, …”. I believe either you misunderstood what I told you, or the insertion of this statement was an editorial decision not to offend the pro-Israel propaganda machine.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain why such a statement is unfair, offensive and upsetting to me and to the vast majority of Palestinians.

1. 1. Israel as a state was build on stolen Palestinian land and as a result of the ethnic cleansing of the majority of the Palestinian people from their homeland. In the process of the establishment of the state of Israel over four hundred Palestinian towns and villages were wiped out from the map of the world (See: All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948) and two thirds of the Palestinian people were ethnically cleansed from their homeland and have never been allowed to return to their homes (See: The ethnic cleansing of Palestine By Ilan Pappe).
   2. Israel as a state is an apartheid supremacist state where Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians, that constitute 20% of the Israeli population, are treated as second-class citizens. Calls continue to this day to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Palestinian people from their homeland, and the current Israel foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman is a prime example. Israel is not a state for all of its citizens, and offers privileges based solely on religious affiliation.
   3. The Zionist movement that built the state of Israel is a settler colonialist ideology that was never happy with the usurpation of just 78% of historic Palestine. It is an expansionist movement that continues to this day to steal more Palestinian land and build new illegal Jewish only settlements on this land, something the new Israeli government is set to not only maintain but also aggressively increase.
   4. The state of Israel has never adopted a constitution nor defined its borders. As a result of this omission, Israeli borders keep expanding. From the 56% of Palestine the UN Partition Plan allotted to a “Jewish State” to now all of Palestine plus other Arab lands.
      So the fair and logical question is: Do you want me to recognize the rape and dismemberment of my country Palestine? Do you want me to recognize the thief who stole my land and murdered my people? Do you want me to recognize a racist apartheid state that to this day does not allow me to go back home to live, nor be buried in my homeland where I was born? Do you want me to recognize a state with elastic borders that keeps committing injustices and war crimes on daily basis?
      • I believe that there will never be peace or recognition, not tomorrow and not even in another sixty-one years, unless justice prevails. That means that first Israeli Jews should recognize the injustice that befell the Palestinian people in 1947/48, and second, pledge and work to rectify these injustices.
      • I believe that Israeli racist laws should be dismantled as discrimination between Jew and non-Jew is institutionalized in Israeli laws and infrastructure. An example of this is the Israeli law of return, which applies to any Jew in the world (Israeli or not) while the same law does not apply to Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship because they happen to be Muslims or Christians. Without recognizing the inherent inequalities of such laws and reversing them there can be no peace with justice
      • I believe that discrimination of any kind is not conducive to reconciliation. Discrimination on the basis of religious affiliation in land ownership is neither democratic nor ethical. For example, 93 per cent of the land in Israel, mostly stolen from Palestinians, is controlled by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and its affiliates and is reserved by law for Jewish citizens only, something that is being challenged right now even in Israeli courts.
      • Another manifestation of the injustices of the ethnic cleansing of 1947/48 is the creation of the Palestinian refugees. There are around six million Palestinian refugees and their descendents are crying out for justice and for UN resolutions regarding the Palestinian refugees to be implemented. Without the acknowledgement of the individual and collective rights of the Palestinian refugees, including their right of return and to compensation, there can be no mutual recognition or reconciliation.
      • As I stated before I recognize the inalienable historic human and national rights of the Arab Palestinian people in historic Palestine.
      • I recognize the fact that 60% of Israeli Jews are actually Arab Jews (Sephardim). They should be welcomed to live in any Arab country if they so choose and they are entitled to equal rights and privileges in any Arab country, especially in Palestine.
      • I recognize that the vast majority of Israeli Jews are now native to historic Palestine (Israel/Palestine). At least three generations of Israeli Jews were born on the land since the original sin of 1947/48. They should not carry the guilt of their Zionist settler parents who committed the original sin and the initial ethnic cleansing of Palestine, but they are responsible for their own actions.

During your interview with me, we were talking about a solution to the conflict and this is where, I believe, your misunderstanding has risen. I am sure the space and political limitations on your article contributed to that, so let me repeat what I did say and what I believe in.

Here is what I do recognize now at this moment in history.

We have entered the 21st century. Peace anywhere in the world, and especially in the Middle East, will never be achieved if we have states that give privileges to one group over another, based on religion or ethnicity or gender. This is an outdated concept that will only hold all of us back from achieving true reconciliation.

Finally, only after the conditions of equality, decency and morality are met, and after a referendum to decide on the name of the country among the citizens of the land of Israel/Palestine, only then could I say I recognize Israel if that name is chosen by the majority of the people of Palestine/Israel.

Would we have asked the South African blacks to recognize Apartheid, before we took note of the legitimacy of their struggle? Would we have asked the French resistance to recognize the Vichy government and the Nazi regime before we acknowledged the credibility of their goals? No, and it is grossly unfair to tell Palestinians that they must recognize the state that is building an annexation wall on their land and massacring civilians in Gaza, before those same Palestinians will be allowed to have a say in their future.

Only with justice, freedom and equality for all will there be peace in historic Palestine, the Holy Land, and accordingly on earth.

Hanna Kawas
Voice of Palestine

By Hanna Kawas

On March 18, 2009 the Canadian Minister of Multiculturalism and Immigration, Mr. Jason Kenney made good on his threats to cut funding for Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) programs that help settle newcomers to Canada. The Toronto Star reported that neither of the two LINC contracts with CAF “will be renewed, Alykhan Velshi, director of communications and parliamentary affairs, said in an email.” In the same article, Mr. Kenney also referenced this decision by stating that “he is an ‘unapologetic supporter’ of Israel”. http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/604720

A few days earlier, it was reported in the National Post on 3/14/2009:

“Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the Canadian Arab Federation will have to change its leadership and adopt a more moderate stance or risk losing federal funding…Mr. Kenney said taxpayers should not be footing the bill for an organization whose leader ‘promotes hateful and extremist views.’ Mr. Kenney said there are many moderate organizations that could do the job… He suggested the decision could be reversed if more moderate leaders were in place.” http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1387992

The message was bluntly stated – either put leaders that we approve of or else funding will be cut. It should be noted that this was not funding for CAF itself, as the leading Arab Canadian organization, but rather monies to assist new immigrants as they transition to Canadian society. However, Mr. Kenney has been on a crusade for the past two years (his estimate) to slander, discredit and dictate to Arab and Muslim Canadians who they can choose as their leaders. This crusade was conducted with the open support of Canadian Zionist organizations and is in the context of current Canadian government policy to defend Israeli human rights abuses and war crimes. Mr. Kenney is proving that Canadian Multiculturalism applies only to certain kinds of people!!!

Mr. Kenney in his speech at the “Anti- Semitism Conference” at Lancaster House, London, England on Feb. 17, 2009 slandered the Canadian Arab Federation and the Canadian Islamic Congress as “organisations that either excuse violence against Jews or express essentially anti-Semitic sentiments” and express “hateful sentiments”. He reached this conclusion without any factual proof or evidence. He then went on to make the point: “the government of Canada has consistently voted against resolutions singling out Israel as a scapegoat at international forums such as the Francophonie and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Just two, three weeks ago we were unfortunately typically the only country of the 40 some member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council to oppose in this instance a resolution scapegoating Israel in an unbalanced way as being responsible for the violence in Gaza.

And finally, my proudest moment as minister was a year ago this month when I announced on behalf of our government that Canada would withdraw, and has withdrawn, from the Durban 2 process.”

And the basis for his unconditional and uncritical support for Israel is apparently founded on the Zionist ideology that Jews constitute a nation and not a religion, and that an exclusive Jewish state (Israel) must be supported. Hence, he declares that anyone who does not believe this theory is anti-Semitic; he states, “We do see the growth of a new anti-Semitism, the anti-Semitism predicated on the notion that the Jews alone have no right to a homeland, the anti-Zionist version of anti-Semitism.” In another place he states that: “And in that sense anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. Our government clearly understands this.” http://www.jewishwinnipeg.org/page.aspx?id=196178

For more information about Kenney’s stands regarding CAF see:
http://caf.ca/Admin.aspx?AppModule=TxAppFramework.Web.Admin&Command=EMBEDDEDFILE&DataObjectID=701&ColumnID=3581&FieldName=CONTENT&Lang=EN&RecordID=1948

For Mr. Kenney’s information, Zionism and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin; they both believe that Jews do NOT belong to their respective homelands because they are a “different race or nationality”, they are “superior” or “inferior” and they belong somewhere else. The founder of Zionism Theodor Herzl realised that early on. He made the connection and sought the help of anti-Semites to realize his colonialist project:

• Herzl expressed the hope that any anti-Semitism would “act as a propelling force which, like the wave of the future, would bring the Jews into the promised land.” (Alfred M. Lilienthal “The Zionist Connection, What Price Peace?” 1978 Dodd Mead & C0. Pg. 410)
• Herzl wrote: “Anti-Semitism has grown and continues to grow, and so do I” Theodor Herzl Diaries. P. 7
• Also “The governments of all countries scourged by anti-Semitism will be keenly interested in assisting us to obtain the sovereignty we want.” Theodor Herzl, The Jewish State. P. 92
• This attitude was not confined to Herzl alone. Alfred Lilienthal, Jewish-American author, detailed the following about Chaim Weizmann a British Zionist leader who later became the first president of Israel: “The late British Parliamentarian Richard H. S. Crossman, an ardent Anglo-Saxon proponent of Zionism, cited Dr. Chaim Weizmann’s contention that ‘anti-Semitism is a bacillus which every Gentile carries with him wherever he goes and however often he denies it.’ At this first meeting Dr. Chaim Weizmann allegedly bluntly asked Crossman whether he was anti-Semitic, to which the Labourite frankly answered, ‘Of course.’ Their friendship was sealed, and Crossman’s energetic crusade, partly expiation for that original prejudice, followed.” (The Zionist Connection, Pg. 411)

Mr. Kenney also used the argument that the political opposition of CAF’s leadership to the inclusion of Hezbullah and the Palestinian resistance organizations on Canada’s “Terrorism List” was a reason for cutting CAF’s funding.

For the historic record, the listing of these organizations was done to serve Israeli government interests and the pro-Israel lobby. Not the Canadian people’s interests, security or wishes, not to help a Canadian province or territory, but a foreign government.

“When asked who Canada should support, a majority, 77 per cent, said Canada should be neutral. Sixteen per cent said Canada should support Israel, while only one per cent said Hezbollah.” CTV, Aug. 1, 2006 http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060728/mideast_poll_060731/20060731?hub=TopStories

Furthermore, it is well documented that Canadian Zionist organizations had long called for the listing of these organizations on the “terrorism list” http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article971.shtml. Other issues that were on their wish list was to change the Canadian voting at the UN General Assembly in favour of Israel, and this also was implemented by both Liberal and Conservative governments.

For more information about the timing and the role of the Zionist lobby in the banning of the Hezbollah and the Palestinian resistance organizations see: https://cpavancouver.org/2002/12/open-letter-to-the-canadian-prime-minister-regarding-the-banning-of-moslem-organizations/ and https://cpavancouver.org/2003/11/open-letter-to-solicitor-general-of-canada-re-banning/

It should also be made clear that none of CAF’s leaders were implicated in any material or other kind of support for these “banned” groups, nor was such a thing even suggested. They were condemned for simply expressing their conviction that Canadian government policy was misled and would not serve Canada’s interests nor would it help further the interests of peace in the Middle East.

That is why Canadian government policy is now seen as biased by many in the Middle East due to just such actions by government officials. Some other examples of Canadian complicity in Israeli war crimes and racism are:

1. Canada’s unconditional support for Israel goes back to the UN Partition Plan in 1947, even before the establishment of the Israeli state. Lester Pearson, then the under-secretary of state for Foreign Affairs and Canadian Judge Rand played a major role in formulating and passing the Partition Plan at the UN general Assembly; Zionist groups were so grateful to Pearson, they called him the “Balfour of Canada”.
2. Most Zionist organizations, including the “Jewish National Fund” (JNF) have enjoyed the benefit of having Tax-Deductible status, using Canadian taxpayers money to support Israeli war crimes, occupation and racism. The Canadian Arab Federation has never enjoyed such benefits.
3. Many Canadians will be surprised to know that buying Israeli bonds in Canada can be done under their Registered Retirement Saving Plan (RRSP) enjoying that same tax shelter.
4. The free trade agreement with Israel, not only empowers Israel and its economy, it also had a military provision that is still kept secret.
5. Canada and Israel signed a public security cooperation agreement, on March 23, 2008 between Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety Canada and Avi Dichter, then Israeli Minister of Public Security (who several months earlier cancelled a trip to Britain over fear of arrest on allegations of war crimes). The recent refusal to allow British MP George Galloway into Canada under the excuse that he is a “security risk” might be related to this agreement and perhaps based on Galloway’s support for the Palestinian people, especially the British humanitarian convoy he just led into Gaza. http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/media/nr/2008/nr20080323-1-eng.aspx
6. It have been recently exposed by Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT) that the Canadian Government did not only support Israel publicly in it crimes against humanity in Gaza, but 50 Canadian arms companies also supplied Israel with crucial parts for its F-15’s F-16’s and its AH-64 Apache helicopters. http://coat.ncf.ca/ARMX/cansec/CANSEC-Gaza.htm

In fact, Canada’s Conservative Party has been in the business of not only slandering CAF, the leading national grassroots Arab Canadian organization, but also all those who support Palestinian and Arab freedom and independence. Kenney himself openly criticized CUPE Ontario for passing a motion to boycott Israeli universities that support the occupation. Two Conservative riding association presidents were part of an attempt last year to censor and silence the Voice of Palestine and Coop Radio in Vancouver. The list is long, and includes attempts to intimidate students on campuses during Israeli Apartheid Week, an effort also assisted by Canada’s Liberal Party.

When Mr. Kenney cuts the funding to Arab immigrants his message to them is that Canada does NOT want you here, stay in your homelands. This is frightening and also means that Canada is closing its door for those who do NOT support Israel and Zionism. But what he is doing may be a blessing in disguise. It is important that Arab skilled and educated people stay in the Arab World and build their respective countries rather than help build countries that support their peoples’ oppression and enslavement.

There is another message that Mr. Kenney is sending to the Arab people and the Arab World. Canada is against your aspirations in ending foreign occupation, against your struggle for independence from Western powers who brutally control your natural resources and Canada is with Israeli occupation and U.S. occupation of Arab lands. Furthermore, Canada alongside its western allies, will support Arab dictators and puppet regimes against the Arab people’s aspirations for freedom and democracy.

We would like to warn Mr. Kenney of the strategic dangers of such a policy that will inflict untold damages on Canada’s future international relations, the Canadian economy and accordingly the Canadian people. There are already calls to boycott U.S. and Western interests for their blind support of Israeli occupation and war crimes. The U.S. and Western economies are in deep trouble. Does Mr. Kenney want the Canadian economy to get worse than what it is already? We are sure he won’t pay for his mistakes, the same way the U.S. business elites are not paying for their mistakes, at least not in the short term. As always, it will be Canadian working people who will bear the brunt of these policies.

It seem that Mr. Kenney does not understand the history of Zionism; we hope he is not part of the Christian Zionists who purposely want to ingather “the Jews” to hasten Armageddon and the annihilation of the Jewish people as part of claimed prophecies. Anti- Semitism was created by European powers who claim the Judo-Christian values to themselves, the same way many western governments now claim human rights values to themselves while committing war crimes and atrocities in their quest to control the world.

Mr. Kenney and his Zionist friends are the ones promoting anti-Semitism and libelling Jews by claiming that Zionism and Israel represent all of the Jewish people and that all of the atrocities and war crimes Israel is committing are being done in the name of the Jewish people and in the name of the six million Jews who perished because of European anti-Semitism. Mr. Michael Warschawski from the Israeli Alternative Information Center (AIC) declared in a recent article “Absolutely Not Not in Their Name, Not in Ours” http://www.alternativenews.org/content/view/1545/389/ .

We tell Mr. Kenney “Absolutely Not! Not in Their Name”, the name of all those who perished in any unjust war, and “Not in Ours” as human beings, whether we are Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or atheists.

As if Canada does not have enough difficulties with racism against people of colour, now we have the Canadian minister of Multiculturalism contributing to hatred and bigotry against the Arab and Muslim people. Mr. Kenney, his government and his Zionist friends should be held responsible for any increase in anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism and any Islamophobic act.

The Canadian Arab Federation is standing up to blackmail, intimidation, and bullying, often at great personal cost to its leaders and members. This intervention in the internal affairs of the Arab community being conducted by the Canadian government’s vast economic and intelligence machinery smacks of the “regime change” tactics used globally by the U.S. and other western governments.. CAF www.caf.ca needs all our support politically, morally and financially, and this should be our answer to all those who are trying to muffle the truth and its messengers.

Hanna Kawas, Vancouver, Canada. Born in Bethlehem, Palestine.
Co-host of Voice of Palestine Radio Show and Chairperson of Canada Palestine Association

The following message was sent on Jan 25, 2009 to the BBC’s “Doha Debates” (thedohadebates@qf.org.qa), the Qatar Foundation that finances them (info@qf.org.qa) , and to the BBC, as of the posting date of this letter March 1, 2009, none of the above ever sent even an acknowledgment of our message.

After the devastation in Gaza that lasted over three weeks, you decided on January 18 2009 to put to your scripted House who had no qualms in attending your debate while the BBC refuses to broadcast a humanitarian appeal to Gaza, the following resolution: “This House believes that political Islam is a threat to the West
This choice of wording is extremely suspect and contributes nothing to informed debate; in fact, it looks like a page from the Israeli propaganda machine (Hasbara). It hijacks the agenda and diverts the attention from fresh Israeli atrocities, while putting the blame on the shoulders of the victim by opening the door to debate whether Hamas as a political Islamic movement (and the Palestinian people it represents) is a threat to the “West”.

First, I would question which intelligence service headquarters drafted this resolution?

Second, if your resolution was drafted to serve the long term interests and understanding of the Arab people and European and North American people (as opposed to the agenda of multinationals and governments), it would be put the following way:

“This house believes that the North American and European unconditional support for Israel is a threat to the West”. Or, “This house believes that the bias of most Western media, including the BBC, is a threat to world peace”.

Also Arab public opinion, who you presumably are targeting with your “Doha Diatribes” have many other concerns aside from “Threats to the West” especially after the massacres in Gaza. Maybe some of your future resolutions should read:

1. “This house resolves to boycott the West on all levels for their complicity in Israeli war crimes against Gaza.”
2. “This house denounces the silence and complicity of the Arab regimes in allowing Israeli war crimes to continue unabated” for over three weeks, while Palestinian children and civilians were being slaughtered.
3. “This house demands that a special international tribunal be set up to prosecute Israeli war criminals and their accomplices.”
4. “This house urges the UN General Assembly to impose economic and military sanctions until Israel implements all UN resolutions.”

So if you really care about the future of the people of the Middle East, I challenge you to introduce any of the above resolutions for debate.

We will make our position public on the Voice of Palestine, Canada (VOP), and we will also announce your response if care to answer my email. If you prefer to debate your position on the VOP, we offer you an open invitation at a mutually convenient time.

Waiting to hear from you.
Hanna Kawas
Chairman, Canada Palestine Association www.cpavancouver.org
Co-host Voice of Palestine www.voiceofpalestine.ca

The following message was sent to Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Liberal Party in Canada, on Jan. 3, 2009, under the title “Justice Will Reach All Those Who Are Complicit in War Crimes”. As of March 1/09, we did not receive even an acknowledgment from Mr. Ignatieff.

Mr. Ignatieff:

In the first part of your media release on “the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip” dated December 29, 2008 you state: “I am greatly concerned by the deepening violence in Israel and the Gaza Strip and the fear and suffering on all sides that this mounting instability has caused.

The Liberal Party of Canada unequivocally condemns the rocket attacks launched by Hamas against Israeli civilians and calls for an immediate end to these attacks. We affirm Israel’s right to defend itself against such attacks, and also its right to exist in peace and security.” http://www.liberal.ca/story_15558_e.aspx

Your party “unequivocally condemns” Hamas, but not the government of Israel and its disproportionate military bombardments. Can you not see the double standard in your position? I am sure you are aware of who broke the cease-fire. If you cannot research these basic facts, then Canada is in real trouble if you become our Prime Minister.

I do NOT want to burden you with my side of the story, and I am not hopeful that you will change your position. Since your father’s involvement (George Ignatieff) in the UN Partition Plan in 1947, official Canadian policies have favored the aggressor (Israel and the Zionist Movement) against the victim (the Palestinian People).

However, I would like to remind you that the current Canadian government, as a signatory to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and your Liberal Party in government and in opposition are all complicit in Israeli war crimes by legitimizing and giving cover to these atrocities. History has shown that eventually justice will reach all those who commit and are complicit in war crimes; and just as previous war criminals were brought to the International Court of Justice, so to will Israel’s military generals and those who supported them be held accountable for their heinous actions.

By supporting these atrocities and war crimes, are you truly standing up “for Canada’s best interest”? Just to show you the contrast between your war-mongering position and the position of peace loving Israelis, I would like to forward the following message I just received from them (see below).

Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association www.cpavancouver.org
Co-Host, Voice of Palestine, Canada www.voiceofpalestine.ca