Category: CPA Statements

A statement of direction by the CPA, Voice of Palestine, and other supporting groups

With the fighting over the mirage “Authority” in Gaza winding down, the Palestinian people are once again faced with the only two alternatives currently available to them, either supporting the non-secular movement Hamas or the new collaborationist Fateh-controlled government. (Neither choice will bring the Palestinian people the future they so desperately need and deserve, and have sacrificed so much for over the years.)

The Oslo process has proved to be a disaster for the Palestinian struggle. Instead of achieving their rights in five years from the signing, it made it impossible for them to even maintain control over the 22% of what is left of Palestine. It also produced the “Authority” that the Mahmoud Abbas-led Fateh and Hamas are fighting over, even while Palestine is still under occupation.

The godfathers of the Oslo process, represented by Mahmoud Abbas, rather than admitting this pet project is a miserable failure and resigning a long time ago, insist on continuing to support the Oslo process. A process that Israel has been violating daily, even before the ink was dry on its signatories. Abbas has also been embracing the U.S.-Israeli collaborators, and by so doing, he is destroying and discrediting the Palestinian secular movement that had been led by Fateh over the past 42 years.

The U.S. and Israel are publicly supporting Abbas and his new government for that very reason, to destroy the secular movement for years to come and set back the Palestinian struggle for decades.

The U.S. and Israel admit that what they are doing to Abbas is giving him a “bear hug”, a “bear embrace” and a “kiss of death”. They find it easier to sell their “war on terror” to the American public if the fight is against “Islamic fundamentalists” and not against democratic secular forces (which doesn’t mean they won’t try anyway.)

In an article in the Canadian Zionist paper the “Jewish Independent”, reporting on a recent meeting sponsored by the Canada-Israel committee, Prof. Hillel Frisch clearly exposed the U.S.-Israeli agenda:

“Frisch believes that Israel has two main objectives on its road towards peace. In the short term, he said, Israel seeks to divide and conquer its enemies by increasing the differences between Gaza (Hamas) and the West Bank (Fatah).

“In the long term … he believes Israel hopes to ‘bring an end to the Palestinian state option … draw in the Jordanian and Egyptian states and restore, more or less, the political order that prevailed before 1967.’” http://www.jewishindependent.ca/archives/June07/archives07June22-03.html

We say enough is enough.

We call on Palestinian leaders, intellectuals and organizations to reclaim the proud history of the democratic, secular and independent Palestinian national movement and to:

• Call on our Palestinian masses under occupation to renounce the Oslo agreements and its manifestations resulting in the division of the Palestinian territories into Gaza and the West Bank, into areas A, B and C, and the stillborn “PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY”; and to start re-building the popular committees to confront Israeli occupation on the same principles as during the first intifada.
• Call on all other Palestinian secular organizations to admit their mistake in supporting the Oslo process, and to start mobilization for the convening of the Palestine National Council (PNC), with the understanding that the original charter is the basis for any convening. Any changes to it must take place in a democratic atmosphere and not under the dictates of the Israeli gun and U.S. tutelage.
• Call on Mahmoud Abbas to resign immediately, as he no longer has the confidence of the Palestinian people, and further, call on the PNC to convene an independent Palestinian tribunal outside the occupied Palestinian territories to decide his political future.
• Call on Farouq al-Kadoumi as a leader for Fateh to take steps to dismiss all senior officials who are hurting the Palestinian struggle and destroying Fateh, and to implement the recommendation of Marwan Bargouthi, West Bank MP and Fateh leader, issued from his Israeli jail cell, to “dismiss all the leaders of the security services and appoint new leaders capable of reforming and developing the security institutions, relying on professionalism.”

We call on individuals and organizations to support this statement by sending their endorsements to info@cpavancouver.org and we will update our website regularly with further endorsers.

In Solidarity,
Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver, Canada https://cpavancouver.org/
Voice of Palestine, Vancouver http://www.voiceofpalestine.ca/

Endorsed by the following groups:

Canada Palestine Association, Halifax, Canada
1. International Solidarity Movement-Vancouver
2. Jews Against Zionism, London UK http://www.freewebs.com/jewsagainstzionism/
3. One Democratic State Association – Gaza Chapter
4. Siraat, Vancouver
5. The National Campaign for the Boycott of Apartheid Israel – Gaza
6. The Palestinian Association of Hamilton, Canada
7. The Victoria Central America Support Committee, Canada
8. Vancouver Peace Committee

Endorsed by the following individuals (organizations listed for identification purposes only):

1. Afaf Shasha – Ankara, Turkey
2. Anne-Marie Brun, Kelowna, Canada
3. Chris Leadbeater, Ashford, Kent, UK
4. Dalia Levy, Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver
5. Dorinda Moreno, elders of 4 colors 4 directions, USA West Coast
6. Dr Bucker Dangor, Emeritus Reader in Physics, Imperial College, London, UK
7. Dr. Abdullah Shaban, Vancouver
8. Dr. Ghada Karmi, UK
9. Elizabeth Block, Toronto
10. Erin Wade, Seattle, WA
11. Joel Kovel, USA
12. Lawrence Boxall, Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver
13. Lawrence Davidson, Professor of History, West Chester University Pa, USA
14. Les Levidow, Jews Against Zionism (JAZ), London UK
15. Magid Shihade, Palestinian, Galilee, University of California, Davis, USA
16. Martha Roth, Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver
17. Martin Roth, Jews for a Just Peace, Vancouver
18. Meria Heller, Producer/Host of The Meria Show www.Meria.net, New York
19. Mohammed Abu Assi, Montreal, Canada
20. Mona Baker, Professor of Translation Studies, Manchester, UK http://www.monabaker.com/tsresources/
21. Noah Lepawsky, ISM-Vancouver
22. Roland Rance, Jews Against Zionism, London
23. Ron Benner, Independent Visual Artist, London, On.
24. Sami Joseph, UK
25. Smadar Carmon, Toronto
26. Tony and Stephanie Ali, Vancouver

By Hanna Kawas, a Bethlehemite and a descendant of the First Christians

Mr. Stephen Harper

I am a Christian Palestinian who, like the rest of my people, has been denied by your friends in Israel for the past thirty-nine years to go back home and live in my hometown Bethlehem (where we still have our own property).

My family, relatives, friends and the whole population of Bethlehem are enduring the most repressive and discriminatory regime the town has ever experienced and that includes the hated Roman (western) occupation of the city 2000 years ago.

A 25 ft. high concrete wall, in addition to the military check points, are putting the population of the city behind an iron curtain and rendering the city an open prison, similar to what successive Israeli governments have done to the rest of the Palestinian villages, towns and cities.

Unemployment in Bethlehem is over sixty-five percent.

Between the years 2000 and 2004, 357 Christian Palestinian families (10 per cent of the Christian population) emigrated from Bethlehem alone, due to the Israeli economic and repressive military measures.

Freedom of movement, freedom of association, freedom to work and freedom to worship are all curbed by the thirty-nine years of Israeli occupation.

Theft of the land from Bethlehem and its adjacent towns and villages has been taking place at an increasing pace.
All this and more about the desperate situation of the Palestinian people can be learned and obtained from your representatives in Israel and is wildly available on the Internet.

Mr. Harper:

I am writing to you to make you aware of all these facts. I thought you might not know all this information, and you might open your heart and mind to the suffering of my people. So you will not say in the future that you did not know.

Your unconditional support for Israeli occupation, apartheid and war crimes is “ultimately genocidal” (to borrow your phrase).http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061221.wxharper21/BNStory/National/
Israeli occupation and repression of the Palestinian nation and people is genocidal. The Israeli war against Lebanon last summer, the dropping of four million cluster bomblets and your support for that war is all also genocidal.

The Prime Minister of Israel was quoted recently as saying:

“One of the best friends in Canada is also the Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Harper. Canada has been absolutely incredible, friendly and supportive to us since the first day that Mr. Harper took over as Prime Minister. And I request, I ask, on behalf of my government, Gerry (Schwartz), that when you will talk to the Prime Minister of Canada, tell him that we thank him for his friendship, and that we thank Canada for its support, for the soldiers of Israel, for the fighters of Israel and for the people of Israel,” (http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/PMSpeaks/speechheseg211106.htm)

The first believers in Jesus Christ, his people, his descendents and the guardians of the holy places are not celebrating his birthday this year. They are starving, thanks to yours and George Bush’s support for their oppressors and cutting Canadian and U.S. aid to the besieged Palestinian people and nation. Even President Jimmy Carter called your action “a crime.”

Mr Harper:

On this Christmas day, I, in good conscience, cannot wish you a merry Christmas, while you are in solidarity with the people who are trying to ethnically cleanse the Holy Land of the descendants of the first Christians. Since you and Mr. Bush claim to be Christians, I would like to remind both of you and your rich friends all over the world with the following quote from the Bible.

“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).

Yours truly,
Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association www.cpavancouver.org
Host, Voice of Palestine http://www.voiceofpalestine.ca

The Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver (www.cpavancouver.org) and the Palestine Community Centre of B.C. (www.palestinecommunitycentre.com) issued the following statement on June 24, 2006.

It has come to our attention that the World Peace Forum (WPF) is regrettably associating with supporters of Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian people. Following are examples of support given to Israel by the individuals in question. Peace without justice or peace without principles is of no use to the oppressed peoples of the world. Amnesty Int’l, B’tselem and many other groups have meticulously detailed various war crimes of the Israeli government and military. We remind the WPF and these personalities that such support is directly against the articles of the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law.

1. Vancouver’s Deputy Mayor David Cadman brought greetings to the Walk for Israel held on Sunday May 28, 2006.
2. The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Iona Campagnolo attended the Hadassah-WIZO (Women’s Int’l. Zionist Organization) Convention in Vancouver in November 2005 as an honoured guest.
3. Vancouver’s Mayor Sam Sullivan attended the “Jewish National Fund” Negev dinner April 23, 2006 and was honoured for supporting Israel and the “greening” (read ethnic cleansing) of the Negev.
4. Beverley Jacobs, President, Native Women’s Association of Canada, was part of the much-criticized AFN delegation to Israel in Feb. 2006.
5. MP Alexa MacDonough is a member of Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group. When she prepared her NDP report on violation of human rights in the world, she totally ignored the Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights.

We call upon all people interested in a genuine peace in the Middle East to challenge these individuals and the WPF on this issue. Let us follow the brave example of unions and church groups world-wide that have stood up and clearly stated it can no longer be “business as usual” with the Israeli state.

A peace and justice or anti-racist group would never invite a supporter of South African Apartheid, or an anti-union or sexist politician. And rightly, they would expect all of the progressive movement to support them in that decision.

Why is Israel an exception?

Stephen Harper Prime Minister of Canada
Mr. Prime Minister:

On March 10, 2006, the Canadian representative at the UN voted against a motion calling on Israel to allow all Palestinian refugee women and children to return to their homes. The UN Economic and Social Council adopted the South African-sponsored resolution by a vote of 41-2, with only Canada and the United States voting against it.

On March 29, 2006, the Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and International Co-operation Minister Josée Verner announced that Canada was ending contacts with the duly elected Palestinian Authority and suspending Canadian aid to the PA. Canada was the first western country to officially do so, even before the US.

Your Government also issued a deportation order effective Thursday April 20, 2006 for Issam Al- Yamani. Issam is a stateless Palestinian refugee, long time Palestinian community leader and a human rights activist who lived in Canada for twenty years and has a long record in serving the community at large.

Mr. Prime Minister:

I would like to remind you of the following facts that relate to the role of Canada in the dispossession of the Palestinian people, in case your advisors did not bring them to your attention.

1. Canada was directly responsible for the Palestinian refugee problem. ” Mr. Justice Ivan Rand… played a central role in formulating the recommendations of its majority report (for the U.N. Partition Plan) … with Mr. (Lester) Pearson playing an active role in securing its passage. … Zionists were so grateful to Canada and to Mr. Pearson for the part he played in the whole process that they called him ‘the Balfour of Canada’.” (Report of the Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs published June 1985, page 49.)
2. During the creation of the state of Israel, Canadian volunteers and equipment were sent to help in the colonization of Palestine. “More than 300 Canadians eventually joined the Israeli forces while tons of military equipment, from Harvard training aircraft to radio sets, were smuggled out of Canadian ports”. (Canada and the birth of Israel, David J. Bercuson, page191.)
3. On May 11, 1949, Canada co-sponsored the U.N. General Assembly resolution 273(111) to admit Israel as a state to the U.N. That resolution stated: “Recalling its resolution of 29 November 1947 (the Partition Plan) and 11 December 1948 (the Right of Return), …decides to admit Israel into the membership of the United Nations.”

Now Canada, under your leadership, shows its true face regarding the Palestinian refugees. It was clear to all objective people that when Canada co-sponsored U.N. resolution 273, it was for the sole purpose of admitting Israel to the U.N. and not because of any concern for implementing UN resolutions, nor for human rights and dignity. Your recent vote at the UN removed the last fig leaf.

Your government and previous Canadian governments concretely supported Israeli occupation and war crimes. To mention just a few examples:

1. The Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement allows products produced in the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank to enjoy the benefits of this agreement.
2. Revenue Canada gives tax deduction status to Zionist groups that support the illegal Israeli settlements, including the so called “Jewish National Fund” that openly discriminates against Christian and Moslems, simply because of their religion.
3. Canada’s financial, political and diplomatic support for Israeli occupation and war crimes is well documented and contravenes all international humanitarian laws, the Fourth Geneva Convention andU.N. resolutions. The recent visit of former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon to Canada showed that you are not only supporting Israeli war crimes, but you are also directly participating in protecting war criminals.

Following the role of Canada in forcing the Partition Plan of Nov. 29, 1947 on the indigenous people of the Holy Land, Mr. M.S. Massoud, the President of the then Canadian Arab Friendship League declared in Montreal that we “would remember Lester B. Pearson and Justice Rand… who… did their utmost to impose upon Arabs the infamous partition scheme.”

Now, almost 60 years later, we tell you and all those who are complicit in supporting Israeli atrocities that we will also remember your hostile actions against the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim peoples.

Mr. Harper:

We are certain that the day will come when all those who are committing war crimes against the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and other countries in the world will be held responsible and brought to justice for violating the sovereignty of these countries and for committing war crimes against their civilian populations. For the sake of humanity, we hope this will happen sooner rather than later.
We urge you to stop taking Canada down this dead-end path, which will hurt the strategic interests of the Canadian people. We call on you to stop such unconditional support for these crimes. The US Empire is rapidly crumbling economically and militarily, and no one should gamble the future of Canada on continued U.S. world supremacy.

We demand that you, your minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness put a stop to the deportation order of Issam Al-Yamani on April 20, 2006, until he can freely return to his homeland Palestine.

Yours truly,
Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association
Host, Voice of Palestine