Open letters and statements to the public from the Canada Palestine Association.
New article in Mondoweiss on how Canada is helping to shield Israel from war crimes investigations.
Further Updates: This past week the International Criminal Court – ICC elected new top officials.
Canada’s convoluted double-talk on Palestinian rights and the International Criminal Court is a true masterclass in diplomatic hypocrisy. It flows from a biased and erroneous foundation, that is both inherently anti-Palestinian and allows for sweeping Israeli impunity.
The Trudeau government claims it supports a rules-based order and the ICC, but just not when it comes to Israeli war crimes. According to the recent statement by Marc Garneau, Foreign Affairs Minister, this is because Canada does not acknowledge the ICC’s jurisdiction to launch such an investigation.… Read more
(Photo: On the right is the late Rezeq Faraj, a former president of CAF, at one of their conventions with Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish./Photo: à droite, feu Rezeq Faraj, ancien président de la CAF, à l’une de leurs conventions avec le poète palestinien Mahmoud Darwish.)
(le français suit)
It is important to set the record straight in response to recent distortions, defamations and attacks on CAF, the Arab community and Palestinian advocacy.… Read more
Last summer’s fiasco at Canada’s national broadcaster CBC over its censure of the word Palestine has brought new focus to the debate over why there is such pro-Israel bias in most media in North America.
Some brief background: The CBC show “The Current” had an interview with Joe Sacco where the host used the word Palestine. This was deleted in the later online version and apologized for the next day.… Read more
CPA 2020, Year in Review
Canada Palestine Association and BDS Vancouver were busy in 2020 with both on-line and in-person events and campaigns. We had demos and rallies to reject “The Theft of the Century” and Israeli annexation. We supported Palestinian prisoners campaigns, commemorated Nakba72 and called out the CBC for its attempts to erase “Palestine”. Our BDS actions targeted Israeli wines, HP and Puma.… Read more
New update on Puma campaign – Puma Swaps One Complicit Israeli Distributor for Another.
(Puma responded quickly to our December 9th letter, which over 25 organizations in Canada had endorsed. Following is our reply to them, as well as a copy of their letter.)
December 10, 2020
Bob Philion
President, Puma North America
Thanks for your quick reply to our letter.… Read more
Check out the newest action in the #BoycottPuma – Give Puma the Boot campaign. Over twenty-five organizations in Canada, including unions, student associations and social justice groups, endorsed our letter to Puma calling on them to end their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.
(le français suit)
December 9, 2020
Mr. Maguire, Senior VP, Canada
Mr. Philion, CEO, Puma North America
People in Canada have recently come together to send the message that we should all be concerned about Puma’s involvement in violations of international law and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.… Read more
by Marion Kawas
Pro-Palestine activists in Canada have been overloaded in the last few months with challenges surrounding the dangerous definition of Anti-Semitism promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Association IHRA.
First, Bill 168 in the Ontario legislature was set for committee hearings when the government hijacked the whole process by adopting the IHRA through an Order in Council. Then, just last week, the Trudeau government appointed none other than Irwin Cotler, a well-known pro-Israel advocate, as Canada’s Special Envoy for Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Anti-Semitism.… Read more
And here we go again. Canada voted just this week to continue its “proud tradition” at the United Nations in favour of Israeli illegal settlements, war crimes and apartheid. Out of seven resolutions at the UN Fourth Committee, Canada voted against five and abstained on two.
Details on how Canada voted at the Fourth Committee:
1. “Assistance to Palestine refugees” [A/C.4/75/L.9]: Adopted by a vote of 153 in favour – 2 against – 12 abstention including Canada.… Read more
It pains Palestinian activists that even now, in 2020, we are forced to call out our allies on dealing with defenders of Israeli apartheid. Several organizations are having a webinar on October 15th about the important subject of why the Canadian government is insisting on spending billions of dollars on buying new fighter jets. The initial event announcement showed several speakers including Paul Manly, MP and Leah Gazan, MP along with other prominent figures.… Read more
