Open letters and statements to the public from the Canada Palestine Association.
(Update: Check out the new list of individual endorsers which includes artists, activists, lawyers, professors and clergy, all joining the call to reject the criminalization of Palestinian advocacy. Our statement was also published in Mondoweiss.)
On February 28, 2021, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz declared that he was adding the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network to Israel’s “terror list”.… Read more
Six months after CBC’s show The Current deleted, and apologized for using, the word Palestine, the CBC Ombudsman has finally released his review of the case. His long report concluded “that while The Current did not violate journalistic standards, producers made a poor decision in issuing an apology. Even though the original program was at odds with CBC’s usual practice, it would have been better to leave it as is.”… Read more
#Justice4ElHalabi
Twitter Storm and Social Media Campaign
Sunday, February 28
10 am Pacific – 1 pm Eastern – 7 pm central Europe – 8 pm Palestine
Use the hashtag: #Justice4ElHalabi
Suggested Tweets and Images: https://bit.ly/justice4elhalabi
Mohammed El-Halabi is the former director of World Vision in Gaza. A Palestinian “humanitarian hero,” Mohammed El-Halabi, 42, was detained by Israel in 2016. In a widely promoted press campaign, El-Halabi was accused by Israeli officials of financing Hamas using funds from the charity.… Read more
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
