On March 16, CPA activists joined with BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network to deliver a message to the consulate of France in Vancouver and to show solidarity with Olivia Zémor! Olivia is being sued by the Israeli pharmaceutical giant, TEVA, and is charged with calling for a boycott of the company. The verdict in her trial is expected in mid-May.… Read more
Political Advocacy and National Liberation are not “Terrorism”
(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
#Justice4ElHalabi
On March 14, 2021, there was a second social media action day to highlight the case of Palestinian political prisoner Mohammed El-Halabi. During our Feb. 28th initial campaign, the tweets alone reached 3.1 million people – and thousands participated. With Mohammed El-Halabi, Palestine’s “Humanitarian Hero,” facing a new unjust Israeli hearing this week, Just Peace Advocates, Canada Palestine Association, Palestine House and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network came together again to call for #Justice4ElHalabi!… Read more
CBC Ombudsman says apology “unwise”, but anti-Palestinian language guide is “reasonable”
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
Free Mohammed El-Halabi!
#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
Canadian complicity: Is ICC serving justice or Western interests?
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.
- Canadian UN ambassador Bob Rae was elected as a vice-president. Bob Rae is a well-known supporter of Israeli war crimes, he was the keynote speaker at the JNF Toronto Negev Dinner in 2019.
Canada’s Hypocrisy on the ICC and Palestine
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
Indigenous activist Lee Maracle on CBC erasure of Palestine
Lee Maracle, author, poet and indigenous activist issued the following statement after learning of the attempts by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to erase Palestine and the Palestinian national identity.
Lee is also a longtime supporter of the Palestinian people’s struggle.
“Indigenous people in Canada know about erasure as a means of eradicating the plight of indigenous nations for nationhood.… Read more
Anti-Arab racism has deep roots in Canada/Le racisme anti-arabe a des racines profondes au Canada
(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
CBC still mulling over its anti-Palestinian bias
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