Montreal, May 21, 2020  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) urges the Canadian government to take a strong stand against Israel’s planned annexation of huge swaths of Palestinian territory in the West Bank.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, struck a deal in April to annex parts of the West Bank as part of their bid to form a unity government.  Many of Canada’s European allies have spoken strong against Israel’s plans, but to date Canada has not substantively addressed the issue.  France, Belgium, Germany and Estonia have stated, for example, they will not recognize such Israeli annexations, and called Israel to “refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory and would be, as such, contrary to international law.”

The proposal for the establishment of a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East was formally introduced by Iran and Egypt in a resolution submitted to the UN General Assembly in 1974. This UN resolution initiated the global push for nuclear disarmament in the region. In 1995, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference adopted a resolution which called upon states to take the necessary measures to ensure the establishment of a NWFZ in the Middle East. Despite officially supporting the creation of a NWFZ in the Middle East, Canada has consistently voted against resolutions that call upon Israel to sign the NPT and dismantle its nuclear weapons program. It has also repeatedly blocked resolutions calling for a regional conference on the establishment of a NWFZ. Canada should play a more active role in advancing negotiations on a NWFZ in the Middle East. Instead of blocking attempts to convene a conference on this matter, Canada should lead the push for disarmament in the region. Canada should leverage its relationship with Israel in order to encourage its participation in disarmament negotiations. 

This chart compares the various violent incidents cited by Scott Reid's Motion 153 and shows how they fail to relate to each other, contrary to what the motion suggests.              

CJPME Factsheet No. 218, published February, 2020: This factsheet provides an overview of the Trump Plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and explains why this new deal is an obstacle to sustainable peace for Palestinans and in the Middle-East.