On February 22, 2016, the House of Commons passed a motion calling the government “to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement, both here at home and abroad.” Civil liberties groups across Canada condemned the motion, considering it an assault on free expression, whether or not one may agree with the BDS movement itself.  

In fact, the people and organizations around the world which support the BDS movement do so because they agree with the movement’s objectives as stated at its launch in 2005.  The movement calls for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions on Israel “until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”  The three core objectives of the BDS movement align very closely with Canada’s official policy on the Israel-Palestine conflict and are: 

• “Ending [Israel’s] occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall.” 
• “Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality.”
• “Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.”

Below are several of communications and actions that CJPME launched in terms of opposing parliament's attempt  to intimidate the ongoing work of BDS activists!

• Sign CJPME's petition challenging on the Canadian Government to follow through on its absurd motion, and condemn us for our boycott activism
• Read CJPME's February 19 Press Release launching the "Boycott Israel" sticky notes campaign
• Read our February 23 Press Release on the CJPME president waiting to be condemned by the Trudeau Government
• Read our Factsheet shedding light on the stated objectives of the BDS movement, despite the uninformed parliamentary debate: "BDS: Informing the Parliamentary Debate"
• Read our March 23 Press Release on the Trudeau Government's lack of action after the Ant-BDS Motion
• Read our letters to Justin Trudeau, Stephane Dion, Tony Clement, Michelle Rempel and Thomas Mulcair, challenging them to take action if they really believe in the substance of the anti-BDS motion
• Read the article in Le Devoir covering CJPME's campaign challenging the government with its "Condemn Me" campaign
• Read our March 10 Press Release on the threats and hate speech CJPME received after the Anti-BDS motion

See below CJPME’s counter, counting the day, hours and minutes since the government passed the anti-BDS motion, and has done nothing. This reluctance to act is surely a testament to Parliament’s lack of conviction as to the legality and morality of this offensive anti-BDS motion.