Montreal, January 19, 2026 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is alarmed that Prime Minister Carney has accepted in principle an invitation to join US President Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace,” which aims to oversee the governance of the occupied Gaza Strip. CJPME warns that the Board of Peace is a colonial instrument that will directly implicate Canada in the administration of occupied Palestinian territory, violating the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people. CJPME urges Carney to reject Trump’s intervention, and decline any role for Canada in this outsourcing of Israeli occupation.
“Trump’s Board of Peace is a brazen return to old-fashioned colonial rule and a further attack on the United Nations. We urge Carney to refuse to join the Board, which will make Canada complicit in undermining international law,” said Yara Shoufani, President of CJPME. “Canada should be putting pressure on Israel to fully respect the terms of the ceasefire agreement and to withdraw from Palestine. If Carney joins the Board of Peace, Canada will instead become directly responsible for managing how the genocide unfolds.”
CJPME warns that Trump’s Board of Peace is likely to further undermine the United Nations and bolster Israel’s permanent occupation of Palestine, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has advised is unlawful and must end as soon as possible. The proposed international security force, if tasked with ‘disarming’ Hamas, risks becoming a full belligerent on the side of Israel within the conflict rather than simply a peacekeeping body protecting civilians.
Beyond Gaza, Trump wants the Board of Peace to be involved in matters from Ukraine to Venezuela and Greenland, effectively replacing United Nations institutions, like the Security Council, with a body that is fully beholden to the US regime. Trump is requesting that countries pay $1 billion for permanent membership on the board.
“At the moment when Trump is acting in open defiance of international law, threatening to conquer Greenland, threatening regime change in Iran, and kidnapping heads of state in Venezuela, it is outrageous that Carney would join Trump’s scheme to rule over the Palestinian people while excluding Palestinians themselves. Giving the Board of Peace any legitimacy means abandoning any pretense of support for a so-called ‘rules-based order,’ based on Canadian-values” added Shoufani.
CJPME warns that Israel’s genocide in Gaza is ongoing. Despite a supposed ceasefire in effect, Israel has killed over 450 Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the agreement, including over 100 children, and destroyed over 2,500 buildings. Israeli forces have taken direct control over more than 50% of the territory of Gaza, and continue to restrict humanitarian aid while banning dozens of aid groups. Netanyahu is reportedly preparing to return to an intensified military campaign in March.
CJPME urges Canada to reject Trump’s Board of Peace, and to utilize sanctions as a measure to compel Israel to comply with the ceasefire agreement and withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory. CJPME urges Canada to actively champion a comprehensive political solution that fully supports a unified, Palestinian-led government across the occupied Palestinian territory, based on true self-determination as laid out in the 2024 ICJ advisory opinion.