Montreal, July 29, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) applauds the Federal Court of Canada’s ruling against “Product of Israel” labels on wines produced in Israeli colonies (aka “settlements”). This morning, the Federal Court rejected this practice, calling the mislabelling “false, misleading and deceptive.” CJPME agrees with the Federal Court's principled decision on this matter and renews its call for the Canadian government to distinguish between products originating from Israel and Israeli colonies in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Continue reading

Montreal, July 23, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is deeply concerned by Israel’s demolition of Palestinian housing units in East Jerusalem. Yesterday, Israeli Occupation Forces entered the Palestinian East Jerusalem village of Sur Bahir in the middle of the night, forcibly displacing Palestinian families to demolish nearly a hundred of their homes. CJPME calls on the Canadian government to break its silence on Israeli human rights violations and condemn Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians in East Jerusalem.  Continue reading

Montreal, July 23, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) condemns the Lebanese government’s new work permit laws which discriminate against Syrian and Palestinian refugees working in the country. CJPME urges the Lebanese government to put an end to its xenophobic discourse and drop the idea of insisting that Palestinian and Syrian refugees obtain work permits. Continue reading

Montreal, July 12, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is alarmed by an independent UN expert’s warning against Israeli designs on the occupied Palestinian territories. This morning, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) broadcasted the findings of an independent report that raises serious concerns over Israel’s prolonged occupation and human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories. In wake of this report, CJPME renews its call for the Canadian government to take immediate action to hold Israel accountable for its human rights violations. Continue reading

We Canadian civil society organizations, namely, Amnesty International Canada, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam- Quebec, Project Ploughshares and the Rideau Institute, long active in the effort to strengthen Canadian controls on the export of military equipment, today applaud the Government of Canada’s formal announcement of this country’s accession to the global Arms Trade Treaty. Continue reading

Montreal, June 26, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) skeptically  welcomes the Trudeau government’s announcement of its new anti-racism strategy, which includes a definition of Islamophobia. Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez unveiled “Building a Foundation for Change” yesterday, a plan that allocates $45 million to fight racism through community initiatives, public education campaigns and combatting online hate. While CJPME is encouraged to see the federal government take steps toward addressing racism in Canada, there are still significant gaps in the strategy, which ultimately fails to enumerate any concrete actions on the urgent problem of Islamophobia in Canada. Continue reading

Montreal, June 25, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) rejects the American government’s doomed “deal of the century” initiative for Middle East peace. This morning, the Trump administration began the sales job for its $50 billion-dollar economic plan for Israel-Palestine at an international conference in Manama, Bahrain. CJPME and many others around the world oppose Trump’s one-sided “peace” plan that sidelines Palestinians and fails to address the core issues at stake in the conflict.  Continue reading

Montreal, June 17, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) strongly condemns Bill 21, which in the name of government “secularism,” will now bar Quebeckers who wear religious symbols from taking certain government positions. Despite months of public outcry and severe criticism from human rights groups, late last night the Quebec government passed Bill 21 into law. CJPME condemns Bill 21 as a violation of Quebeckers’ fundamental human rights and calls on Canadian politicians to condemn Bill 21 as institutionalized discrimination. Continue reading

Montreal, June 5, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is deeply concerned that Motion M-153– which purports to honour the victims of the January 29, 2017 Quebec City mosque massacre – is an attempt to avert a proper tribute to the victims of January 29.  M-153, which passed second reading in the House of Commons last Thursday, a private-members motion introduced by Conservative MP Scott Reid, seeks to designate January 29 as a “National Day of Solidarity with Victims of Anti-religious Bigotry and Violence.” CJPME believes this motion fails to address the Islamophobia that inspired the January 29th massacre, instead diluting the significance of the January 29th by grouping together several dissimilar violent incidents from Canadian history. Continue reading

Montreal, April 24th, 2019 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is deeply appalled by Saudi Arabia’s gruesome execution of 37 Saudi men yesterday – in the largest mass execution since January 2016. In light of these recent executions and Saudi Arabia’s increasing human rights abuses, CJPME calls on the Canadian government to re-examine its relationship with Saudi Arabia. Continue reading