Alberta must drop spurious charges against Palestine protest organizer: CJPME
Montreal, November 7, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) demands that the Government of Alberta immediately drop all charges against Calgary protest organizer Wesam Khaled. Khaled was arrested on Sunday, Nov. 5 and charged with “disturbing the peace.” The police informed Wesam that the charge against him was because of his use of the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which the police chose to treat as an “offensive antisemitic comment.” CJPME vigorously opposes this interpretation of the chant, which is a simple call for freedom. CJPME considers the charges to be spurious, and insists that they be dropped immediately.
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Trudeau’s new sympathetic tone on Gaza won’t avert genocide: CJPME
Montreal, November 2, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) warns that Trudeau’s more “sympathetic” tone toward the death of Palestinian civilians in Gaza will do nothing to avert mass atrocities and Israel’s genocidal violence. On November 1, Prime Minister Trudeau claims to have met with Palestinian families and made three separate comments expressing the idea that the price of justice cannot be the continued suffering of Palestinian civilians. However, CJPME strenuously emphasizes that Trudeau still refuses to join the international community in calling for an immediate stop to Israel’s bombardment, making his words ring hollow. And even if Canada calls for an end to the bombing, it will have done nothing materially – like embargoing arms to Israel – to prevent it from continuing.
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Israel’s ground offensive is a failure of Canadian diplomacy: CJPME
Montreal, October 31, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) emphatically condemns the current Israeli ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip. In a major and preventable escalation, Israeli ground forces have begun operating in Gaza since October 28 after indiscriminately bombing Gaza for over 21 days. Over 8500 Palestinians have already been killed, including over 3500 children, and over 1 million people have been displaced. CJPME argues that Canada’s refusal to de-escalate the war is a major failure of diplomacy, and reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire.
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Government ignoring needs of Canada’s aid sector in Gaza: CJPME
Montreal, October 30, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) warns that the Canadian government’s humanitarian approach to Gaza is failing the needs of the aid sector under Israeli bombardment and siege. CJPME emphasizes that every single announced recipient of Canada’s humanitarian aid has been pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and several recipients have even been directly targeted in Israeli attacks. Despite this, Canada has failed to condemn Israel for its attacks on aid workers and continues to reject calls for a ceasefire. CJPME urges Canada to listen to the appeals from its partners on the ground and finally withdraw its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
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Canada fails humanity with abstention on UN vote: CJPME
Montreal, October 28, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) condemns Canada’s abstention on a UN General Assembly emergency resolution late Friday, which called for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza. Many considered the resolution to be the last opportunity to prevent the bloody and devastating ground assault that was subsequently launched on Gaza by Israel. The resolution was sponsored by Jordan and passed with 120 votes in favour, 14 against and 45 abstentions. In addition to calling for a truce, it also called for all parties to respect international humanitarian law and allow the “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The resolution also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all civilians held captive. As the UN debate was underway, Israel imposed a total communications blackout on Gaza and launched a ground assault, escalating its bloody and devastating attacks on Gaza in complete darkness.
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‘Humanitarian Pauses’ won’t avert catastrophe in Gaza: CJPME
Montreal, October 25, 2023 — Canada’s support for “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza falls far short of averting further human catastrophe, asserts Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). An immediate ceasefire, warns CJPME, is essential, as Israel’s bombardment and siege have brought the humanitarian situation in Gaza to the brink of total collapse, with hospitals and UN agencies warning that they will effectively cease to function if they do not receive fuel and water immediately. Yesterday, the Canadian government followed the United States in calling for “humanitarian pauses on hostilities to be considered,” while continuing to reject calls for a ceasefire. CJPME urges Canada to call for a total and unconditional ceasefire in Israel-Palestine, the lifting of Israel’s siege, and a massive influx of aid to prevent unfathomable human loss.
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Updated: Statement on Suspension of Board Member
Montreal, October 20, 2023 [Updated: October 24, 2023] — Following a decision by the CJPME Board of Directors, Ms. Sasa is suspended from the CJPME Board. As confirmed by the CJPME Board, Ms. Sasa has never been authorized to speak on behalf of the organization. In addition, some views that Ms. Sasa has expressed publicly are not aligned with the policies and positions of the organization.
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Labour and civil society organizations press Trudeau for Gaza ceasefire
Montreal, October 23, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has joined dozens of labour, faith and civil society organizations in a joint statement pushing Canada to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the blockade of Gaza, including the restoration of aid, electricity, fuel, food, and water. These demands from labour and civil society follow on the heels of urgent calls from Canada-based Palestinian and Jewish groups supporting Palestinian human rights and calling for a just and lasting peace in Palestine.
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Joint Statement: Ceasefire now, end the siege, for a just and lasting peace
Montreal, October 21, 2023 [Signatories updated November 7] - Below is a joint statement from a broad and representative cross-section of Canadian civil society to demand an immediate ceasefire and urgent humanitarian aid to Gaza. Signatories include labour, faith, community (Arab, Palestinian, Jewish), civil society, and peace and justice organizations.
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Israeli invasion of Gaza would gravely endanger civilians, hostages: CJPME
Montreal, October 20, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging Canada to speak out against an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza, warning that this threatens the lives of Palestinian civilians and hostages alike. As Israel’s plans for an invasion increasingly seem inevitable, United Nations human rights experts have expressed alarm about the possibility of “genocide” in Gaza, while Israeli officials have announced that the lives of civilians and hostages would only be “secondary” considerations. CJPME urges Canada to publicly oppose Israel’s plans for further escalation and demand an immediate ceasefire.
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