Montreal, May 16, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes Canada’s belated imposition of sanctions on four extremist Israeli settlers, but warns that this narrow approach to state-settler violence fails to address the enabling role of the Israeli government. For months, Canada has warned that settler terrorism has the support of Israeli leaders and is often carried out with the protection or even participation of Israeli soldiers. CJPME continues to urge Canada to widen its list of targeted individuals to include Israeli officials responsible for settler violence, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and to recognize the Israeli government as a state sponsor of terror under the State Immunity Act. Continue reading

Montreal, May 16, 2024 - CJPME has sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging that Canada end its involvement in Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Click here to download the full letter as a PDF, or click here for CJPME's position paper with recommendations. Continue reading

Montreal, May 16, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead a “whole-of-government approach” to address the problem of Canadian collusion in war crimes related to illegal Israeli settlements. This initiative follows the recent “Great Israeli Real Estate” events in Montreal and Toronto, which involved the open sale of properties within illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. CJPME is urging Canada to crack down on such events and focus on ending other forms of Canadian complicity in settlements. To that end, CJPME has provided Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet with 19 policy recommendations based on the status of settlements as war crimes under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. Continue reading

Montreal, May 15, 2024 — On the 76th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (‘catastrophe’ in Arabic), Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to address its ongoing complicity in Palestinian dispossession. The Nakba refers to the expulsion, destruction, and ethnic cleansing of Palestine associated with the creation of Israel in 1948, and this process of dispossession continues in the current genocide and mass displacement in Gaza, as well as illegal settlement expansion, house demolitions, forced evictions and settler violence in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and parts of the Negev. CJPME has submitted a series of recommendations to inform MP Matthew Green’s Nakba Bill initiative, which will involve the creation of a private member’s bill, outlining concrete steps that Canada can take to counter Israeli policies of dispossession and affirm the rights of Palestinian refugees. Continue reading

Montreal, May 7, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to urgently pressure Israel to bring an immediate end to its invasion of Rafah, a move which threatens to push the civilian population of Gaza further into genocide. Although Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has repeatedly expressed “concern” about the impact of a Rafah invasion, Canada has not committed to any action that could stop this catastrophe, despite credible assessments by international legal experts that Israel’s actions in Gaza already amount to genocide. CJPME believes that Canada must urgently impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel and publicly call on Biden to do the same in the United States. Continue reading

Montreal, May 7, 2024 — Canadian civil society organizations across multiple sectors are escalating their push to end Canada’s trade in military and security technology with Israel. In a joint statement issued today for an “Arms Embargo Now,” Palestinian associations, labour unions, human rights organizations, and community groups representing more than 2 million people across Canada are calling on the Canadian government to utilize new and powerful tools to definitively end military trade with Israel, including immediately implementing an official arms embargo using Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act. Continue reading

Montreal, May 6, 2024 — Canadian human rights organizations today issued recommendations for Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy to ensure that the federal government is effectively addressing both anti-Palestinian racism and antisemitism. Canadian Heritage’s updated Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy is expected to be published this spring. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC), and Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) are calling for these materials to include anti-Palestinian racism, which has drastically intensified in the last few months. Continue reading

Montreal, May 1, 2024 - CJPME has sent a letter to Ministers Champagne and Holland urging that Canada introduce support for Palestinian academics and recommend an academic boycott of Israel, directly modelled on Canada's March 2022 guidelines in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Click here to download the full letter as a PDF Continue reading

Montreal, April 30, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging McGill University to respond to the student encampment by respecting their demands, and divesting from companies that are complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. After only a few days of peaceful protest, CJPME is alarmed by the administration’s threats to dispel the students through force, which could result in a violent police crackdown and mass arrests. CJPME believes that the students’ demands reflect international legal and ethical imperatives that should be respected by the University. Continue reading

Montreal, April 18, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes today’s introduction of official Parliamentary Petition e-4745, which calls for a two-way arms embargo on Israel and was sponsored by NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson. With 82,248 signatures, it is the 9th most popular e-petition in the history of Parliament. CJPME urges the Canadian government to finally listen to Canadians and immediately impose an arms embargo on all military trade with Israel using the Special Economic Measures Act. Continue reading