Montreal, June 5, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on Parliament to investigate Israeli foreign influence in Canada, following the alarming discovery that Israel has been covertly targeting Canadians with racist anti-Muslim messages. According to multiple media reports, the Israeli government has funded and orchestrated a secret foreign influence campaign targeting Canadians and Americans, using fake websites and social media accounts to demonize Canadian Palestinians and Muslims. CJPME further urges the government to act against Israel’s documented pattern of foreign interference by summoning and expelling Israel’s Ambassador to Canada. Continue reading

Montreal, June 4, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is outraged to learn that Canada exported $30,641,495.83 in military goods and technology to Israel in 2023, according to Canada’s newly released annual report on military exports. This is the highest year on record and represents a 43% increase in the value of military exports over the previous year. This is also during a period in which Israel stands accused of genocide against Palestinians by international legal experts. CJPME notes that the $30.6M is a separate figure from the $28.5M in export permits approved by Canada following October 7, 2023, many of which may not have been utilized yet. CJPME reiterates its call for Canada to reverse this dangerous trend, and immediately impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel using the Special Economic Measures Act. Continue reading

Montreal, May 23, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) calls for Canada to follow the lead of its European allies Spain, Norway and Ireland, and recognize an independent Palestinian state.  The three European countries noted that Palestinian independence cannot hinge on a negotiated peace agreement with Israel which has, for decades, undermined frameworks for Palestinian self-determination, while continuously violating Palestinian human rights.  CJPME points out that Canada’s traditional position of waiting for a “negotiated two-state solution” has long proven to be counterproductive, and has given Israel every incentive to dither undermine efforts for Palestinian liberation and dignity.  CJPME is highly critical of the Trudeau government’s refusal to join its European allies in this strategic step Continue reading

Montreal, May 20, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) applauds the application for arrest warrants filed by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.  The application was filed against the two Israeli leaders based on their actions in Gaza, in particular the targeting of civilians and blocking of humanitarian aid. In the past, the Trudeau Government has sought to dissuade the ICC from investigating war crimes by Israel, and CJPME is concerned that it may similarly attempt to obstruct justice alongside the United States. CJPME urges Canada to publicly support the application for warrants, and be prepared to execute them should they be issued. Continue reading

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