Montreal, May 7, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging the Canadian government to condemn the imminent mass evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, and to take concrete action to prevent their expulsion by Israel. As soon as next week, four Palestinian families consisting of thirty adults and ten children may be removed from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah to be replaced with Israeli settlers, and more than one hundred other families face a similar eviction process. The “forcible transfer” of an occupied civilian population is strictly prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention, and CJPME considers the mass expulsion of Palestinian families to be a practice of ethnic cleansing. Continue reading

Montreal, April 27, 2021 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling for action following the release of a ground-breaking report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) which concludes that Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. CJPME demands that Canada’s political leaders take concrete measures to censure Israel for its Apartheid practices, as recommended by HRW. These include imposing individual sanctions on officials responsible for committing the crime of apartheid, conditioning arms sales to Israel on authorities taking action to end these crimes, and vetting bi-lateral agreements to prevent directly contributing to these crimes. Continue reading

On 22 April 2021, representatives of 28 Palestinian families constituting approximately 500 Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, and 191 endorsing organisations (including Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East), sent a letter to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling to urgently include the imminent forced displacement of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah as part of the open investigation within the Situation in the State of Palestine. Specifically, the families called on her Office to include as part of the investigation the related war crimes and crimes against humanity, including forcible transfer, appropriation of property, persecution, apartheid, and other inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious injury to inter alia mental health arising from their forced evictions. Continue reading

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes the significant decision by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) to censure the University of Toronto for violating academic freedom. Representing 70,000 faculty and academic staff across Canada, the CAUT voted 79-0 to censure the university for revoking a job offer to Dr. Valentina Azarova after a major donor complained about her scholarship on the Israeli occupation of Palestine. In practical terms, imposing censure means that the CAUT will encourage academics in Canada and around the world to boycott the University of Toronto, and to turn down any jobs, speaking opportunities, conferences, or honours until the problems of academic freedom have been resolved. Continue reading

On April 21, 2021, CJPME joined Muslim, Arab, and Jewish organizations in sending a letter to the University of Toronto regarding the Cromwell Report into the mistreatment of Dr. Azarova, copied below. The letter raised concerns about the university's exposed lack of integrity, the censorship of Dr. Azarova due to her work on Israel, and the harm that this incident has caused to members of Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Jewish communities. The letter urges the university to take a step towards accountability by reinstating the job offer to Dr. Azarova. Continue reading

On April 15, 2021, CJPME joined the Palestinian Canadian Academics and Artists Network (PCAAN) and other civil society groups in sending a joint letter to Marc Garneau, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which urged him to take action to prevent the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, illegally occupied East Jerusalem. Click here to download the letter, which is also copied below.   Continue reading

Montreal, April 10, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) applauds the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP) for adopting a bold new policy in support of sanctions against Israel. This evening at the NDP policy convention, party members passed a popular, grassroots resolution in support of a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements and an arms embargo on the State of Israel. This vote is a major win for party activists, including Palestinian and Jewish members, who have organized for years to get the NDP take action to support Palestinian human rights. A statement from the main organizers behind the resolution can be found here.  Continue reading

Montreal, April 6, 2021  — CJPME is highly concerned by a Statistics Canada publication on hate crimes in Canada which referenced claims from a non-rigorous “audit” on antisemitism by the lobby group B’nai Brith Canada. CJPME is concerned that the inclusion of B’nai Brith’s claims in a Statistics Canada publication not only gives undeserved credibility to a flawed methodology, but also inadvertently perpetuates the false notion that protesting Israel’s human rights abuses is equivalent to hate crimes and antisemitic violence. Continue reading

Montreal, March 31, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is deeply concerned about new revelations showing how a pro-Israel lobby group tried to interfere in a confidential University of Toronto hiring process. This interference seemingly sought to sabotage the hiring of a critic of Israel, according to a report released this week into the University of Toronto’s alleged mistreatment of job candidate Dr. Valentina Azarova. The Cromwell report exposes the behind-the-scenes efforts by pro-Israel actors to interfere against Dr. Azarova’s candidacy on the grounds of her scholarship critical of Israel’s occupation, although it concludes – unconvincingly – that such efforts did not play a deciding role in the UofT’s decision to cancel the hiring of Dr. Azarova. Continue reading

Montreal, March 24, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is encouraging all Members of Parliament to vote today for Private Member’s Bill C-231, “An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act (investments),” which is currently at the second reading stage. If C-231 were to be adopted, CJPME expects that these new rules guiding investment would empower Canada’s Pension Plan to withhold investments from companies operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), which are contrary to international law and violate Palestinian human rights. Continue reading