Montreal, June 14, 2023 — A new report by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) calls on the Canadian government to take immediate action to uphold the rights of Palestinian children in Israel’s military court system. Titled "Heartbreaking Disparity: Child Detainees in Canada vs. Israel," the report compares the treatment of Palestinian child detainees in the Israeli-occupied West Bank to both Jewish settler detainees that live in the same territory as well as child detainees in Canada. In doing so, the report exposes the disparity in the way that Palestinian children are treated, as part of Israel’s system of apartheid and state-sponsored violence against Palestinian children. Continue reading

Montreal, June 12, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is extremely concerned to learn that Canada sent more than $20 million in military exports to Israel last year, despite Israel’s 3-day bombing of the occupied Gaza Strip and heightened Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank. According to Canada’s newly released annual report on military exports, Canada exported $21,329,783.93 in military goods to Israel in 2022. Even when adjusted for inflation, this makes 2022 the third-highest year for Canadian military exports to Israel on record, after 2021 ($27,861,257) and 1987 ($28,716,528).* CJPME reiterates its call for Canada to immediately suspend all military trade with Israel. Continue reading

Montreal, June 8, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) congratulates the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE Manitoba) for endorsing the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. BDS is a Palestinian-led movement to put economic pressure on Israel until it complies with international law. A resolution unanimously adopted by delegates at the CUPE Manitoba Convention on May 17-19 resolved to “support the [BDS] movement to end Israeli Apartheid and the oppression of Palestinians.” CUPE Manitoba represents approximately 37,000 workers in Manitoba. Continue reading

Montreal, June 1, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) continues to call for federal politicians to apologize for advertisements they placed on a Website called TheJ.ca, which regularly hosts racist content. In a report published in late April titled "Legitimizing Hate," CJPME documented advertisements running on TheJ.ca on behalf of Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, Conservative Party deputy leader Melissa Lantsman, Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Secretary Rob Oliphant, and Leah Taylor Roy, MP Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill.  In its report, CJPME recommended that politicians who had advertised on the Website issue formal statements distancing themselves from TheJ.ca and the racist positions advanced by its contributors. To date, none of the Federal politicians involved have done so. Continue reading

Montreal, May 26, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on Members of Parliament to boycott meetings with Israel’s far-right Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli, who will be visiting Canada next week. Chikli is a far-right extremist and anti-Palestinian racist who has called for the suppression of the Palestinian national identity and has said that annexing the occupied West Bank – explicitly illegal under international law – would be “excellent.” CJPME reiterates its call for Canada to boycott meetings with Israel’s far-right regime, which would send a strong message in support of human rights and international law. Continue reading

Montreal, May 17, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes a new parliamentary study into how Canada can support human rights in Palestine and Israel, as approved yesterday by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. A motion brought forward by NDP MP Heather McPherson was approved in a vote of 6-3 with one abstention, with support from the Bloc Québécois and most Liberal MPs. The forthcoming study, which is believed to be the first of its kind in decades, will explore “the actions that Canada should take” to promote human rights and international law in the region. CJPME thanks MP McPherson for her leadership in bringing this motion forward. Continue reading

Montreal, May 15, 2023 - Below is a letter to Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, requesting an explanation for Canada’s decision to “boycott” the United Nation’s High-Level Special Committee Meeting on the 75th Commemoration of the Nakba, which was held today at the UN headquarters in New York. Canada’s boycott of the event was reported by the Times of Israel. "Canada’s decision to boycott this UN event commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba is offensive and unacceptable, and it demands an explanation." Click here to download the letter as a PDF. Continue reading

Montreal, May 15, 2023 — Today we mark the 75th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (‘catastrophe’ in Arabic), the expulsion, destruction, and ethnic cleansing of Palestine associated with the creation of Israel in 1948. The Nakba is a process that has never ended. Today, CJPME stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Canada and around the world, and reaffirms its support for the fundamental and inalienable right of Palestinian refugees to return to the country that they were forced to leave behind. Continue reading

Montreal, May 11, 2023 — On the one-year anniversary of the killing of veteran Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is demanding that the Canadian government hold Israeli officials accountable for her death. Unfortunately, Canada has abandoned its initial calls for accountability and for an investigation into her death, despite overwhelming evidence indicating that Abu Akleh was deliberately killed by Israeli forces while visible as a member of the press. CJPME urges Canada to renew its call for accountability now that Israeli forces are unquestionably responsible for this crime, and to put its support behind an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Continue reading

Montreal, May 9, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s unprovoked acts of aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip. Overnight, Israel unilaterally broke its ceasefire with Islamic Jihad to conduct extrajudicial killings of three of its leaders, deliberately targeting units in residential buildings and killing them with their families as they slept. 13 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including 4 children and 4 women, and another 18 were injured. Further casualties have been reported from renewed airstrikes today. In addition to a formal condemnation, CJPME urges Canada to immediately suspend all military trade with Israel, among other concrete measures to hold Israeli officials accountable for this massacre. Continue reading