Montreal, May 19, 2016  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) denounces Ontario Bill 202 as an affront to free speech in Ontario.  CJPME points out that Bill 202 both attacks Canadians’ right to express themselves through boycott action, and smears an entire movement of human rights activists by accusing them of anti-Semitism.  Bill 202, the so-called “Standing Up Against Anti-Semitism in Ontario Act,” would prevent entities from entering into contract with provincial institutions if these entities support the “BDS” human rights movement based in Israel-Palestine.  BDS stands for “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” and is a movement to put economic pressure on Israel so that it respects the human rights of Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.  

CJPME Factsheet 200, published May, 2016: On Thursday, May 19, 2016, Ontario’s legislature voted down private member’s Bill 202 which would have prevented the provincial government from entering into contract with individuals or entities supporting the BDS movement. This factsheet summarizes the objectives of the BDS movement before explaining why the Ontario Bill 202 is not constitutional. 

Montreal, May 10, 2016  — The Saudi Arabian ambassador to Canada has declined to respond to a letter asking him to explain his country’s position on the $15 billion arms deal for light armoured vehicles (LAVs) with Canada.  Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) sent a letter to the Saudi Ambassador last week, and followed up repeatedly, but failed to elicit a response from the Saudi representative to Canada.  CJPME had invited the ambassador to address concerns by Canadian human rights organizations that the LAVs could likely be used to commit human rights abuses.

Montreal, April 27, 2016  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) joined with over a dozen prominent Canadian human rights groups signing an open letter opposing the recent issuance of export permits for Canada’s $15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.  The list of Canadian organizations signing the open letter is impressive, and includes Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, the Rideau Institute and others.  The organizations addressed the letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and demanded that the government rescind the export permits for the arms deal, many of which have been recently signed.    

BDS Movement – The international “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) movement, established in 2005 to apply economic pressure on Israel to respect international law vis-à-vis the Palestinians and its occupation of Palestinian territories.

Montreal, March 31, 2016  — It has been over five weeks since the majority Liberal government of Justin Trudeau committed itself to condemning all Canadian groups and individuals who promote the boycott of Israel (i.e. BDS)[i] in Canada.  Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) points out that, despite the lip service that Liberal leaders gave in support of the motion at the time, government leaders have not yet condemned a single Canadian group or individual for BDS.  CJPME leaders conclude that this is either because: 1) the Liberal government is not convinced of the merits of the motion, or 2) the Liberal government is concerned that the motion contradictsCanada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Montreal, March 10, 2016  — Following the passage of Parliament’s “anti-BDS” motion on Feb. 22, and its own BDS initiatives, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and its adherents have been much more the target of threats and hate speech in social media.  While the instigators of the hate speech were banned from the social media fora soon after they make their comments, the comments at times nonetheless constitute threats and hate speech.  “One has to wonder whether the parliamentary anti-BDS motion made it ‘open season’ on human rights activists,” mused Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME.