Montreal, July 6, 2023 - CJPME has sent a letter to the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC) to congratulate them for adopting a principled resolution in support of Palestinian human rights. Read the letter text below, or click here to download a PDF.

Montreal, June 27, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes the renewal of Canada’s funding to Palestinian refugees for the next four years, but is disappointed that the latest pledge represents a cut of $5 million annually. CJPME urges Canada to increase its funding to meet the needs of the current humanitarian and human rights crisis, and to complement its financial support with political support for UNRWA and Palestinian refugees on the international stage.

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.

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.

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).

On March 24, 2022, CJPME joined 89 Palestinian and international organizations in issuing a joint oral intervention to the UN Human Rights Council, welcoming the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Israeli apartheid. The intervention was delivered by Elizabeth Rghebi of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS). You can watch the video (starts at 01:18:54), or read the full statement below.

You can also read CJPME's separate press release here.

Montreal, March 23, 2022  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging Canada to act on the recommendations of an important new United Nations report which concludes that Israel is practicing apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The report was authored by Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, and will be introduced to the Human Rights Council on Thursday March 24. It conducts a legal analysis of Israel’s rule over the occupied territory, and concludes that it “satisfies the prevailing evidentiary standard for the existence of apartheid.”

Montreal, February 1, 2022 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes a new report by Amnesty International which concludes that Israeli officials are perpetuating a system of Apartheid against the Palestinian people. Amnesty’s report bolsters the argument made by Palestinians, Israeli human rights groups, South African liberation leaders, and many other credible authorities, who for years have used the term Apartheid to describe forms of Israeli oppression. CJPME urges Canada’s political leaders to meaningfully engage with the report and its conclusions, and to adopt measures to hold Israeli officials accountable for perpetuating the crime of Apartheid.

On July 21, 2021, CJPME co-signed a letter to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, demanding editorial and policy changes to improve CBC's coverage of Palestine. The letter was written with CBC Palestine (a collective of independent organizers) and the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations, and endorsed by 66 civil society groups, including CUPE Ontario, the Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), and Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

Amid an escalation of violence in Palestine-Israel, legislators from Europe and North America came together earlier today to talk about how to elevate the issue of Palestinian human rights in the global public discussion. 

The meeting was the first for the multi-partisan “Inter-Parliamentary Task Force to Promote Palestinian Human Rights,” which is composed of 23 legislators from 10 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Italy, Finland, Belgium and several other European countries. 13 representatives came together for the first meeting, including MPs Niki Ashton and Paul Manly (Canada), MP Tommy Sheppard (UK), MP Veronika Honkasalo (Finland), the Podemos International Secretariat (Spain) and the Offices of Representative Betty McCollum (US) and MP Fotini Bakadima (Greece).