Montreal, December 15, 2014  — News sources revealed late last week that Canada was considering a resettlement program for Syrian refugees which would discriminate based on religion.  When questioned in the House of Commons on Friday, Parliamentary Secretary Costas Menegakis stated, “We will prioritize persecuted ethnic and religious minorities, those at demonstrated risk, and we will not apologize for that.”  Ultimately, since the majority of Syrians are Muslim, the consequence of this policy would be to disfavour Syrian Muslims.      

Montreal, December 10, 2014  — CJPME joins with other Canadian and international groups in lamenting Canada’s miserly approach to Syrian refugees.  These admonishments come as the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) made a plea yesterday in Geneva for wealthy countries to increase their refugee resettlement commitments.  While Canada has confirmed its willingness to resettle Syrian refugees, it made no new announcements to increase the number of Syrian refugees it would resettle.  With its promise to accept a mere 1300 Syrians – out of which only 457 have made their way to Canada – CJPME, Amnesty International Canada and others have condemned Canada for its ungenerous and insensitive approach to Syrian refugees.    

Montreal, Dec. 2, 2013  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has withdrawn its  invitation to Green Party leader Elizabeth May to speak at its  Ottawa fundraiser Dec. 5^th.  The decision was taken  following the release of the full transcript of an interview May gave to the Jewish Tribune.  “When we invited May, we had assumed that she would present a position that was closely aligned to the official Green Party position on the Middle East and Israel-Palestine,” stated CJPME President Thomas Woodley.  The Green Party’s ‘Vision Green’ policy document on Israel-Palestine is clear in its intent to uphold international law, to promote the creation of a Palestinian state, and to seek to end the blockade of Gaza.  “Unfortunately, May’s comments to the Jewish Tribune indicated that she intended to stray surprisingly far from the ‘Vision Green’ platform in her speech at our event,” continued Woodley.  “As such, we felt it would be inappropriate to host her as a keynote speaker.”

CJPME Factsheet 68, published November, 2009: This factsheet looks at why human rights reports in the Middle East are highly credible and authoritative.  Analyses performed by neutral third-parties seeking full disclosure become essential in ascertaining the intents, the means, and the outcomes in conflict.

CJPME Factsheet 44, published August 2008: This factsheet provides an overview of the case of the Palestinian village of Bil'in, located in the Israeli occupied Palestinian Territories. Because of a persistent, disciplined and peaceful resistance campaign, Bil’in been able to win some minor though significant victories over Israel’s regime of occupation: by attracting international attention, winning against the Israeli Supreme Court in 2007 and by launching a lawsuit against two Montreal companies.  

CJPME Factsheet 42, published June 2008: As a general rule in international law, the threat and use of force is prohibited. That said, the right to self-defence in international law is established in Article 51 of the same document. This factsheet discusses Israel’s use and abuse of the “self-defence” argument through numerous principles and examples.

CJPME Factsheet 41, published June 2008: With much fanfare in August, 2005, Israel “disengaged” from Gaza, pulling out about 8000 Israeli colonists that had been illegally planted there, and vacating the military installations which had been established for decades.  Even before the Israeli-Gaza violence which reigned through 2006-2008, there were individuals who questioned the legal status of Gaza.  What is the legal status of Gaza – occupied or independent – and what are the responsibilities of Israel towards the civilian population of Gaza? 

CJPME Factsheet 20, published January, 2007: Resolution 242 was passed by the UN Security Council in November, 1967, following a war in June of 1967 between Israel and its neighbours.  During that war, Israel invaded and occupied Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, territory held by or belonging to Egypt.  Israel also invaded and occupied the Golan Heights, territory belonging to Syria.  Finally, Israel also invaded and occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territory controlled by Jordan at the time.  Since 1967, Israel has only relinquished the Sinai Penninsula, doing so in 1978 following a peace accord with Egypt.