Montreal, September 27, 2017 – In light of Canada’s silence on Israel’s human rights abuses, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) launches the Peace in Palestine campaign in an effort to force Canada’s politicians to have an honest public discussion about Israel’s illegal settlements and how Canada must respond. The goal of the campaign is to have Parliament pass a motion condemning Israel’s illegal “settlements” (aka colonies), which are an ongoing obstacle to peace and violate Palestinians’ human rights. 

Montreal, July 31, 2017  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) demands that the Canadian government immediately review its existing $15 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Over the weekend, news sources published videos and photographs of Canadian-made armoured personnel carriers (APC) being used by the Saudi government to crackdown on Saudi civilian dissidents. The APCs that appear in the video were manufactured by Terradyne Armored Vehicle Inc., a privately owned company in Newmarket, Ontario. 

This paper discusses multiple subjects regarding Canada's engagement policies with Middle Eastern countries as well as with <regime changing> initiatives led by other Western countries. 

Montreal, March 17, 2017 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) congratulates the students at King’s University College (KUC) in London, ON for their successful vote to boycott and divest from companies involved in the oppressive Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.  While the vote passed with a 75 percent majority, the meeting failed to reach quorum, and the follow-up action on the vote is unclear.  At the meeting, 355 students voted yes to the question, “Do you as a King’s student support calling upon the KUCSC to lobby King’s administration to boycott and divest from any and all companies and products complicit with Israeli occupation based on principles of human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption and change the responsible investment policies to reflect these lobbying efforts?” 

Montreal, February 8, 2017  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) again implores the Trudeau government to publicly condemn yet another step in Israel’s dispossession of Palestinians from the West Bank.  Right-wing coalition members of the Israeli government forced the bill, and it passed 60-52 in Israel’s parliament – the Knesset.  Israel’s so-called “Regulation Bill” was slammed as a means to “legalize theft” of Palestinian land. “The Trudeau government’s ongoing silence on this, and other recent Israeli steps to dispossess Palestinians is unconscionable,” declared Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME. 

This one-page flyer on the BDS movement shows on the first side how BDS aligns perfectly with international law and Canadian policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And on the second side, it provides the maps of Palestinians dispossession, as well as answers to frequent questions and criticisms of BDS.

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.