Montreal, March 19, 2015  — On the eve of the recent Israeli elections, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu definitively stated that there would be no Palestinian state should he return to office. The statement represented a last minute appeal to right-wing Israeli voters given the tight polling between Netanyahu’s Likud party and the center-left Zionist Union. Nevertheless, with Netanyahu likely to serve another four years as Israeli Prime Minister, his statements have huge implications for Israel’s allies – including Canada – who have pinned their hopes on the “two state solution.”

Media – Diana Buttu speaking tour with CJPME: In March 2014, CJPME hosted Palestinian human rights lawyer Diana Buttu in Canada. Diana Buttu served as a legal advisor to the PLO and has participated in different negotiations sessions between Israel and Palestine. Her understanding of the peace negotiations garnered great interest from the media. Diana Buttu speaks of the failures of the peace talks in the juridical aspect and their consequences for the Palestinians. 

Montreal, January 13, 2014  — CJPME laments that Ariel Sharon has died without ever facing justice for his role in massacres of Palestinian refugees and in the expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.  In multiple roles in successive Israeli governments, Sharon was cited for several violations of international law. “With Sharon’s death, there is surprisingly scant mention of the war crimes in which he is directly implicated, let alone any remedial action by western governments, including Canada,” says CJPME President Thomas Woodley.  

Since the Spring 2012, Palestinian prisoners have increasingly protested the abusive conditions they face in Israeli jails. Add your voice to theirs!

Montreal, February 13, 2013  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is extremely concerned that Samer Issawi—a 34-year-old Palestinian on a hunger strike—is near death. Issawi has been on hunger strike for over 200 days to protest his detention by Israeli authorities without charge or trial.  Issawi was one of several hundred Palestinian prisoners released in December 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange. He had been imprisoned since 2002. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), he was arrested again on July 7, 2012 on the basis of an Israeli military order revoking his release. He was initially held at the Moscobiyya Detention Centre where he was interrogated for 28 days, and was denied access to his lawyer for the first 23 days. HRW has urged Israel to either release the prisoners or charge them and try them in processes that meet international human rights standards.

Media – Mustapha Barghouti’s speaking tour with CJPME: In December of 2012, CJPME hosted Palestinian Legislator, Doctor, and Human Rights Activist Mustapha Barghouti on a speaking tour.  In his talks and interviews, Barghouti speaks compellingly about the human rights abuses faced by Palestinians on a daily basis, as well as Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories.

CJPME Factsheet 78, published September, 2012: This factsheet looks at the status and significance of East Jerusalem. After the June 1967 war, Israel announced its intention to annex the 6.5 square kilometers of East Jerusalem, which was to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. To this day, the international community refuses to recognize Israel’s policy of annexation and colonization in East Jerusalem, which are not only illegal under international law, but also detrimental to negotiations.

CJPME Factsheet 76, published September, 2012: This factsheet looks at the Israel’s colonies, often referred to as “settlements,” in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Colonies have long been one of the major obstacles to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, since successive Israeli governments have permitted the Jewish Israeli colonists to expropriate land and to create “facts on the ground” that would make the creation of a Palestinian state increasingly difficult.

CJPME Factsheet 155, published May, 2012: In 2012, close to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners partook in an open-ended hunger strike in order to challenge their arbitrary administrative detention as well as the humiliating treatment and conditions to which they were subject to. Approximately 40 percent of Palestinian men in the occupied Palestinian territories have been jailed by Israeli authorities at least once in their lives. Palestinian prisoners are subject to detention without charge or trial, solitary confinement and isolation, prolonged denial of family visits, denial of medical treatment, as well as various forms of humiliation. Compounded by the fact that many of the prisoners are children, such arbitrary detention and inhumane treatment is an issue that resonates deeply with Palestinians.

CJPME Factsheet 142, published November, 2011: For several years, the Russell Tribunal – named after British philosopher Bertrand Russell – toured several countries to examine Israel’s violations of international law.  This factsheet explores the establishment of the tribunal, and provides an overview of its findings.