Montreal, July 21, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes a recent comment from Prime Minister Trudeau that an invitation for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is “not on the table right now.” The comments came one day after the postponement of a planned phone call between Trudeau and Netanyahu, which has not yet been rescheduled. CJPME reiterates its call for Canadian politicians to stand up for Palestinian human rights by boycotting Israel’s dangerous and extremist government, and urges Trudeau to cancel his upcoming call with Netanyahu.

Montreal, July 3, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling for urgent international action to stop Israel’s ongoing assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, whose use of airstrikes represents a major escalation of Israeli violence. Since early this morning, Israeli airstrikes, snipers, and ground forces have killed at least 8 Palestinians, including civilians and 2 children, and injured more than 100. CJPME warns that the full scale of the devastation may not come to light until medical teams are finally given full access to the camp.

Montreal, June 29, 2023 - CJPME has sent to Lisa Stadelbauer, Canada's Ambassador to Israel, regarding a recent statement by Canada on Israeli settler terrorism.

Click here to download the full letter as a PDF

Montreal, June 28, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is condemning Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather for his recent meeting with Simcha Rothman, a far-right member of Israel’s extremist government. Rothman is leading Israel’s “judicial coup” and has defended racial discrimination and recent settler violence against Palestinians. Housefather shared a photograph of himself with Rothman during a meeting yesterday for their joint ‘Task Force’; Rothman describes himself as a co-chair of the group while Housefather is listed as a Steering Committee member. CJPME urges the government and Liberal caucus to repudiate Housefather for working alongside Rothman and to condemn all forms of far-right extremism.

Montreal, June 12, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is extremely concerned to learn that Canada sent more than $20 million in military exports to Israel last year, despite Israel’s 3-day bombing of the occupied Gaza Strip and heightened Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank. According to Canada’s newly released annual report on military exports, Canada exported $21,329,783.93 in military goods to Israel in 2022. Even when adjusted for inflation, this makes 2022 the third-highest year for Canadian military exports to Israel on record, after 2021 ($27,861,257) and 1987 ($28,716,528).* CJPME reiterates its call for Canada to immediately suspend all military trade with Israel.

Montreal, May 9, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s unprovoked acts of aggression in the occupied Gaza Strip. Overnight, Israel unilaterally broke its ceasefire with Islamic Jihad to conduct extrajudicial killings of three of its leaders, deliberately targeting units in residential buildings and killing them with their families as they slept. 13 Palestinians were killed in the attack, including 4 children and 4 women, and another 18 were injured. Further casualties have been reported from renewed airstrikes today. In addition to a formal condemnation, CJPME urges Canada to immediately suspend all military trade with Israel, among other concrete measures to hold Israeli officials accountable for this massacre.

Montreal, April 5, 2023 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to condemn the Israeli government in the strongest terms following last night’s brutal attack on worshippers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Widely circulating videos from inside the Al-Qibli prayer hall of the Al-Aqsa Mosque show Israeli police brutally beating Palestinian worshippers who had been performing the religious practice of Itikaf during Ramadan. Hundreds of Palestinians, including women, children, and elderly, were staying overnight in the mosque to pray. During the attack, a health clinic was destroyed and media teams were blocked from accessing the injured. CJPME urges Canada to respond to this aggressive attack on a place of worship by imposing sanctions on Israel, starting with an immediate arms embargo.

February 25, 1994: Israeli settlers massacre 29 Palestinians in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque

“It was so painful to come back here after what happened and see that they had taken away two-thirds of the mosque. It was an injustice. Instead of offering a hand to those who were killed and injured, the Israelis gave the settlers more space and access to the mosque. It was as if they were rewarding the murderers.” – Hosni Issa al-Rajabeh, Ibrahimi Mosque massacre survivor

On this day in 1994, during dawn prayer in the holy month of Ramadan, a group of armed Israeli settlers entered the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron and opened fire on hundreds of Palestinian worshippers, killing 29 people. Among the settlers was Baruch Goldstein, an American-Israeli from the far-right Kach movement, who became a hero to Israel’s far-right. The massacre continued later the same day when Israeli forces shot at attendees of the victims’ funeral, killing 31 more Palestinians, and raising the total death toll to 60.

After the massacre, the Israeli occupation forces converted 60% of the total area of the mosque into a Jewish synagogue protected by metal barriers and military barracks, making it more difficult and complicated for Palestinian Muslims to enter. The Israeli army also closed Shuhada street, which until then had been the economic epicentre of Hebron and a bustling market, thereby shutting down commerce and forcing many Palestinian residents to abandon their homes. The Israeli government imposed a series of security measures which still exist today, including a network of checkpoints, preventing Palestinians from going about their daily affairs and subjecting them to settler and military violence.

Following the attack, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 904 (1994) to condemn the massacre. The resolution called upon Israel, the occupying power, to take action to stop settler violence, including by confiscating their weapons, and to “guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied territory.” However, there has never been any justice for the victims, and instead, Palestinian residents of Hebron continue to live with the endless consequences of state-sanctioned settler violence.

Read more:

Remembering the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre – Al Jazeera

Palestine: 27 years since Ibrahimi Mosque massacre – Anadolu Agency

The Ibrahimi Mosque massacre 29 years later: The victims are still paying the price – Wafa Agency

Palestinian Survivors of the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre Remember the Horror - Jacobin

Resolution 904 (1994) / adopted by the Security Council – United Nations Digital Library

Playing the Security Card: Israeli Policy in Hebron as Means to Effect Forcible Transfer of Local Palestinians – B’Tselem

Montreal, November 7, 2022 — Last week in Ramallah, in a meeting with Canada’s mission to the Palestinian Authority, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) drew urgent attention to the issue of Israel’s violent repression of Palestinian human rights organizations. 

Montreal, August 18, 2022 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) has written to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly urging immediate action in support of six leading Palestinian NGOs, whose offices in Ramallah were violently raided and shut down by Israeli occupation forces early this morning. Israel outlawed these organizations in October 2021 by falsely designating them as “terrorist” groups, but no credible evidence justifying this designation has ever been brought forward. This morning, Israeli forces raided and damaged the offices of the six organizations, confiscating their property, welding their doors shut, and leaving behind military orders declaring the organizations to be unlawful.