Montreal, June 18, 2021 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) congratulates the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) for resolving to campaign for Palestinian human rights and endorsing the use of sanctions and divestment against Israel. An emergency motion adopted by the CLC’s Canadian Council commits to support a ban on settlement goods, promoting divestment from Israeli military and security companies, and calling on Canada halt arms sales to Israel, among other measures. The CLC represents more than three million workers in Canada.

Montreal, May 13, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes the recent call from the leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in support of a ban on weapons sales to Israel. Yesterday NDP leader Jagmeet Singh asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to respond to an escalation in violence in the Middle East by banning arms sales to Israel, and NDP foreign affairs critic Jack Harris said in a statement today that this ban should be maintained “until the end of the illegal occupation.” CJPME congratulates the NDP for putting forward concrete proposals to end Israeli violence and oppression against the Palestinians, and urges all members of parliament and political party leaders to join in the call for an arms embargo.

Montreal, May 11, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging Members of Parliament to call for an emergency debate on the imminent forced evictions and escalating violence in Jerusalem. Israel’s insistence on carrying out racist mass evictions against Palestinians in Jerusalem, its violent response to Palestinian protests over the evictions, and its repeated raids on the Al Aqsa mosque during Ramadan have escalated tensions and triggered international indignation and outrage. In the absence of a clear plan from the Canadian government to address Israel’s violations, CJPME urges Parliament to show leadership and debate Canada’s response to this human rights emergency.

Montreal, May 7, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging the Canadian government to condemn the imminent mass evictions of Palestinian families from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem, and to take concrete action to prevent their expulsion by Israel. As soon as next week, four Palestinian families consisting of thirty adults and ten children may be removed from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah to be replaced with Israeli settlers, and more than one hundred other families face a similar eviction process. The “forcible transfer” of an occupied civilian population is strictly prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention, and CJPME considers the mass expulsion of Palestinian families to be a practice of ethnic cleansing.