[KWPeace-groups] FYI: VOW's statement to condemn the Government of Canada's silence and Israel's violence

[Tamara Lorincz]

Hello peace friends!

I wanted to share with you VOW’s statement to condemn the Government of Canada’s silence and Israel’s violence in Gaza. We are totally opposed to the US embassy in Jerusalem. I wish there was a rally in solidarity with Palestine today in KW.

Please check out the UN’s Office for the Occupied Territories special report from yesterday (Israeli forces killed at least 55 people and wounded 1,200 = that’s 107 killed in total and 12,000 injured over the past six weeks): https://www.ochaopt.org/content/fifty-five-palestinians-killed-and-thousands-injured-gaza

In solidarity for peace, earth and justice,
Tamara


VOW condemns Government of Canada’s silence on Israeli military’s use of deadly force against Gaza
and calls for UN investigation

[This statement will be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Global Affairs Chrystia Freeland and the federal leaders of the New Democratic Party, the Green Party and the Conservative Party.]

May 15, 2018

The Canadian Voice of Women (VOW) condemns the silence of the Government of Canada on the use of deadly force by the Israeli military against unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza. Since March 30, Israeli Defence Forces have killed 107 and injured over 12,000 Palestinian demonstrators along the Gaza-Israel fence. For the past six weeks, the people of Gaza have been engaged in an unarmed protest against Israel’s brutal economic blockade and a demonstration to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the dispossession by Israel of Palestinian land.

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has not issued any press releases to support the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and human rights and to condemn the government of Israel’s disproportionate violence. VOW and many Jewish Israelis oppose this violence. VOW draws attention to the important role that women in Israel and Palestine have played to try to bring about a just peace. Since 2000, the Coalition of Women for Peace, a feminist organization of Israeli and Palestinian women and representatives of allied groups, has worked to stop Israel’s siege of Gaza. For the past four years as part of “Women Wage Peace,” Palestinian and Israeli women have walked together for two-weeks in the fall to call for an end to the conflict and to bring about a mutually agreeable, nonviolent peace deal. As well, many VOW members have participated in the Women’s Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla. Several of our members have also travelled to the region to bear witness and express our solidarity. We are ashamed of our government’s silence regarding Israel’s violence against Palestinians in Gaza. To be a genuine defender of the rule of law and human rights, Canada must speak up for Palestine.

On April 18, Prime Minister Trudeau released a statement to congratulate Israel on its independence, but has not criticized the government of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land and its use of military force against the people of Gaza. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, has expressed grave concern over Israeli Defence Forces’ use of live ammunition and rubber-bullets against unarmed Palestinian demonstrators and has stated that Israel’s violence against civilians could constitute crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has also denounced Israeli soldiers’ use of live ammunition against Palestinians. B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, released a report providing the legal analysis that explains why the orders given to Israeli soldiers that permit live fire at civilians, who do not pose a danger, are unlawful. Moreover, the United Nations’ Middle East envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, has voiced outrage over Israel’s targeting and killing of children in Gaza. HRW has also reproached Israel for its culture of impunity for not prosecuting its soldiers for crimes against humanity in Gaza and the occupied territories.

The Palestinians’ March of Return protest began on Land Day on March 30th and ends on Nakba Day on May 15th. Israel has a heavily securitized, 60-kilometre long border with a 200-metre buffer zone around the Gaza Strip that effectively imprisons two million Palestinians. Israel’s border is a “no-go” zone that deprives the Palestinian people of the freedom of movement and restricts the flow of goods, such as food and medicine, into and out of Gaza. As a result of Israel’s border and blockade, the UN has reported that the terrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened over the past decade. Gisha: the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, which is an Israeli not-for profit organization, has released a statement describing the plight of Palestinians that precipitated the latest protests in Gaza.

In summary, VOW

1)      calls on the Government of Canada to issue a statement that denounces the government of Israel’s violence and supports Palestinian human rights;

2)      endorses the United Nations’ investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza;

3)      joins HRW in urging the International Criminal Court prosecutor to open a formal investigation of crimes against humanity in Palestinian territories;

4)      agrees with the UN Human Rights Council call to the international community to halt arms sales to Israel; and

5)      calls on the Government of Canada to deny permits for arms exports to Israel, which, according to the latest Exports of Military Goods, comprised 245 permits for almost $10 million worth of weapons.
The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is the oldest, national feminist peace organization in the country. Find out more at: www.vowpeace.org
Sources:
Al Jazeera (2018) Killings raise death toll of Palestinians shot dead by Israeli soldiers since protests began on March 30 to at least 43, [Online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/israeli-troops-shoot-dead-palestinians-southern-gaza-strip-180506135355164.html

B’tselem (2018) If the heart be not callous: On the unlawful shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza, report, [Online] Available at: https://www.btselem.org/sites/default/files/publications/201804_if_the_heart_be_not_callous_eng.pdf

Coalition of Women for Peace: http://www.coalitionofwomen.org

Gisha (2018) Context for the Protests in Gaza, statement, [Online] Available at: http://www.gisha.org/UserFiles/File/publications/FAQ_EN.pdf

Human Rights Watch (2018) Israel: Gaza Killings Unlawful, Calculated, Officials Green-Light Shooting of Unarmed Demonstrators, statement, [Online] Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/03/israel-gaza-killings-unlawful-calculated

Government of Canada (2018) Statement by the Prime Minister on Israel Independence Day, [Online] Available at: https://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2018/04/18/statement-prime-minister-israel-independence-day

Government of Canada (2017) Exports of Military Goods, [Online] Available at: http://www.international.gc.ca/controls-controles/assets/pdfs/reports/mer-2016-eng.pdf

United Nations (2018) Security Council Members Condemn Killing of Palestinian Civilians in Clashes at Israel-Gaza Border after Peaceful Protest Turned Violent, [Online] Available at: https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13273.doc.htm

United Nations (2017) Gaza: Ten Years Later, report by the United Nations Country Team in the occupied Palestinian territory, [Online] Available at: https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/gaza_10_years_later_-_11_july_2017.pdf

United Nations (2018) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Report for May 14, [Online] Available at: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/fifty-five-palestinians-killed-and-thousands-injured-gaza

Women Wage Peace: http://womenwagepeace.org.il/en/about-eng/


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