The @CPC_HQ’s new leader is promoting a backwards foreign policy agenda which would violate principles of human rights and int’l law.
@ErinOTooleMP wants Canada to increase support for Israeli and Saudi war crimes, and punish Palestinian refugees and activists [thread]. #cpc
O’Toole wants to follow Trump in moving the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem. This would formally recognize Israel’s illegal annexation of occupied East Jerusalem. He calls himself a “pioneer within the party” on this issue. thej.ca/2020/06/07/in-…
O’Toole wants to restore ties and “win some trust” with Saudi Arabia, a brutal regime which is carrying out a devastating war in Yemen. If anything, Canada should be cancelling its arms contracts, not increasing them. #StopArmingSaudicbc.ca/news/politics/…
O’Toole wants to stop funding the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which he has demonized as “terrorist” supporters. erinotoole.ca/platform/forei…
O’Toole opposed an investigation after Israel killed dozens of protestors in Gaza and shot Canadian doctor Tarek Loubani in 2018 (Israel would go on to kill >200 and injure >36,000) ipolitics.ca/2018/05/23/no-…
O’Toole opposed Canada’s single vote for Palestinian self-determination at the UN in 2019, calling it “Israel-bashing.” cbc.ca/radio/thehouse…
Last week the ICJ concluded that Israel's occupation of Palestine is illegal and must end immediately. We wrote to @JustinTrudeau about the actions that Canada must take to align with its obligations as advised by the ICJ: 1. Canada must support efforts by the UN to end Israel’s illegal presence in the OPT; 2. Canada must impose sanctions on Israel in response to its breach of the UN Charter; 3. Canada must cancel the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement and ban trade with Israeli settlements; 4. Canada must comprehensively address the issue of Israeli settlements; 5. Canada must suspend all military trade and cooperation with Israel; 6. Canada must terminate the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership; and 7. Canada must recognize the State of Palestine.
Canada must support efforts by the UN to end Israel’s illegal presence in the OPT
In its Advisory Opinion, the ICJ mandated the General Assembly and the Security Council to “consider what further action is required to put an end to the illegal presence of Israel” in the OPT, and called on all states to cooperate with the UN to achieve this goal. Canada is therefore obliged to assist the UN in bringing an end to Israel’s unlawful presence in the OPT.
2. Canada must impose sanctions on Israel in response to its breach of the UN Charter
In its Advisory Opinion, the ICJ found that Israel’s actions “amount to annexation of large parts” of the OPT. The ICJ notes that this violates Article 2, paragraph 4, of the Charter of the United Nations and is “contrary to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations and its corollary principle of the non-acquisition of territory by force.”
This represents a major breach of a fundamental principle of international law. Canada has set a certain standard in its response to Russian violations of the UN Charter, and this standard must be applied to Israel.
Today CJPME and over 75 organizations are issuing an open letter calling for Ministers @melaniejoly, @HonAhmedHussen, and @MarcMillerVM to resign unless immediate and meaningful action is taken in response to the risk of genocide in Gaza. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
Canadians expect our leaders to uphold international law. Despite @UN and @CIJ_ICJ warnings of genocide in Gaza, the Canadian government and ministers @melaniejoly, @HonAhmedHussen, and @MarcMillerVM have exacerbated the crisis. They are failing Palestinians and Canadians.
It has been 2 months since the Gaza Crisis Program has been put in place, with the objective of reunifying Palestinian Canadians with their loved ones. The program has been put with additional complications that has never been seen before.
Yesterday in Parliament, NDP foreign affairs critic @HMcPhersonMP called out the refusal of some MPs to talk about human rights in Yemen and Palestine. “Children in Palestine are being murdered, and neither of the parties will talk about that.” #cdnpoli
@HMcPhersonMP@HMcPhersonMP: “It is not okay that the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party refuses to talk about human rights in Yemen, as both of them are complicit in the selling of arms to the regime that is propping up that war.” cc: @LAATCanada
@HMcPhersonMP@LAATCanada@HMcPhersonMP: “It is not all right that neither one of them will talk about human rights in Palestine. Children in Palestine are being murdered, and neither of the parties will talk about that.”
The @UN's Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, due to its permanency and Israel's actions of de facto annexation. We expect 🇨🇦 to uphold int'l law and support its findings. @BobRae48@CanadaUN@ArbeiterRichard#UNGA77
@UN@BobRae48@CanadaUN@ArbeiterRichard Under international law, states are allowed to temporarily occupy territory under certain conditions. However, this comes with legal obligations, many of which Israel has been illegally violating for years (for example, on settlements and the annexation of East Jerusalem).
@UN@BobRae48@CanadaUN@ArbeiterRichard Now, a UN report has gone further and concludes that the occupation is itself illegal, due to Israel's intent to maintain the occupation permanently and its actions to annex parts of the land. It calls for an immediate end to Israel's illegal occupation. ohchr.org/en/press-relea…
This week a group of masked settlers lynched a 70-year-old Jewish Israeli woman who was accompanying a Palestinian farmer for the olive harvest in the West Bank. They attacked her with clubs until she bled, after which they beat her in the head with rocks. 972mag.com/edition/lynchi…
This incident is part of a wave of escalating settler terrorism, with Israeli officials identifying 100 acts of settler violence against Palestinians in the last days. In some cases, soldiers openly joined the mobs in their campaigns of terror. haaretz.com/israel-news/20…
Read this harrowing account of a family's trip from Ramallah to Nablus (which has been under lockdown by the Israeli military), when mobs of settlers threw stones at their car. 972mag.com/face-to-face-w…
This critical @UN 🇺🇳 report finds that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, due to its intended permanency and Israel's actions of de facto annexation. We expect 🇨🇦 to uphold int'l law and support its findings. @BobRae48@CanadaUN@ArbeiterRichard#UNGA77