Jewish group challenges Harper's knee-jerk support for Israeli government

“Israel's continuing occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights are a clear violation of international law, according to both UN Resolutions and the Geneva Convention,” - Sid Shniad, Independent Jewish Voices Canada

(TORONTO) - “Instead of taking steps to promote a resolution to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine, the Harper government supports the government of Israel regardless of what it does,” declared Sid Shniad, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices Canada.

“Israel's hard right, intransigent government is delighted with Harper,” Shniad explained. “It was because of Canada that there was no mention of Israel's pre-1967 borders made in the leaders' final communiqué released by the gathering of G8 leaders in France. Even Barack Obama, who never ceases to declare his support for Israel, has come to the realization that no progress can be made in reaching a settlement without an Israeli agreement to withdraw from the territory it has occupied since 1967.”

In the final communiqué that was issued by the G8, the leaders called for the immediate resumption of peace talks. But due to the blocking action by the Harper government, they did not mention 1967, the year Israel seized the West Bank and Gaza from Jordan and Egypt during the Six-Day War.

“It is because of governments' continuing refusal to promote a genuine resolution of the conflict in Israel and Palestine that our organization affirms its support for grassroots-based, non-violent actions and campaigns such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, to pressure Israel to do the right thing," he concluded.

independentjewishvoices.ca Canada is a national organization that promotes a just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties. IJV has chapters in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Vancouver.

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Anonymous001 June 3, 2011 4:46 pm (Pacific time)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRU5lIus-Zg&feature=player_embedded

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/06/03/pol-senate-page.html

"A young female page has lost her job following a very ballsy protest against the Harper regime. During the Speech from the Throne, which is read by the Queen's representative in Canada, the Governor General, the page held up a sign carrying the message 'Stop Harper'."

Young Ms. DePape also issued a statement calling for a Canadian Arab Spring: "a flowering of popular movements that demonstrate that real power to change things lies not with Harper but in the hands of the people, when we act together in our streets, neighbourhoods and workplaces."

Ms DePape is a playwright, and performed the above excerpt from "She Rules with Iron Stix" at TEDxYouthOttawa last year.

DePape went as far as to prepare a news release, which a friend distributed after she was removed from the Senate chamber by security. The release identified her as Brigette Marcelle, but the Senate website and her email address identify her as Brigette DePape.

"Harper's agenda is disastrous for this country and for my generation," DePape said in the release. "We have to stop him from wasting billions on fighter jets, military bases, and corporate tax cuts while cutting social programs and destroying the climate. Most people in this country know what we need are green jobs, better medicare, and a healthy environment for future generations."

Joe Peace, PhD June 2, 2011 5:50 pm (Pacific time)

Harper is a Pro-Occupation racist Christian Zionist dedicated to the destruction of Palestine to enable him to rise up in "Rapture". A Canadian global disgrace.

Anonymous001 June 2, 2011 10:30 am (Pacific time)

Real voices of the Jewish people will strive for peace and a resolution to the conflict in Palestine. Warmongering Zionists know that the end is near for their shallow world view. When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always. -- Mahatma Gandhi

Robert Black June 2, 2011 4:49 am (Pacific time)

As a Canadian - and neither a neo-con nor an evangelist - I am fine with the position of my government on this matter. The 1949 Armistice Agreements entered into by Israel and its Arab neighbors, establishing the Armistice Demarcation Lines, clearly stated that these lines "are without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto." So ... they cannot be accepted or declared to be the international boundaries of a Palestinian state.

N. Beerman June 1, 2011 3:18 pm (Pacific time)

As a Canadian I feel Harper is firmly in the hands of the left neo-con evangalists and this proves it to me.

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Jewish group challenges Harper's knee-jerk support for Israeli government

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