Article in Canadian Dimensions, September 8, The NDP must withdraw from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group, Noam Chomsky, Roger Waters, Linda McQuaig, and Svend Robinson
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2022
40 groups and 200 prominent musicians, authors and NDP members call on party to withdraw from Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group
As the NDP caucus gathers in Halifax, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Just Peace Advocates is releasing a public letter signed by dozens of groups as well as rock legend Roger Waters and academic Noam Chomsky telling Jagmeet Singh it’s time “to formally disassociate the NDP from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.” Signed by dozens of individuals with significant ties to the party, including former NDP MPs Svend Robinson and Jim Manly, the public letter reads, “it is incoherent for the NDP to echo human rights groups’ finding of Israeli apartheid and simultaneously participate in a group promoting ‘co-operation’ with Israel.”
The Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group promotes “greater friendship” and “further co-operation” between Canadian MPs and members of the Israeli Knesset. NDP Justice Critic Randall Garrison is vice-chair of the Interparliamentary Group while NDP MPs Lisa Marie Barron, Gord Johns and Bonita Zarrillo are all listed on its website.
Over the past 18 months the NDP has made important strides in opposing Canada’s contribution to Palestinian dispossession. At the party’s convention last year delegates voted to boycott Israel’s settlements and put an arms embargo on the country while in recent months NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson has repeatedly asked the Liberals why they reject Amnesty International’s conclusion that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid. On August 26 Jagmeet Singh hardened the NDP’s position on Israel by making 13 demands of the Trudeau government on Palestinian rights. Yet the NDP remains part of a group promoting “greater friendship” with Israel.
“It is incoherent for the NDP to call for pressure to be brought to bear on a country it’s essentially calling an apartheid state while simultaneously promoting ‘greater friendship’ with that country, “noted Bianca Mugyenyi, the Director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.
The full text of the statement and list of signers follows.
For further information
Bianca Mugyenyi, Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, info@foreignpolicy.ca
Karen Rodman, Director, Just Peace Advocates, info@justpeaceadvocates.ca
Statement from 200+ individual & 40+ organizations insisting the NDP must withdraw from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group
Over the past eighteen months Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’tselem and the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinians have all concluded that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid.
In recent months NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson has repeatedly asked foreign minister Melanie Joly why the Liberal government rejects the conclusion of Amnesty’s 280-page report titled “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity”. A number of NDP MPs recently signed Independent Jewish Voices’
Together Against Apartheid pledge and others have voiced criticism of Israeli apartheid.
In April of last year NDP members overwhelmingly supported a resolution that called for suspending arms sales to Israel and “ending all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine.”
While the party sharpens its critique of Israel’s subjugation of Palestinians, NDP MP Randall Garrison remains vice-chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group. NDP MPs Lisa Marie Barron, Gord Johns and Bonita Zarrillo are also listed on the website of a group which has a mandate to promote “greater friendship” and “further co-operation” between Canada and Israel.
Four years ago 200 prominent musicians, academics, trade unionists and NDP members released “A Call for the NDP to Withdraw from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group”. Since that time the Israeli military has killed prominent Palestinian journalists, repeatedly bombed Gaza and Syria, assassinated individuals in Iran and expanded illegal settlements in the West Bank.
It is incoherent for the NDP to echo human rights groups’ finding of Israeli apartheid and simultaneously participate in a group promoting “co-operation” with Israel.
It’s time for Jagmeet Singh to formally disassociate the NDP from the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group.
Signed by:
Jim Manly, Former NDP MP 1980-88
Svend Robinson, Former NDP MP
Linda McQuaig, Author, former, NDP candidate
Roger Waters, Musician/activist, NY USA
Noam Chomsky, Professor
Judy Rebick, Writer, journalist, political activist, and feminist, Toronto
Steve Ashton, former NDP MLA Manitoba
Charles Demers, Writer/comedian
Chris Hedges. Journalist, Presbyterian minister, author, and commentator
Clayton Thomas-Müller, Author or indigenous activist
Gordon Laxer, Professor Emeritus University of Alberta, NDP member since 1963
Jordan Samolesky, Musician, St Francis-Xavier, MB
Abdul Pirani, Activist, Valleyfield, QC
Adnan Noureddine, Activist, Scarborough
Ali Sbeiti , Activist, Montréal
Alisa Gayle, Musician, Toronto
Alroy Fonseca, Activist, Ottawa
Anna Badillo, Academic – Activist, London
Annette Lengyel, Human rights activist, Calgary
Arnold August, Contributing Editor, The Canada Files, Montreal
B. Ross Ashley, Activist, Toronto
Bader Abu-Zahra, Activist, Ottawa
Barry Weisleder, Union organizer, Toronto
Blair Kuntz, Human rights activist, Toronto
Bob Chandler, Retiree, Toronto
Brenda Curtis, Activist, Humboldt
Brenda Wall, Retired unionist, Old Toronto
Bruce Katz, Co-president Palestinian and Jewish Unity, Montreal
Bruce R. Allen, Paralegal, St. Catharines
Carmel Conway, Activist, St. John’s
Carole Mandel, Artist, Toronto
Cassandra Ryan, Toronto Raging Granny,Toronto
Cathy Gulkin, Filmmaker, Toronto
Chris Wanamaker, Activist, Saint John, NB
Colin Stuart, Activist, Victoria BC
Colleen Glynn, Retired trade unionist, Richmond, BC
Cory Greenlees, Activist, Victoria
Cymry Gomery, Activist, Montreal
D Neibert, Social Justice Advocate, Wentworth-Hamilton Region
Dan Maitland, Human rights defender, Guelph
Dave Diewert, Retired Academic, Surrey BC
Dave Hazzan, Academic
David Heap, Academic and human rights activist, London
David L Mandel, Human rights attorney, Sacramento
David Lethbridge, Academic, activist, Salmon Arm
David Low, Retired clergy, St. Catharines
David Rifat, Professor Emeritus, Victoria BC
David Weller, Pissed off Jew, Canada
Debbie Hubbard, Member of CJPME Okanagan and Amnesty Okanagan, Kelowna
Deborah Jackman, Artist/Activist, St. John’s
Derrick O’Keefe, author, Vancouver
Desmond Sequeira, Multi-Faith Chaplain (Rtd), Govt. of Ontario, Activist, St. Catharines ON
Diane Norman, Human rights activist, Montréal
Dorothy Field, Artist, poet, activist, Victoria BC
Douglas Jack, Mixed Christian, Jewish & 1st Nation ancestry, LaSalle-Montreal
Douglas Williams, Filmmaker, Toronto
Dr. Dwyer Sullivan, High school teacher of world religions and social justice, Kitchener, Ontario
Dr. Joan Russow, Activist, Victoria
Ed Lehman, Former NDP member, retired educator, Regina
Elizabeth Block, Member of Independent Jewish Voices, Toronto
Elizabeth Carlyle, Activist, trade unionist, Winnipeg
Elizabeth Lee, Activist, St. Anthony
Elizabeth Whelan, Activist, Toronto
Elizabeth-Anne Malischewski, Activist, Montréal
Ellen Woodsworth, Activist, Vancouver
Emilio Alvarez, Activist and NDP’s member, Montreal
Enver Domingo, Activist, Oakville
Erika Shaker, Director, CCPA (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Evert Hoogers, Human Rights Activist, Ottawa
Fouad Kaawach, Activist, London, Ontario
Frances Combs, Clergy, Toronto
Frank Holden, Private Individual, St. John’s, NL
Frank White, Responsibly informed activist, Windsor
Freda Guttman, Activist, artist, Montreal
Freda Knott, Caring individual, Victoria
G.Kitkman, Activist humanist , Victoria
Geneviève Nevin, Organizer, Montreal
Georgina Kirkman, Activist, Victoria BC
Gord Doctorow, Ed.D., Retired academic, Toronto
Greg Albo, Academic, Toronto
Hans Modlich, Historian, Toronto
Hassan Husseini , Labour activist, Vanier
Henry Evans-Tenbrinke, Activist, Hamilton
Henry Z., CEO, Toronto
Ingeborg Constanze Marshall, Academic researcher, writer, St. John’s, NL
Ismail Zayid, Retired Professor, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Issam Alyamani, Activist, Mississauga
Jake Javanshir, Activist, Toronto
Jalal Kawash, Academic, Calgary
James Dickins, Academic, Leeds, United Kingdom
James Kafieh, Lawyer / Former NDP Candidate (Provincial), Perth, Ontario
James W Deutsch, Faculty, University of Toronto, Toronto
Jane Collier, Academic, London, United Kingdom
Jean Gagne, Supporter, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Montreal
Jennifer McSporran, Palestinian human rights activist, Ottawa
Jo K, Activist, Nanaimo
Joe Emersberger, Author, Windsor
Joe Modeste, Retired teacher, Ajax
John Coates, Professional Engineer, Leeds, England
John Grant, Individual, London
John Liss, Lawyer, Toronto
John M. Darling Retired Left-NDP archivist, Danforth-Toronto ON
John Wilson, Socialist activist, Canada
Judith Deutsch, Psychoanalyst/psychotherapist, Toronto
Judy Haiven, Academic and Activist, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Julius Arscott, Activist, Toronto
K. Kilbride, Activist, Surrey
Karen Rodman, Ordained clergy & retired civil servant, Kawartha Lakes
Katerina Nikas, Activist Halifax
Kathleen Copps, Retired teacher MEd, Vancouver
Kathleen Von Riesen, Reg nurse, activist, Mount Pearl
Ken Collier, Retired academic, North Bay
Ken Luckhardt, Retired social justice educator, trade union rep, Toronto
Ken Stone, Activist, Hamilton
Kevin Neish, Retired community college instructor, Victoria BC
Khaled Mouammar, Former Member, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Richmond Hill
Khan Jooneed, Writer, Human Rights Actiist, Retired Journalist, Montreal
Kim Petersen, Human rights activist, Nanaimo
Konstantine Malakos, 2019 & 2021 NDP Candidate, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell
L. Balsam, Activist, Canada
Lana Robinson, Quaker, Duncan
Larry French, Retired union professional, Toronto
Larry Grand, Retired, Eganville
Larry Hannant, Historian, activist, Victoria
Larry Neufeld, Activist, Regina
Larry Wartels, MA Urban Planning UCLA 1985, Victoria
Lawrence Sutherland, Human Rights Activist, Winnipeg
Lesley Levy, Activist, Montreal
Lia Walsh, Activist, Ottawa
Linda Scherzinger, Longtime supporter of Palestinian human rights and International law, Halifax
Lisa Rofel, Academic, San Francisco, USA
Lorraine Michael, Activist, St. John’s
Louise Seidel, Artist, Saskatoon SK
M. Boudjenane, Activist, Toronto
M. Lombard, Academic, United States
M.A. Henderson, Media, Montreal
Mackenzie A Gospodin, Peace activist/supporter, Surrey BC
Malek Abisaab, Professor, Montreal
Marco Procaccini, Activist, Vancouver
Maria Landi, Activist, blogger, Montevideo, Uruguay
Marie Myers Lloyd, Activist, Kingston Ontario
Marilyn Porter, Academic and activist, St. John’s
Marion Pollack, Human Rights Activist, Vancouver
Martin Duckworth, Retired documentary filmmaker, Montreal
Martin Fontaine, Agent de pastorale, Montréal
Mary Brown, Concerned individual, Toronto
Mary Carlisle, Interested retiree, Victoria, Canada
Mary Girard, Activist, Thornhill
Mary Honderich, Activist, Geneva, Switzerland
Mary Lou Jorgensen-Bacher, Retired, Toronto
Mary Mouammar, Former Member, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Richmond Hill
Michael Keefer, Professor Emeritus University of Guelph, Toronto
Michael Lebowitz, Academic, Vancouver
Michelle Weinroth, Retired academic and activist, Ottawa
Mitchell Shore, Activist, Toronto
Muazzam Orakzai, Academic, Ottawa
Murray Lumley, Activist, retired person, Toronto
Nora Loreto, author, Quebec City
Nadege Couamin, Human rights activist, Montreal
Odette Dabit, Activist, Milton
Patrick Furey, Supporter of Palestine, Toronto
Paul Salvatori, Journalist, musician, activist, Toronto
Paul Tetrault, Human Rights Activist, Vancouver
Peter Eglin, Retired professor, Kitchener
Peter Purich, Technical Writer (retired), Ottawa
Pierre Labossiere, Activist, Oakland, USA
Randy Janzen, Academic, Nelson, BC
Renee Nunan-Rappard, Retired nurse, Lanigan
Reuben Roth, Academic, Oshawa
Rev. Lilian Patey, Clergy, Windsor
Rob Lyons, Political analyst, writer, Perez Zeledon Costa Rica
Robert D. Kent, Academic (retired), Elkford, BC
Robert Fantina, Author, Kitchener
Robert Masssoud, Activist, GTA
Robin Boodle, Anti-apartheid Activist, Victoria
Roswitha Adriana Shaw, Retired, Ottawa
Roz Isaac, Anti-racist activist, View Royal
S M Simpson, Citizen, Winlaw, BC
Said Salameh, Realtor, Markham
Sally Campbell Activist, Hornby Island
Sandra Macpherson, Concerned citizen, Canada
Sandy Greenberg, Musician, Halifax
Sarah Teacher, Education, London, UK
Shaheen Junaid, Human Rights Activist, Pointe-Claire
Sherry Ann Chapman, Engaged citizen, Edmonton
Shirel Pegios, Mom, teacher, activist, Mississauga
Sibel Ataogul, Lawyer, Montreal
Sibel Epi Ataoğul, Labour and human rights lawyer and lecturer at the University of Montreal, founding member of the Association des juristes progressistes
Sid Shniad, Founding member, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, Vancouver
SL Bondarchuk, Artist, Edmonton
Steffen Lauge Sørensen, Care about human rights, Rønde, Denmark
Sufiya Mary Reid, Retired teacher, Toronto
Sumi Hasegawa, Retired faculty lecturer
Susan Bender, Activist, Toronto
Susan Stout, Activist, North Vancouver
Sylvat Aziz, Academic, Kingston
Taina Chahal, Academic, Thunder Bay
Tamara Lorincz, Academic, Waterloo
Terry Engler, Retiree, Vancouver
Thomas C Brown, Academic, Vancouver
Trevor Goodger-Hill, Citizen of the World (Human Being), Trottier Mills
V. Kurban, Canadian, Toronto
Victor M., Far left activist, Gander
W. T. Beckett, Human Rights Activist, St. John’s
Wael Ghuneim, Activist, Hamilton
Wael Hallaq, Professor, Montreal
Warren Kazor, Political, party, community, union activist, Burnt Church NB
William Carroll, Professor, Victoria
Yavar Hameed, Human Rights Lawyer, Ottawa
Yves Engler, Author and activist, Montreal
Dimitri Lascaris, Lawyer, journalist and activist, Montreal
Zohar Chamberlain Regev, Activist, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Curtis Marwood, Clergy (retired), Tottenham
Ken McEvoy, Retired, Canada
Muslim Nazari, Malaysia
Reem Kelani, Singer, musicologist & broadcaster, London
Chris Somes-Charlton Artist manager London
Zvi Gaster, Activist, Toronto
Judith Deutsch, Psychoanalyst/psychotherapist, Toronto
Eva Manly, Retired filmmaker, activist
Sid Ryan, Former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, NDP member since 1981
Organizations endorsing this statement include:
Academics for Palestine-Concordia
Al-Haq, Palestine
Al-Quds Committee Toronto
Australians for Palestine
BDS Vancouver/Coast Salish Territories
Beit Zatoun Art & Culture House
Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver
Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Arab Society Of London
Canadian BDS Coalition
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Canadian Women’s Declaration
Chrysalis Theatre, Saskatoon
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Victoria
Coordinación por Palestina, Uruguay
Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships, Victoria
Edmonton Small Press Association
Free Palestine Halifax
Global Compliance Research Project, Victoria
Global Peace Alliance BC Society
Greater Toronto for BDS ( GT4BDS)
Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War
Human Rights for All (HR4A) Saskatchewan
Human Without Borders Organization
Justice for Palestinains – Calgary
Montreal for a World BEYOND War
NDP Socialist Caucus
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
Palestine House, Missisauga
Palestine Solidarity, St. John’s NL
Palestinian and Jewish Unity
Palestinian Association of Hamilton
Palestinian Canadian Congress
People for Peace London
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
SE London Lewisham Friends of Palestine
Social Justice Centre UBC
Socialist Action
Sustainable Development Association & Indigene Community
The Canada Files
The University of British Columbia (UBC)’s Solidarity For Palestinian Human Rights Club
Victoria Peace Coalition
