PRESS RELEASE
March 4, 2024
Contact Information:
Palestinian Canadian Congress
James Kafieh, Vice President
Canada’s “Publicity Stunt” Over Gaza Condemned
Palestinian Canadian Congress (PCC) condemns the Liberal government’s plan to airdrop supplies into Gaza as being little more than a publicity stunt. “Canada does have a critically important role to play in what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has called a “plausible genocide” being committed by Israel,” said PCC Vice President James Kafieh.
“A Royal Canadian Air Force C-130 Hercules transport can deliver six pallets of supplies in an airdrop. Just one of the hundreds of trucks Israel blocks outside of Gaza can do that. The problem is that Israel is obstructing the delivery of desperately needed food supplies”. Kafieh added that “Israel has long used food as a weapon against the Palestinians of Gaza. This is a war crime called “collective punishment.”
“PM Trudeau often refers to Canada and Israel as allies with shared values. Now Nicaragua has launched a lawsuit against Israel’s accomplices, including Canada, for complicity in Israel’s wonton slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. The overwhelming majority of the more than 30,000 killed to date are women and children. In the face of Israel’s imposed famine on 2.3 million Palestinians, Canada should engage in decisive action and not a mere “photo op.”
“Instead, Canada arms Israel, gives it political cover at the UN, and rewards its abuse of Palestinian human and national rights with a free trade agreement. This agreement allows products from Israel’s settlements, built in violation of international law on occupied Palestinian land, to enter Canada tariff-free.
Mr. Kafieh stressed, “to avoid sharing Israel’s fate before the ICJ, Canada needs to publicly oppose Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, demand it allow unrestricted entry of food supplies and reinstate funding for UNRWA for the safe distribution of food to 2.3 million Palestinians. Other actions Canada should immediately take include a total cessation of arms trading with Israel and the termination of the Canada/Israel free trade agreement that undermines a 2-state solution to the conflict.
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