The Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group (CPPFG) has been reconstituted on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. It will be chaired by Liberal MP Marwan Tabbara (l). Its two vice chairs are NDP member Alexandre Boulerice (top right) and Bloc Quebecois MP Mario Beaulieu (bottom right). Green Party leader Elizabeth May is also a member. Read more.
The Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, which was originally founded in 2007, was reconstituted for the 42nd Parliament of Canada on June 15th 2017. The group is a non partisan committee curently composed of members of Parliament from 4 of the 5 parties in Parliament. (Conservative MPs and Senators of all parties are also welcome to join, but none has done so, as yet.)
Committee Chair Marwan Tabbara (Lib.) stressed that “it is important to increase mutual understanding between Canadians and Palestinians through dialogue and by sharing knowledge and experience through direct contact. “
The following parliamentarians have joined the group:
- Marwan Tabbara, (Liberal, Kitchener South – Hespeler, ON), elected Chair
- Alexandre Boulerice, (NDP, Rosemont – La Petite Patrie, QC), elected Vice-Chair
- Mario Beaulieu, (Bloc Québécois, La Pointe-de-l’Île, QC), elected Vice-Chair
- Elizabeth May (Green, Saanich – Gulf Islands, BC)
- Geng Tan (Liberal, Don Valley North, ON)
- Chandra Arya (Liberal, Nepean, ON)
- Robert-Falcon Ouellette (Liberal, Winnipeg Center, MB)
- Rob Oliphant (Liberal, Don Valley West, ON)
- Fayçal El-Khouri (Liberal, Laval – The Islands, QC)
At the first meeting, the members adopted a bilingual Constitution Constitution (Bilingue) finale and a declaration of fundamental principles CPPFG basic principles. It also elected its executive committee members.
In its Declaration of Principles, the CPPFC stated that it seeks to understand the perspectives of the various groups “that make up all Palestinian peoples regardless of their geographical location”. (emphasis added) This is significant because it means that, in addition to Palestinians in the West Bank, the committee is interested in the views of Palestinians in Gaza, Jerusalem, in the refugee camps around Israel, and also of the Palestinian citizens of Israel.
It has declared that it wants to develop contacts with a wide range of Palestinian organizations including representatives of civil society organizations, faith groups, women’s groups and NGOs working in the field of health, education and human rights.
According to the declaration this might include “an invitation to representatives to be heard here or a mission of Canadian MPs and Senators to the region.”
Enthusiasm
With only nine members, the new group is rather small compared to the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary group which has over 50 members and gets financial and administrative support from Parliament. In contrast, the new Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group is entirely supported by the resources of its own members and gets no financial or administrative support from Parliament.
But its members are enthusiastic about its mission and the interest shown by other parliamentarians. Vice Chair Alexandre Boulerice stressed the importance of the group saying that it will be “a vital tool to promote solidarity, dialogue and reflection on the status of the Palestinian people.”
A work plan will be on the agenda at the next meeting when parliamentarians return in the fall.
Canada Talks Israel-Palestine welcomes the reestablishment of this committee to bring about better understanding of the issues, based on reliable and objective information, and of the perspectives of the parties concerned.
______________________________________________________
Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue. We invite comments from readers. Both Zionists and non-Zionist opinion is welcome as long as it is expressed in a respectful way. If you support our educational mission, why not join? Or make a donation? Or learn more about what we do? Contact us at membership.ctip@gmail.com.
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 
The establishment of the Canada -Palestine Friendship group is a welcome development. I hope that they welcome delegations from the various interest groups in Palestine but more importantly they meet with some of the groups and individuals in Israel/Palestine that we did on our Look and Learn trip with you Peter. They should also have some kind of budget.
I think the establishment of such a group is crucial at this time. Just as your post came out al- jazerrar reported that Israel has moved to close its Jerusalem offices. An additional story describes Netanyahu’s proposal to transfer control of Arab citizens of Israel to the PA and annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Calls by extremists to destroy Al Aqsa and rebuild a Jewish temple are signs of a pervasive racism in Israeli political circles. This group can do a great deal to expose this to political colleagues and the public and should be strongly supported.
I recently traveled to Israel/Palestine (with Interfaith Peace Builders). We (a delegation of 30 people, mostly from the US; I was the only Canadian) visited with many groups and organizations working for Palestinian rights and for peace (in the West Bank and in Israel). What impressed me most is the pervasive and institutionalized system of oppression and control oppression of every aspect of Palestinian life by the Israelis. At the same time, Israel is becoming a militarized society. There are no winners in this.
International solidarity groups play an important role in supporting the ongoing struggle for freedom and dignity of the Palestinians. Three things any one of us can do: support CCPFG in their efforts to take a stand, support BDS, and buy Palestinian products (eg: Zatoun olive oil, etc.).
I love the idea…
I’d love it even more if there were a Jewish MP on board because this person could and would take all their learnings and insights back into the Canadian Jewish community. Change in the Israel/Palestine situation will require profound and committed involvement from the Jewish diaspora (that’s partly us here in Canada) to provide any hope of success for a number of reasons too complex to go into here. I’m not expecting this group to create that change however I do hope it can provide space and openness for a broader, more collaborative relationship of all the parties involved, and may I dream??? a new kind of forum for dialogue where all the parties can participate safely, openly, truthfully.
To be honest I’m looking for, hoping for something different as an outcome…to get something different, we will have to do something different…otherwise we are doomed to keep reinventing what we already know does not work.
I concur with Bessa Whitmore’s comments. I will see if I can buy Zatoun olove oil near me in Peterborough ON.