Nearly 20% of Canadian military exports go to the middle east, including nearly $20 million to Israel in 2018 according to Global Affairs Canada statistics. A resolution going to the NDP convention proposes to stop this. Read more and hear an interview with one of the resolution’s proponents….
The New Democratic Party will be holding its annual convention on April 9 to 11. As with other political parties, the convention will be held virtually.
At the present moment, resolutions on many topics are coming forth from hundreds of riding associations across the country. Not all resolutions will make it to the virtual “floor” to be voted on by the convention. Before that resolutions will be sifted (and in some cases amalgamated) according to their priority.
None of the resolutions being presented for consideration (as far at CTIP knows) reject the long standing NDP position on the Israel/Palestine conflict in favour of a two state solution, but one resolution calls on the party to end arms sales to Israel and to end dealing with companies which do business in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Labelled “Ensuring peace and Justice in Palestine”, it can be found here. The resolution urges the NDP to adopt the recommendations of the Canadian Labour Congress, Amnesty International and countless other human rights groups and leaders who have observed and borne witness to the Palestinian struggle.
CTIP spoke to Omar Burgan, one of the promoters of the resolution on why his group is doing it, and what they hope will be the outcome.
Another resolution being brought forward at the NDP convention touches tangentially on the Israel/Palestine issue. It urges the NDP not to adopt a specific definition of “anti-Semitism” (called the IHRA definition). Its backers, including well known NDP personalities like Libby Davies and Sven Robinson argue that the IHRA definition is less about fighting anti-Semitism than it is about protecting the State of Israel. More information will be posted on the #NoIHRA website.
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Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to http://www.ottawaforumip.org.
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 
Thank you Peter for making many of us aware. Small but important steps. Lets hope international law, fairness and reason are upheld, and these resolutions pass at the NDP convention.
Thank you Peter for keeping us abreast of these things, and for the interview. Perhaps small steps, but so very important for humane justice, reason, and upholding international law. Let’s hope the NDP passes these resolutions.
The Israel lobby is reacting harshly. Here is Pinchas Gutter slinging mud at Libby Davies and Svend Robinson, accusing them of inciting anti-Semitism: “Had they asked us, we would have told them that their politicization of antisemitism, their treatment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a zero-sum game, their tokenizing of a small group of radical Jewish outliers to camouflage their animosity to the world’s only Jewish state (home of the biggest Survivor community in the world after most countries closed their doors to Jews) – all of this fuels the flames of antisemitism. We would have told them that their actions are partly responsible for the rise of antisemitism, the most enduring hatred in Canada and around the world.” (https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/ndp-radicals-should-stop-politicizing-antisemitism/)
Thank you Peter, I was not aware. I’ll try to have other groups and individuals support.