On Tuesday, November 5th, Shane Martinez and six other Canadian lawyers launched a historic lawsuit against the Canadian government on behalf of two Palestinian Canadian citizens for failing to protect them from Israeli genocide. Read more….

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are two Palestinian-Canadians, Hany El-Batnigi and Tamer Jarada. Their families have been devastated by Israel’s war on Gaza. They allege that Justin Trudeau’s government has violated its duty under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide, and has also violated their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In a press conference on November 5th on Parliament Hill, the legal team presented the background and the legal rationale. The essence of the suit is that Canada did not do all it could to protect Canadian citizens trapped in Gaza. Indeed, it did not even do what it had done in other cases – including the Rohingya and the Yazidis.

The claim also points out that Canada deployed extraordinary efforts to protect Canadians caught in the conflict in Ukraine – to the point of opening its borders to tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees.

In the case of Palestinians in Gaza, however, Canada provided a derisory level of protection. In a point of fact Mr. Hany El-Batnigi told CTIP that he had to make three trips to the border before Canada would approve his exit from Gaza.

The full statement of claim can be found HERE.

CTIP interviewed Dimitri Lascaris to discuss the objective of the claim, and what he hopes will come out of it.

The six lawyers with whom Lascaris has launched this litigation are Professor Faisal Bhabha, Professor Emilio Dabed, Jouman El-Asmar, Yavar Hameed, Shane Martinez and Asaf Rashid. The lawsuit is being funded by the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCP).

NOTE: Lascaris will be speaking in Ottawa Friday, November 15, 7:00-9:00 p.m. McNabb Community Centre, 180 Percy St. as part of a broader cross-Ontario speaking tour organized by a coalition of Canadian peace organizations. More information to be found here.

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 Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca