Canadian Politics

Pressure mounts for Canada to endorse International Criminal Court investigation of murder of Palestinian journalist

Alberta's only non-Conservative MP in a 'difficult place' balancing  provincial and federal interests | The Star

Minister, I ask your government to support the request to refer this case to the ICC,” wrote NDP foreign affairs critic Heather Macpherson in a letter to Global Affairs minister Melanie Joly. “We can not and should not rely on the Israeli military to investigate itself.” Read more….

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Is it time to blow the whistle on the Israel lobby’s scare-mongering about anti-semitism in Canada?

A pamphlet (excerpted above) was used to warn Ontario voters about the rising danger of anti-Semitism in Ontario. Along with the text there is a photo showing angry demonstrators holding a sign saying “Holocaust = Great lie”. But the photo is of a demonstration that took place in Iran… 16 years ago. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is using the scare of a rebirth of anti-Semitism in Canada for another reason, to dampen the rising criticism of Israel. Read more…

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What’s behind the Trudeau government proposal to criminalize “Holocaust denial”?

Prime Minister Trudeau at the opening of the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa 2015.

The Trudeau government slipped a little-noticed line item into the budget which, if passed this month, will have the effect of criminalizing the act of “denying, or diminishing the impact of the Holocaust”. What is behind the idea? Is there a upsurge in Holocaust denial recently, or is there another reason? Read more….

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Significant win at Canadian Food Inspection Agency: “settlement wine” is not “product of Israel”

After a half decade long legal battle, David Kattenburg has won his case that wines produced by Israeli settlers in the occupied Palestinian Territory cannot be labelled as “product of Israel”. While the amount of wine at stake was rather small, he faced huge opposition from the Israeli government, the Israel lobby in Canada and the Canadian government itself. In a short video interview, Kattenburg explains what was behind the stiff opposition. Watch the interview and read more.

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Canadian muslims urge Trudeau government to condemn Israeli assault on worshippers at al Aqsa mosque

The National Council of Canadian Muslims has called on the Canadian government to condemn the recent attacks by Israeli police on Palestinian Muslim worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. So far the Canadian government has been platitudinous, only calling for “de-escalation”. Read more.
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