A delegation of 18 Canadian parliamentarians, led by MP Marwan Tabbara (Lib. Kitchener South – Hespeler), spent 6 intensive days visiting Israel/Palestine in April 2018. The official report of their trip has just been released and makes for interesting reading. It seems they were quite disturbed by what they saw/heard. Read more.
Occupation
CTIP’s Gaza correspondent appeals to Canadians: “please help us tell our stories to the outside world”
Ahmed Alnaouq (l.) is CTIP’s correspondent in Gaza. He and Rana Shubair (r.) are active in a small NGO which helps young Palestinians in Gaza to electronically “leap over” the punishing Israeli blockade to contact the outside world. Ahmed appeals to Canadians for help – both financial and editorial – so they can share their stories with you. Read his appeal…
What’s behind the Trudeau government’s new phrasing that Canada is “a friend of Israel” and “a friend of the Palestinian people”?
In diplomacy, words matter. After saying for years that Canada was an “ally” of Israel, that terminology was quietly dropped last month. We now say Canada is a “friend of Israel, and a friend to the Palestinian people”. That sounds balanced. CTIP’s research department has discovered some of the ways Canada puts that apparently “balanced” statement into practice. Read more…
Has Canada “downgraded” its relation to Israel, or just wordsmithed it? Open letter to Hon. Chrystia Freeland: What does it mean to say Canada is an “ally” of Israel?
International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland answers a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Until very recently, Canada’s foreign affairs minister Hon. Chrystia Freeland repeatedly stated that “Canada is a steadfast ally and friend of Israel, and a friend to the Palestinian people”. Two months ago, CTIP wrote the minister asking for clarification on what she meant, exactly, to say that Israel is an “ally” of Canada. We never got an answer, or even an acknowledgement. But as Palestinian casualties began mounting in Gaza, the official wording was quietly changed. No more reference to Israel being an “ally”. Just a “friend”. Did CTIP’s letter prompt this change? Or was it Israel’s behaviour in Gaza? We will never know. But, here is our letter….. (more…)
A painful message to Canadians from a Palestinian English teacher trapped in the “big cage of Gaza”
While in Gaza recently, I spent a half a day doing an English class with about 20 young Palestinian women enrolled in a secretarial science course offered by the Near East Council of Churches – DSPR/Gaza. It was a great opportunity for me to have an informal and frank talk about their lives and hopes for the future. After the class, I got a poignant letter of thanks from their teacher. You might be interested in what she said… (more…)
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 