The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians welcomes the resolution passed May 27 by the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) as a sincere attempt to bring peaceful means to bear on the increasingly intolerable and explosive situation between Israel and the Palestinians.
We regret to say that Israel’s refusal to abide by international humanitarian law standards for the treatment of Palestinians over 39 years of occupation has brought considerable shame on the Jewish people and isolation to Israel. The policies of the current government of Israel have in no way mitigated the situation, and in some senses have exacerbated it.
We think it perfectly appropriate for a Canadian union to seek some means of counteracting the Canadian government’s reckless support for Israeli government intransigence -- for example, by trying to destabilize the elected government of the Palestinian authority. This is the opposite of Canada’s legal obligations under both international and Canadian law, which require it to oppose such practices as targeted assassinations, land annexation, and the building of settlements and a "security" wall on Palestinian land.
We disagree with the denunciation of the CUPE resolution by the Israeli Ambassador and the Canadian Jewish Congress. We find unacceptable this continued demonization of legitimate criticism and, above all, of the advocacy of peaceful and lawful means for a just resolution to a tragic situation that should not be tolerated by the international community.
The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians is a coalition founded this year of Jewish anti-occupation committees from various Canadian cities across the country, together with individual academics and activists. As a voice of Jewish dissident opinion the 114 members of the ACJC represent the concerns of a majority of Jewish Canadians who have not had their views carried by the leading bodies of the Jewish community on the lack of a peaceful resolution in the Israel Palestinian conflict. We invite those interested in the media, the Jewish community and the general public who are interested in further communication to contact the ACJC at the address ACJC2006@yahoo.ca .
0 Have Your Say!:
Post a Comment