CJPME Welcomes Gaza Ceasefire, Urges Canada to Enforce It

 

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) enthusiastically welcomes the news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and anxiously looks forward to an end to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. The deal announced today is remarkably similar to one that Hamas had agreed to nearly a year ago, but which had been repeatedly blocked by Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet ministers. In this important moment, CJPME urges Canada to increase pressure on Israeli leaders to enforce the terms of the ceasefire and hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable through existing institutions of international law.

“We feel incredible relief at the prospect that this deal will bring an end to the genocide, secure freedom for Palestinian prisoners, and lift the murderous siege. But the international community now has a responsibility to ensure that Israel complies with the terms of the deal and does not simply resume the airstrikes and starvation policies once Israeli captives have been released,” said Michael Bueckert, Interim President of CJPME.

According to reports, the breakthrough to secure the ceasefire deal was a result of pressure on Netanyahu from the incoming Trump administration. “How many lives could have been saved if the international community, including Canada, had put real pressure on Israel to accept the same deal many months ago? The failure of Trudeau to impose sanctions on Israeli war criminals or stop trading arms with Israel amounts to complicity in genocide,” added Bueckert.

If the ceasefire holds, CJPME argues that the priority for Canada should be to enforce measures of accountability for war crimes and genocide committed by Israeli officials. For a start, CJPME urges Canada to support South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), to pledge to cooperate in the arrest and prosecution of Israeli leaders facing warrants from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and to investigate and prosecute Canadian citizens for war crimes if they participated in the Israeli military.

“Canada must be an active player in ensuring that Israel complies not only with this ceasefire agreement, but also with the demands from the International Court of Justice and United Nations General Assembly to immediately end its 57-year occupation of Palestine. Regardless of the specific terms of the deal, Israel remains legally obliged to end its unlawful presence in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza as rapidly as possible. Canada must utilize every policy option available to ensure that Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid policies are irredeemably dismantled,” added Bueckert.  (more...)

CJPME Welcomes Gaza Ceasefire, Urges Canada to Enforce It

Finally a Ceasefire in Gaza, but Will It Hold?

 

Although fewer and fewer people believed it possible, Israel and Hamas announced a ceasefire Wednesday. This should take effect on Sunday. Since the announcement, the Israeli army has reportedly ramped up its attacks, already killing around 116 people. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is questioning the agreement, although ratification is still possible.

The ceasefire was negotiated in collaboration with the leaders of Qatar, the United States and Egypt. They describe it as “an opportunity for peace,” despite continuing Israeli attacks.

The agreement is progressive and should be implemented in three phases. Under the terms of the deal, the Palestinian coalition will release 33 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Six hundred truckloads of humanitarian aid will be allowed into the Gaza Strip every day, but NGOs and Hamas leaders say this is not enough. They need more than a thousand trucks a day.

On Thursday, Doctors Against Genocide stressed the urgent need to allow unrestricted access to humanitarian, medical, and relief aid. The organization also called for investigations into the crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, as well as the targeting of medical professionals and journalists.

In a statement issued following the ceasefire announcement, the organization called for the immediate and unconditional release of health professionals held in Israeli prisons. It also called for these professionals to be protected as required by international law.  (more...)

Finally a Ceasefire in Gaza, but Will It Hold?

Jewish supremacy is a bigger problem than antisemitism

 

Fifteen months into Israel’s holocaust some leftists continue to uphold Jewish supremacy. Many supposedly on the side of humanity continue to boost an ideological stick enabling a genocide, authoritarianism and a movement promoting “mass deportation”.

Recently Caitlin Johnstone posted: “First end the active genocide, THEN talk to me about your concerns regarding a rise in antisemitism. This isn’t one of those ‘we can walk and chew gum at the same time’ things. No, we absolutely cannot, because ‘antisemitism’ is used to deflect criticism of the genocide. Even if everything Israel defenders are saying about rising antisemitism was true (and it most assuredly isn’t), genocide is an infinitely more urgent concern than hurt feelings and graffiti. Resolve that first, then we can talk about your far less urgent concerns.”

Johnstone should be applauded for her courageous statement. Premised on the notion that antisemitism is abhorrent, the post aptly captures the utter depravity of Israel, plight of Jewry and scope of Zionist deception. But pro-Palestinian former Ontario Coalition Against Poverty organizer John Clarke vociferously denounced Johnstone. On Facebook Clarke labelled it “a load of shameful nonsense”, concluding “That this person puts out such a message and links it to the Palestinian cause is sad. That the message resonates on the left is deeply depressing. It’s time for some clarity and for some principles on such fundamental issues as this one.”

The rest of Clarke’s post was more nuanced, but the point (and damage) was done. Clarke joins a litany of leftists boosting a genocidal, authoritarian, anti-left climate. As I’ve detailed, former Independent Jewish Voices communications lead Aaron Lakoff claimed a La Presse cartoon caricaturing Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire was a “blood libel” while Dawson College professor Joseph Rosen complained his leftist friends failed to centre antisemitism. Many prominent leftists (Jim Stanford, Maude Barlow, Jagmeet Singh, etc.) have said as much about antisemitism as the Gaza holocaust their government and political culture supports.

How many leftists have employed the word “antisemitism” more than “Jewish supremacy” during a fifteen-month genocide to advance Jewish supremacy? That’s pretty racist, no?  (more...)

Jewish supremacy is a bigger problem than antisemitism

Related:

If They Don’t Believe They’re Enemies, Why Should You?

What just happened in Gaza

 

Friday questions — did Trump make a difference in getting a deal?  Will the ceasefire hold?   Why did Blinken fail?

Journalist Sam Husseini On Getting MANHANDLED For Asking Blinken Questions

 

Jordanian-Palestinian Journalist Sam Husseini reacts to being physically assaulted for daring to ask Secretary of State Antony Blinken questions. 

Sam Husseini is an independent journalist currently writing at husseini.substack.com. Husseini has also written for a variety of publications, including CounterPunch, The Nation, The Washington Post, USA Today and Salon. He has written extensively about Palestine and international law. Last year he repeatedly wrote about the possibility of a country invoking the Genocide Convention against Israel at the International Court of Justice. Husseini regularly attends State Department briefings, asking tough questions. Husseini is founder of VotePact.org, which encourages left-right cooperation to undermine the establishment duopoly. He is also a visual artist.

US State Department Forcibly Removes Journalist From Press Conference

 

"I'M A JOURNALIST. NOT A POTTED PLANT"

"RESPECT THE PROCESS"

They want civility during a genocide but Sam Husseini gave them journalism. Sam was forcibly removed him from the press conference of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. This was Blinken's last press conference as secretary. What a fitting ending. Anyone who has spent anytime in state department briefings knows who Sam Husseini is. He is accredited and he has a right to be in that room and that's why he was there. CNN framing him as some sort of heckler and activist speaks volumes about the times we are living in.

"Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing). You remember those early meetings of your department in the university when, if one had stood, others would have stood, perhaps, but no one stood. A small matter, a matter of hiring this man or that, and you hired this one rather than that. You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair."

A deal delayed, dreams destroyed

 

Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss the Gaza ceasefire deal, the real history of US and Israeli obstructionism, and efforts to hold the authors of Gaza's destruction accountable - including Blumenthal's questioning of Tony Blinken at the Secretary of State's final presser.

Related:

WATCH Grayzone editor confront ‘Zionist’ Blinken at final press conference