Recently, the Canada Palestine Association, together with the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, Just Peace Advocates, Palestinian and Jewish Unity and BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish, launched a collective statement of solidarity in support of Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in response to a smear campaign from the right-wing newspaper, the National Post, and multiple Zionist organizations. Over 60 organizations have already signed on!
You can take action in support of the statement and in defense of Khaled Barakat and Samidoun by sending your letter to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino to tell them that you join with the 60 organizations that have called to “Stop the Smear Campaigns against Palestinian Advocacy”. Thousands of letters have already been sent, but we need to make the message clear.
Click here to send your letter and stand with us!
Recently, we have witnessed an intensified campaign by the pro-Israel lobby in Canada to smear Palestinian activists and their supporters. Last week, the National Post (NP) ran an online article about Palestinian-Canadian writer Khaled Barakat and the advocacy organization Samidoun. On April 30, the same article was splashed across their front page of their paper and has since been referenced in the Canadian Senate and the Jerusalem Post.
A year ago, over 35 concerned organizations issued a statement detailing their rejection of attempts to criminalize Samidoun, a Palestinian advocacy group for prisoners, by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CIJA). They asked at that time: Should Canada’s policies on these important issues be decided by what the Israeli government and its lobby dictates?
Is this renewed attack an attempt to deflect attention from the multiple student union resolutions in support of Palestine at major Canadian universities? Or an effort to distract from the growing number of organizations that have expressly condemned Israeli practices as apartheid, such as Amnesty International? Or a distraction to cover up Israel’s continuing ethnic cleansing, most recently in the villages of Masafer Yatta?
The new statement calling for an end to these ramped-up smear campaigns is supported by diverse solidarity and community groups in Canada and abroad, as well as prominent individuals like Roger Waters, Jonathan Kuttab and Tony Greenstein.
Join with them to tell the Canadian government that the old smear tactics of “trial by fire” are not acceptable. This attack is an attack on all of us who are advocating for the liberation and dignity of the Palestinian people.
Click here to send your letter and stand with us!
Organizational signers of the statement — write to cpavancouver@gmail.com to endorse or use this form: https://bit.ly/StopPalSolSmear
Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver
BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish
Endorsed by:
Academics for Palestine – Concordia
Bayan Canada
BDS Caucus UTGSU
Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation, Victoria BC
Canada Palestine Support Network (CanPalNet)
Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights
Canadian BDS Coalition
Canadian Foreign Policy Institute
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid-Victoria
Communist Party Canada
East Indian Defense Committee (EIDC)
Edmonton Small Press Association
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle – Coast Salish Territories
Free Palestine Halifax
Free Palestine YEG, Edmonton
Global Peace Alliance BC
GTA Palestine Movement
GT4BDS (Greater Toronto 4 BDS)
Hamilton Coalition to Stop The War
Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
International League of Peoples’ Struggle Canada
Just Peace Advocates
Just Peace Committee-BC
Justice For All Canada, Toronto
Justice for Palestinians, Calgary
Labour for Palestine – Canada
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association OPRA
OPIRG Carleton
Palestinian and Jewish Unity PAJU
Palestinian Student Society Association (PSSA), Guelph
Palestinian Youth Movement PYM
Palestine Solidarity Network – Edmonton
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Socialist Action
Students Against Israeli Apartheid U of T
Sulong UBC
Toronto Raging Grannies
Vancouver Peace Council
Venezuela Peace and Solidarity Committee, BC
Alkarama (Palestinian Womens Movement), Spain
Communist Youth of Sweden, SKU, Sweden
Friends of Sabeel North America
Free Speech on Israel, UK
Indonesian Palestine Alliance IDPAL, Indonesia
Jewish Network for Palestine (UK)
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, USA
Labor for Palestine, US
Nevadans for Palestinian Human rights, Las Vegas
NYU Law Students for Justice in Palestine, NYC
PAAF PEOPLE AGAINST APARTHEID AND FASCISM, Cape Town
Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South Africa
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Cape Town
Palestinian Union in Latin America
Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW, Florida
Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, Lebanon
(لبنان – المؤتمر الشعبي لفلسطينني الخارج)
Revolutionaire Eenheid, The Netherlands
Students for Justice in Palestine at Butler University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Chicago
Students for justice in Palestine – Rutgers, New Brunswick, NJ
Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Davis, California
Students for Justice in Palestine, Wayne NJ
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights – University of Washington
Veterans for Peace, CA, USA
