October 6, 2020
Paul Manly, member of parliament for Nanaimo—Ladysmith presented a petition, signed by close to 3,000 people the federal parliament, urging Canada to demand Israel immediately and permanently lift the blockade on Gaza and that Canada align its United Nations voting with the rest of the international community.
Just Peace Advocates and others join in thanking Paul Manly for sponsoring this petition. We hope that the new Green Party Leader Annamie Paul and the Green Party of Canada will support this call in their own policy, along with supporting the approved Green Party policy in regard to Palestine.
We now wait for the government’s required response.
Check out related campaigns: #Gaza2020 #NoUNSC4Canada
The Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:
- The Palestinian people in Gaza have been under blockade for 13 years;
- This has resulted in accelerated de-development, and led the United Nations to indicate that Gaza would be unlivable by 2020;
- COVID-19 has grave potential for human catastrophe in this most densely populated area of the world;
- Article 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention specifically provides that an occupier has the duty of ensuring and maintaining the measures necessary to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics; and
- Under Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, all high signatories, of which Canada is one, are required to take actions to ensure that violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention do not occur under any circumstance.
We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to request that Israel immediately lift the blockade on Gaza to enable medical and humanitarian aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, and insist that Israel permanently end its blockade of Gaza; and vote at the UN General Assembly in alignment with the majority of the international community taking a stance in line with international law and human rights for Palestinians.
