“Unconditional support” encourages Israeli war crimes
October 20, 2006

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s speech at the B’nai Brith dinner on October 18 makes Canada the only country in the world that unconditionally supports Israeli war crimes.

“In his speech, Harper wrongly confused the values of the Canadian people - freedom , democracy human rights and rule of law - with the values of a state that abuses the human rights of its non-Jewish citizens, continues to occupy Palestinian land, and denies  the Palestinian people their freedom and democratic choice.” stated Dr. Farid Ayad, Palestine House President.

Prime Minister Harper deliberately avoids the documented war crimes committed by the Israeli state against the Palestinian people since 1948, not to mention the war crimes committed this summer by Israel against the Lebanese people. More than one thousand Lebanese civilians - one-third of them children - were killed in the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon. These facts are well documented by credible human rights organization such as Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Commission and Human Rights Watch.

“To show supposed balance, Mr. Harper spoke a few words about the right of the Palestinian people to their own democratic state. His rhetoric is in contradiction with his own government’s policy – Canada was the first country to boycott  the democratically elected Palestinian government.” Palestine House believes that the Prime Minister should immediately retract his support for war crimes and reconsider his position. Canada must not unconditionally support any state or organization that commits war crimes and terrorism.