Our names are _____. We are from _______. We are writing to you to ask that you ensure that Canada does everything it can to ensure that the genocide against the people of Gaza stops and that Palestine is free. Ensure Canadian companies or companies operating in Canada offer no military or other support to the Israeli military, ensure that the UNRWA is funded adequately, and impose sanctions on all members of the Israeli military and government.
What is happening in Gaza is nothing short of genocide. In just a few months, over 30 000 people have been killed by the bombings, including over 12 600 children. Many thousands more died due to starvation, lack of clean water and hygiene, lack of medical care, and psychological stress. The attacking of Gaza has caused the economy to collapse, the people don’t have the basic resources they need. As well, Israel is making it so that people in Gaza cannot access food or water. The Israeli military has attacked hospitals, completely destroying the country’s healthcare system. This of course has had cruel and deadly consequences. They have blocked aid from reaching Gaza. They have destroyed sources of clean water and water purification infrastructure. This is not just inhumane, it’s downright inhuman behaviour, and the entire world sees this. It’s never okay to do this.
In addition to killing people, Israel has made the lives of the people in Gaza unliveable. They have attacked schools, and children have not been able to go to school for months now. They have caused 2 million people to lose their homes, to be forcibly displaced. They have caused hundreds of thousands of people to lose their loved ones, to grieve their parents, their children, their siblings, their partners, their neighbours, their cousins, their aunts and uncles, their grandparents, their teachers, their classmates, their coworkers, their friends. They have caused the entire population to live in fear. It’s never okay to do this.
The people of Gaza deserve better. They deserve to live in peace. The children deserve to live and grow up, to have what they need and have the people they love. All the people deserve to live in safety, security, and providence with their loved ones, their communities, and their homes. We need to ensure that Israel stops the genocide.
Canada is responsible for this because we are selling weapons to Israel. We have over the past decade sold over $140 000 000 worth of military weapons to Israel. These weapons were likely used to harm the people of Palestine, and are likely being used to harm the people of Palestine. Don’t say that there’s no proof that the people of Palestine are being harmed with these weapons, because there isn’t an adequate monitoring system to see what happens to the weapons after they get to Israel. It’s very likely and logical that they are being used in human rights abuses. And in any case, we should not be supporting the military of such a genocidal nation in any way whatsoever.
Canada must ensure that all companies operating in or headquartered in Canada do not sell anything to the Israeli military, and do not sell any military goods to Israel. It must pose a complete arms embargo and stop any and all Canadian military products from getting to Israel. Otherwise, the blood of millions of innocent people is on our hands.
The blood of millions of people will also be on our hands if we do not sanction the entire government and military of Israel. The government and military of Israel are literally responsible for genocide, and they are literally committing grave human rights abuses. They need to be sanctioned so that they see that the international community will not tolerate such disturbing behaviour. They need to be sanctioned so that they can lose access to some of the resources that they can use to further their genocidal goals.
Finally, the UNRWA needs to be adequately funded. There is no excuse to not fund the UNRWA. Israel, the genocide committing party, has made completely baseless and evidence-free claims that a couple of the low-level workers at the UNRWA might have ties to Hamas. The UNRWA is taking these allegations very seriously and investigating the claims, and will fire any members they do find with links to Hamas. That is definitely not a reason to defund the UNRWA and make it so that the organization can’t deliver lifesaving and necessary aid to the millions of people it supports. The people of Gaza, as well as many Palestinian refugees outside of Gaza, rely on the UNRWA for their survival, and defunding this agency will be an act of genocide and an act of collective punishment.
Please stand against genocide and stand with the people who are currently victims of genocide.
Sincerely,
Send to:
Prime Minister Trudeau- justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
Deputy Prime Minister Freeland- chrystia.freeland@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joly- melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Find your MP here: https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en
ns 15.158.61.51da2
