Dear Prime Minister Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon:

As representatives of a number of community organizations in London, Ontario, we are writing you to protest your government’s silence in the face of the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza.

As we write, more than 800 Palestinians have been killed and several thousands wounded, many of them civilians, by Israel’s military attacks over the past 15 days. Food is running low, electricity and power have largely stopped, water is scarce, sewage is overflowing, the hospitals have run out of essential medical supplies, and the territory’s meagre infrastructure is being systemically destroyed.

According to many human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and B’Tselem, many of the Israeli military attacks have targeted civilian homes and institutions, such as mosques, schools, universities, police stations and prisons.

Under international and Canadian law, these attacks, and the resulting civilian causalities, constitute war crimes. Even before this latest conflict, Israel had imposed an 18-month blockade of food, medical supplies and fuel from entering Gaza in sufficient quantities, causing what the United Nations Relief and Works Agency has called a serious humanitarian crisis. In international and Canadian law, this amounts to the collective punishment of the civilian population, itself a grave violation. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, Professor Richard Falk, stated several days ago that: “international humanitarian law, as set forth in the Geneva Conventions, is quietly set aside while the carnage continues and the bodies pile up.”

Your explicit support for the Israeli attacks, and your silence in the face of the deliberate infliction of suffering upon the civilian population of Gaza, are unacceptable. We urgently request that the government of Canada demand:

1-An immediate ceasefire by all warring parties, 2- The lifting of the inhumane siege of Gaza, 3- The condemnation of all those who have committed violations of international law in this conflict, 4- And the rapid implementation of all United Nations resolutions pertaining to the conflict.

Peace in the Middle East and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike will only come with justice. Siding with the aggressor and condemning the victims only lengthens the time that it will take to finally achieve a genuine and durable peace.

Yours in peace.

David Janzen chairperson, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, London Chapter David Heap moderator, People for Peace Beth Guthrie co-ordinator, London War Resisters Support Group Mazen Shahatto president, Canadian Palestinian Association, London Umair Jamil chairperson, Palestinian Student Association Nazih Mroue vice-president, Al-Mahdi Al-Muntathar Union Ahmad Hayek president Canadian Arab Society, London Zan Saleemi chairperson, Association of London Muslims David Hassan chairperson, London Muslim Mosque Hassan Mostafa president Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario Salkan Burzic president Bosnian-Canadian Islamic Centre Ali Pardhan chairperson, Ahlul-Bayt Islamic Centre Cory Morningstar president, Council of Canadians, London Chapter