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Canad's position on Israel at UNHCR

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Canad's position on Israel at UNHCR
amatullah
03/28/02 at 17:38:56
Bismillah and salam,
I hope that some of us can use the format or info included to write letters it is the least we can do at such terrible times that our sisters and brothers are facing.


Hon. Bill Graham
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dear Minister

Attached below  is a letter from Svend Robinson, NDP Member of
Parliament for Burnaby criticizing the Liberal Government for not
upholding international law and Canada's obligation under the Geneva
Convention and failure for not condemning Israel's violation of human
rights of the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. I strongly urge
that the Canadian government uphold its obligations under international
human rights law and not bow to pressure to ignore Israel's rampant and
well documented human rights abuses of Palestinians. As an active
Liberal  I urge you to put human rights, justice and our moral
obligations before political expediency.

*i withheld the name*

Immediate Past President
Elgin-Middlesex-London
Liberal Association

Letter from Svend Robinson M.P.

> Dear friend,
>
> Thank you for contacting me regarding the recent developments in
Occupied
> Palestine and Israel.
>
> On March 18, 2002, I called upon the Canadian government to take a
strong
> stance against Israel's human rights violations, at the current
meeting of
> the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva (please see
the
> press release and copy of my question to the Prime Minister in the
House
of
> Commons in a subsequent email).  Such a stance would be fully in
agreement
> with the Government of Canada's foreign policy statement, in which it
claims
> to regard "respect for human rights not only as a fundamental value,
but
> also as a crucial element in the development of stable, democratic and

> prosperous societies at peace with each other."  Unfortunately, the
Liberals
> seem to ignore their own foreign policy statement on a regular basis.
I
> will be in Geneva attending the UNCHR meeting next month, and I will
urge
> the Canadian delegation to uphold Canada's respect for the primacy of
human
> rights and international law, particularly in regards to resolutions
> concerning Occupied Palestine and Israel.
>
> The Government of Canada has often paid lip service to the suffering
of
> millions of Palestinians by making statements calling on Israel and
the
> Palestinians to stop the violence, but it remains silent regarding the

> grievous injustice which causes the violence - the illegal Israeli
> occupation of Palestine.  Yet until Canada and the world compel Israel

to
> abide by UN Resolutions 194 and 242 which call for an end to
occupation
and
> the return of Palestinian refugees, and until there is real respect
for
> human rights, a just peace in the Middle East cannot be expected.
>
> My New Democrat colleagues and I share the vision of UN Security
Council
> Resolution 1397 (2002), which affirms the right for the two states of
> Palestine and Israel to exist securely side-by-side, within
internationally
> accepted borders.  The first step towards achieving this objective is
> clearly the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from Occupied
Palestine,
> and the cessation of the violence it engenders.  Until this happens,
Canada
> should help to protect the Palestinians by advocating the deployment
of an
> international peacekeeping force to the region.
>
> Thank you once again for contacting me on this important issue.
Please be
> assured that I will continue to monitor the situation in Occupied
Palestine
> very carefully, and will urge the Canadian government to assert its
> influence in the effort to achieve an end to the occupation.
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Svend J Robinson, MP
> Burnaby-Douglas
>
> SJR/drf
> CEP 232
--


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