Gaza: Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes statement by Canada
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes the joint statement by Canada, the United Kingdom and France threatening "concrete actions" in response to Israel's genocide in Gaza.
For the first time, the three leaders described Israel's latest military escalation in Gaza as "wholly disproportionate," warned that denying aid to Gaza "risks" breaching international law, and pledged that they "will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government pursues these egregious actions." CJPME urges Prime Minister Mark Carney to follow through with immediate sanctions, noting that the threshold for action has long been surpassed.
For the first time since the start of the genocide, Canada is talking about 'concrete actions' to stop Israel's war crimes. Canada's words are starting to reflect the urgency of the moment. This should have been Canada's response in October 2023, when Israel's genocidal intent was plain to see," said Michael Bueckert, Acting President of CJPME. "Carney must now prove that these are not empty threats. If Canada's word is to be taken seriously, we must move to sanction Israel immediately, added Bueckert.
CJPME argues that statements alone have failed to restrain Israel's illegal actions in the occupied Palestinian territory or to dissuade Israeli leaders from their goals of conquering Gaza and ethnically cleansing Palestine.
Just yesterday, Israeli Finance Minister boasted publicly:
We are disassembling Gaza, and leaving it as piles of rubble, with total destruction [which has] no precedent globally. And the world isn't stopping us." Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu has already rejected the statement from Canada, claiming that Israel will not stop "until total victory is achieved.
Israel has already dismissed Canada's demands. Gaza cannot wait another minute. Carney must follow through and enact sanctions without delay, said Bueckert.
While Carney has not specified which policy measures he is contemplating, CJPME believes that an adequate response to genocide and manufactured famine in Gaza must include the following at a minimum:
________________________________
Source: Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
Source: Pressenza
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Israeli navy attacks rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida
Published Jun 10, 2025 • 4 minute read This is a locator map for Yemen with its capital, Sanaa. (AP Photo) AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel's navy attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday, launching its first seaborne assault against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels while warning more could come. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The attack on Hodeida likely damaged facilities that are key to aid shipments to the hungry, war-wracked nation, but also have allegedly been used for weapons smuggling as vessels reportedly bypass United Nations inspectors. Both Israel and the United States have struck ports in the area in the past — including an American attack that killed 74 people in April — but Israel is now acting alone in attacking the rebels as they continue to fire missiles at Israel over its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned his country's 'long arm in the air and at sea will reach everywhere.' 'We warned the Houthi terror organization that if they continue to fire at Israel they will face a powerful response and enter a naval and air blockade,' he said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But on Tuesday night, Israel's military said 'a missile launched from Yemen was most likely intercepted' as explosions could be heard in Jerusalem, likely from interceptor fire. The Houthis later claimed firing missiles at Israel and warned future attacks would come from 'different directions,' without elaborating. Israeli attack again targets Hodeida port The Israeli attack struck Hodeida, some 150 km southwest of Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on the Red Sea on Tuesday morning. The Houthis offered no immediate damage assessment and there were no videos immediately released by their al-Masirah satellite news channel. 'It has no effect even on the morale of our people, who take to the streets weekly … in support of Gaza,' wrote Nasruddin Amer, the deputy head of the Houthis' media office. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Israeli military said missile boats carried out the attack. It marked a departure for Israel, which previously relied on airstrikes to target the Houthis. Hodeida is over 1,900 km south of Israel's southern tip, requiring the Israeli military to use aerial refueling to conduct those strikes. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Israel's navy, with over 9,000 sailors, has been mainly deployed in the Mediterranean Sea since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel began the war. 'The strikes were carried out to stop the use of the port for military purposes,' the Israeli military said, without offering a damage assessment from the attack. 'The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Already, Israel has destroyed all the aircraft used by Yemen's state carrier, Yemenia, in strikes on Sanaa International Airport. Hodeida key for aid, but weapons smuggling rumors growing Hodeida is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis since the war began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government considered trying to retake Hodeida by force in 2018, but ultimately decided against it as international criticism and worries about the port being destroyed grew. A United Nations mission operates in Hodeida, while another screens ships off Djibouti. However, those inspections appear to be no longer catching all vessels heading into Hodeida. A UN experts report last year wrote about receiving a tip about vessels reaching the Hodeida area to 'unload significant quantities of military materiel.' The Houthis also are believed to use an overland route as well via the Gulf of Aden to smuggle in weapons. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More Iran denies directly arming the Houthis, though United Nations experts, western nations and analysts have linked weapons in the rebels' arsenal back to Tehran. The UN mission monitoring shipping into Yemen did not respond to a request for comment. Dorothy Shea, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a speech in May that more money needed to go to the UN mission. 'Earlier this month, UNVIM successfully interdicted four shipping containers of illicit materials bound for Houthi-controlled ports,' she said, using an acronym for the UN inspection mission. 'This interdiction clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this mechanism. We all need to continue supporting its operations.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Houthis have been launching persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's offensive in Gaza. From November 2023 until January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. President Donald Trump paused those attacks just before his trip to the Mideast, saying the rebels had 'capitulated' to American demands. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Early Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth wrote on X that U.S. Navy ships had traveled through the Red Sea and its Bab el-Mandeb Strait 'multiple times in recent days' without facing Houthi attacks. 'These transits occurred without challenge and demonstrate the success of both Operation ROUGH RIDER and the President's Peace Through Strength agenda,' Hegseth wrote ahead of facing Congress for the first time since sharing sensitive military details of America's military campaign against the Houthis in a Signal chat. It's unclear how the Houthis will respond now that an attack has come from the sea, rather than the air, from the Israelis. Meanwhile, a wider, decade-long war in Yemen remains stalemated. — Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report. NHL Columnists Toronto Blue Jays Toronto Maple Leafs Editorial Cartoons
Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Tasha Kheiriddin: Liberals finally making Canada's defence a priority
Damn the torpedoes! Canada's Liberal government is taking aim at defence — and it's about time. Article content This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will hit the NATO benchmark of 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending this year, instead of waiting for 2032, deploying an additional $9 billion in 2025-2026. Ever the banker, he's also deploying some accounting manoeuvres, shifting $16 billion from the ledgers of other departments to the defence budget to bring it up to the required amount. But that is in line with the tabulations of other NATO countries — and is something predecessor Justin Trudeau should have done, so that Canada would have appeared to be less of a defence laggard for the last decade. Article content Article content Article content But better late than never — and perhaps, just in time. Article content Article content Carney's announcement comes just weeks ahead of both the G7 summit he is hosting in Kananaskis, Alberta and a meeting of NATO leaders later this month in The Hague. The change sends a message to both U.S. President Donald Trump and E.U. allies that Canada means business on defence. Together with the government's border security bill announced earlier this week, Carney is paving the way for a trade deal, or at least some relief from tariffs, with the United States. Article content His spending boost will sit well with his recent pledge to join ReArm Europe, in light of upcoming NATO demands that members spend 5 per cent of GDP in coming years, instead of two. Carney also gets a gold star for actual change. The government will beef up salaries, recruitment and retention of troops, finally acknowledging that new equipment is pointless without skilled personnel. Ottawa will also overhaul the procurement process, a boost for the Canadian defence industry which could offset some of the costs to taxpayers through job creation and revenue. That could also help sell future spending hikes: while polling shows two thirds of Canadians support spending 2 per cent on defence, there's not much appetite for five. Article content Article content But as always, a landmine looms on the horizon: in this case, the infamous F-35 program. Article content Article content On Tuesday, Auditor-General Karen Hogan dropped a bombshell. Canada's planned fleet of 88 F-35 jets is now projected to cost nearly 50 per cent more. It has ballooned from $19 billion in 2022 to a staggering $27.7 billion in 2025, and that's before factoring in infrastructure upgrades, weapons and inflation. Hogan's audit was brutal: the Department of National Defence relied on outdated cost estimates, ignored improved data, and has no coherent contingency plan in place. Infrastructure to house the jets is running three years behind schedule, with some bases not expected to open until 2031. The RCAF is also short on qualified pilots — something it knew back in 2018, but which for the previous government was presumably not a priority. Article content Canada needs stealth fighters. We don't, however, need another lake of red ink. Instead of sticking with 88 F-35s at $27 billion-plus for the fleet, Canada should look at Sweden's Gripen, Boeing's Super Hornet, or a mix of planes. If Carney approves the F-35 as-is, that failure will become the focus, instead of his ambitious plans to rearm. Defence Minister David McGuinty hasn't committed to a review of the project, saying only that he'd ensure that the auditor general's recommendations will be 'fully integrated' into his department. But he should, especially now that Canada is also building stronger ties with Europe, be considering where some of these planes could be sourced.
Calgary Herald
2 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
John Ivison: Carney now has billions of reasons to buy fighter planes other than F-35s
In his speech pledging to meet NATO's two per cent spending target, Mark Carney expanded on his plan to rearm the Canadian military. Article content Key to this transformation are moves to strengthen the Canadian defence industry and to diversify defence partnerships away from the United States, where Canada spends 75 per cent of its capital budget. Article content Carney didn't mention the F-35 fighter jet contract but in March he ordered a review to look at whether the order to buy 88 fifth-generation planes is the best investment for Canada. Article content Article content The results of that review are expected this summer, and if the government is minded to cancel the remainder of the contract (it is legally obliged to take the first 16 jets), the auditor general's office has just given it a good excuse. Article content Article content The AG's latest report suggests that the F-35s will not be delivered on time or on budget — which is, perhaps, as predictable as death, or Donald Trump turning on his closest confidants. Article content But the findings will prove maddening to a prime minister who has promised to build big things, from concept to completion, in short order. Article content The AG's report suggests that the Department of National Defence should have known sooner that costs were considerably higher than had been made public. It probably did, but it has wanted to buy this aircraft for two decades and didn't want nosy busybodies like the taxpayer intruding in the process. Article content Article content The Trudeau government finalized arrangements to buy 88 F-35s in December 2022 (having initially cancelled the project in 2015). Article content Article content Projected purchase costs at the time were $19 billion. Article content But the Department of National Defence's own numbers suggest that, by 2024, inflation, fluctuating exchange rates and rising facilities costs had increased the cost to $27.7 billion. Article content The AG's team calculated that another $5.5 billion can be added to that number to cover infrastructure upgrades and advanced weapons, taking the new bill to over $33 billion. Article content Delivery will start next year, with the first eight being sent to Luke Air Force base in Arizona for pilot training. The rest will be sent to Canada to form fighter squadrons at Cold Lake, Alta., and Bagotville, Que.
