Canada criticized for ‘unconditional’ Israel support
A Palestinian civil society coalition has slammed Canada’s “unconditional” support for Israel, saying the Ottawa government is complicit in the Tel Aviv regime’s occupation and aggression against Palestinians.
In a report published by online the Electronic Intifada on Friday, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) said Canada is escalating its “disinformation campaign and repressive measures” against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
The BNC criticized a vow made by Canadian public safety minister, Steven Blaney, last month that Ottawa would continue to combat “anti-Semitism.”
“Rather than seeking to hold Israel to account for its war crimes during the recent military assault on Gaza and its intensified colonization of the occupied West Bank,” the Canadian government “is further deepening its collaboration with Israel’s occupation and launching a shameful, propagandistic attack on free speech in the process,” said Rafeef Ziadah, a member of the BNC secretariat.
The BNC also condemned recent deals signed between Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and the Israeli regime.
Ziadah said the Harper government’s “continued unconditional support for Israel’s colonial policies and its smear campaign against BDS” reveals the “deeply ideological and reactionary character of this government.”
The activist added that Ottawa “is sending Israel the message that it can act with total impunity in violating human rights and international law.”
Canada suppressing free speech
The Palestinian coalition further criticized Canada for muzzling critics and suppressing the rights of its own civil groups.
Ziadah noted that “while claiming to defend free speech” Canada has been “among the most repressive in the west; it has gone farther than most in suppressing free speech and infringing the rights of its own civil society, including trade unions, community and faith groups, to participate in human rights campaigning, as in boycotts against Israel’s injustices.”
The BDS campaign is part of international efforts to pressure Tel Aviv to stop aggression against Palestinians, including illegal constructions in the occupied Palestinian territory and an ongoing assault against Gaza.
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