Sid Shniad

Israel-Palestine: What has caused the crisis and how can we bring an end to it?

IJV — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 23:54:54 +0000

To the uninitiated, the crisis in Israel-Palestine seems unbelievably complicated and impossibly difficult to solve. What's required to understand it is a glance back at some history.

United Church stands up for justice, reaffirms its call to end Israeli occupation

IJV — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 18:17:55 +0000

The United Church of Canada’s General Council, which meets every two years, sets policy for the Church. In the course of its 2014 meeting, held in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, the Council voted to strengthen the Church's opposition to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Harper government threat to criminalize criticism of Israel generates strong opposition

IJV — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 14:39:32 +0000

In recent years, Israel and its allies have become increasingly concerned about the growing international movement to expose and sanction Israel’s behaviour. Their chosen response appears to be one designed to intimidate and suppress this opposition through the threat or actual use of legal punishments. Nowhere has Israel's call for help in this outrageous endeavor been more enthusiastically embraced than in the government of Stephen Harper, which is an unquestioning ally of the widely reviled Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

Who is on Harper's plane to Israel?

IJV — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 19:11:06 +0000

Headlines in the news trumpet the fact that the Prime Minister has taken a group of 208 (!) supporters to Israel, many at Canadian taxpayers' expense.

Reading through the list is an eye-opener. It includes 21 Jewish rabbis and more than 56 representatives from various Zionist lobbying groups and private Jewish schools. In addition, there are ten representatives from evangelical Christian groups which unconditionally support the most extreme Israeli positions. The delegation includes members of these groups: the Christian Missionary Alliance of Canada, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Trinity Bible Church, Crossroads Christian Communications, and the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.

After Geneva: Overcoming the smearjob on UN anti-racism process

derrick — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:57:02 +0000

Monday, May 11, 2009

Criticizing the Harper government's boycott, a coalition of the groups from Canadian civil society that participated in the Review Conference issued a statement addressing our common concerns.

In 2001, the United Nations convened the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, South Africa, to deal with a range of issues related to racism and its legacies, including the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the appropriation of the land and resources of the world's indigenous peoples, and the human rights of the Palestinians.