Young Canadians representing progressive Jewish organizations have written to Canada’s political leadership imploring this country to oppose the forced displacement of Palestinian families from East Jerusalem neighborhoods.
In a July 22 letter, 11 leaders in their 20s and 30s of Canadian Friends of Peace Now, JSpaceCanada, and the New Israel Fund of Canada called on the heads of this country’s political parties to urge Israeli authorities “to immediately cease forced transfers, evictions, demolitions and confiscation of homes, and provide adequate permits for legal construction and development of Palestinian communities.”
The letter was sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, Green Party Leader Annamie Paul, and Yves-François Blanchet, head of the Bloc Québécois.
The letter references the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem, where a dispute between Palestinians facing evictions and Jewish settlers claiming ownership of properties served as a flashpoint leading to the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May. Lawyers for the Jewish families say they bought the land in the 19th century and had leased it to the Palestinians.
On May 6, Palestinians and Israeli settlers clashed in East Jerusalem over an anticipated decision of Israel’s Supreme Court on the eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah. The court was to weigh a lower ruling that some of the families had to vacate the properties by Aug. 1. The high court’s decision was postponed the day before it was to be released in a bid to quell mounting tensions.
The case is set to resume early next month.
There are seven Palestinian families comprising 13 households in Sheikh Jarrah that have filed appeals to the Supreme Court, the young activists’ letter states. For four of the families, a hearing is scheduled for Aug. 2. For the remaining three, including one family whose daughter, Rasha Budeiri, is a Canadian citizen living in Ottawa, the court has yet to schedule a hearing.
The letter points out that Budeiri’s parents have been given until Aug. 1 to leave their home. (Aug. 1 is a separate eviction deadline that might be appealed).
The letter also quotes a report from a European Union representative to the contested region as saying that 20 houses in the Silwan/East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Bustan “are at imminent risk of demolition” and that more than 1,000 Palestinians are facing the threat of having their homes demolished. The report added that in nearby neighbourhood of Batan al-Hawa, 86 families are in “various stages of eviction proceedings spearheaded by an Israeli settler organization.”
Some of the signers met virtually with Ir Amim, an Israeli organization that promotes rights for all residents of Jerusalem, and others with Peace Now, Ben Murane, executive director of New Israel Fund of Canada, told The CJN.
The CJN learned that one of the letter’s signers, Kevin Keystone, representing the New Israel Fund of Canada, is also a member of Independent Jewish Voice of Canada, which supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
Keystone, a 36-year-old freelance writer and researcher, said he signed the letter because “forced expulsions are a clear violation of international law and human rights, and the federal government must intervene. Peace for Palestinians and Israelis is inextricably linked: neither are free until both are free.”
The young leaders said they are moved to act “not only because of the injustice involved but because of the danger posed to the cause of peace between Israelis and Palestinians and of a just and democratic Israel.”
They are “the future of Canadian Jewry,” NIFC said in a statement. From recent studies, “we know for a fact that there are thousands more Jews under age 35 who believe settlements to be both illegal and harmful to Israel’s security than those who don’t. The future of Canadian Jewry is more opposed to settlements than its present.”
The activists say they are heartened by statements made by federal Liberals. On May 12, Garneau stated that Canada “remains gravely concerned by the continued expansion of settlements and by the demolitions and evictions, including the ongoing cases in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. These actions impact families and livelihoods and do not serve peace or international law. Unilateral actions that prejudge the outcome of direct negotiations and further jeopardize the prospects for a two-state solution must be avoided.”
On May 20, Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, issued more or less the same statement to the UN General Assembly, and added that Canada’s “longstanding” position is that it does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.
A week later, Rae tweeted: “Canada has been clear: the evictions in East Jerusalem should not be happening.”
On May 26, Canada’s diplomatic mission to the Palestinian Authority tweeted that it joined other members of the diplomatic community in Jerusalem to observe the court proceedings in the eviction cases. “We remain gravely concerned by the threatened evictions,” the office stated.
Earlier in May, Singh called the threatened evictions in Sheikh Jarrah “deeply troubling. Illegal occupation, demolitions, and forced evictions must end.” He called on Trudeau to “take a stand and uphold international law.”
It does not appear the Conservatives have a position on the evictions. On May 11, O’Toole released a statement saying, in part: “Canada’s Conservatives strongly condemn the frightening campaign of rocket attacks by Hamas. These terrorist attacks are indiscriminately targeting civilians and have already taken innocent lives. They must end immediately.”
Paul, in a tweet on May 10, called for “de-escalation” in the violence in the region and a “return to dialogue as a means to seeking a peaceful solution.”
In a now well-known turn of events, New Brunswick Green MP Jenica Atwin dismissed the Green’s stance as inadequate and crossed the floor to the Liberals. The website Globalgreennews didn’t think much of Paul’s views either, saying the “majority” of her critics cite the “deliberate omission of the truth surrounding the violent eviction of Palestinians” in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood “as the primary source of their frustrations.”
While never directly mentioning the evictions, Bloc Québécois MP Stéphane Bergeron on May 13 introduced a motion calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East and to “call upon Israel to stop colonizing and annexing Palestinian territories,” but it was blocked by the Liberals and Conservatives.
In April, a similar letter asking Canada to oppose the evictions was sent to political leaders from representatives of various Christian churches and denominations.
Peace Now in Israel, which initiated a brief to intervene in the evictions case, said that even if the court finds settlers own the properties, they are not necessarily entitled to the Palestinian families’ evictions, but rather to compensation from the state.
HEAR MORE: Can international pressure stop the Sheikh Jarrah evictions?
