Demand a Stop to Genocide and Starvation in Gaza!

MP Chrystia Freeland, University-Rosedale

Text across Parliament Hill image in background reads: Tell your MP: Symbolic Actions are not enough. End Canada's role in genocide.
We have watched in horror as Israel's brutal genocide of Palestinians in Palestine continues with impunity. It is estimated that Israel’s genocidal campaign will have claimed the lives of well over 186,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to experts published in The Lancet, the world’s oldest medical journal. Some reports indicate this number of lives claimed is closer to 300,000.

These lives, brutally taken by airstrikes, displacement, famine, and disease caused by Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and thousands remain missing, buried in the rubble of the Gaza Strip. Three-quarters of all Palestinians in Gaza are already in “emergency” or “catastrophic” levels of food insecurity; famine is imminent, as Israel blocks food from entering Gaza and kills aid workers, in defiance of the International Court of Justice. The UN Security Council has voted to demand a ceasefire in Gaza—a binding motion that Israel has ignored.

The majority of countries of the world, and the majority of people in Canada want the killing to stop, want unhindered aid to the people of Gaza, and real justice for Palestinians. Instead of being a global leader for justice and peace, the Canadian government is taking minor symbolic actions, while continuing to support and profit off of Israeli aggression by buying and selling the weapons being used to murder Palestinians.  

We know that politicians only care about their votes. There is a growing contingent across University-Rosedale that is uniting to call on our MP Chrystia Freeland to take action against these atrocities or risk being defeated in the next election. As a resident of University-Rosedale, will you join your neighbours in calling on MP Freeland to call for an end to Canada’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine?

The majority of countries of the world, and the majority of people in Canada want the killing to stop, want unhindered aid to the people of Gaza, and real justice for Palestinians. Instead of being a global leader for justice and peace, the Canadian government is taking minor symbolic actions, while continuing to support and profit off of Israeli aggression by buying and selling the weapons being used to murder Palestinians.

We know that politicians only care about their votes. There is a growing contingent across University-Rosedale that is uniting to call on our MP Chrystia Freeland to take action against these atrocities or risk being defeated in the next election.

As a resident of University-Rosedale, will you join your neighbours in calling on MP Freeland to call for an end to Canada’s complicity in the genocide in Palestine?

To: MP Chrystia Freeland, University-Rosedale
From: [Your Name]

MP Chrystia Freeland
510-344 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 3A7

Honourable Chrystia Freeland,

As residents of University-Rosedale, we are utterly horrified as Israel's brutal genocide in continues with impunity. This violence continues despite the overwhelming calls for justice across the world. As your constituent, it has been difficult to watch your silence and complicity as the genocide and aggression in Gaza, across Palestine, and now Lebanon continues to escalate.

It is estimated that Israel’s genocidal campaign will have claimed the lives of well over 186,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to experts published in The Lancet, the world’s oldest medical journal. Some reports indicate this number of lives claimed is closer to 300,000. Israel has displaced more than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza from their homes.

In violation of international law, Israel has ignored both the United Nations Security Council’s March 26th motion demanding a ceasefire, and the International Court of Justice’s March 28th order that Israel ensure “unhindered provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” throughout the Gaza Strip. Instead, Israel is blocking food aid from entering Gaza and killing humanitarian aid workers, while famine looms in Gaza [1].

Canada is complicit in this genocide: Israel is using Canadian-made weapons to carry out these atrocities; and Canada continues to purchase millions of dollars of “battle-tested” weapons from Israel for its own military [2][3]. These are direct Canadian taxpayer contributions to the ongoing genocide, and they must end now.

As Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and a Member of Parliament, we urge you to speak up in Parliament, to the media and online to call for:
(1) A real and permanent ceasefire;
(2) An end to the siege of Gaza with immediate and unrestricted aid to Palestinians being starved;
(3) An end to Canadian complicity in the genocide including by imposing a two-way arms embargo.

We pledge not to vote for any political party that does not fight for the rights of Palestinians, and will inform others in our riding of your actions in these crucial days. As your constituents, we will continue speaking up and taking action and will not forget your actions during this time. Come election time, we will make sure everyone knows how you acted in these crucial days.

[1] https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipc-country-analysis/details-map/en/c/1156872/
[2] https://www.cjpme.org/faq_arms_embargo
[3] https://www.readthemaple.com/canada-buying-43-million-of-israeli-missiles-used-in-gaza-attacks/
[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-israel-palestine-gaza-ndp-liberal-joly-1.7153127

Signed,
Residents of University-Rosedale