VOW and WILPF-Canada have sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Carney and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anand urging them to stand up for Palestinians illegally detained and tortured by Israeli forces and speak out against illegal Israeli settlements and violence in the West Bank. Read our letter below.
VOW members have rallied for the release of illegally detained Palestinian medical personnel such as Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. On July 8, the United Nations’ Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory expressed its grave concern at credible reports that Dr. Abu Safiya has been subjected to continued and severe abuse since his detention by the Israeli authorities in December 2024. The Commission found that Israeli forces have deliberately killed, wounded, detained, and severely mistreated Palestinian medical personnel, which constitutes war crimes, torture and crimes against humanity. With sadness, we share the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) latest statistics that Israel has killed 73,246 Palestinians and has injured 173,727 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip between October 7, 2023 and July 24, 2026. We are calling on the Canadian government to sanction Israel for committing genocide, torture and crimes against humanity against Palestinians.