The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (VOW) calls on the Canadian government to show leadership within the global community by: (i) calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas (ii) restoring access to water, food, medicine, and electricity for Gaza civilians, and assisting Egypt in safely opening the Rafah crossing for delivery of essential resources; and (iii) making every effort to assist the UN and others in ensuring the protection of all civilians, preventing the escalation into a wider regional conflict, and working towards a sustainable solution that will provide peace, security and social justice for all. The road to peace must be through a negotiated political solution, sustained dialogue and negotiations with all parties involved equally.
VOW strongly condemns all acts of violence against innocent civilians. The horrific incursion and deadly attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas militants on October 7th; the widespread, relentless bombing of Gaza that has destroyed schools and hospitals and entire neighborhoods – where almost half the population are children; the cutting off of access to food, water, medicine and electricity to a civilian population; the forced expulsion of a people with nowhere to go and no way to get there – all are in violation of international law. As is the devastating long-term structural oppression of the Palestinian people.
The long-term causes of this crisis are deeply rooted in gross inequality and injustice, that must be addressed in the future. Right now, our Canadian government, and all others, must immediately be focused on stopping the humanitarian crisis that is taking place in front of our very eyes. Canada must stand up for the innocent civilians in Gaza.
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace – www.vowpeace.org – info@vowpeace.org
Founded in 1960, VOW is dedicated to nuclear disarmament, the abolition of war and the promotion of non-violent means of conflict resolution and social justice in a sustainable world.
We urge you to write a letter to:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly: melanie.joly@parl.gc.ca
Your Member of Parliament: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Members/en/search
Please bcc your letter to: info@vowpeace.org
In your letter – let your MP and the PM know why this matters to you! Send a few words of introduction (or just use the note below) including the VOW statement. Write to your MP and cc the PM and Minister Joly.
Please see the draft introduction note below – you can copy and paste.
Dear MP _______
I am writing you because I am very concerned about the escalation in attacks against innocent civilians and I urge you to call for a ceasefire now. I am a member (or supporter) of Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. Please see our statement below.
Share VOW’s Statement on Social Media:
Coalition for Ceasefire Now
Canadian Voice of Women for Peace has joined in a coalition statement calling for a ceasefire.
You can see the statement and the list of more than 50 organizations including unions, faith groups, and civil society organizations who have signed this statement, which was just publicly released today.
Please read the statement and list of signatories here:
More organizations are invited to join. If you are interested, email: coalition4ceasefirenow@gmail.com.
This document answers questions (FAQ): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oxcOB_McAcb0KV1q7PF7SwHysxXRZvBtDyu11z1ln2k/edit
Resources
There are many articles, videos and public statements circulating that can help you to get a picture of what is happening, what the history is, and the steps people are taking to achieve a ceasefire.
For background:
Amnesty report on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, Oct 20, 2023
Amnesty International report (Feb 2022)
Academics speak out on Israeli Apartheid, Aug 2023
Ceasefire Only Way to Stop Genocide in Gaza
Common Dreams-Jewish Led Protest Demands Ceasefire
Stop weapons shipments (World Beyond War)
Women Wage Peace – twitter thread
Statements & Calls to Action
Amnesty International- Signature Campaign for an Immediate Ceasefire & Negotiation
ICC statement on the Israel-Palestine war
MPs: Call for an Immediate Ceasefire
Peace Quest-Add Your Name: Ceasefire Now
Israel-Hamas conflict: Call on Canada to stand with international law
VOW’s Co-Chair’s Stories
| Lyn Adamson – Witness in Palestine |
| 20 years ago I served as a human rights observer in the West Bank with the International Women’s Peace Service. What I saw was unbelievable. It was an apartheid reality for Palestinians whose freedom of movement was highly restricted by checkpoints throughout the West Bank, and who could not travel on the Israeli – only highways. Their children were being detained at night. They were suspected of throwing stones at soldiers. Imagine, imprisoning children, regularly killing young adults and people of all ages, destroying olive trees and preventing families from reaching their fields. I spent 3 days in Yanun, a village located on a hill beneath a settlement, which is dependent on international observers to be able to remain in their village. Settlers come down on horseback, guns slung over their shoulders, harassing the villagers. Despite the presence of international observers the situation has only gotten worse in the West Bank.And I represented VOW on the Canadian Boat to Gaza in 2011.In 2011 I spent 3 weeks in Greece preparing to depart by boat to deliver aid to Gaza, as part of an international flotilla. Ultimately our boat of some 25 concerned internationals, most of us from Canada, was not given permission to leave. We left anyway, and were then arrested as we didn’t quite make it into international waters. Some of our group were charged and we spent our last day in Greece in court. SandraLaya, our VOW coordinator at the time, was instrumental in this initiative. This short video shows our Canadian boat, I’m shown at 26 seconds and 46 seconds in. There have been strong and persistent efforts to achieve justice through nonviolent means, and by and large these efforts have been suppressed by Israel and have not been allowed to succeed. In 2003 Palestinians with international and Israeli supporters, marched along the route of the wall being constructed against international law, following the example of MartinLuther King’s poor people’s march on Washington. I was privileged to participate in this peaceful demonstration, however it did not get the international media attention required to make a difference. Many other strategies have been tried including the international boats to Gaza. Palestinian peacebuilders have been killed or expelled by Israel, including Mubarak Awad, of Nonviolence InternationalViolence does not win, violence does not bring about peace, only a transition to a culture of peace can do that.A shout out to Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta, a VOW member who inspired me to get involved in working for peace in the Middle East. Maxine spent much time peacebuilding in Israel and Palestine and is the author of Refusing to be Enemies: Nonviolent Resistance to the Israeli Occupation DISAPPEARING PALESTINEMany people do not know how small Gaza is, this map gives you a perspective, as well as showing the extent of Israelis settlements (which are still growing) in the West Bank. Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggo4FxV7I-Q&t=25s |
| My Vist to a Gaza Village with a CODE PINK Delegation Hannah Hadikin (2009) We arrived at Khoza’a village, described as one of the most peaceful villages in the area. Residents of Khoza’a, in eastern Khan Younis, Palestine, had never in its history taken up weapons nor had there ever been armed resistance. Its main activity was farming and to the extent possible living a sustainable, peaceful life.On the night of January 12th, 2009, the Israeli military began a ground offensive that lasted 12 hours, terrorizing the villagers with indescribable cruelty and violence. As our group walked through the rubble, Amna, age 29, told us the most heart wrenching, compelling story. After Amna and 10 of her family members woke up to the sounds of bulldozers, rifle fire, and F-16’s and Apache helicopters overhead, they rushed to the roof of their home, waving white flags. Israeli soldiers were seen everywhere in the village. Amna’ s family were civilians, women, men, and children with their grandparents. They had no weapons, and they were not hiding any militants. But this was to no avail. Their house was under attack from bulldozers below. Amna and her family frantically tried to escape to neighbouring houses, as snipers positioned themselves around the village firing from various houses. Soldiers were separating the men frokim the women, ordering the men to undress, herding them into another structure. The soldiers ordered some two hundred women and children, to move to the center of the village by way of a few hundred-meter roadway to reach a building situated there. They carried white flags, and many women held babies and young children in their arms. Others had their children by their sides. Within minutes Israeli special forces opened fire on them from the building. Rowhiya Al-Najar, a 50-yr.old housewife, was at the front, begging and pleading for safe passage for the group. A sniper aimed his rifle directly at Rowhiya and shot her from the building which the women had been ordered to move towards. The women started to run back as shots rang out and more women came under fire. Rowhiya lay bleeding, and paramedics who were 60 -70 meters away, were prevented by the soldiers to reach Rowhiya and the women and children. The soldiers fired warning shots at the paramedics. Some twelve hours later, the paramedics finally reached Rowhiya and took her body to the morgue. As the carnage continued with house after house bulldozed into a pile of rubble, the villagers had no place to escape. Some crawled into holes in the debris, while others attempted to hide under slabs of broken concrete and bricks. Villagers made desperate calls from a mobile phone to the Red Crescent pleading to be rescued. The Israeli army refused the rescue and continued their assault, declaring the village a closed military zone, warning that anyone coming near it would be shot on sight. The village was surrounded by 8 bulldozers and several tanks. When the soldiers discovered that some villagers were inside cave-like holes in the collapsed buildings they began pushing the rubble and wreckage. “They were intending to bury us alive ” Amna told me. The children were screaming with terror. The adults prayed for a miracle. Some people, who had been wounded by bullets from snipers, were bleeding profusely. The white flags which they used, were applied as bandages. Some women got their elderly parents to crawl out on their hands and knees, fearing that they would suffocate or be buried alive. A blind boy was separated from his mother. A paralysed man was dragged from his wheelchair by people attempting to get him out of the path of a bulldozer. Traumatized villagers huddled together. The soldiers proceeded to kill their goats, sheep and chickens, threatening they would kill them in the same way. Iman told me that they even killed her pet rabbit when they came across his cage. Many people narrowly escaped being crushed to death as they crawled through small openings in the wreckage. Amna described how the soldiers began to fire gas missiles, filling the basements, “caves” and holes where villagers were desperately seeking shelter from the shelling. The smoke filled these cavities and Amna’s mother, and sisters could barely breathe. A young man showed us a chunk of white phosphorous that was continuing to smoulder, occasionally flaring up. Hundred-year-old olive and citrus trees uprooted and smashed. Fields of grain and newly planted vegetable crops sculpted by bulldozer and tank treads. Shattered pieces of furniture, appliances and kitchenware or a child’s thong and bits of children’s clothing visible from under the heaps of debris. There was an eerie silence and the usual sounds of farm animals common in rural areas were no where to be heard. A small fire was flickering over which a blackened kettle was positioned precariously. Someone’s grandmother was preparing a cup of tea. Amna’s words echoed. “We are homeless, and we don’t have the resources to rebuild our house”. For most of these villagers, constructing a house was a lifelong undertaking. Acquiring a farm animal posed a financial burden. The precious lives of fourteen villagers were lost during the 12-hour siege. Fifty villagers were eventually evacuated to hospitals. Several succumbed to their injuries. Others with injuries so severe, the chances of recovery were very slim. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation. Many villagers suffered shrapnel injuries from missiles fired from drones, sniper bullets, bulldozers, and tank attacks, along with severe chemical burns from the white phosphorous. Khoza’a village is approximately 500 meters from the Israeli border. I looked across into the distance at luscious fields with tractors and Israeli farmers working on their farms. The contrast was surreal. The picture of what a peaceful farming community was once, lying in ruin, is etched vividly in my memory. I am saddened that the story of Khozaá’s is being repeated yet another time.As we were leaving, my new, dear friend Amna took a ring off her finger and pressing it into my palm said to me: “Please, ask the world not to forget us.”I made a personal promise to tell Amna’s story to those who care to hear about the demise of her once peaceful, serene village and the unbelievable brutality of innocent civilians from the elderly to the infants. Upon my return to my home town of Nelson, I organized, a slide show and this story along with many others that I had witnessed during my two week stay in Gaza. We formed ” Nelson End the Occupation Now ” ( NEON) Over the course of several years, held events, invited speakers, one of whom was Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, several of whose family members were killed by the Israeli shelling of their house. ” I Shall Not Hate” by Dr. Abuelaish is a book I would recommend. |
| “Last but not least, we will say that even though this is 2023, there are almost no women in decision-making forums in Israel. This is an intolerable situation that must change.” |