The BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Movement is a grassroots movement to publicly condemn the Israeli military's occupation of Palestine which the UN has condemned as being an "affront to international law".
This movement includes many Jewish groups, the United Church, the Quakers as well as campus groups across Canada. It is a peaceful and democratic means of calling account to a gross violation of both international law and human rights in Palestine.
However, the Canadian government is calling the movement anti-semitic and wrong. They recently backed a motion to publicly condemn all support for the BDS movement in Canada. This takes away Canadians fundamental right to peaceful and democratic protest and freedom of speech. If Canadians are unable to publicly express their views in a peaceful and democratic fashion the very fabric of the country's democracy is threatened.
Sign today to support the growing number of Jews, faith groups and students in the BDS movement. Tell the government that freedom of speech in Canada is important and these vital voices for peace and following international law must be given an opportunity to be heard.
To the Right and Honourable Justin Trudeau,
As a person who believes in the value of democratic protest and freedom of speech I call on you to reverse your motion to condemn the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement in Canada.
The UN has publicly stated that the state of Israel is acting outside of international law in their occupation of Palestine. There are countless human rights violations by the Israeli mililtary towards the Palestinian people. In order to call account to these violations, the BDS movement has been gaining traction.
While you are not holding the state of Israel accountable for its actions in Palestine, you have no constitutional right to remove the peaceful and democratic means of Canadian citizens to do so. This motion is undemocratic and further approves of Israeli violence in Palestine.
Many Jewish groups also support the BDS movement, which is not anti-semitic in nature at all. It is a movement to hold accountable the Israeli government and military in breaking international law.
[Your Comment Here]
Sincerely,
[Your name]
