OCLA signs open letter to Canadian ministers: Stop genocide or resign

Canadian civil society organizations urge Ministers Joly, Hussen, and Miller, either to take steps to avert genocide in Gaza or to resign

February 2024

The undersigned Canadian civil society organizations are calling for the resignation of Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, and Immigration Minister Marc Miller, unless they take immediate and meaningful action in response to the risk of genocide in Gaza.

In November, 36 UN experts warned that Israel’s actions in Gaza point to a “genocide in the making.”  In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there is a plausible case of genocide in Gaza and ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of genocidal acts.  The Canadian government and these three ministers have not only ignored these warnings, but their actions have exacerbated the crisis.

Ministers Joly, Hussen, and Miller have each mismanaged their ministerial portfolio in response to the risk of genocide, failing to address the urgency of the moment and even causing further harm. Each minister has announced decisions which reflect little regard for Palestinian life or international law, and have shown very little situational awareness concerning the impact of their decisions. By 1) transferring weapons into a genocidal context, and 2) knowingly withdrawing support for Gaza’s humanitarian infrastructure, the actions of Ministers Joly and Hussen directly violate the ICJ’s orders to prevent genocide. Meanwhile, Minister Miller has put up unnecessary barriers that complicate the ability of the loved ones of Canadians to flee a context of genocidal violence.

As signatories, we cannot accept this to be Canada’s legacy amid the genocide unfolding before our eyes. If these Ministers are not able to step up in this moment of extreme crisis and redress these errors, they should step aside.

We demand that these Ministers take the following actions or else resign from their roles:

1.    We demand that Minister Joly declare unequivocal support for the ICJ’s recommended emergency measures, demand that Israel comply with the court’s rulings to prevent genocide in Gaza, and take steps to ensure that Canadian policy is not contributing to genocidal acts. The first step must be the imposition of an embargo on Canada-Israel military trade: arming the perpetrator of a genocide, while providing humanitarian aid to the victims is the epitome of cynical geopolitics.

2.    We demand that Minister Hussen immediately and unconditionally restore humanitarian aid to UNRWA. Given the acute genocidal crisis, we also insist that Hussen double Canada’s existing funding commitments to UNRWA for the next three years.

3.    We demand that Minister Miller remove the arbitrary, discriminatory and ultimately racist barriers on family reunification visas for Gaza, and fast track the process to bring loved ones out of harm’s way.

More information

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly – Minister Joly’s failure to respond to the ICJ’s initial ruling on the plausibility of genocide in Gaza demonstrates that Canada is not taking the catastrophic threat to human life seriously. Leading up to the decision, Joly expressed support for the court itself but refused to take a clear position on South Africa’s application, and even appeared to dismiss its “premise.”  When asked to clarify her position, Joly responded to inquiries flippantly, as if she and the government purposely intended to be unclear.  When the ICJ issued provisional measures ordering Israel to take measures to prevent genocide, Joly’s statement did not express support for the measures nor call upon Israel to comply with the ruling.  Rather than recognizing the seriousness of the ICJ’s provisional ruling, her response implied that before taking action, Canada needed to wait until the ICJ’s “final” decision on genocide – something that could take years. This response reflected smug indifference to the killing of Palestinians on a massive scale.

Ultimately, Joly’s silence on the ICJ’s orders suggests that Canada has abandoned its commitment to international law, as well as our obligations under the Genocide Convention vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Worse, the government has admitted that it has approved permits for arms exports to Israel since Oct. 7. As such, in her ministerial role, Joly has chosen not to exercise her prerogative to deny arms export permits to Israel during a plausibly genocidal campaign, thus enabling the transfer of military goods to Israel despite the clear risk that they will be used against Palestinian civilians.  In a letter to Joly, more than 30 civil society organizations have warned that “Canada cannot at the same time signal support for the ICJ […] while continuing to arm those whom the ICJ has ruled are plausibly accused of genocide.”

International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen – On the same day that the ICJ ruled that Israel must increase humanitarian access to Gaza to prevent genocide, Minister Hussen announced an indefinite suspension of humanitarian aid to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. This reckless decision was a kneejerk reaction to unproven Israeli claims about a few of the agency’s employees, collectively punishing the 2 million people in Gaza (and four million other Palestinian refugees) who rely on the agency as a lifeline. Since Canada’s announcement, UNRWA now warns that its operations will collapse if its funding is not resumed,  and UN bodies  and humanitarian aid agencies  warn of catastrophe because of this decision. While Minister Hussen subsequently increased humanitarian aid to other agencies, this redirection of funding ignores that UNRWA is the only organization currently with the capacity to deliver aid to Gaza at scale. Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation and the emergence of epidemics of communicable disease, any damage to the remaining humanitarian infrastructure risks leading to mass deaths even after a ceasefire is obtained.

Ultimately, in the absence of any claims of mismanagement on the part of UNRWA, Minister Hussen withdrew humanitarian funding to the agency overseeing aid to a population facing genocide. The apparent assumption that other agencies can within days both 1) recreate UNRWA’s on-the-ground presence in Gaza during a genocide and war, and 2) replicate UNRWA operations throughout the Middle East, are entirely out of touch with reality. Through Hussen’s decisions, Canada is defying the many warnings that cutting UNRWA’s funding will severely harm a population already facing famine, disease, and genocide.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller – Despite the massive early death toll of Palestinian civilians, it took Minister Miller over three months to launch a temporary visa program to help Palestinian-Canadian families reunite with loved ones in Gaza.  Once opened for applications, the program was found to present huge unnecessary barriers and restrictions which limit its humanitarian potential. The visa program for Gaza is reportedly one of the most restrictive programs of its kind, with an arbitrary cap of 1,000 people causing panic and competition among Palestinian Canadians who are trying to get their loved ones out.  Moreover, the application process requires unprecedented levels of personal information, imposing a tremendous and unreasonable burden on displaced people in a war zone.  Making this worse, offensive remarks from Minister Miller and his colleagues indicated that these restrictions are motivated by a perception that the loved ones of Palestinian Canadians are an inherent security threat.

Ultimately, Miller’s visa program fails to provide the aid and protections necessary to a population facing genocide who have relatives in Canada. The limitations built into this program, and the attitude of Miller and his colleagues have resulted in a program that is entirely out-of-touch with the realities of a genocide, causes unnecessary hardship, and reflects a clear double standard when compared with similar programs assisting other populations.

Endorsing Organizations:

Arab Palestine Association of Ontario (APAO)
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians (APAC)
Canadian BDS Coalition

Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba (CPAM)

Canadian Palestinian Social Association – London

Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC)
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)

Labour for Palestine (L4P)

World Beyond War (WBW)

AND

Action for Palestine

Anatolia Islamic Center
Birthing Transformations

Bosnian Islamic Association

Bosnian Islamic Centre of Hamilton

Calgary Immigrant Support Society

Calgarians Against Racism, Violence & Hate

Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) – Edmonton Chapter

Canadian Lebanese Academic Forum

Canada Palestine Association – Halifax

Canada Palestine Association – Vancouver

Centre justice et foi

Cinema Politica

CJPME Saskatoon Chapter
Cloverdale–Langley City For Palestine

Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid Victoria
Community Peacemaker Teams
Davenport for Ceasefire
Disability Advocate
East End Acts

Edmonton Islamic Centre

Faculty for Palestine
Groupe de recherche d’intérêt public de l’UQAM

Hochelaga Pour La Palestine
Human Without Borders

INSAF uOttawa

International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

Iraqi Turkmen Federation
Islamic Centre of Southwest Ontario

Jerrahi Sufi Order of Canada

Justice For All Canada

Justice for Palestinians Calgary
Just Peace Advocates
Kitchener-Conestoga Riding 4 Palestine
Lasalle-Émard-Verdun 4 Palestine
Longueuil pour la Palestine

McMaster SPHR
MidIslanders for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

Migrante

Mississauga-Streetsville for Palestine

Muslim Association of Brantford

Muslim Food Bank and Community Services

NDP Socialist Caucus

Niagara Movement for justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)

North Shore for Palestine

No More Silence

Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA)
Ontario Palestinian Rights Association

Ontario Public Interest Research Group – Carleton

Ontario Public Interest Research Group – Guelph

Ontario Public Interest Research Group – Peterborough

Ontario Public Interest Research Group – York

Outremont pour la Palestine

Palestinian Canadian Congress

Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)

Palestine Solidarity Halifax
Palestine Solidarity Network
Papineau pour la Palestine
Parkdale High Park for Palestine

PSAC local 902
Regina Peace Council
Richmond 4 Palestine

Rideau Institute
Rising Tide Squamish

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Scarborough Rouge Park for Palestine
Sea to Sky Palestine

Siraj Institute
Socialist Action / Ligue pour l’Action socialiste

Socialist Project

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – Concordia University

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – McMaster University

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – Queen’s University

Spadina – Fort York for Palestine
SURJ Toronto
The Arusha Centre

The Obstetric Justice Project

Think for Actions
Toronto Centre for Palestine
Toronto-St. Paul’s for Palestine

United Jewish People’s Order

University-Rosedale for Palestine

Vancouver-Granville for Palestine
Vancouver-Quadra for Palestine

Victoria Friends of Cuba

Waterloo for Palestine

Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Canada
Yk Citizens for Ceasefire
York Centre 4 Palestine