Petition to the Government of Canada on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

We the undersigned

1. maintain that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a political,
not religious one. Both Druze Muslims and Arab Christians serve
alongside Jews in the Israeli occupation forces: Palestinian
casualties have included both Christians and Muslims. Throughout
history, Muslims have treated minorities in their midst well; they
protected Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, the brutal pogroms of
Russia, and oppression in other parts of Europe,

2. firmly believe that Israel's 34-year illegal occupation of the
1967 Arab territories is the primary reason for more than three
decades of unrelenting violence,

3. also maintain that the 34-year Israeli occupation, which has
permitted the illegal establishment of armed Jewish settlements on
Arab land, is wholly responsible for creating an atmosphere of terror
and oppression for a full generation of young Palestinians. Born as
children of war, and now in their twenties and thirties, they exist as
hopeless and helpless adults with no prospects of contributing to
normal society. Many young Palestinians, like their peers anywhere in
the world, yearn for meaning in life: if given the choice between
death and merely existing as virtual prisoners under armed occupation,
death is often seen as the better alternative,

4. strongly believe that Israel must immediately end its occupation
of Arab lands as a critical first step toward peace. But this move
alone will not be enough to achieve lasting peace with justice. There
is a long road of healing and reconciliation ahead between these two
peoples. They should not be forced to travel it alone,

5. deplore the deafening silence of our federal government in
response to Israel's renewed aggression and deep invasion of
Palestinian Authority-controlled lands. We deplore the potentially
fatal wait-and-see stance as Israel declares war on the already
impoverished, suffering, and oppressed civilian population of
Palestine; the wholesale killing, the wanton destruction of property,
and the arbitrary detentions of innocent people, amount to horrendous
infractions of basic human rights and dignity, and finally

6. urge the Canadian government to act promptly and
honorably to help save both Israeli and Palestinian lives by:
(a) demanding that Israel immediately implement the recently adopted
UN Security Council Resolution No. 1402, which calls for the complete
withdrawal of all Israeli armed forces from Palestinian cities and
towns.
(b) sending an international UN observer force for the protection of
all Palestinian people living under occupation.
(c) working in good faith with other countries in the region, as well
as the United States and European Union, toward the effective
implementation of all UN resolutions pertaining to the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.