30,000 people mobilize in Ottawa to demand arms embargo following Ploughshares report on GD-OTS-Canada artillery propellant deal
Photo: Arms embargo mobilization in Ottawa, April 12. Photo by Adonis Ayoub.
An estimated 30,000 people mobilized in Ottawa this past weekend to demand a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
The CBC reports: “Protesters mobilized on Saturday [April 12] after [the Waterloo, Ontario-based] peace research institute Project Ploughshares released a report saying that Canada approved a new $55-million US permit for ammunition to the U.S. from Quebec-based General Dynamics (GD-OTS-Canada) even though the federal government had committed to stop all arms from reaching Israel.”
The article then explains:
“On Sept. 10, 2024, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada would bar Canadian-made arms from reaching Gaza and later that month reaffirmed that Canadian-made arms would not be exported to Israel and that arms made for the U.S. would not be sent along to Israel.
But 16 days after Joly’s initial commitment, more money was approved for the U.S. to buy ammunition for Israel from GD-OTS-Canada, according to contract details on www.USAspending, an official open data source. The site shows that on Sept. 26, 2024 a 2023 contract was modified to increase its upper limit by just over $55 million US (around $76 million Cdn). The original contract was to supply the U.S. with ammunition to be used “in support of Ukraine,” but the modification in September changes the language to “in support of Ukraine & Israel.”
Shatha Mahmoud an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) said Canadian companies supplying military components — even indirectly — are enabling Israel. “We are continuing to send weapons, if not straight to Israel, then via the U.S. where the majority of these weapons get to Gaza,” she said.
Photo: Shatha Mahmoud. Photo by Faith Greco/CBC.
Global Affairs Canada told CBC it was preparing a comment but couldn’t provide one on short notice over the weekend.”
More from Project Ploughshares
The Project Ploughshares report highlights:
“According to publicly available US Department of Defense (DOD) procurement records, in September 2024 a Canadian Crown corporation signed a contract to provide the US DOD with artillery propellants that will be supplied to Israel.
The September 2024 contract concerns the supply of M31A2 Triple Base propellant, a type of explosive fuel used to launch artillery shells. M31A2 propellant is specifically required in the 155mm M232A1 propelling charge, which is one of two charges used in the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS).
Throughout Operation Swords of Iron, Israel has relied heavily on 155mm shells, most supplied by the US government. In the operation’s first 1.5 months, Israeli artillery brigades reportedly fired approximately 10,000 of these shells into Gaza.“
Quakers note Israel’s use of 155mm shells
The American Friends Service Committee (Quakers) has also posted about “companies profiting from the Gaza genocide” and the use of these 155mm shells.
General Dynamics and the Canadian Commercial Corporation at CANSEC
Last year, General Dynamics posted: “Three business units of General Dynamics will be among the exhibitors at CANSEC 2024” including General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems-Canada, highlighting “Artillery Propellant”, “the sole source provider for the US Army’s 155mm MACS High Zone propellant.
X image: GD at CANSEC.
X image: The Canadian Commercial Corporation is a regular exhibitor at CANSEC. Their website notes: “As a Government of Canada agency, CCC is here to support foreign governments in their mandate to successfully deliver projects to their citizens.”
Journalist David Pugliese has previously reported in the National Post: “The Canadian Commercial Corporation acknowledges it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights.”
Human rights defenders targeted
Dublin-based Front Line Defenders has stated: “Those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”
To date, as many as 1,586 human rights defenders have been killed in Gaza, including 175 journalists, 408 aid workers, more than 1,000 medical staff, 2 lawyers, and 1 International Solidarity Movement volunteer (in the West Bank).
Peace Brigades International has called on the international community to suspend the supply of arms to Israel.
Photo: Amnesty International photo that includes 155mm shells, including some “labelled D528, the US Department of Defense Identification Code (DODIC) for white phosphorus-based rounds.”
CANSEC 2025
For updates on CANSEC 2025, see @shut.down.cansec on Instagram.
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