This press release states: “The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) Canada, in collaboration with Just Peace Advocates, has formally requested that the Canada Border Services Agency deny entry to representatives of Israeli arms manufacturers Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries seeking to attend CANSEC 2026 in Ottawa.”
The ICJP “is an independent organization of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.” Just Peace Advocates is “a Canadian based independent human rights organization promoting Just Peace/Paix Juste through the rule of law and respect for human rights in Canada and around the world for the Palestinian people and those that stand in solidarity for the human rights of the Palestinian people.”
Their release adds: “In a legal submission to Canadian authorities, ICJP Canada argues that representatives of the two companies may be inadmissible under Section 35(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), based on complicity in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza since October 2023.”
It further highlights: “Elbit Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries are among the principal defence contractors supplying military technologies, drones, weapons systems, and surveillance equipment used by Israeli forces during attacks in Gaza. ICJP Canada argues that permitting representatives of these companies to attend Canada’s largest arms and defence exhibition risks undermining Canada’s obligations under domestic and international law.”
The full press release can be read at: ICJP Canada calls for Canada to deny genocide-complicit companies from attending Canadian Arms Fair (May 21, 2026).
Complicity in war crimes
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has noted: “On [October 13, 2023] the Israeli military fired 120mm tank rounds at journalists in south Lebanon, killing Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injuring six others in what could amount to a war crime. The munitions used were most likely M339 rounds made by Elbit Systems, according to Amnesty International.”
The AFSC also notes: “A large Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries makes multiple weapons systems specifically for the Israeli military, including the Heron TP killer drone.”
Attacks on human rights defenders and journalists
Front Line Defenders has documented the killing of at least 31 Palestinian human rights defenders in 2023 and 2024. They state “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.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists has further documented: “Drone killings of press members are on the rise: surging from two in 2023 — the first year CPJ documented such killings — to 39 in 2025. …Of the 39 deaths involving drones that CPJ documented in 2025, 28 were by Israel’s military in Gaza.”
BHRC report
Last week, the Business and Human Rights Centre stated there were “forty-six attacks against defenders raising concerns about arms and weapons companies and their complicity in conflict and genocide – a significant increase from only two attacks recorded per year in 2023 and in 2024.”
Their report references an incident in Ottawa: “Protesters at arms fairs targeting companies selling weapons to Israel [have been detained in several countries and] a journalist in Canada was forcefully restrained and arrested by police for covering protests against the CANSEC arms show, targeting companies linked to weapons sales to Israel and the war in Gaza.”
Shut Down CANSEC
The Ottawa-based Shut Down CANSEC campaign has highlighted in its demands: “End the criminalization of peaceful protests against genocide and occupation.” More than 50 organizations have endorsed this call.
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Instagram image by Shut Down CANSEC.
