Palestine

Palestinian environmental defender Abeer Butmeh calls for “global energy embargo against Israel” at COP29

Photo: Abeer Butmeh at COP29, November 14, 2024. The coordinator of the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON)-Friends of the Earth Palestine, Abeer Butmeh, is calling for a fuel embargo on Israel given “Israeli operations” violate the “right to a healthy environment”. She has previously noted that the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Arrest of Palestinian solidarity activists in Ottawa raises concerns about repression of protests against weapons companies

The Ottawa Citizen reports: “Ottawa police have arrested four pro-Palestinian protesters for allegedly blocking a downtown street during a demonstration on [the evening of Monday November 18].” The article quotes Sarah Abdul-Karim, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, who said: “We didn’t do anything different from what we do Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Peace Brigades International co-hosts Women Human Rights Advocacy Week in Geneva, September 16-21

Photo: María Eugenia Gabriel Ruiz of the Human Rights Solidarity Network (Red Solidaria DH) meets with UN Special Rapporteur Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, September 18, 2024. The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) reports that Peace Brigades International and other organizations co-hosted the Women Human Rights Advocacy Week (WHRD-AW) this past September Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Join us on September 18 to examine the issue of Canadian weapons and weapon components being used in Gaza

Photo: A protest in downtown Ottawa on the evening of September 10 calling for a full arms embargo now. Photo by Brent Patterson. Yesterday, Tuesday September 10, Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said: “Our goal is to ensure that there are no Canadian weapons or weapon components sent to Gaza.” Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

International Solidarity Movement volunteer Ayşenur Eygi, 26, killed by the Israeli military in Beita, Palestine

Twenty-six year old International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi has been killed in the West Bank. The International Solidarity Movement has issued a statement that says: “During the weekly demonstration in Beita, Palestine, on the morning of [Friday] September 6th, 2024, the Israeli army intentionally shot and killed Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Addameer, Amnesty International, UN Special Rapporteur note concerns about arbitrary detention of Palestinian HRDs

Photo by PYM. The Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) held an information session in Ottawa on August 22 featuring a representative of the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association who joined the forum virtually from the West Bank. The Addameer website notes: “ADDAMEER (Arabic for conscience) Prisoner Support and Human Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

1,358 Palestinian human rights defenders may have been killed over the last 10 months

Photo: Journalists holding placards protest the killing of journalist Mohamed Abu Saadeh in an Israeli attack on August 7, 2024. Photo by Doaa Albaz/Anadolu Agency. Front Line Defenders has noted: “People considered to be human rights defenders in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] include journalists, lawyers, medical workers, fieldworkers, international Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

PBI-Canada supports civil society call to suspend all trade in arms and military technology with Israel

Peace Brigades International-Canada has signed this statement calling for an arms embargo on Israel that, in part, says: “As the catastrophe wrought by Israel’s continued assault on Gaza grows, Canadian civil society organizations across multiple sectors are calling on the Canadian government to immediately suspend all trade in arms and Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago

Independent inquiry into CADSI could look at the culpability of transnational arms companies in the genocide in Gaza

Video still: The Ottawa Police Service watches as arms dealers and officials enter the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa. The International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and affiliated groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), are demanding that the Government of Canada hold “an independent and in-depth inquiry into CADSI Read more…

By Brent Patterson, ago