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We encourage all NDP members to present the following letter to their riding associations. Click here to view and download the letter.

Please send the signed letter to: Anne.McGrath@ndp.ca, dhananjai.kohli@ndp.ca, Jagmeet.Singh@parl.gc.ca, and info@couragecoalition.ca

Courage Calls on the Government of Canada to Sanction Israel.

As Canadians, we have watched in horror as Israel has committed new atrocities and human rights violations against Palestinians with our government’s moral and financial support. As NDPers, we have been dismayed that our party has not called for sanctions in response to this escalating violence – despite members voting overwhelmingly for just such a response at our federal convention last month. 

The recent Israeli home invasions at Sheikh Jarrah, the violent assault on worshippers at Al-Aqsa mosque, and the ongoing state violence across all of Israel-Palestine are part of a continued campaign of ethnic cleansing and apartheid by the occupying power, the State of Israel, against the Palestinians. The Israeli government is deliberately targeting worshippers during Ramadan. They are rallying racist nationalists around “Jerusalem Day”, and targeting Palestinian civilians, neighbourhoods, and places of worship including in the Gaza strip with rubber-coated steel bullets, flash and stun grenades, and airstrikes. These attacks have so far killed at least 83 Palestinians including 17 children, seven women, and injured and maimed hundreds of Palestinians, destroyed many civilian sites including a 12-story residential building in occupied Gaza, and vandalized Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. 

There is no foreseeable end to this violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to increase the “frequency” and “strength” of the air raids. Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, said: “Israel is not preparing for a ceasefire. There is currently no end date for the operation. Only when we achieve complete quiet can we talk about calm.”

This current wave of state violence is part of the 73-year brutal colonization of Palestine that Canada and its allies have supported by failing to apply any consequences for the perpetrators of war crimes. Canada must sanction the State of Israel for its actions and work to liberate the Palestinians from their oppressor. We are glad to hear Singh and other MPs call for an end to the arms trade and urge them to go further. The NDP must honour the will of its members and demand that the government immediately implement sanctions against Israel. 

The NDP Policy Book Clause 4.1.f states:

New Democrats believe in:

f. Working with partners for peace in Israel and Palestine, respecting UN resolutions and international law, supporting peaceful co-existence in viable, independent states with agreed-upon borders, an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, and an end to violence targeting civilians. To that end:

1.  Ending all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine
2.  Suspending the bilateral trade of all arms and related materials with the State of Israel until Palestinian rights are upheld.

Following this policy, we, the undersigned, call on Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to clearly demand an end to all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine and a suspension of all bilateral trade of arms and related materials with the State of Israel until Palestinians rights are upheld. In addition, we call on Jagmeet Singh and the NDP to demand the State of Israel return the homes in Sheikh Jarrah to the Palestinians that were forcefully evicted as the forcible transfer of the occupied civilian population is prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention.

We would also like to remind the leadership of NDP that as a party committed to opposing racism, it must never accept policies of settler-colonialism, ethnonationalism, ethnic cleansing or apartheid. Just as labour unions, students, and artists united to pressure South Africa in ending apartheid over forty years ago, so too has civil society been speaking out now to end injustice and longstanding systems of oppression against Palestinians in Israel-Palestine.

We all call on our fellow riding associations, labour partners, and allied organizations to support us in our demands in pursuit of justice and peace in Israel-Palestine. 

Sincerely,

Courage

Dear Sue Montgomery,

It has come to our attention that you have launched a new municipal party in Montréal, “Courage – Équipe Sue Montgomery.” As activists and politicians engaged in struggles for economic, racial, and environmental justice, we find this news confusing and disappointing.

We know Courage Montréal as the Montréal branch of Courage Coalition, a national organization established in 2017. Courage is a coalition of the independent left. They are non-partisan, but believe in engaging with the electoral process as one way of pushing for bold, progressive social change.

Courage Montréal has been working in the city since 2019 to advocate for transformational policies and insurgent campaigns. Taking the name “Courage” for your political party will no doubt lead to confusion on the part of the public. 

It is also a clear example of appropriation. The work that Courage Montréal has done to support local community efforts, such as in a series of press conferences held in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and climate justice, in rejection of post-pandemic austerity for the poor and working people, and calling for a jobs guarantee, is now at risk of being associated with your new party. In addition, the federal candidates that Courage has endorsed and whose campaigns it has supported, will be confused with your project and the policies that you choose to pursue. The credibility that Courage Montréal has built with the community of Montréal is not something that should be used for your own political purposes.

As local activists, we find this highly disrespectful of the significant volunteer labour that has been put forward by Courage Montréal members in their work to support community organizations, strong leftist politicians, and social movements. 

What makes your decision even more disappointing are the vast political differences between yourself and Courage. For instance, whereas Courage supports Freedom for Palestine and has been highly critical of the IHRA definition of anti-semitism, you support the IHRA definition. Courage is also a proud supporter of the movement to Defund the Police, Land Back, and a Green New Deal for the North. Courage calls for abolishing billionaires, strongly rejects oil pipelines and the expansion of fossil fuels, and is highly critical of Canadian imperialist foreign policy in Venezuela and Iran. 

We strongly urge you to adopt the principles and policy positions for which Courage has advocated and to actively support the organizations fighting for these policies, to which many of the undersigned belong. 

Until that time, as members of the progressive community in Montréal and Canada, we respectfully request that you immediately remove the name and logo “COURAGE” from your newly founded political party and all associated materials.

For Media Requests:

Kalden Dhatsenpa (English): kalden95@hotmail.com

Victor Tardif (français): Victortardif8@gmail.com

Signees / Signé(e)

Organizations / Organisations

Friends of Public Services

Democratic Socialists of Canada – Montréal 

Montréal for Bernie 

Our Time – Montréal

Climate Justice Montréal

Harbinger Media Network

CERAS (Centre d’Étude et Ressources d’Asie Sud/Centre for Study and Research in South Asia) – Montréal

India Civil Watch – Montréal

The Leap / Le Saut – Montréal

SEIZE – Montréal

Justice Internationale

Courage Ottawa

Politicians – Montréal

Meryam Haddad, Former Green Party of Canada leadership candidate / Ancienne Candidate à  la chefferie du Parti vert du Canada

Christine Paré, Ancienne candidate NPD pour Papineau

Konstantine Malakos, NDP/ NPD candidate/candidat Glengarry-Prescott-Russell

Kalden Dhatsenpa, Ancien candidat NPD pour Longueuil–Charles-Lemoyne

Individuals

Pierre-Alexandre Rochette – Courage Montréal

Stefan Christoff – Courage Montréal, Immigrant Workers Centre board, CKUT radio host

Joseph Sannicandro – Courage Montréal

Frederic Langlois – Courage Coalition, Horizon Ottawa, Suppress the Virus Now! Coalition, 

Christian Favreau – Montréal, QC

Penny Oyama – Courage Coalition, Burnaby, B. C.

Darin Barney – Courage Montréal

Nicolas Chevalier – Montréal, QC

Meagan Wiper – Justice Internationale, Courage Ottawa

Paula Krasiun-Winsel – Regina, MB

Peter Chen – Montréal, QC

Sam Hersh – Ottawa

Zach Ripka – Montréal

Gerald Rowe, PhD – Montréal Elders for Environmental Justice, Montréal

Raidin Brailsford – Courage Toronto

Adleen Crapo – Toronto, ON

Gabriel Bourget – Courage Ottawa

Paul Merriam – Gatineau, QC

Derek Nason – Saint John, NB

James Arruda – Montréal, QC

Jennifer Williamson – Toronto, ON

Adrian Murray – Ottawa, ON

Andre Goulet – Montréal, QC

Melanie Mathias – Ottawa, ON

Laura Shantz – Ottawa, ON

Julia Maksymetz – Montréal, QC

Matthew Daniels – Toronto, ON

Charles McFadden – Fredericton, NB

Murray Cooke – Toronto, ON

Nigel Morton – Toronto, ON

Tamara Sandor – Montréal, QC

Cayley Sorochan – Montréal, QC

Laura Dunn – Montréal, QC

Marcus Peters – Montréal, QC