And so excellent to be looking forward to good Monday holiday morning! Happy Birthday to Queen Victoria, whose birthday May 24^th gave us this holiday weekend ever since 1854.

Good news this weekend is the collapsing fortunes of Kitimat LNG. Not that Greens (both BC and federally) have not been saying this for years – LNG is not going to be a money-maker for BC. There is a glut of it globally. The Christy Clark fantasy of a bright economic future from fracking and smashing the hell out of this province never made sense, even economically, once the price collapsed. John Horgan drank the LNG Kool-Aid left behind in the premier’s office, boosting fossil fuel subsidies over 70% once he came to office. And of course, illogically committing to Site C, which was part of the fantasy – electricity for LNG production. Russ Francis (in Focus on Victoria) has written much revealing what the mainstream press has ignored. https://www.focusonvictoria.ca/issue-analysis/46/

But the news for Kitimat LNG just gets worse and worse.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-woodside-to-exit-from-struggling-kitimat-lng-project-in-bc/

Remember in March, Chevron, holder of a 50% interest in the project, decided to stop any funding into Kitimat LNG. More than a year before, it had put its stake in the project on the market. No buyers.

The other 50% owner, Australian fossil fuel developer, Woodside, is also walking away. Unless a buyer steps up, this project is done. (Please Justin Trudeau, don’t even think about buying more fossil fuel infrastructure that the market has rejected).

Here’s how the Globe and Mail described the financial hit to both companies:

“Chevron and Woodside previously disclosed a total of US$2.32-billion in writedowns related to asset devaluations from their investments in the Bish Cove joint venture.

“The site preparation at Bish Cove and other work, including constructing a new road along difficult terrain near Douglas Channel, turned out to be much more costly and complicated than originally anticipated.

“In February, 2020, Chevron booked a non-cash, after-tax impairment charge of US$1.6-billion while Woodside wrote down US$720-million. On Tuesday, Woodside said costs associated with exiting Kitimat LNG would result in a hit of US$40-million to US$60-million to its net profit after tax.”

Of the more than 20 LNG proposals that were being hyped just a few years ago, the last one standing is LNG Canada – which is of course, not owned by any Canadians. The ownership is LNG Canada is Royal Dutch Shell (via Shell Canada Energy), PETRONAS -the state-owned oil and gas Malaysian giant, Japan’s Mitsubishi, Korea Gas Corporation, and PetroChina. LNG Canada relies on the Coastal Gas Pipeline being completed, a project violating Indigenous rights through Wet’suwet’en Territory.  Money woes have been aggravating in the relationship between the two companies as this Globe story details.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ceo-wary-of-delays-on-lngs-kitimat-site/

Construction delays due to COVID outbreaks are driving up costs. Note that most of the promised construction jobs, touted by former Finance Minister Bill Morneau when he announced billions of dollars worth of federal concessions for LNG Canada’s Kitimat plant, are in China where the modular plant is being built.

For Kitimat LNG, the remaining owners who do bear consideration are the various First Nations who are disappointed to see their multinational “partners” walk away. https://financialpost.com/pmn/press-releases-pmn/business-wire-news-releases-pmn/first-nations-limited-partnership-incredibly-disappointed-by-woodside-petroleums-decision-to-join-chevron-canada-in-its-plan-to-exit-the-kitimat-lng-project

This is what happens when the high-rollers see the writing on the wall –  “stranded assets” of “unburnable carbon.” It is like a game of musical chairs and inevitably it will be First Nations stuck with the last chair and all the mess. This would be a good time to really work at Just Transition for the workforce and for any Indigenous interests with a stake in the climate bomb called “LNG.”

Meanwhile, I am sad to report that the NDP and Bloc MPs on the Environment Committee have allowed a travesty to take place. First, the NDP backed the Liberals to shut down debate on the so-called climate accountability act, C-12 after a very brief debate at Second Reading. On April 27^th, they enforced a motion that only five hours’ more could go to debate on C-12, after months of the Liberals not bringing it forward for debate at all. But the environmental groups largely supported the NDP and Liberal move to shut down debate. The great call went out that we needed to “get the bill to committee” where witnesses could be heard.

This week was an abomination. Witnesses began on Monday, with Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson leading off three hours of a hearing on the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act. We had more witnesses on Wednesday and Thursday and then –  that’s it. No more witnesses. After exactly nine hours of study, including the minister, the hearings on C-12 are over. And, at 5:30 on Thursday, we were told, “get your amendments in by Friday at 5 pm.”

I had submitted a list of witnesses to the committee. They had all agreed to appear, including the director of the Sabin Centre for the Study of Climate Law from Columbia University Law School, the Minister of Climate from New Zealand, the Hon. James Shaw, who brought in that country’s climate law last year, and a series of climate scientists. None of my witnesses were contacted or called. Seth Klein would also have testified, but was not called. One witness, Toby Heaps of Corporate Knights, was called to appear, but lacked an acceptable microphone for interpretation. Normally, an important bill would have more time for study, so Toby Heaps should have been able to get the right headset to appear next week. I tried to plead for more time and at least another day to hear witnesses, but to no avail. The committee in closed session had already voted to restrict evidence to only nine hours. For that to happen, it means both the NDP and Bloc members voted with the Liberals. I was given some time to ask questions from my friend, the Bloc environment critic Monique Pauzé and, quite unexpectedly, a good amount of time from Conservative Environment critic, Dan Albas.

But, I am shaken by this. It feels like “Verdict First! Evidence Never!”

Who was called as a witness and who was left out?  Environmental groups were heard, some law groups, Canadian Labour Congress and some Quebec unions, Chamber of Commerce, Cattlemen’s association, Pulse growers, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Some excellent testimony. Some awful. Who was not called? Climate scientists. Young people. Not one indigenous witness.

This hell-bent for leather approach does not bode well for the possibility of strong amendments. That process, called “clause by clause”, is scheduled for a four hour block on Wednesday afternoon.  Thanks to my amazing team, we got our amendments in on time.  Through the grueling process involving legislative drafters and English-French translation, just under the wire before Friday at 5 pm Ottawa time, we got in 37 amendments. But I am not allowed to vote on my own amendments and unless the NDP, Bloc and Liberals vote for my amendments, they will all be defeated. The ones that really matter are for a first deadline year of 2025, not as currently drafted, 2030. It matters that we include carbon budgets. And the process should be guided by independent expert advice. All of these elements are integral to the successful Climate Accountability law in the UK, France and New Zealand, among others. Only Canada has proposed such useless legislation for climate. A climate accountability act with no accountability.

Wish me luck for Wednesday. (By the way, you can watch on parlvu).

To close with something lovely for a holiday weekend, I am so happy to share in the PS – the poem Lorna Crozier wrote for me and read for our tenth anniversary party (10 years as MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands). Also my dear friend Dorothy Field shared a wrenching poem she wrote about the situation in Israel and Palestine, and I include a link to a very important blog from Paul Manly.

Since last week’s newsletter in which I focused on the accelerating crisis, we have a cease-fire. But we must not stop pressing for justice and peace for Israel and Palestine. All those dear innocent children, regardless of their citizenship, religion or history need a real peace.

Love to you all this long weekend,

Elizabeth

• Paul’s blog:

Criticizing Israel is not antisemitism (paulmanlymp.ca)

(20+) Paul Manly for Nanaimo-Ladysmith | Facebook

Paul Manly (@paulmanly) / Twitter

• Lorna Crozier’s amazing gift of a poem for me

WOMAN WHO HOLDS THE MOON IN HER HANDS

(a poem on the occasion of Elizabeth May’s 10^th anniversary as my Member of Parliament)

I am a woman of rivers,

a woman of old-growth forests,

I am salmon woman, otter woman,

woman of eel grass and clams.

I have learned from water

how to fall without breaking,

I have learned from cedar

how to read the sky,

I have learned from the sea

how to hold the moon in all her phases

without causing harm.

I am a woman of moss,

a woman of cherry blossoms.

I am vegetable woman, deer woman,

woman of prayer and longing.

I have learned from moss

how to live on stone,

I have learned from blossoms

how to open into beauty, how to open

into brevity, I have learned from prayer

how to speak to mystery and wonder.

Things I do not see, I hear,

things I do not know

I seek. The tongues of snakes

carry the taste of me

into their dark nests underground,

yet they do not consume me. This

is what I have learned from them.

I am a woman of breasts, of limbs,

of words. I inhale the breath of all

who go before me and those who live close by,

the small breath of the field mouse, the blow of the whale,

the thousand exhalations of leaves as they fall.

I learn from water

how to flow over and around.

I learn from redwood

how to stay rooted to the earth

without bending down.

My name is Winged One,

my name is Lightning,

my name is Mountain Caribou,

my name is The Owl

Who Cannot Find a Home.

Look for me and I will find you.

I will ask. “What brought you here?”

I will ask, “What gifts do you bring

for the herring, the hawk, the wolf?”

I will ask, “What of yourself

will you give away to save

the songbird and the bear?”

If your answers please me,

I will summon the messengers

who ride the rain and the wind,

I will rub your feet with fat

for the journey ahead,

I will walk with you in beauty

into the rising sun. I will walk with you

in beauty into your last day on earth.

• Poem by Dorothy Field (my dear friend Dotter)

Did it rain last night? Is it raining still?

The rain unseen against a pearly sky, invisible

against the bright new leaves of the plum

and the Garry oak’s runnelled bark.

The Hebrew word rimon means both pomegranate

and grenade, their similarity of shape.

If I can’t see the rain, is it really raining?

But the deck is wet, the ground saturated, dark.

Lazarus seeds, what Israeli soldiers call rubber bullets

because you can scrape them off and reload.

If they don’t maim the first time, they may the second.

And truth​? The sharp splinters of rain

against the shadowed trunk of the Douglas fir?

Rain I can see.

Israeli officials call bombing operations over Gaza

   Mowing the Lawn.

When Palestinian protestors throw tear gas cans

back at the IDF they call it The Right of Return.

See it, don’t see it, the rain sluices down.

   The only revenge is making peace.

Final quote: Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan

Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens
http://www.sgigreenparty.ca/

The post Good Sunday Morning – May 23 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

On this lovely sunny Sunday, my thoughts and emotions are wrapped up in the dangerously escalating events in Israel and Palestine. Twice this week Paul Manly tried to get an emergency debate on the crisis, only to be stymied by some procedural hijinx – not related to trying to shut Paul down – just with that result. I used my one question in Question Period this month to ask for Canada to speak more clearly against the illegal actions of the Netanyahu government—illegal annexations, illegal settlements and illegal forced evictions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPomDcjz__M

There may be no issue in our current chaos of crises – whether suppression of human rights in the People’s Republic of China, Myanmar, or Colombia, the climate emergency, COVID, or the chronic injustice of Canada to indigenous peoples –as difficult to navigate as the Israel-Palestine conflict.

It is all too easy for criticism of the State of Israel to be heard by some as race- based hatred – anti-Semitism. And sometimes those levelling the criticism are anti-Semitic. But it is quite wrong to conflate criticism of the current political leadership of Israel with anti-Semitism.

I am so grateful for the compassion and guidance of spiritual leaders like Rabbi Joshua Corber of Beit Rayim Synagogue and School in Richmond Hill, Ont. He is filled with anxiety for family members living in Israel – but that does not eliminate his understanding of shared grief.  In a story on CBC News, he said, “What I’ve told my community is that I’m holding space in my heart for suffering and the grief that’s being experienced in Israel… And I’ve been asserting to my congregation that while critique of Israel is necessary … critique of Israel in and of itself is not tantamount to antisemitism…. One can feel empathy and compassion for the grief and the suffering for Palestinians, and that does not diminish our love and support for our friends in Israel.”

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/gaza-strip-israel-canadians-violence-1.6027556

Greens must always insist on the fundamental point that Israel must be allowed peace. We must always state clearly that Israel has a right to exist and Israel has a right to defend itself.

I navigate the problem of ensuring criticism of what the Israeli government is doing from any animus toward Israel by focusing on the current government. Just as when Trump was in the White House, I held fast to the fact that I love the United States, its peoples and its lands – but not Trump.

In 1995, when Israel’s prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, the prime minister who negotiated the Oslo Accord, was assassinated by an extremist Israeli settler, it seemed that peace was assassinated with him. I love the Israel that Yitzhak Rabin exemplified. But Netanyahu is dangerous.

It seems likely to me that the recent provocations (throwing Palestinians from their homes, illegally, constantly stealing more and more Palestinian lands, so that is becomes increasingly hard to imagine what tiny bits of territory could ever constitute a safe and secure state of Palestine, even staging an attack in one of Islam’s most holy sites, the al-Asqa mosque) was deliberately provocative. To what end? Hanging on to power in a domestic political context. Netanyahu lost the last election. He cannot form government. He is facing corruption charges.  A war gives him a diversion. It strengthens his hand as the many and varied parties in Israel try to decide who will form government.

I work with the Israeli Greens and know how they oppose Netanyahu and his expansionist policies.  Green leader Stav Shaffir has championed affordable housing, pointing out how subsidizing this massive illegal settlement project of colonial expansion deprives many Israelis of access to education and affordable housing within the legal boundaries of the State of Israel (1967 borders.) It is a very expensive programme of ethnic cleansing by infrastructure.

Back in 2018, having been part of a small group of MPs that re-established the Canada-Palestinian Parliamentary Friendship Group, I helped organize the largest delegation of Canadian MPs to visit the occupied territories. Eighteen of us, from all five parties in the House, toured Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, and the contested areas of Jerusalem so much in the news this last week.

What I saw confirmed my worst fear that the greatest threat to Israel is the policies of their own government. And now it is much worse. The current conflict is the very most dangerous one since 1967. And even the domestic Israeli police seem to have lost control.

I remember going to the Dome of the Rock mosque in the same area as al-Asqa – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. We were careful to respect the place, covering our heads, taking off our shoes, speaking only in whispers. The sight of Israeli soldiers and police, with boots on, firing grenades inside the al-Asqa mosque, was physically traumatizing to watch. How those images must have rocked people in every Islamic community at the holiest of times, ending Ramadan and on the eve of Eid.

Rabbi Michael Melchior, a prominent Israeli rabbi, a former deputy foreign minister and champion of inter-religious dialogue, said, “When Israeli police trample into al-Aqsa with boots and stop one of the holiest prayers, it is one of the gravest transgressions of Islam. This you don’t do.”

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/prominent-israeli-rabbi-al-aqsa-mosque-is-the-heart-of-the-deadly-hostilities-nobody-really-gets-it

The actions of the settler/radical/groups-  attached to the same movement that assassinated Yitsahk Rabin – must be viewed as a threat to stability in the region, as are the actions and words of Netanyahu who, like Trump, encouraged their worst excesses. Marching through the streets calling out “Death to Arabs” is horrific.

Now as violence spreads, I am also terrified for my friends and relatives in Israel. The hatred is getting personal in many areas, but especially Lod, where clashes are occurring between Jewish and Arab citizens. The Mayor of Lod has warned he fears civil war.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/15/far-right-jewish-groups-arab-youths-claim-streets-lod-israel-loses-control

What can we do as a nation?

Canada needs to do much more. We need to denounce the illegal actions under Netanyahu and insist that Israel abide by the Geneva Convention:

“The forced transfer of the population under occupation is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which contribute to the coercive environment now prevailing in East Jerusalem. As well, these evictions breach the right to adequate housing – a core human right in international law.”

“The proper step for Israel to take is to remove the threat of eviction, have the property rights of these Palestinian families respected and legal regularized, and annul all discriminatory legislation from its laws.” From a statement issued by international UN human rights experts, https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/05/1091722

We must stop selling arms to Israel (this has been Green Party policy since 2016).

But more – we must clearly denounce what Netanyahu and his settler thugs are doing. We must protect and preserve the long held principle that Jerusalem  – the Holiest of cities – shared by the three major Theistic religions of the world – Jewish, Christian and Islam – be protected. Adherents to all three religions must be assured access to sacred shrines.  https://policymagazine.ca/o-jerusalem-sacred-to-three-faiths-capital-of-one/

And we must constantly stress the shared humanity of all. We are in COVID. The Palestinian population trapped in Gaza has already been going through hell.  But the children in Israeli families, rushed to shelters as Hamas fires rockets have every right to be safe and asleep in their own beds- just like their Palestinian neighbours.

Pray for Israel. Pray for Palestine. Pray for peace.

We will keep pressing the issue in Parliament.

Love,

Elizabeth

PS Thanks to everyone who came to the wonderful 10^th anniversary celebration.  I will share the video link next week!

And click here for details of Cate and Sylvia’s book launch, May 18^th!

https://www.tannersbooks.com/

Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens
http://www.sgigreenparty.ca/

The post Good Sunday Morning – May 16 appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-05-13 15:08 [p.7196]

Mr. Speaker, the increasing crisis in the Middle East is a danger to the region and beyond. We are hobbled when we limit our response to “both sides must de-escalate”. Yes, they must, but true peace will never be achieved if we keep ignoring that one side is the occupier, the other is occupied.

This current crisis was provoked by actions of the Netanyahu government and other extreme elements within settler groups. Can Canada speak out clearly to defend the Palestinian people against illegal annexation, illegal settlements and illegal forced evictions?

Hon. Marc Garneau (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount)
2021-05-13 15:09 [p.7196]

Mr. Speaker, Canada remains gravely concerned by the continued expansion of settlements and by the demolitions and evictions, including the ongoing cases of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. These actions impact families and livelihoods, and do not serve peace or international law. Unilateral actions that prejudice the outcome of direct negotiations and further jeopardize the prospects for a two-state solution must be avoided. We will always stand ready to support efforts for a two-state solution.

The post Canada must speak out clearly to defend the Palestinian people appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2020-06-04 14:01

I hope I will hear from the government in coming days about what we plan to do for the citizens of Canada who are in Hong Kong.

I want to thank the Prime Minister for yesterday making it clear for the first time that the Government of Canada will press Prime Minister Netanyahu not to proceed with his plans to illegally annex parts of the occupied territories of the West Bank.

I would like to ask this: What specifically is Canada doing to prevent this blow to any future prospects of peace in the region?

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Saint-Maurice—Champlain)
2020-06-04 14:01

Mr. Chair, both in private and in public, I and the Prime Minister have said that we are committed to the two-state solution and that we view unilateral annexation as contrary to international law.

I have spoken to the foreign minister of Israel. I have spoken to my colleagues in the Middle East. Mr. Chair, this is a long-held position of the Government of Canada throughout government, and we have made sure that we say that both publicly and privately.

The post How will Canada prevent Israel from annexing occupied territories in the West Bank? appeared first on Elizabeth May.

In a catalogue of alleged failings of the Green Party of Canada, (editorial July 30, 2014) the most absurd claim is that of moral relativism. We are the only party left in Canada to have principles and stick to them.

The Conservatives were once thought of as a party of fiscal responsibility, yet Stephen Harper has added to the national debt and expanded the size of government. His promises of accountability are buried under scandals of the culture of entitlement he once decried.

The New Democrats once championed the poor and down-trodden, but now clamor to appeal to the middle class calling not for guaranteed annual income, but for lower banking fees.

The Liberals stand less condemned, if only because their approach to principle was always pretty flexible – big tent and all. Still, the support for the Keystone and Kinder Morgan pipelines while opposing Enbridge suggests polling as a basis for position.

The Green Party of Canada, along with Green parties around the world, stand on six global green values: participatory democracy, social justice, ecological wisdom, non-violence, sustainability, and respect for diversity.

In the context of conflicts around the world, we are anything but moral relativists. The reason I was the only Member of Parliament in June 2011 to vote against the continued aerial bombardment of Libya was that Green principles of non-violence and promotion of a culture of peace made voting for bombing impossible. There were peace talks rejected as we joined the side of those calling for Gadafi’s head. It was clear when Parliament voted to keep up the bombing that the side we supported included al-Qaida-linked extremists. It was clear that warehouses full of munitions would flood into other countries and lead to greater instability, loss of life and chaos. It was clear that shifting our mission statement from Responsibility to Protect (R2P) innocent civilians to regime change would cost us down the road and remove the possibility of relying on the R2P doctrine to intervene in Syria.

In the case of the current Israel-Gaza conflict, it is critical that positions be based on international law. Pursuing peace cannot be discarded as unrealistic. It should be possible for all Canadian political parties to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization and to demand it cease its shelling of Israel. It should be possible for all other political leaders to continue to press for a two-state solution, one that defends the right of the State of Israel to exist, but equally calls for a secure Palestinian state. It is simply not credible to take the stance of all three other leaders (Messrs Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau) that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s siege of Gaza is legal and meets humanitarian standards. It does not. The death toll among Gaza’s civilians provokes the conscience of the world. Hamas is to blame for provocation, but to imagine that Israel is blameless is untenable.

We are the only party that bases our decisions on evidence. That is why we may take positions ahead of the “group-think” curve, calling for caution on newer technologies while others throw caution to the wind. We have been consistent about climate policies, while other parties treat the greatest threat to our children’s future as “flavour of the month.”

Our budgetary plans are based on a thorough examination of the sources of revenue, macro and micro-economic impact of policy. We are the only party to prepare election platforms that have been thoroughly costed over a three year horizon. We were the only party to submit our budget to the Parliamentary Budget Office to ask for verification that our numbers added up. (They did.)

We have been the most accountable in office of any MPs. I was the first MP to post all my expenses (original receipts) on line. Now Bruce Hyer, Green MP from Thunder Bay-Superior North does as well. We have pushed other parties to greater levels of accountability.

The biggest reason that Canada needs to Green Party is that we are the only party fighting to restore real democracy by reducing the power of political parties themselves. We need to tear down the bloated Prime Minister’s Office. We must reduce the unhealthy top-down control that turns good people, elected as MPs, into little more than ciphers. We are the only party that wants to eliminate the excessive hyper-partisanship of modern political debate and replace it with respectful dialogue to find common ground. We will make it a priority to replace the perverse first past the post voting system with fair proportional representation.

We will elect more Green MPs in the next federal election, forging consensus across party lines and working for the people who elected us. I appreciate that your editorialists would like it if all Canadian political parties kow-towed to “group think. We never will. And for that reason alone, more Canadians are turning to the Greens to give them reason to believe in the possibility of responsible government.

Elizabeth May, O.C., is the leader of the Green Party of Canada and Member of Parliament for Saanich-Gulf Islands. Her eighth book, “Who we are: Reflections on my life and Canada” (Greystone Books) will be released in October 2014.

The post Staking the moral high ground – why the Green Party exists appeared first on Elizabeth May.

“Although Canada’s position against the motion was clear and has been noted, now that the Palestinian authority has been granted non-member observer status, it is time to tone down the rhetoric and join an effort for a peaceful resolution”, said May.

“The UN vote in no way prohibits the right of Israel to exist. The modern state of Israel was created in 1947 by a vote in the UN General Assembly. Denouncing the vote this week accomplishes nothing”, added May.

The Green Party of Canada urges that both the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel immediately commit to a peace process, ensuring the current cease-fire holds.

“The support of the community of nations in ensuring the protection of Israel and justice and peace for the Palestinian people must be our first concern. Despite our vote, let’s move forward and ensure this moment is enshrined in history as the beginning of a durable peace,” concluded May.

The post Green Party Urges Restraint in Canadian Response to United Nations Vote appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense comes a mere three years after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead. The former operation was followed by a significant reduction in Hamas rocket fire, but only for a while. There needs to be a non-violent way to stop the violence.

“The Green Party of Canada urges both sides de-escalate the violence immediately, so a peace process can move forward,” said Elizabeth May, Green Party of Canada leader and MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands.

The Green Party of Canada supports Palestinian statehood. We base our support on U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181 and U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, advocating a two-state solution and defining borders.

One possible avenue is the Quartet Conditions. They were put forward a decade ago by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and Russia, and negotiations based on them, under U.N. aegis, are still ongoing. The Quartet offers support and aid to Palestine once Hamas agrees to non-violence, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and commits to current peace agreements.

“We urge bringing all parties together in negotiation premised on the rights of all to space in the part of our planet from which so much of our religious and ethical tradition comes. Canada now has a recognized, growing number of accredited peace professionals. We recommend their participation be included,” added Ms. May.

“Peace-building will enable more aid to Palestine for health care and education, and will make possible focus on green economic development and attention to water conservation and distribution, for the future welfare of the region and its people,” noted Green Party of Canada International Affairs Critic Eric Walton.

The post Operation Pillar of Defense Is Not The Answer appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Last week the European Union announced a boycott of Iranian oil, delayed until July, to pressure the Iranian regime over its disputed nuclear program.  The Iranian government has in turn threatened to disrupt oil tanker shipping from the Gulf through the Straits of Hormuz in the event of economic restrictions on its own oil exports.  The United States government has indicated it would militarily oppose such an action.  At the same time, Asian nations that import 75% of Iranian oil exports are resisting joining the boycott for either economic reasons or because they consider the boycott counter-productive.

“This kind of brinkmanship diplomacy is more likely to build resentment and solidarity among the Iranian people and strengthen the hand of the government,” added Green International Affairs Critic Eric Walton. “If Iranian authorities are being honest with their own citizens and the international community about their nuclear program – and we should start with the good faith assumption that they are – they will suffer no financial penalty on oil exports.”

Combined with this pragmatic shift in tactics would be an agreement to address Iranian regional security concerns and commence Regional Nuclear Arms Reduction talks with neighbouring nations already possessing nuclear weapons, including Pakistan, India, Russia, China,  and Israel.

The post Brinkmanship Diplomacy with Iran Counter-Productive appeared first on Elizabeth May.

The attack on the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara, and the killing of nine pro-Palestinian activists on May 31 brought into clear focus what all Canadians should know. The Harper government has become the most pro-Israel of any government on earth. The day of the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a guest of the Government of Canada, on a state visit. Of all the governments in the world, Canada did the most to avoid direct criticism of Israel. The visit of the Israeli Prime Minister to Parliament Hill was, apparently, unmarred by the fact that at that moment, three Canadian citizens, including Kevin Neish of Victoria, were in Israeli government custody while their families still had no confirmation of their well-being.

Even the US, usually holding the title of Israel’s best friend, expressed regret and called for an inquiry, albeit an internal Israeli investigation. While shaking hands with the Prime Minister of Israel, our Prime Minister said nothing of the tragedy.

The Green Party made a public statement deploring the use of violence and repeating our call for a comprehensive economic stabilization plan and internationally monitored buffer zone around the Gaza Strip. While there is a need for an investigation of the attack on the pro-Gaza flotilla, certain facts are not in dispute. The Israeli government forces attacked in international waters. That alone violates international law. The fact that nine people were killed creates the spectre of a far worse crime.

The Harper government has also managed to manipulate its support for the State of Israel with attacks on others for antisemitism. The church-based NGO Kairos lost its funding over such a charge. It was at the heart of the interference with rights and democracy.

I have been at the receiving end of this sort of nasty attack, when the Prime Minister, distorting my comments out of recognition, alleged in the House that I had trivialized the Holocaust. My ‘crime’ was quoting George Monbiot who, in the context of the climate crisis, had compared former US President Bush, Australia’s Howard and Stephen Harper to Neville Chamberlain. I got fairly bruised in the spin cycle of the Harper war room.

Meanwhile, the Green Party stands firm calling for a balanced policy favouring a two-state solution in the Middle East—closer to the kind of policy Canada once advocated. We insist on the right of Israel to exist and condemned the Hezbollah rockets into Israel, as we condemned the excessive force in Israel’s bombing of Lebanon.

The Greens oppose antisemitism with the same vigour we oppose racism, sexism and other forms of hatred. Recently, the Supreme Court of British Columbia found in our favour, when the party and I were sued by an aggrieved former candidate who objected to being rejected, and to having his words described in our press release as ‘anti-Semitic comments.’ The comments, describing 9-11 as involving the ‘shoddily built jewish world bank headquarters (sic)’ were not borderline. The hatred unleashed against a people in the Holocaust, fuelled by paranoia about Jewish control of banks and banking, is well known. There is a difference between antisemitism and fair and reasonable criticism of Israeli policy.

So too, is there an effort to conflate criticism of Israel with denying the right of the State of Israel to exist. I have relatives in Israel and I completely understand the sense of insecurity that comes from being surrounded by the Arab world, with, at least some leaders, still claiming your homeland has no right to exist. However, maintaining as an inviolate principle the right of Israel to exist is not the same as giving its government carte blanche to trample on human rights and the peace process. Ten thousand Israeli citizens rallied to condemn the attack on the Gaza flotilla, and it was denounced by NGOs in Israel, such as the human rights group, B’Tselem.

The sense that criticism of Israel is not permitted in Canada has been growing, but what prompted me to write this column is the recent attack on NDP MP Libby Davies. Libby is a valiant defender of the rights of the homeless and the poor. Recently, she was caught on tape in what was an off-the-cuff answer stating that occupation began in 1948. Once her comments were placed on YouTube, the denunciations were swift. Harper called for her resignation, and even within her own party she faced pressure.

She wrote to the Ottawa Citizen to apologize: ‘My reference to the year 1948 as the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory was a serious and completely inadvertent error.’ On the other hand, there is a difference between occupation and illegal occupation. In 1492, many would say that 500-years of occupation of the Americas began. That does not translate to denying the right of any nations’ existence. The term ‘occupation’ in the Middle East context is generally confined to additional, non-UN agreement occupation as it began in 1967.

Keeping a clear head about these issues is critical. A climate of fear and oppression within Canada stifles free speech. These dangerous trends need to be named, and challenged.

Elizabeth May is leader of the Green Party of Canada and a candidate in Saanich Gulf Islands.

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