NCCAR calls upon the Canadian Government to condemn recent Israeli raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip in the past week leaving twenty-seven dead, including four boys under the age of sixteen. About one hundred people were wounded.

The international community and Canada's silence following the raids into the al-Bureij and Nusseirat refugee camps in Gaza is deafening. This reflects an ongoing refusal to condemn Israeli policy and to recognize the continued suffering of the Palestinian people. NCCAR fears if these events continue to go unnoticed they would trigger further violence in the region.

It has become clear the rules of engagement in Gaza for the Israeli army are to shoot anything that moves. The IDF regularly uses banned weapons like "flechettes" that are designed to kill as many people as possible - all this occurring despite the Israeli Prime Minister's suggestion of a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.

Unfortunately, the Martin government seems only concerned with the lives of Israelis. Unfortunately, Israel's apologists - numerous in the Canadian government right now - claim these actions and many others - such as collective punishment and stealing land to erect an illegal Wall - are designed to "fight terror". In reality, it is Israel that is the source of terror - unjustifiable, unrestrained state terror which is at the heart of the cycle of violence. Israel now operates as a rogue regime outside the boundaries of international law, outside the rules of the Geneva Conventions and in near continuous violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, recently renewed his support for initiatives in his Millennium Report where he called upon the member states - including Canada - to commit to an action plan to end poverty and inequality, improve education, reduce HIV/AIDS, safeguard the environment and protect peoples from deadly conflict and violence.

While Mr. Annan is making his rounds in Ottawa today reminding Canada of its important obligation on the international scene, NCCAR feels it is important for Canada to take a strong stance against the violent acts perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.

NCCAR urges the Canadian Government to speak in clear terms to the atrocious treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The Apartheid Wall continues to be built, and innocent civilians - including a mother shot dead today in Jenin - continue to be killed and daily life continues to be impeded by Israel's barbarism.