Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is pleased to offer this guide to the policy challenges for Canada in Palestine-Israel for the 2019 federal election. In this initial draft of our “Middle East New Deal” (MEND), we are focusing on the Israel-Palestine issue.

Under the Chrétien government, Canada was viewed as a relatively honest broker between parties on Palestine-Israel. Under the Oslo process, for example, Canada was gavel-holder for the accord’s Refugee Working Group. More recent governments, however, have adopted rhetoric strongly biased in favour of Israel.

Canadians expect their representatives to adopt a principled and balanced approach to Palestine-Israel. It is important that election candidates be sensitized to the harsh realities in Palestine-Israel and be ready to address them once in office. This document provides information to make candidates more cognizant of the issues and enable them to contribute constructively to improve human rights and security in both Palestine and Israel.

CJPME is a grassroots, secular, non-partisan organization working to empower Canadians of all backgrounds to promote justice, development and peace in the Middle East. As a non-partisan organization, we recommend our proposals and reflections to all parties across Canadian society.

Ultimately, we have designed this document so that organizations and individuals can better engage federal candidates in discussion on Israel-Palestine. Use this guide get federal election candidates thinking about and committing to justice and peace in Israel-Palestine.

CJPME’s three policy pillars are 1) respect for international law; 2) the belief that all parties in a conflict should be held to the same standard; 3) the belief that violence is not a solution. These principles – among others – have guided the development of content for this document. For more information about CJPME, please visit our website at www.cjpme.org