Arthur Topham
4633 Barkerville Highway
Quesnel, B.C. V2J 6T8
Home Phone: 250 992 3479
radical@radicalpress.com
March 28th, 2016
Prince George, British Columbia
V2L 3G4
Dear Todd Doherty,
Re: Canadian Parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of a motion condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
On February 22nd Canada’s Parliament took the unprecedented move of overwhelmingly voting (229-51) in favour of a Conservative motion condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
The motion stated: “That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel, and call upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.”
I noted that you Todd, the Conservative member of parliament for Cariboo – Prince George, were one of those who voted in favour of this lopsided, hypocritical motion; one based upon outright fabrication, misinformation and an abject refusal to recognize and adhere to international law.
The accusation that the BDS movement is “demonizing and delegitimizing the State of Israel” is utterly absurd given that’s its primary purpose is to promote, by peaceful actions, international law and the rights of the Palestinian people.
The bigotry of it all is shown by the current status of Canada’s own actions wherein it has imposed sanctions on 22 nations other than Israel and for so-called “human rights violations” that pale in comparison with the crimes that Israel has committed against the Palestinians. Yet, when it comes to this one particular rogue state suddenly any peaceful efforts on the part of Canadians to address this longstanding issue are condemned by both the Liberal and the Conservative parties.
It’s an established fact that Israel has been the subject of at least 77 UN resolutions since 1955 and has been criticized in at least 26 resolutions for its violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Amnesty International reported in 2015 that they’d found “compelling evidence of serious violations of international humanitarian law by Israeli forces” and “strong evidence of war crimes and possible crimes against humanity” during Israel’s 2014 assault on Gaza.” Evidence of similar war crimes and crimes against humanity were also found during Operation Cast Lead in 2008.
This bogus attempt on the part of the Liberals and Conservatives to cover up Israel’s crimes and perpetuate the illusion that Canadians are just too ‘friendly’ with Israel to allow its citizens to peacefully choose whether or not to boycott Israeli products and therefore must be condemned for exercising their constitutional rights is, in itself, a despicable act and a crime against humanity that ought to be severely condemned.
It’s time Todd that you, as my representative voice in Ottawa, started standing for real Canadian values, our Constitutional rights and international law rather than always cowering and bowing in obeisance to a rogue foreign state whose actions ought to be censured rather than applauded.
Sincerely,
Arthur Topham
Cottonwood, B.C.
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cc: Autumn Macdonald editor@quesnelobserver.com , Alternative Media, Facebook
