The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as plausible genocide. To date, over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7. These atrocities are facilitated by the continued flow of weapons between Canada and Israel.
Please use the tool below to urge MPs, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to immediately suspend all arms exports and imports to and from Israel.
Make a call now
TALKING POINTS / SAMPLE CALL SCRIPT
Hello, my name is [introduce yourself]. I’m a constituent of [your/X riding] and my postal code is [postal code].
I am calling on you to implement a full and immediate, two-way arms embargo with Israel. Canadian political leaders voted on March 18 to suspend approval of new weapons export permits to Israel, but military goods continue to flow between the two countries through existing permits and Canada’s purchasing of weapons from Israel.
The International Court of Justice has described Israel’s assault on Gaza as plausible genocide. To date, over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7. Canada can help prevent more deaths with an arms embargo and has a moral and legal obligation to do so following the international court’s rulings.
I urge you to join millions of Canadians and show us that you are listening to [residents of your riding/Canada] by implementing the arms embargo today.
Step-by-step instructions
- Have your phone handy and open your computer.
- On your computer, go to this link to access the calling tool: https://canadians.org/action/gaza-ceasefire-call/.
- Enter your information in the web form.
- Get your phone ready and then, on your computer, click ‘Make the Call’.
- Your phone will ring. Answer it! At the same time, scroll down on the web page to see the phone script.
- Your phone will now automatically connect you to MPs. Leave a message on each answering machine using the script (feel free to modify as you see fit!).
- After each message you leave, DON’T HANG UP! Press * and you’ll automatically be connected to the next MP.
- Repeat until the end. When you’ve left a message for all 12 MPs you’re ready to hang up.
Targets
Note: We will randomize the order in which these MPs are called in order to reduce busy signals.
- Your MP (https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/search)
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: 1-613-992-4211
- Minister Melanie Joly (Minister of Foreign Affairs): 613-992-0983
- Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville): 613-992-1416
- Majid Jowhari (Richmond Hill): 613-992-3802
- Michael McLeod (Northwest Territories): 613-992-4587
- Brendan Hanley (Yukon): 613-995-9368
- Emmanuella Lambropoulos (Saint-Laurent): 613-996-5789
- Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West): 613-992-2855
- Anita Vandenbeld (Ottawa West-Nepean): 613-996-0984
- Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre): 613-992-3213
- Jennifer O’Connell (Pickering—Uxbridge): 613-995-8082
Background Information
Canada-Israel arms trade: Over 37,000 Palestinians, among them nearly 14,000 children, have been killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza since October 7. Still, Canada accelerated military exports to Israel ($28 million in export permits in the last 3 months of 2023 alone) and continues to buy millions in Israeli weapons that are used on civilians in Gaza. We welcome the Canadian government’s promise to pause approving any new arms permits to Israel. We are waiting to see it realized. However, Canada can actively prevent future deaths by stopping the transport of all military goods to and from Israel, including those with previously-approved permits.
UN call for arms embargo: The urgent need for an arms embargo has never been clearer. United Nations experts have officially called for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, especially naming Canada as a military exporter that might be held liable for aiding and abetting war crimes. The UNHRC, which is the UN’s top human rights body, has passed a resolution calling for all countries to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
This is a majority opinion! Over 82,000 Canadians signed a parliamentary petition demanding an embargo on military exports to Israel, and 75 civil society groups called on Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to resign if she won’t impose an arms embargo. The recently launched Arms Embargo Now statement has been signed by organizations representing over 2 million people in Canada.
More information at https://armsembargonow.ca/learn-more/.
