By Nicole Peltier former federal Green Party candidate.
Dimitri Lascaris will be a guest speaker on Human Rights Law at the North Bay Public Library on October 5th at 7pm. This event is open to the public. A question and answer session will follow.
The Green Party of Canada has been stirring up debate recently over a new Green version of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. There is local support for the new policy.
See related story: May will stay as party leader
In general, BDS is being used as a non-violent protest to pressure Israel to broker a new peace accord with the Palestinian National Authority. The Green policy targets Israeli sectors profiteering off of Occupied Palestinian Territory.
In previous policy, the Greens believe that Israeli illegal land occupation and expansion only serves to fuel tensions in the Middle East. Other Jewish organizations, such as Jewish Voices for Peace, also support BDS.
“Canada must have more principled foreign policies.” Ms. Peltier states. “Therefore, Canada should not support Israeli business sectors that profit from illegal land occupation and expansion in Palestine.”
In 2004, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s settlements in the occupied territories violate the 4th Geneva Convention. The ‘construction of the wall on Occupied Palestinian Territory is tantamount to de facto annexation’ and its associated regime are ‘both contrary to international laws.’
Dimitri Lascaris, the Green Party of Canada’s Justice critic from London-West, brought the Green variation of BDS policy forward at the AGM. It passed with majority support.
Mr. Lascaris is a strong voice for human rights worldwide; a class action lawyer who has represented plaintiffs in international courts whose human rights were violated.
In 2012, Dimitri Lascaris was named one of the 25 most influential lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. He was also named one of Canada’s 50 most influential business people by Canadian Business Magazine in 2013.
“When I visited the West Bank earlier this year, I met with Palestinians living under the occupation. One of them was a 70 yr. old Palestinian farmer whose lemon and olive tree orchards are being confiscated by Israel. The Israeli separation wall expanded and took his land.” Dimitri recounts of his time in Israel. “He was devastated. He said they broke his connection to the land.”
That is only one of tens of thousands of stories of ethnic cleansing amid the conflict in Israel-Palestine.
On December 11, 2015, in Bethlehem, Rehab Nazzal, a Canadian PhD student was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper as she was filming Skunk Trucks spraying Palestinian homes with lab-created sewage. The Israeli soldiers then lobbed tear gas at her and impeded medical care.
Mr. Lascaris says Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Dion and the Trudeau-led Canadian government have yet to condemn Israel for the attack on the Canadian student.
“Greens support a two-state solution along 1967 Palestinian borders,” said Ms. Peltier. “Peaceful co-existence is part of the solution that will facilitate healing and bring economic prosperity to both nations.”
BDS continues to be debated within the Green Party of Canada. Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands and leader of the federal Green Party, does not support the newly adopted policy.
“All Western countries say they want 1967 Palestine borders to be respected but none will do anything to cause Israel to give the Palestinian people a sovereign state,” Mr. Lascaris adds. “With BDS, it will come about quickly.”
