UNITED JEWISH PEOPLE’S ORDER – Canada

585 Cranbrooke Avenue Toronto, Ontario M6A 2X9

Telephone: 416-789-5502  Fax: 416-789-5981 Email: info@ujpo.org Website: www.ujpo.org

March 15 2023

The United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO) a secular, progressive Jewish cultural,

social and political organization whose roots date back a hundred years wishes to

express our sentiments of horror and disgust at the settler pogrom which took place in the Palestinian village of Huwara on February 26, 2023. We are hardly surprised but are nonetheless dismayed by the failure of the Israeli army to offer support and provide security to the victims while these events took place. Threats to Palestinian communities continue, such as those of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a self-described “fascist homophobe,” who issued a call for genocide.

Smotrich remains in office and was in Washington DC on March 12 after being granted a U.S. visa for his visit.

On January 29th UJPO issued a Statement of Solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian People in which we deplored the constant expansion of illegal settlements, and further supported the rights of all Palestinians to freedom and self-determination. Our concerns about Israel’s escalating repression of Palestinians arise in a context of intensifying restrictions on the bare semblance of democracy, and growing discontent among a majority of Canadian Jews. However, the Canadian government has remained silent on recent developments in Israel, and Shimon Koffler Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, has defended a policy of constructive engagement with the new Israeli government. UJPO members believe that there can be no constructive engagement with violent extremists.

We call upon the Canadian government to condemn the actions of the current Israeli government toward the Palestinian victims of Huwara. We hope all other Jewish organizations, religious and secular, that have not already done so, will dissociate themselves publicly from the repellent actions of the Netanyahu government.