Act Now

Leave a voicemail message:

Speak personally and from the heart. Here are some suggested talking points – use them as a script or simply a starting point.

My name is [introduce yourself]. I’m a constituent of [your riding] and live on [your street name.]

I join millions across the country and over 300 organizations in calling on the Canadian government to take decisive action to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza by implementing an immediate two-way arms embargo. Despite ten months of genocidal violence, your government has continued military exports to Israel and continued to fund this massacre by buying millions in Israeli weapons. I am calling on you as my MP to sign onto the Arms Embargo Now statement at ArmsEmbargoNow.ca and to call for a full arms embargo in Parliament when it resumes in September. 

I was hopeful in March that Canada would finally fulfill its obligations under international and domestic law by declaring a two-way arms embargo. Instead, the government only committed to pausing approval of future weapons export permits to Israel. This means Canadian weapons and components are continuing to be exported to Israel under the hundreds of permits the government had already approved before this pause. The refusal to cancel existing permits to Israel and the continued purchasing of weapons from Israel shows that Canada is not serious about ending Israel’s atrocities against Palestinian people in Gaza. I am also disturbed by the continued lack of transparency about the Canadian-made weapons and components that are shipped to the United States, untracked and unreported, before being exported to Israel and used in its assault against Gaza.

I am calling you today as we watch Israel escalate its violence against Palestinians – in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, and in Gaza – as well as in Lebanon. Emboldened by the lack of consequences for their incessant violations of international law, Israel is pushing ahead, massacring hundreds of Palestinians one school, hospital, and tent camp at a time. Canada continues to fail the Palestinian people by allowing this genocide to continue, and by refusing to sanction Israel or implement a two-way arms embargo.

I urge you to join the dozens of MPs and hundreds of organizations and unions representing millions of Canadians, and show us that you are listening to residents of your riding, by signing on to the Arms Embargo Now statement at ArmsEmbargoNow.ca

If you reach someone:

Speak personally and from the heart. Here are some suggested talking points – use them as a script or simply a starting point.

Introduce yourself and the issue

• I am one of your constituents, and I have been horrified for over a year alongside millions across Canada as we’ve witnessed Israel attacking Gaza relentlessly from the air, land, and sea. I have been outraged by our government’s complicity in these atrocities against Palestinian people and refusal to implement a full arms embargo.
• I am calling on you as my MP to sign onto the Arms Embargo Now statement at ArmsEmbargoNow.ca and to call for a full arms embargo in Parliament when it resumes in September. 
• Despite more than a year of genocidal violence, your government has continued military exports to Israel and continued to fund this massacre by buying millions in Israeli weapons.
• I am calling you today as we watch Israel escalate its violence against Palestinians – in the West Bank, in East Jerusalem, and in Gaza. Emboldened by the lack of consequences for their incessant violations of international law, Israel is pushing ahead, massacring hundreds of Palestinians one school, hospital, and tent camp at a time. Canada continues to fail the Palestinian people by allowing this genocide to continue, and by refusing to sanction Israel or implement a two-way arms embargo.
• Alongside hundreds/thousands of my neighbours, I have been urging you to take a stand for what’s right. I am calling on you as my MP to demand an end to the flow of all weapons and military goods to and from Israel. I am urging you to sign onto the Arms Embargo Now statement at ArmsEmbargoNow.ca
• Canada’s refusal to cancel existing permits to export weapons to Israel as well as Canada’s continued purchasing of weapons from Israel shows that Canada is not serious about ending Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. 

Key Facts

• Canada-Israel arms trade: The government says it has paused authorizing new arms export permits to Israel since January 8, 2024. However, the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly has specifically said that arms export permits approved before January 8 remain in effect. And in those few months before January, between October and December 2023, the most deadly period of Israel’s assault on Gaza, Global Affairs Canada approved a record-breaking $28.5 million dollars in arms export permits to Israel, more than in 2022 or any other year on record. The government has not canceled or suspended those permits, or any of the permits from previous years that were still open. Thus weapons and components continue to be transferred to Israel under the hundreds of permits approved pre-January 8. Arms are also continuing to travel to Israel under the loophole that allows them to travel from Canada to the US en route to Israel without even requiring a permit. At the same time, Canada is continuing to buy and permit the import of military technology from Israel. Canadian tax-dollars pay for these Israeli-made weapons, providing profits to the Israeli arms industry and giving Israel moral cover for using those weapons against Palestinians.
• Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, and at least 10,000 more are missing, thousands buried under the rubble. Over 20,000 children are estimated to be lost, disappeared, detained, buried under the rubble or in mass graves. 91,000 people have been injured or maimed.
• 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, specially 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! The Arms Embargo Now statement has been signed by 300+ organizations, unions, and faith groups representing several million people across Canada. 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.

Conclusion

• Canada has both a moral and legal obligation to do everything in its power to prevent genocide. Your constituents are watching, history is watching, and millions of lives are at stake. Know that when you stand up for Palestinians in Gaza, you are standing with people of conscience throughout our riding and across the world.

Will you sign onto the Arms Embargo Now statement?