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.]

For 7 months we have been calling on the Canadian government to take decisive action to stop Israel’s assault on Gaza. Instead, the 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

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 has only committed to  suspending approval of new weapons export permits to Israel, and it is not even clear that it has done that. 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 quantities of Canadian-made weapons and components that are shipped to the United States, untracked and unreported, and ultimately end up in Israel.

I am calling you as I watch Israel escalate its violence in Rafah and across Gaza. The UN and countless humanitarian organizations have warned that this invasion will be catastrophic. But Israel, having faced no real consequences for their gross violations of international law, is pushing ahead. Canada has once again failed the Palestinian people by not enacting any sanctions or a two-way arms embargo.

I urge you to join 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 heartbroken for months over Israel’s deadly assault on Gaza and outraged by our government’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities against Palestinian people.
• As if the recent discovery of mass graves at Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals was not enough, now Israel is escalating its violence in Rafah—an attack that UNWRA has estimated will put the lives of 1.4 million people (including 600,000 children) at risk.
• 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: While Israel has murdered over 33,000 Palestinians (among them nearly 14,000 children), 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 – directly funding Israel’s continued assault on 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, ending Canadian complicity in Israeli military violence requires actually stopping the transport of all military goods to and from Israel, including those whose permits had been previously approved. 
• 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. 
• Canada is being sued here at home: A group of Canadian human rights lawyers and Palestinian Canadians who have lost family in Gaza are taking the government to court, arguing the Trudeau government is in breach of Canada’s domestic and international legal obligations.
• 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. 

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?