441-00558 (Foreign affairs)

Whereas:

• The Government of Israel's designation of six prominent Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as "terrorist organizations" on October 19, 2021, criminalizes the activities of legitimate civil society groups and authorizes Israeli authorities to close their offices, seize their assets, and arrest and jail their staff members;
• The six prominent Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations are Addameer, AlHaq, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees, which work directly with Palestinian women and girls, children, small land holding farmers, prisoners, and civil society activists, providing direct services and monitoring and exposing human rights abuses, including the ongoing expansion of settlements in violation of Canadian and international law;
• 21 leading Israeli human rights groups issued a statement calling this a draconian measure that criminalizes critical human rights work;
• United Nations human rights experts unequivocally condemned the decision declaring that the "designation is a frontal attack on the Palestinian human rights movement, and on human rights everywhere";
• Canada's Voices at Risk Guidelines state the commitment of Canada and Canada's diplomatic missions to advocate for human rights defenders, "protecting them from harm,"; and
• Antiterrorism legislation must not be used to unjustifiably undermine civil liberties or to curtail the legitimate work of human rights organizations and must be applied in a manner that is consistent with international law and does not violate obligations under international law.

We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to:

• Take concrete action against the Israeli occupation authorities' continued harassment and criminalization of Palestinian human rights defenders and civil society organizations by calling for full revocation of the designation;
• Publicly call on Israeli authorities to immediately end efforts aimed at persecuting, delegitimizing, and criminalizing Palestinian human rights defenders and civil society organizations; and
• Call on relevant Cabinet Ministers, policymakers, and Members of Parliament to meet with the six Palestinian organizations.