Great news from the Green Party of Canada’s special #BDS convention in Calgary, Alberta!
The BDS policy was upheld by a super majority of almost 85%.
Congratulations to Dimitri Lascaris, Lisa Barrett and all of the progressive members of the federal Green Party that stood up for human rights by presenting this resolution that has shattered the pro-Israel consensus in the Canadian House of Commons!
The work to reunite the party following this period of vigorous debate begins now.
In solidarity,
Alex Tyrrell
Leader of the Green Party of Québec
From The Huffington Post:
The new resolution detaches Canada’s Greens from the international BDS movement — founded by Palestinian civil society in 2005. This seems to have been a priority for May: removing the actual « B.D.S. » abbreviation from official party policy.
Yet for BDS proponents, the new resolution still holds Israel to task for ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinians. Like BDS, the resolution also expresses support for Palestinian statehood, calls for the repatriation or compensation of Palestinian refugees, and demands equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Significantly, the new resolution also advocates strong action — including « economic pressure » on Israel — to galvanize it into good faith negotiations for a Palestinian state. It also green lights « government sanctions, consumer boycotts, institutional divestment, economic sanctions and arms embargoes » to oppose violence and oppression in Israel-Palestine.
