The lives of Jewish Canadians, as well as the lives of Israelis, have been adversely affected by the policies carried out by the various governments of Israel. Despite growing international opposition to these policies, Israel continues to pursue a primarily military strategy while claiming to speak in the name of Jewish people around the world. In the absence of a public Jewish dissident voice all Jewish people are tainted by default with the fallout of such policies. Jewish Canadians have not been given an opportunity to discuss these issues, nor have we been able to make our views known.

It is surely time for those of us who have a different vision to come forward to present our views to the Canadian Jewish community and to the people of Canada. We also need to explain to the Government of Canada that Jewish Canadians do not speak as one voice with respect to current Israeli policies, and that thousands have grave doubts which until now have been muted. We have joined together to create a cross-Canada alliance of Jewish anti-occupation forces prepared to present our position both within the Jewish community of Canada and before the general public. In short, the Alliance proposes to serve as a Canada-wide, umbrella organization for Jewish dissenting individuals and groups.

Canadians, especially Jewish Canadians, seeking a peaceful resolution to the seemingly endless Israel-Palestinian Conflict, should no longer remain silent in the face of Israel’s actions in the Occupied Territories. Israel is taking over increasing amounts of land that the Oslo process had envisaged for the creation of a Palestinian state. In recent years, the prospects for the creation of a viable Palestinian state have diminished. Though declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, the Separation Wall continues to encroach on Palestinian municipalities, thereby making the creation of a viable Palestinian state impossible.

We urge Jewish Canadians to take a greater role in supporting and promoting a peaceful and just resolution to the Conflict. To that end, we wish to present ourselves to the Jewish community as an affiliated organization within the Canadian Jewish Congress. We are appealing to you to become a signing member of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians now as we are about to present ourselves for affiliation to the Congress.