PV staff
As Israel’s genocidal siege of Gaza has continued, with the support of Western governments, anti-war and solidarity groups have warned of the dangerous possibility that it will expand into a regional war. That concern is being realized now, as the US and Britain carry out direct strikes against forces in Yemen which have been trying to block supply shipments to Israel through the Red Sea.
On January 11 and 12, US and British forces launched more than 100 missiles into Yemen. These attacks were supported by Canada, a move which the Canadian Peace Congress condemns. “Canada has demonstrated its total lack of independence by shamefully participating in these criminal acts,” said Congress president Larry Wasslen. “The Canadian military provided three staff officers to the operation, and Canada currently has twenty armed forces personnel deployed to a US operational headquarters in Qatar.”
Over the past several years, the Canadian government has facilitated arms sales worth many billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia, which is the biggest recipient of the Canadian military exports after the US. Canadian Voice of Women for Peace has noted that Canadian arms corporations made billions in profit while millions of Yemeni civilians, mostly women and children, were killed or starved through Saudi Arabia’s brutal aggression.
The Canadian Peace Congress condemns Ottawa’s “cowardly support” for Israel’s aggression in Palestine and calls for the immediate end to Canadian participation in the attacks on Yemen. It also calls for Canada’s immediate withdrawal from NATO and other military alliances including NORAD and the Five Eyes.
“Canada needs an independent foreign policy that respects the UN Charter and international law and uses all its diplomatic abilities to end wars of aggression,” said Wasslen. “We need to build the peace movement, so that it is strong enough to force the government to alter its current course of supporting militarism and war.”
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