For the past few days a campaign of terror has unleashed havoc and death in Lebanon. On Tuesday a coordinated explosion of pagers across Lebanon left 12 dead, hundreds in critical condition and thousands injured. On Wednesday, a similar coordinated detonation of communication devices such as telephones and “walkie talkies” left 14 Lebanese dead and hundreds more injured. Although Israeli authorities have yet to take responsibility, several reports have confirmed that the detonation was orchestrated and planned for months prior by Israeli intelligence services.
Several mainstream media outlets and pundits have misrepresented this Israeli campaign of terror against the civilian population of Lebanon as a sophisticated targeted attack against high-ranking officials within Hezbollah. We know that was not the case. Israel’s attack on communication methods targeted and killed civilians, including 9 year old Fatima Abdullah.
Certain Canadian officials such as the University of Ottawa’s former special advisor on antisemitism Artur Wilczynski praised the rampage of terror that Israel set off within Lebanese society. Pro-Israel lobby groups such as CIJA have additionally released statements making light of the death and destruction created by Israel’s terror campaign. Let us be clear: the indiscriminate murder of civilians and using civilian infrastructure as lethal weapons is a crime under international law. Mr. Wilczynski’s resignation is the first step in a larger move towards accountability on the part of public officials and lobbyists, and confirmation that the Canadian public and Jewish Canadians will never accept the notion that somehow the recourse to terror is worthy of praise.
Although Israel’s actions must be denounced in the strongest terms possible, unfortunately Israel’s crimes in Lebanon have not received the universal condemnation they deserve.
As we are about to mark the one year anniversary of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza, Israel’s deadly campaign appears to be expanding to include the West Bank and neighboring countries such as Lebanon. The crimes of the Israeli government risk setting the whole region ablaze.
Canada must condemn this Israeli act of aggression and its campaign to terrorize the civilian population of Lebanon. Canada must take all the diplomatic, political and economic measures necessary to sanction Israel’s crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, in the West Bank and in Lebanon.
The Canadian government must honour its international obligations, condemn Israel’s campaign of terror, and take the necessary steps to prevent further violence by sanctioning Israel and its civilian and military leadership, who have violated the most basic standard of international humanitarian law.
IJV stands with the people of Lebanon in the wake of these horrific attacks and will keep working with its allies towards a better future filled with justice, equality and peace for all.