Skip to main content

“Peace and stability in the Middle East”?

A response to this statement, paragraph by disingenuous paragraph:

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2025/06/16/g7-leaders-statement-on-recent-developments-between-israel-and-iran

g7 leaders at Kananaskis

Dear Prime Minister
CC: Minister of Foreign Affairs, interim leader of the Conservative party, interim leader of the NDP, leader of the Green Party, leader of the Bloc and my local MP

Respectfully, leaders of the G7, your words are worse than utterly meaningless.

How can you possibly claim a “commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East” when you continue to sell weapons to the country who is making it unstable?

How can you affirm Israel's “right to defend itself” when it is the unprovoked attacker? What about Iran’s right to defend itself? How can we claim to uphold a rules-based order if we only respect the sovereignty of countries we like? (And why we should like Israel remains a mystery: this is not a commentary on the people of the country, only the reprehensible actions of its government.)

How can you state “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror”? There is no doubt the government of Iran's treatment of minorities, women and political opposition is unacceptable but regional instability in this moment has entirely been caused by the country that has bombed – unprovoked – three of its neighbours and is doing its level best to obliterate every building and human being in a portion of territory it has illegally occupied for more than 70 years.

No one should have nuclear weapons. Interestingly, of the two state actors named, only one of them has nuclear weapons and it’s not the one you are condemning.

How can you call this “the Iranian crisis” when the crisis is wholly caused by Israel’s unprovoked, malicious, wanton attack? “A broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East” is not possible without de-arming the murderous Israeli state. Invoking a ceasefire in Gaza here rings hollow when you've done nothing substantive to demand or enforce it in almost 2 years.

Even aside from having any concern for the human beings who live in these countries, it is egregious to countenance any state actor making war in this moment of climate crisis. We are careening toward climate catastrophe fast enough without accelerating due to bombing. If you can’t bring yourself to care about human rights in other countries, could you at least care enough about your own citizens not to hasten the floods, fires and droughts we are sure to suffer in the coming climate instability?

Finally, how can you end your communique with the supposed reassurance about “energy markets” and “market stability”? Who cares about that at this time? Where is your humanity? What about the people living in a state of fear and terror? What about the destruction of their homes and public spaces? What about the innocent lives being ripped from this life?

I am utterly ashamed that this is the reassurance the leaders of the supposedly enlightened, “free world” can come up with. There is no humanity in these delusional platitudes and affirmations.

Labels:

Comments

kar0ling said…
What this letter was reacting to was the one-sided perspective of the statement from world leaders. I have been reminded that the Islamic Republic is very much a villain (as my letter acknowledges, but perhaps not strongly enough) -- also a significant contributor to regional instability, and, of course, trampler of human rights -- and that it gives many people hope to think the regime could be crushed by this offensive. My grief and outrage is for the innocent civilians who will be crushed along with it. To fill in some perspective missing from my letter, note voices like Masih's: https://youtu.be/nzC1jzwy9Ec?si=pRzpyKNICS0kQDOJ
June 19, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What happened to the pledge?

To the 20 (re-elected) Liberal MPs who signed the Vote Palestine platform.  You signed the Vote Palestine platform.   The time to fulfill your pledge is now.  Gaza is facing mass starvation. This isn’t food scarcity. This is intentional blockage of food as a tool of genocide. Canada’s joint statement with 25 other nations called on all the parties to “uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law.”  But Israel has been flagrantly violating multiple obligations of international law almost daily since October 8, 2023 and certain on every day since Canada’s statement was released. There is no need to wait, to give Israel the benefit of the doubt to do the right thing.  “We are prepared to take further action”, the statement reads. So do it.  Canada must immediately impose a true arms embargo on Israel – a two-way arms embargo – and it must actually put it into force and close all loopholes.  Canada must immediately levy sancti...
1 comment
Read more

Letter writing success

Last week, several sources linked to a letter appealing to venerable Canadian scientist and nature advocate David Suzuki to withdraw from a supposed climate prize due to its deep ties to an unbashedly colonlialist Israeli organization. The JNF's claim to fame is planting trees in Israel. Pine trees. Non-native trees. Trees that are susceptible to wildfires. Trees intentionally planted atop forcibly-emptied Palestinian villages to try to erase their memory.  The letters worked. Suzuki withdrew. I hadn't gotten around to writing before I got the news. So when a follow up letter to other participants in the prize hit my inbox, I rushed to put my own spin on the letter and sign it. Send your own here I urge you to join David Suzuki in withdrawing from the upcoming Climate Solutions Prize (CSP) festival. CSP was instigated by the racist Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada with support from the Israeli government. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet announced the launch of CSP...
Post a Comment
Read more

Electric cars

“We know we need to cut emissions,” he said Monday at an outdoor news conference at Royal Roads University in the suburban Victoria-area community of Colwood. “We know we need to reduce pollution and one of the best ways of doing that is to get more clean cars on the road.” Last week's federal budget placed an emphasis on transitioning to the green economy, which included expanding the availability of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations, Trudeau said. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/trudeau-expected-to-make-announcement-on-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-576385262.html Dear PM Trudeau Yes, we need to cut emissions, but no, one of the best ways to do that is NOT to get more clean cars on the road; it is to REDUCE the number of cars on the road and get those drivers into buses, trains, trams, and onto bicycles or just using their feet. Please do invest in electric vehicles but put that priority BELOW investing in public transportation an...
Post a Comment
Read more