By: Eden Chipperfield, News Writer

Content warning: mentions of war, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. 

The Israeli army and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), have instigated a multitude of attacks in Gaza, where over 9,000 people have died. This comes in response to events on October 7, where the Islamist militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. This attack has drawn attention to the long, horrendous history of oppression and ethnic cleansing the state of Palestine has endured for decades. 

Canada has provided $50 million to those in Gaza for humanitarian assistance. However, many believe that this act is not enough to address the devastation that Palestinians and the people of Gaza are facing. Many consider it hypocritical for Canada to sell military weapons to Israel while also donating humanitarian assistance to those affected by Israel’s attacks in Gaza. 

On October 27, a Vancouver community of Jewish individuals and allies held a powerful demonstration outside the office of minister of energy and natural resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, to pressure the Liberal government to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.  

To understand more about the call to action, The Peak spoke to Nick Gottlieb, an Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) member and an organizer of the protest. 

“We are in the early stages of what is shaping up to be one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever committed. More than 800 experts and numerous international agencies have warned that this is a genocide,” expressed Gottlieb. “Israeli government officials have called Palestinians ‘human animals’ and openly expressed their intent to remove Palestinians from Gaza, killing as many as necessary along the way. As Jews, we feel a particular responsibility to stop this genocide because it’s being enacted in our name by a state that claims to, but does not, represent us.”

Gottlieb clarified why IJV has been focused on getting the attention of Wilkinson, due to his government influence as a cabinet minister. “23 other Liberal MPs have already called for a ceasefire; we are pressuring those who hold more power to join the call and force prime minister Trudeau to call for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the siege, and blockade of Gaza, and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories,” said Gottlieb. 

However, Gottlieb noted there are other significant reasons why Wilkinson is being pressured to speak, primarily due to his involvement in the conflict: “His ethics disclosures indicate that his spouse owns shares in Lockheed Martin, an arms, defense, and technology company that continues to supply the Israeli military with missiles. Lockheed Martin’s stock price rose nearly 10% on October 7, the day this violence started, and has continued climbing since. It is beyond shameful that our leaders are directly profiting from supporting genocide.” According to CNN, Lockheed Martin, and other “shares of military contractors, [saw their stock prices] spike as both institutional and retail investors bought in” to the conflict. “Lockheed Martin executives highlighted the Israel and Ukraine conflicts as potential drivers for increased revenue in the coming years.”

Another reason for raising awareness regarding Wilkinson is his role as energy and natural resources minister. Gottlieb mentioned oil and gas resources are sourced in Israel, and as a minister, he should address how Israel is continuously “issuing new licenses for oil and gas development as the war goes on.”

Various individuals have voiced significant concerns about the Canadian government’s stance on Israel. Gottlieb and other members of the IJV have expressed their sincere disappointment in Canada’s outlook. “We will not mince words: this is a genocide,” said Gottlieb, “we demand that Canada break from the US, demand an immediate ceasefire and end to the blockade of Gaza, and work towards long-term solutions to ending the violence — solutions which must, at their core, include an end to the occupation of Palestinian land.

“More than a million people have been displaced. Water and fuel supplies have been cut off for weeks, and hospitals run out of fuel to run their generators and treat patients. The Israelis bombed a refugee camp twice in the last few days. Why is there a refugee camp there, you might ask? Palestinians have been refugees in their land since the Nakba in 1948 when settlers expelled 700,000 of them to establish the Israeli state.”

The Nakba was the “mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.” The conflict between Palestine and Israel began in the 1930s when European powers directed Jewish people around the world to settle in the area after WWII. European powers were attempting to establish a “Jewish state in Palestine” because Zionist organization leaders were claiming they had “historical connections” to the land. However, according to the United Nations, Indigenous Palestinians “had inhabited the land for virtually the two preceding millennia [and] felt this design to be a violation of their natural and inalienable rights.” The effects of Nakba are still present today; Israel’s Zionist government has engaged in “a series of successive wars,” so it can expand its territory “to occupy all of Palestine.” The Palestinian people were left with Gaza and the West Bank.   

Gottlieb noted that the IJV came together to support Palestinians during a time of severe polarization between Jewish and Muslim communities. “Advocates fighting for Palestinian rights — and frankly, for their humanity — are often accused of anti-semitism. As Jews, we want to say firmly that opposing the Israeli regime’s genocidal acts of terror is not anti-semitism,” said Gottlieb. He said he believes “if we want to fight anti-semitism, we need to stop allowing the Israeli regime to equate itself with Judaism.”