Dear Ms. Chatel,

As I write, with my belly full of nourishing food harvested from my greenhouse, I am mindful of the children of Gaza who have already perished from starvation, the half a million people near starvation and the 1.6 million more facing acute famine. How anyone is still alive after more than 19 months of continual bombing and 70 days without the delivery of food, water, fuel and medical supplies is a testimony to the resilience of the Palestinian people.

The withholding of food and other aid as a weapon against a civilian population is genocide. The famine in Gaza is not a natural, humanitarian disaster; it is a deliberate, human-inflicted, heinous act by one nation. No way can it be called “self defense.” It is time for sanctions against the apartheid state of Israel. It is time to intervene and halt the famine.

Reading Charles Dickson’s recent editorial (Roméo, Louise and Lloyd, THE EQUITY, May 7, 2025), I was reminded of the Responsibility to Protect. After Rwanda’s genocide, Canada was instrumental in bringing to the world’s attention that all nations bear the responsibility to protect civilian populations anywhere in the world from genocide, regardless of perpetrating states’ sovereignty.

To quote from the Canadian Encyclopedia, “The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is a non-binding political commitment made by United Nations Member States to protect populations from genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and war crimes. Canadian leadership was instrumental in the establishment of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) in 2000, which led to the development and eventual adoption of R2P at the 2005 UN World Summit…

“It stipulates that a State carries the primary responsibility for the protection of its people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, and that the international community has a responsibility to assist States in fulfilling this responsibility. Should a State be unable or unwilling to protect its population from these crimes, the international community has a responsibility to protect populations from these crimes through appropriate intervention such as actual or threatened political and economic sanctions, blockades, diplomatic and military threats, international criminal prosecutions as well as actual military action. The collective use of military force through the UN Security Council is regarded as the absolute last resort.”
Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories for more than 70 years, and is therefore responsible for all the people living there.

It is past time for Canada to take global leadership and intervene on behalf of the Palestinian people, particularly those living under siege in Gaza, denied the basic necessities of life. It was a fine gesture for Canada to revoke 300 new military export permits, and I am thankful for that, but as you mentioned in your last letter to me, some older permits were not revoked. Military aid from Canada to Israel is still getting through to the oppressive regime, directly and through the US. More must be done. It’s time for immediate sanctions, and a two-way arms embargo.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has declared that “Aid is non-negotiable… The entry of assistance must be restored immediately… There must be no hindrance in humanitarian aid.” Back in April, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk warned of the total collapse of life-saving support, making it clear that “Third [party] states have clear obligations under international law to ensure that such conduct stops immediately, and they must act accordingly.”

A group I am a part of, “Canada, Stand Up for Palestinian Children’s Rights,” has signed onto a UNIFIED CALL TO CONFRONT FAMINE IN GAZA. It comes from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect. Canada is a supporting member. It envisions the immediate organization and deployment of a Diplomatic Humanitarian Convoy to Gaza through the Rafah Crossing. The aid that is so desperately needed is sitting there, waiting to be delivered. If diplomats from nations around the world who care about R2P showed up to escort that aid across the border, millions of lives could be saved. Here is a link to their call. https://www.globalr2p.org/publications/unified-call-to-confront-famine-in-gaza-launch-the-diplomatic-humanitarian-convoy-now/
Canada’s new minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand, has always seemed to me a reasonable, smart person of integrity who gets things done, quickly and effectively. Will you please speak with her and share my concerns and the concerns of thousands of other Canadians, who do not want to be party to a genocide, but long to see Canada once again step up to our R2P commitments? Applying sanctions against Netanyahu’s government should be a no brainer. Stepping up to join a diplomatic convoy to get aid to the starving, suffering, dying people of Gaza would be an act of moral courage, solidarity and clear demonstration of Canada’s commitment to humanitarian law and the rules-based international order. It would make me—and many others I know—proud to be Canadian. Please don’t wait for Parliament to reconvene. Act now.

Dorothy Herbert is a retired diaconal minister of The Presbyterian Church in Canada who visited Palestine and Israel on a mission study tour in 2016, and continues advocacy work for a just peace in Palestine and Israel.
She lives in Gracefield, QC.

Advertisement