Dear Prime Minister: Quiet Diplomacy Isn’t Working

As the latest death toll stands at 40,553 Palestinians and 1,139 people killed in Israel since October 7, 2023, Rev. Michael Blair, General Secretary, sent another letter to Prime Minister Trudeau regarding Canada’s relationship with the State of Israel.

This letter goes a step further.

It calls on the Prime Minister and Canada to suspend relations with the State of Israel until it has complied with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued on July 19.

“The United Church of Canada has written to the Government of Canada on many occasions to ask for more to be done to ensure a just peace in Palestine and Israel,” he writes. “This is the first time that we are asking for Canada to issue this kind of sanction on the State of Israel, because, clearly, quiet diplomacy is not working.”

The letter quotes the United Nations Human Rights Office’s press release (Aug. 10, 2024), which states that Israel targets schools where Gazan Palestinians are sheltering. The General Secretary, while also reiterating the United Church’s calls for an arms embargo on Israel, an immediate ceasefire and accountability, also requested an in-person meeting with the Prime Minister “to discuss how the church can work with the government in support of a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel.”