PQCB UNEQUIVOCALLY CONDEMNS HAMAS AND ISRAELI CRIMES AND ATROCITIES
GROUP CALLS ON CANADA TO DEMAND CEASEFIRE AND NEGOTIATIONS
Peace Quest unequivocally condemns as illegal and immoral the attacks and massacres by Hamas militants on Israeli and other civilians on October 7, 2023, and the massive retaliatory attacks on civilian life and infrastructure by Israeli forces in pursuit of, to quote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “massive vengeance”. PQCB believes that the thirst for revenge – the same sick desire, after 56 years of Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, motivating the heinous Hamas massacres – cannot be allowed to override the fundamental principles of proportionality, discrimination and respect for non-combatant life and well-being enshrined and encoded in the laws and norms of war, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.
PQCB further believes that if successive Israeli governments, many led by Netanyahu, had provided authentic paths to peace for Palestinians, the road to hell for both sides would not have reached this current, horrific juncture. PQCB further believes that if successive Israeli governments, many led by Netanyahu, had provided authentic paths to peace for Palestinians, the road to hell for both sides would not have reached this current, horrific juncture; but even now, after so many chances and lives have been lost, only peace and non-violence can hope to stop the vicious circle.
PQCB is a member of the International Peace Bureau (IPB), the world’s oldest global anti-war alliance, and we fully associate ourselves with October 10 joint statement issued by IPB, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), and the Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), which insists “there is no military solution to the multifaceted and complex crisis between Israel and Palestine,” acknowledges “the deep suffering of Palestinians and Israelis even under the status quo, including settler violence, terrorist attacks, economic violence, and a constant fear under violation of international law,” calls for a ceasefire, establishment of humanitarian corridors, and an “immediate exchange of hostages and prisoners,” and urges the international community to “engage in negotiations based on the Arab Peace Initiative (API), the only comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict”.
The API, on the table since 2002, proposes full Arab normalisation of relations with Israel in return for a two-state solution premised on Israel withdrawal from the Occupied Territories to its 1967 borders. PQCB calls on the government of Canada to issue a statement along these same rational, lifesaving lines, and to condemn unequivocally all violations of international law by all parties to this rapidly escalating conflict.
