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ACTION ALERT : Israeli air force to participate in Maple Flag exercises in Canada Exercise MAPLE FLAG is a six-week international air combat exercise held annually at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta. The exercise, which will be taking place from May 15 to June 24 2005, provides Canadian and allied aircrew with realistic training in a modern simulated air combat environment, and emphasizes air operations involving large package coalition forces. McLeans Magazine reports that the Israeli Air Force will be taking part in these exercises. It is an affront to all Canadians who respect the law that the Israeli Air Force has been invited to participate in the Maple Flag training exercises. The Israeli Air Force is one of the instruments of repression that the state of Israel uses to subjugate the Palestinian civilian population. They are not regular defense forces. They are forces of aggression. Canada should not allow Canadians to exercise with them. If you feel outrage, please circulate this alert and let the Canadian government know how you feel. Write/phone/fax your concern to: The Hon. Bill Graham: Graham.B@parl.gc.ca Phone: 613-996-3100 - Facsimile: 613-995-8189 and cc: Prime Minister Paul Martin: pm@pm.gc.ca Keith Martin, MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence: Martin.K@parl.gc.ca and 4wingcoldlake@forces.gc.ca Your own MP - find out your MP using your postal code: http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/index.asp?Language=E It would also be helpful if you could send us a blind copy of your email. Sample Letter: To: Graham.B@parl.gc.ca ; dnd_mdn@forces.gc.ca ; Cotler.I@parl.gc.ca Cc: pm@pm.gc.ca ; DeVillers.P@parl.gc.ca ; Martin.K@parl.gc.ca ; Macklin.P@parl.gc.ca ; 4wingcoldlake@forces.gc.ca ; Belanger.M@parl.gc.ca Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 9:21 PM Subject: Maple Flag Training Exercises, Cold Lake Alberta The Honourable Bill Graham, Minister of National Defence National Defence and The Honourable Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Minister Graham, Minister Cotler, The Israeli Air Force has been allowed to participate in the Maple Flag training exercises in Cold Lake, Alberta, for the first time ever this year. Given that the Israeli Air Force has a history of bombing and killing those it is supposed to protect; that is has used missiles against civilians, ambulances and even refugees in a UN camp in Qanaa, Lebanon; and that it has executed extra-judicial assassinations, in violation of international and humanitarian law, I would like confirmation that prior to giving clearance to these pilots your department has conducted the necessary background checks, and that these have confirmed beyond doubt that the pilots have never participated in any illegal activity against Palestinian civilians and neighbouring countries. Yonatan Shapira, one of the Air Force pilots, who refused to serve in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said that during his interview with Air Force Commander General Dan Halutz, he asked what the general would say if there were a missile attack on a targeted individual on a major street in Tel Aviv, surrounded by Israeli civilians. "The general then told me that there is a scale of blood-worth: Israelis at the top, Palestinians at the bottom. When he said that, it was clear to me that I had made the right decision." Canadians find it abhorrent to assign value to life according to religion or ethnicity. The prevalent view in some quarters in Israel that Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives must not be tolerated. It must not leech into mainstream Canadian thought as it seems to have in some government circles. Extra-judicial assassinations carried out by the Israeli Air Force have claimed the lives of more than 120 Palestinians, 84 of them civilian bystanders. In July 2002, an F-16 pilot dropped a one-tonne bomb on the home of Hamas leader Salah Shehade in a crowded Gaza neighbourhood. The bomb killed Shehade, but also 14 other civilians, most of them children. These are war crimes under the Geneva convention. Considering that our policies are anchored in international law, we should make sure that those allowed on Canadian soil are not war criminals. I would therefore be grateful to hear what background checks you have conducted and their results. Thank you for your prompt response. Bahija Réghaï Ottawa Other Samples: Dear Minister Graham, I am shocked that you have invited Israel to participate in the Maple training exercises. The Israeli Air Force has been used as an instrument of oppression and you do a great disservice to our own forces by allowing them to exercise with pilots who have used their F-16s to kill hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. The "Role of Pride and Influence in the World" that you intend for Canada cannot be achieved if we associate with forces that are known not for their defensive, but for their offensive abilities and profound disregard for lives that are not Israeli. How can we look credibly impartial when we play war games on the side of the Israelis? How can we tell Palestinians that we respect international law and that we are impartial, when we host those who oppress and kill them? No other rogue state's Air Force would be welcome in Canada. Why is Israel exonerated from its legal and humanitarian obligations? Why does it receive preferential treatment by my government? Even Israeli veteran pilots have refused to carry out "attack orders that are illegal and immoral of the type the state of Israel has been conducting in the territories." http://www.jfjfp.org/BackgroundW/refusenik_pilots.htm How can you, Minister, ignore their stand for what is right by opening our country to those who act illegally? I will feel much less secure knowing that we have on our soil forces that do not respect international law and get away with it. Minister, if you are really serious about "..protecting our interests, and enhancing Canada's contribution to global security and peace building," then withdraw your invitation to the Israeli Air Force. Sincerely, Your Name and full address ************ Dear Minister Graham: I am very disappointed that Canada would invite the Israeli air force, which is notorious for bombing and killing innocent civilians and whose country is in violation of hundreds of UN resolutions and is in illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, to participate in military exercises in Canada. To Canada's Arab and Muslim community and the Arab and Muslim worlds this invitation will be seen as a partisan act and as a sign of support for Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. The Canadian government is "officially" opposes to the illegal land confiscations in the Occupied Territories and the building of illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. Why would you want to be been seen as rewarding Israel with an invitation to its military when its government is flagrantly violating the International law and abusing the human rights of the Palestinians, international observers and even Jewish peace activists who are opposing the illegal policies of Ariel Sharon. Virtually every single human rights organization in the world condemns Israel's policies towards the Palestinians ---Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, The International Red Cross, the United Nations, and B'teslem a respected Israeli human rights organization to name just a few. All of these organizations and many Jewish individuals and organizations condemn Ariel Sharon's policies towards the Palestinians. You would not invite apartheid South Africa to participate in joint Canadian military exercises why would you invite apartheid Israel to participate in Canadian military exercises? Please withdraw this invitation to the Israeli air force and speak out consistently and strongly for human rights for all. Your Comments |
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