Medical and Humanitarian Organizations Call for a Day of Mourning for the Palestinian Victims of Israeli War Crimes Killed on September 27 Massacre​

The full and open letter including signatories is below. A joint press conference will be held on Friday, September 27, 2024 on Parliament Hill at 1 pm Eastern.

Participants and details are as follows;

Date: Friday, September 27th, 2024
Time: 1 pm Eastern, Room: 135B

Participants:

Samar Odeh, President, Palestinian Students Association, University of Ottawa
Ganiyat Sadiq, Ottawa Advocacy Officer, Justice For All Canada
Hakima Moktary, Registered Social Worker, Lecturer, Activist, and PhD Student
Nour El Kadri, Professor, University of Ottawa
Israa Alsaafin, Palestinian Canadian

Community advocates are approaching Hon. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the perspective of interfaith solidarity, driven by a shared commitment to peace, justice, and the sanctity of human life. Since the Nakba, Israel has conducted repeated massacres of Palestinian civilians.

For example:

Sep 27th, 2008: Israeli Operation “Caste Lead” kills 1400 Palestinians, 320 of whom were children, in 23 days of devastating air and ground attacks.

Nov 14th, 2012: Israeli Operation “Pillar of Defense” kills more than 80 people, mostly women and children, in an 8-day assault.

Jul 8th, 2014: Israeli Operation “Protective Edge” kills 2,310 Palestinians, 551 of whom were children, in a 50-day onslaught. Approximately 11,000 Palestinians were wounded, 20,000 homes were destroyed and 500,000 people were displaced.

Jul 21st, 2014: Israeli aerial and ground forces use white phosphorus bombs to pound several residential areas across Gaza. White phosphorus burns flesh down to the bone, and toxic phosphoric acid can also be released into wounds with phosphorus poisoning. The use of white phosphorus in Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, violates the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions. This is done to prevent harm to civilians and civilian property.

May 2021: Israeli 11-day assault kills 260 Palestinians, 67 of whom were children.

Between 2008 to 2022, Israeli attacks in the illegally occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank killed over 6,180 Palestinian civilians.

Over the past nearly 1 year, there has been relentless carpet bombing of Gaza, killing more than 41,000 Palestinians, over 2/3 of whom are women and children. It is estimated more than 186,000 deaths are attributable to this current war on Gaza (1). Illegal white phosphorus was used again to bomb the Children’s Hospital in Gaza. Israeli forces target Palestinian children and women with sniper attacks at close range to children’s heads and chests, and bulldoze pregnant women to death. At least 3,000 children have had at least 1 limb amputated with no anaesthetic. More than 17,000 Palestinian children have been killed.(2) In addition, Save the Children estimates that 21,000 Palestinian children are missing, including more than an estimated 4,000 buried under rubble or in mass graves, burned alive, or kidnapped.(3) Outbreaks of polio and hepatitis as well as other diseases are now widespread. According to the UN, more children have been killed in the past several months in Gaza than in all global conflicts over the past 4 years (4). More than 1.8 million people are now being starved to death in Gaza with the illegal and immoral blockade on food, water and medical care. The healthcare system in Gaza has been completely destroyed, and international charitable organizations are unable to deliver medical relief. Critical medical supplies, including medications and equipment, are not allowed to enter Gaza. A total of 986 healthcare workers have been killed in Gaza since Oct 2023 by Israeli forces (5).

Israel has now extended these war crimes into the illegally occupied West Bank, where more than 650 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Thousands of Palestinian children are held in Israeli jails under arbitrary detention with no charges, where they are abused, as reported by Save the Children (3). All 30 wells in Gaza have been bombed by the Israeli forces and Gaza is now uninhabitable (6). All hospitals, schools, universities, and even refugee camps have been bombed.

The ICJ has confirmed that Israel’s prolonged occupation of Palestinian territories (including Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem) is illegal. Israel, as an occupying force, is obligated to protect the people and the territory it is occupying. Instead, it has violated all principles of International Humanitarian law killing, burning, dismembering children and civilians, shutting down the press, killing journalists in record numbers and banning foreign reporters preventing documentation of the war crimes and atrocities occurring daily.

Canada must respect and uphold the rulings of the International Court of Justice (and the International Criminal Court if arrest warrants are issued) and align our policy at the UN with International Law. We urgently call for serious diplomatic pressure to end the inhumane bombing and provision of humanitarian aid, the evacuation of wounded children and family members out of Gaza, and end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian Territories.

We call for an official day of mourning on September 27th and global action to stop the ongoing massacres of the Palestinian people.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We trust that you will act with compassion and urgency to help bring an end to this devastating war on children.

Sincerely,

Justice For All Canada – Taha Ghayyur
Canadians in Support of Refugees in Dire Need (CSRDN) - Dr. Aliya Khan
Canadians for Palestine –Dr. Azzam
United for Peace-Canadian Interfaith Coalition – Hugh Doherty
Muslim Advisory Council of Canada
Canadian Muslim Healthcare Network - Dr H. Dahan
Union of Medical Care and Organizations Canada – Dr. Anas Alkassem
Humanity Auxilium, Dr. Fozia Alvi
Doctors for Humanity – Dr. Taher Ghouse