July 13, 2006
All-out War could break out because of Israel's Attack and Blockade of Lebanon
MCC urges Prime Minister Harper to intervene with Israel and the US

TORONTO - The Muslim Canadian Congress has called on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to intervene in the Middle East crisis before an all-out war breaks out as a result of Israel's attack and subsequent blockade of Lebanon.

In a letter to the Canadian Prime Minister, MCC secretary general El-Farouk Khaki said Israel's air attacks on Lebanese infrastructure and civilian targets has caused a number of deaths and widespread destruction. "Please call on your Israeli counterpart and ask him to stop this violation of Lebanon's sovereignty."

The Israeli authorities know very well that the Lebanese government has no control over the activities of Hizbollah. To blockade and bomb Lebanon and inflict collective punishment on the Lebanese people for the actions of Hizbollah, is no way to find a solution to the current crisis.

The letter implored on the Canadian Prime Minister to use his good offices with President Bush to seek a quick resolution to the current crisis, which the letter said, threatens peace and stability in the entire region and plays into the hands of the very terrorists and extremists that Canada purports to fight.

The MCC strongly feels that the only way to extract the Middle East from its current quagmire is to work toward the ending of Israel's occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territories. The occupation of Arab lands by Israel is not only illegal, immoral and a challenge to the United Nations, it has not provided the very security Israel says it seeks. In fact, the occupation has strengthened the opponents of the peace process and provided extremist organizations the impetus to recruit from among Muslim youth world-wide.

The folly of Israel s actions is for all to see. They have contributed nothing to Israel's own security and have wrecked the Roadmap to Peace while derailing all attempts to create two sovereign states; Palestine and Israel, existing side-by-side, living in peace, with dignity of their citizens and security of their land.

When Hamas won the Palestinian elections, the MCC warned of the consequences of rejecting the will of the Palestinian people. In January 2006, Jehad Aliweiwi and Tarek Fatah wrote in the Toronto Star:

"If Israel and the West do not accept the results of the Palestinian election, it will only validate the claim by Islamic fundamentalists that parliamentary democracy is acceptable to the West only if serves the interests of the U.S., not the Arab people. If Israel makes the election of Hamas an excuse not to engage with the Palestinians, cynics will not be wrong to ask: Where was this engagement when Fatah was in power? After all, Israel had 10 years to thrash out a deal with Fatah, but refused to do so and spared no chance to undermine the PA and dismiss Fatah."

By respecting the democratic wishes of the Palestinian people, Washington, Tel Aviv and Ottawa could have facilitated the evolution of Hamas from an armed group to a mainstream political party. The MCC feels that if it had been allowed to govern, and faced with the realpolitik of the region, Hamas would have recognized the State of Israel and would have engaged in peace talks. Other armed groups had made that transition, why wouldn't we give Hamas a chance?

But our advise and that of many groups who seek an end to the Middle East crisis, was met with derision. Today, we can see the consequences of the boycott of Hamas and the economic strangulation of the Palestinian people by US and Israel actions--failure.

The Muslim Canadian Congress believes in a two-state solution based on the Roadmap to Peace, the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and the Geneva Accord put forward by Israeli and Palestinian Peace activists Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo. We believe that there is no military solution to the Israel-Palsetine dispute and call on both Israel and Hizbollah to step back from the brink of disaster.