The Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the International Court of Justice. Photo from Wikimedia Commons. Last week, South Africa requested the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague make an urgent order declaring Israel in breach of its obligations under the Genocide Convention. Canadians should support
Continue readingAuthor: Yves Engler
Canadian Dimension: 11 ways for Canada to end complicity in Israel’s crimes
Large group of Palestinian men detained by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza. Photo by Itay Blumental/X. Canada’s recent vote in favour of a United Nations resolution demanding an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza lessens Ottawa’s complicity in Israel’s unfolding genocide against Palestinians in the besieged coastal strip. But
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: As politicians enable genocide, Canadians protest
Rally in Toronto organized by Toronto4Palestine, October 28, 2023. Photo by Sikander Iqbal/Wikimedia Commons. Over the past three weeks since it launched its brutal military bombardment of Gaza, Israel has killed more than 8,000 Palestinians and injured 20,000 more. Munitions unleashed by the Israeli Air Force onto the Gaza Strip
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: The NDP has been co-opted by Western imperialism
As developments in Ukraine, Libya, and Niger highlight, the United States and NATO interfere in other nations’ affairs with little remorse or consequence. And some Canadian “leftists” go along for the ride. The mainstream press has increasingly hinted that Washington’s aim in Eastern Europe is to use Ukraine as a
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Alpha dog of extractivism pushes status quo
Indonesian sulfur miners carrying their 90 kilogram loads of sulfur from the floor of the volcano to crater rim, Ijen Volcano, Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, February 9, 2015. Photo by Uwe Aranas/CEPhoto/Flickr. Canada has long undermined efforts by impoverished countries to draw greater benefits from their commodities. Ottawa’s opposition to
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: NATO does not, and never did, ‘defend’ democracy
NATO advocates frequently ignore the alliance’s ties to undemocratic regimes and its efforts to silence its critics, writes Yves Engler. Photo from Flickr. A secretive alliance Canadians never voted to join that requires this country to defend faraway lands and funnel ever greater resources to warfare is typically presented by
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: If Lula can call for peace in Ukraine, why not Canada’s left?
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in November 2021. Photo by Mídia NINJA/Flickr. Is Lula a pro-Russian “tankie”? Should the Canadian left echo or marginalize his outlook on Ukraine? Last week, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on the US and other Western countries to stop supplying
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Does the NDP want conflict with China?
Does the NDP want conflict with China? Party officials would deny it, but they are promoting measures that will ratchet up tensions between Ottawa and Beijing. In recent weeks the New Democrats have jumped on the ‘China interference’ bandwagon. In dozens of recent statements, Jagmeet Singh, Heather McPherson, Peter Julian,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Trudeau government’s support for Peruvian coup regime all about Canadian mining companies
Supporters of ousted Peruvian President Pedro Castillo protest his detention in Lima. Photo from Flickr. Seven weeks after Pedro Castillo was ousted as Peru’s democratically elected president, protests and blockades continue across the country. Nearly 60 protesters have been killed amid the unrest since Castillo was impeached and later arrested
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Liberal hubris keeps Bob Rae blind to Haitian history
Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae. Photo by Lars Hagberg/Queen’s University/Flickr. Bob Rae wants Canada to help re-establish a Haitian military with a brutal history. In making his case, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations demonstrated his ignorance and imperial hubris. Upon returning from a recent trip to
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Bad journalism, military funded academic produces hit job
Screengrab from the November 28 edition of Le Journal de Montréal. Image courtesy PressReader. Le Journal de Montréal recently smeared me as a Russian propagandist. In a story based upon the ‘research’ of a Canadian military-funded academic, Québec’s most widely circulated newspaper links disrupting politicians on a host of issues
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ottawa has never been a benevolent force in Iran
Portraits of Iran’s supreme leaders Ayatollah Khamenei and Ayatollah Khomeini. Photo from Flickr. When it comes to foreign policy, no matter what party is in power, it’s more of the same. The Liberals came to office promising to back away from the Conservative’s low-level war against Iran. With the prime
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Canada pushes for Caribbean troops to occupy Haiti
Members from the CARICOM Alpha Company, Kingston, Jamaica, arrive at the Port-au-Prince Airport to support American troops during Operation Uphold Democracy. Photo by Sean M. Worrell/USAF. Canada is acting just like the junior imperial power it is in a part of the world this country has long considered its backyard.
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: It’s not progressive to label pacifists ‘Putin stooges’
Street art depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin displayed at Filatorigát, a legal graffiti wall in Budapest. Photo courtesy Hungary Today. Promoting a proxy war with Russia isn’t progressive. It’s time to challenge leftists supporting NATO’s dangerous escalation in Ukraine. Last week two protesters interrupted a town hall hosted by Democratic
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Ottawa has given Haitians many good reasons not to like us
Thousands of Haitians protest in Port-au-Prince to demand Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s ouster, October 2022. Photo by Dieu Nalio Chery. A popular meme circulating among Haitians about a newly planned United Nations mission mockingly labels it MINUPAH (La Mission des Nations Unies pour la protection d’Ariel Henry). It’s a word
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Supporters of Palestinian rights should praise the NDP’s dramatic policy shift
“By failing to call out Israel for breaching international law and violating the human rights of the Palestinian people, Canada is contributing to the problem,” said NDP leader Jagmeet Singh in a recent statement. Image courtesy Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). Has a leading Canadian
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Peace-minded Canadians deserve a voice in Parliament
A Ukrainian soldier stands near a checkpoint leading to the city of Irpin near Kyiv. Photo by Volodymyr Kutsenko. NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson’s promotion of NATO and opposition to diplomacy is indirectly prolonging the horrors in Ukraine. On Monday McPherson attacked the Liberals for acceding to Germany’s request
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: One more nail in the coffin of Trudeau’s Latin American strategy
Gustavo Petro, the leftist former mayor of Bogota, was declared the winner of Colombia’s presidential election on June 19, 2022. Photo from Facebook. Gustavo Petro’s election victory in Colombia is a major blow to Justin Trudeau’s bid to bolster reactionary and pro-Washington governments in the hemisphere. Sunday’s historic presidential vote
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Response to missing miners proves real Canadian motives in Africa
Burkina Faso Prime Minister Albert Ouédraogo (centre, in blue hat) visits Perkoa Mine on May 1, where eight miners were trapped following a flood more than 520 metres beneath the surface. Photo courtesy the Government of Burkina Faso/Twitter. In late April, eight miners disappeared in an underground flood at a
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Israel lobby tries again to disrupt Canadian Palestinian solidarity
Palestinian-Canadian activist Khaled Barakat. Image courtesy Al Mayadeen. The Israel lobby has launched yet another odious and hypocritical attack. They are calling on the federal government to expel Palestinian-Canadian activist Khaled Barakat and criminalize the Canadian branch of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a registered not-for-profit corporation in Canada
Continue reading