Letter to Prime Minister Trudeau re Gaza violence

May 19, 2018

The Right Hon. Justin Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Office of the Prime Minister 80 Wellington Street Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau:

Re: Violence in Gaza

I am writing to you as President of Science for Peace, a civil society group that works for peace by using a scientific approach, and on behalf of our members.

First of all, we would like to express our strong support for your good statement condemning Israel’s deadly shootings of Gaza protesters and calling for an independent investigation into this massacre.

We are appalled by the level of violence on the part of the Israeli military against civilian Palestinians who demonstrated in their own land and at the deliberate targeting of medical personnel.

We would like you to go a step further by demanding an end to the siege of Gaza; Israel’s closure of air, land, sea access; Israel’s repeated destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, leaving 1.8 million people with virtually no electricity or potable water; Israel’s prohibition of vital medical supplies to Gaza and its preventing Gazans from leaving for life-saving medical treatment.

We also would like you to demand an end to Israel’s use of unconventional weapons and its hugely disproportionate use of force against a captive civilian population.

Canada must stand by the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

Yours sincerely, Sorpong Peou, PhD