Many urging Cambridge MP Bryan May to call for full arms embargo on Israel

By James Sebastian-Scott and Justine Fraser

A few dozen people gathered outside of the Cambridge constituency office of Liberal MP Bryan May asking him to call for a full arms embargo on Israel.

The gathering held on Thursday at 534 Hespeler Road was part of a national June 13 Arms Embargo Now Day of Action.

Shatha Mahmoud, organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement in KW, said the event bring to light some of the issues the group disagrees with.

“It’s important because this is a campaign that is pressuring every single MP in the Waterloo Region to ensure that they impose an immediate two arms embargo or sign on to the campaign,” she told CityNews 570 in an interview.

More than 30 other visits are being held across the country today including in Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Fort McMurray, Alta., Saint John and New Glasgow, N.S.

The Arms Embargo Now demand was first published May 7, and has been endorsed by more than 400 Palestinian associations, labour unions, faith institutions, human rights and environmental organizations and community groups across Canada.

“Anytime there’s an escalation, we have a protest,” Mahmoud said. “Depending on what’s happening, we will mobilize and organize a rally.”

According to the Palestinian Youth Movement and Neighbours for Palestine – Waterloo Region, 42 parliamentarians from the Liberal, NDP and Green parties including local MP’s Tim Louis and Mike Morrice have now signed-on to an abbreviated version of the statement. It is also calling on the Canadian government to immediately suspend all trade in arms and military technology with Israel.

Those who attended brought a big copy of the statement to the riding office. The organizations are trying to emphasize what they call the “imminent danger to Palestinian lives in Gaza.”

On Saturday, Israel carried out a military operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp that freed four Israeli hostages and killed more than 270 Palestinians.

A request for comment was sent to MP Bryan May’s office but it was not returned before publication.

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