International Conflicts & Peace

Unitarians have long been peace activists. We don’t hold any consensus on specific issues such as total passivism vs. the possibilities of just war. Nevertheless, in a spirit of dialogue, we lean strongly towards anti-war solutions and non-violent conflict resolution. We have a strong presence at the United Nations through the UU UNO, and were instrumental in helping with the formation of the International Criminal Court. Our second principle — “to promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations” and our sixth principle — “the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all” guide us.

Report on COP 26 by Ahti Tolvanen

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Faith Tested: Deep Throat and Zombie Credits in Glasgow. by Ahti Tolvanen, CUSJ Delegate to COP26 It began on Halloween. I was pleased to be the sole representative, of Canadian Unitarians and CUSJ on site- as well as at meetings on the COP Interfaith Liason Committee.  I was also honored to accept an invitation to … Read more

Climate Action Network Sets PM’s Clock

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CUSJ is a member of the Climate Action Network and signed on to this long but informative letter detailing what is needed in a government oriented to acting on the climate emergency. Dear Prime Minister Trudeau, Congratulations on your re-election to lead Canada’s government at this pivotal time in history. The next few years are … Read more

Does this lady look like a “security threat” to you?

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For over two hours hours on January 15, members of Homes not Bombs and Ottawa Raging Grannies staged a sit-in at the entrance to Global Affairs Canada, demanding a meeting with Chrystia Freeland, with what seemed like a tantalizing proposal: Freeland could, with the stroke of a pen, cancel the $15 billion Saudi weapons contract, … Read more

CUSJ endorses #StopJNF campaign

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CUSJ is proud to have endorsed the #StopJNF campaign, which seeks to revoke the Jewish National Front (JNF) Canada’s charitable status and expose, challenge and stop the JNF’s discriminatory and harmful activities.  As explained in the campaign website, the JNF is a private corporation whose lands were obtained through exploitative land sales and often-violent, forced … Read more

Opinion: Israel has taken the wrong path

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Jake Javanshir is an Iranian Jew whose family emigrated to Israel in 1950. Jake knows Israel well: he grew up there and served in the army, and he has many family members there still. Jake confides that, years ago, he became disillusioned with Israeli politics and moved to Canada. He has visited Israel a few … Read more

BDS is a movement in the spirit of human solidarity

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Here is a letter that CUSJ President Margaret Rao wrote recently to Prime Minister Trudeau and to Chrystia Freeland.

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing to you on behalf of Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice (CUSJ), a national faith-based organization that advocates for peace and justice in our world. I have written to you on other occasions pointing out that the global, grassroots, Palestinian-led BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) movement is non-violent in nature, promoting economic and cultural boycotts as a means to end Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights and international law. The BDS movement works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and to pressure Israel to comply with international law. Specifically, the BDS campaign seeks to end more than 5 decades of Israel’s military rule over 4.5 million Palestinians, including the 11 year illegal blockade of Gaza, the killing and maiming of unarmed Gazan protesters and medics, the ongoing forcible eviction of Palestinians from their homes, the expulsion of indigenous Bedouins from their traditional lands and the construction of illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank.

The boycott movement also seeks equal rights for Palestinian (Arab-Israeli) citizens of Israel, currently discriminated against by dozens of racist laws and enshrined in the new Nation-State Law, defining Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. In December 2016, former Secretary of State John Kerry pointed out that the State of Israel “can be Jewish or it can be democratic – not both!’ Criticism of the State of Israel has nothing to do with anti-Semitism, nor with Judaism. When you conflate the Palestinian people’s struggle for basic human rights and freedom with anti-Semitism, you do a grave injustice to freedom- loving Jews and non-Jews everywhere.

Your recent statement of apology to the Jewish people for turning away a boat full of Jewish refugees in 1939 was right and good and well overdue. “There is little doubt that our silence permitted the Nazis to come up with their own final solution,” you stated. And what of Canada’s and the international community’s decades-long silence on the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people? Palestinian refugees constitute nearly 50% of all Palestinians. As Holocaust survivor and IJV (Independent Jewish Voices) supporter, Suzanne Weiss expressed to you in an open letter,’ “We must all demonstrate the spirit of human solidarity that Canada failed to show in 1939 to counter the persecution and suffering of all afflicted peoples, including the Palestinians.” Let us take the hard lessons learned from the past and apply them to the present, so that we may work together, Palestinians, Jews, and non-Jews, to cultivate a world of peace, justice and dignity for one and all.

Standing on the Side of Love and Justice!!

Margaret Rao

President, Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice

CUSJ commends Rev. Eklof for broaching a “taboo” topic: the BDS movement

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This post was modified on November 9th to include details of Rev. Eklof’s correspondence with a local synagogue. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane in Washington state, created quite a stir recently when they hosted the Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME) who showed the film  “Occupation of the American Mind” to the congregation. … Read more

CUSJ to Liberal gov’t: stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia

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On September 18 2018, CUSJ President Margaret Rao sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and to Chrystia Freeland, asking them to terminate the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. Rao first commended the government for its principled verbal stand against Saudi Arabia’s recent arrest of women’s rights defenders. Then she went on to say, “If … Read more

Engler takes the bullies by the horns

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On September 16, 2018, the Unitarian Church of Montréal’s Social and Environmental Committee (SECC), the World Federalists, and the CUSJ Québec chapter hosted author Yves Engler, at the first stop on his cross-Canada book tour. Yves has just completed his tenth book: Left Right: Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada. The book shows how the … Read more

The feeding of Russophobia

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Editor’s note: This article was provided to CUSJ by Christine Johnston, with the permission of the author, Betty Krawczyk, who was famous some years ago as the Granny willing to go to jail for her support of the environment and especially the fight for Clayoquot Sound, near Torfino, on the  Pacfic Rim, about which she … Read more

Mason shows us how globalization perpetuates conflict and war

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On Monday, May 21 2018, CUSJ AGM attendees were treated to a rousing speech from the Rideau Institute President Peggy Mason, entitled More peacemaking, less defence spending: What a Feminist Foreign Policy for Canada really looks like! Mason, as UN Ambassador for Disarmament and more recently as President and spokesperson for the Rideau Institute, has spent … Read more

Trudeau: Impose sanctions to end the blockade, end the bloodshed

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In the face of the Land Day massacre (March 30 2018), CUSJ was one of 40 groups that wrote a joint letter to Canadian politicians. In addition, CUSJ President has personally written to Prime Minister Trudeau on behalf of CUSJ, asking him to discontinue the odious Canadian tradition (because, after 70 years, that is what it … Read more

In the face of the Land Day massacre, Canada must impose economic sanctions on Israel

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On March 30, 2018, Israeli soldiers massacred at least 17 Palestinian civilians engaged in peaceful protest, and wounded 1400 others… as the world community stood by, aghast. And yet, this was “Just another day at the office” according to the IDF: Today, over 40 community groups and civil society organizations, including CUSJ, delivered an open … Read more

Peacemakers gather to celebrate ICAN’s victory for peace

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(above: Hosts Steven Staples and Anne-Marie Grondin) On December 7, 2017, politicians, peace organizations and others gathered in Center Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to celebrate Setsuko Thurow and ICAN, days before the latter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. CUSJ’s Québec chapter was invited in its capacity as an International Peace Bureau member, and Board … Read more

CUSJ president attends TO rally in solidarity with Palestine

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On December 9 2017, CUSJ President Margaret Rao attended a Toronto rally in defense of Jerusalem’s continued status as a shared capital city and spiritual home to Jews, Palestinian Christians and Muslims alike. This is her report. A large crowd of Palestinian Canadians and Palestinian-friendly Jewish, Christian and labour leaders were on hand. It was … Read more

CUSJ supports Palestinian BNC statement regarding Jerusalem

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CUSJ was shocked to learn of US President Donald Trump’s sychophantic plan to recognize occupied Jerusalem as the “capital of Israel”. We echo the sentiments of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), whose statement appears below. [This] plan to recognize occupied Jerusalem as the “capital of Israel” is an appalling attempt to give legitimacy to Israel’s … Read more

Balfour gave away something that was not his to give

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In his infamous tome The Prince, Machiavelli could have been presaging Lord Balfour’s Declaration when he wrote: ”You can be much more generous with what does not belong to you or your subjects, as Cyrus, Caesar and Alexander were. This is because giving away what belongs to others in no way damages your reputation; rather, it … Read more

CUSJ at the Pride parade in Ottawa

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About 50 people from the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa attended the Ottawa Pride parade on August 27th 2017, and this number included CUSJ members Gary Campbell (our national treasurer), Rev Len De Roche, Alec Campbell, Maryon O’Hagan and Bob Stevenson. Our banner was also on display last Wednesday on Parliament Hill during the event organized … Read more