Green Party President, Paul Estrin, today issued the following statement clarifying recent statements made on the Israel–Gaza conflict. (Backgrounder attached)
Dear Green Party members and supporters,
As many of you know, I recently posted a blog I titled “Why Gaza makes me sad” on the members' section of the Green Party of Canada website.
My intention was to give my personal viewpoint to our members in the spirit of dialogue.
Some have mistaken my personal views to be the perspective of the Party and our Leader. Neither is true.
I apologize for not including a disclaimer to make it clear that the views expressed are my own and not the official position of the Green Party of Canada.
Sincerely,
Paul Estrin
President
Green Party of Canada
Backgrounder
Official Green Party motion passed by the Green Party membership at the 2014 Convention on July 20, 2014 and forms official Green Party Policy on the Israel-Gaza conflict. Excerpt on Israel-Gaza conflict from Elizabeth May's 2014 Convention Keynote Address.
G14-P58 Israel – Gaza Conflict
Be it resolved that the GPC urges the immediate cessation of hostilities between Israel and Palestine. The GPC will adopt a posture of engaged neutrality, opening all available diplomatic avenues in both Palestine and Israel to press for a peaceful resolution to the conflict consistent with the GPC’s commitment to justice and custom of speaking truth to power.
Excerpt: Elizabeth May, keynote address to GPC Convention, July 19, 2014
"I want to at least touch on what’s happening right now in Israel and Gaza, and the Palestinian people and the Israeli people and say, from the bottom of my heart, that Israeli children and Palestinian children have an equal right to be free of bombardment."
"And I condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization for sending missiles into Israel, but the Israeli retaliation and the invasion of Gaza violates international law and humanitarian norms, and any Prime Minister of Canada worth his or her salt would say that as a friend and ally of Israel, “you’ve gone too far - you must move to peace talks.”