Representing two Palestinian-Canadian plaintiffs, the Legal Centre for Palestine alongside a coalition of Canadian legal advocates, has commenced proceedings in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the Attorney General of the Canadian government. They allege that Canada‘s failure to act to prevent Israel’s genocide is a violation of its legal obligations under the Genocide Convention (1948) and of the plaintiffs’ rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canadian government and Israel
The plaintiffs, Hany el Batnigi and Tamer Jarada, have experienced unimaginable loss due to Israel’s year-long assault on the civilian population of Gaza. They are represented by the ‘Coalition for Canadian Accountability in Gaza’, which consists of lawyers from the Legal Centre for Palestine (LCP), the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) – Canada, Hameed Law and Dimitri Lascaris. The Coalition is supported by Justice 48, ICJP’s central office in London and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
As relief, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that Canada has a duty to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide, and that Canada has violated that duty.
They also seek a declaration that Canada’s acts and omissions have violated the plaintiffs’ Charter rights to security of the person (Section 7) and to equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination (Section 15).
Hany el Batnigi
Born in Gaza, Hany el Batnigi fled Palestine with his family during the 1967 war. Following his first return to Gaza, in September 2023, Hany was trapped under the Israeli bombardments commencing on 8 October, and was forcefully displaced several times, without help and crossing a war zone.
During the entirety of his time trying to survive Israel’s bombardment, Canada took no action to exert influence over Israel. In fact, it continued to allow arms exports to Israel, and took no enforcement action to stop the illegal recruitment of volunteers for engagements with the Israeli military.
Canada also actively engaged in military-to-military cooperation with Israel under the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership, and allowed Canadian charities to funnel money to the benefit of Israel’s Ministry of Defense.
Hany had to make four attempts to cross the border into Egypt. During one of the attempts he was injured in a bomb blast. Although he was able to evacuate on or around 7 November, over the subsequent weeks members of his family were killed by Israeli attacks.
While many members of his family remain in Gaza, Hany was denied eligibility to sponsor them under Canada’s Gaza Special Measures temporary resident visa program due to his ‘financial situation as a pensioner’.
Tamer Jarada
Tamer Jarada, born in Gaza in 1986, has resided in Canada since 2011.
When Israel’s bombardments commenced, Tamer’s parents, sisters, uncle, aunt, and other family members sought shelter in an empty apartment owned by Tamer in Gaza City. The entire building was destroyed by an airstrike on 25 October 2023, claiming the lives of Tamer’s father, uncle, aunt, two sisters, nephews, cousins and many other extended family members, while others have been killed in the months since.
Those who remain alive endure starvation and medical complications.
While some were refused evacuation, members of Tamer’s family (including his sister and her children, his mother-in-law and sisters-in-law) successfully evacuated to Egypt. Tamer’s attempts to sponsor his relatives for safe haven in Canada under the Gaza Special Measures program have been unsuccessful due to administrative dysfunction and elevated security assessments and other limitations not imposed in similar programs for those fleeing conflicts in other regions.
A failure to prevent Israel’s genocide by Canadian government
On behalf of these clients, the advocates’ case claims that Canada has failed in its duty to prevent genocide, including by allowing military exports from Canada to Israel, and by refusing to exercise Canada’s influence over Israel.
The filing alleges that the Canadian government has failed to deploy available tools, including imposing sanctions against Israeli leaders; preventing Canadian citizens from serving in units of the Israeli military; curtailing Canadian charities’ support for illegal acts in Israel; halting military cooperation with Israel; or suspending the memorandum on the Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership, among other omissions.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that the Gaza Special Measures program has failed to assist persons in fleeing Gaza.
With regards their Charter rights, the complaint alleges that Canadian authorities’ failure to fulfill its duty to prevent genocide, including its failure to exert any influence over Israel to restrain its bombardment of Gaza, contributed to a violation of Hany’s security of the person, contrary to Section 7 of the Charter.
It further alleges that Canada’s failure to fulfill this duty, and specifically its failure to provide the Plaintiffs with the governmental assistance they could reasonably expect, is based on their race, religion, and national and ethnic origin as Palestinian-Canadians from Gaza, and that this constitutes discrimination under Section 15 of the Charter.
You can support the case here.
Featured image via the Canary
