We are writing to express our concern and astonishment at your statement before the Canada Jewish Advocacy group. You state : "Nothing will shake Canada's commitment to Israel." Do we understand you correctly that nothing Israel does or atrocities it commits will shake Canada's commitment to Israel?

The state of Israel stands in illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territories for 37 years, in defiance of international law and repeated Security Council resolutions. Its practices during this occupation include : detention without charge or trial, torture, extra-judicial assassination and murder, daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, denial of health care, demolition of thousands of homes and expropriation of land for the creation of illegal settlements. All these actions are in violation of virtually every article of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These acts are defined by international law as war crimes. These atrocities and war crimes have been repeatedly condemned by UN Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch and Israeli human rights groups including B'Tselem, and Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights.

It is our understanding that our country, Canada, is committed to upholding the UN Charter, international law and human rights. We are pleased to hear that you are concerned about the reported violations of human rights in Darfur in Sudan, and that you plan to explore that area.

Is your concern for human rights so selective that it does not extend to the Palestinian people and that Israeli violations of human rights and international law are acceptable? Will you be also exploring the occupied Palestinian territories to see with your own eyes the systematic demolition of thousands of homes, by Israeli bombers, in refugee camps and the suffering to which Palestinian refugees are daily subjected, after having been systematically ethnically cleansed from their homeland 56 years ago?

Finally, Sir, do we still understand that nothing wil change Canada's commitment to Israel? And how long must Israel remain above international law? It is our hope that your compassion and concern for human rights will extend also to the Palestinian people.