It is a curious situation that the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba (CPAM), whose President is Ramsey Zeid has not issued a statement welcoming the ceasefire in Gaza according to the Trump plan. Why the silence?
Another Palestinian organization in Canada, is different than CPAM, made a post on its face book page calling for "Liberation of Palestine without Trump or Tony Blair." Under the Trump Peace plan, Gaza would be ruled by a temporary international body called the ‘Board of Peace’, headed by Trump. Trump is deciding whether to appoint Tony Blair to his new Board of Peace. The Board of Peace will oversee the disarming of Hamas, and the reconstruction of Gaza. There would be an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as Hamas is disarmed. The Trump plan foresees a role for the Palestinian Authority, but only once it is fully reformed and de-radicalized.
What is CPAM's view? Is it the same as that of Canada Palestine Association? Does CPAM reject a role for Trump and Tony Blair? Does CPAM reject the Trump peace plan, even though it is one that has been endorsed by all of the surrounding Arab States (Jordan, Egypt, Saudia Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and even Qatar and Turkey). It is worth noting that CPAM has not endorsed the Trump Plan on its social media pages. It has also not called for the reform and de-radicalization of the Palestinian Authority, has not called for the disarmament of Hamas, and has not condemned the recent executions by Hamas of Palestinians who oppose Hamas. The silence on these issues is deafening.
In an article in the Free Press, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gaza native, and a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council has written about the Palestinian groups who have taken over the streets of the West. As he writes in the Free Press, "I have watched the devolution of the pro-Palestine narrative into widespread adoption of Hamas's views and positions. Nowadays, you can't go to a mainstream pro-Palestine event or conference without proud, overt support for jihadi terrorism and Hamas's armed-resistance narrative. The Hamas narrative has clearly been mainstreamed as the Palestinian narrative."
He continues, "This lionization of Hamas in the West has come as actual Palestinians in Gaza have grown more vocal in their opposition to Hamas, its terrorism, the hypocrisy of its "resistance," and how foolish Western figures are for celebrating it. Islam has strict codes of conduct on how war is supposed to be waged and prohibits crimes against civilian populations like Hamas perpetrated on Oct. 7."
He concludes, "One of the first steps to freeing Palestinians from the horrors of war is to free them from the "Free Palestine Movement" in the West. I am encouraged by the large number of Palestinians in Gaza, with whom I am in regular contact, who denounce Hamas. They understand the need for lasting peace with Israel as positive and necessary. They are desperate to move away from the "resistance" narrative and embrace the coexistence and nation-building agendas in which a prosperous state of Palestine is a reality."
Have CPAM failed to endorse the Trump peace plan because doing so will interfere with a pro-Hamas narrative? Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada'ss government is in support of a plan put forward by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to end the war between Israel and Hamas. In a message posted to X Carney said that “Canada welcomes President Trump’s historic new Middle East peace plan, and we urge all parties to help it realise its full potential.”
CPAM has condemned Israel's bombing of Qatar, and has posted that "Canada must impose sanctions" on Israel, and "end arm sales, " but has been silent about Trump's peace plan.
Has CPAM failed to endorse Trump's plan on social media because ultimately CPAM is committed to the destruction of Israel and a Palestine that runs from the River to the Sea? This would certainly explain CPAM's silence. If so, CPAM's extremism is on full display.
