The Ottawa Palestine Solidarity Network is calling on Canadians of conscience to protest against the upcoming visit by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the capital on May 31. He is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit the country since Yitzhak Rabin in 1994. 

OPSN is organizing a protest on Monday, May 31, at 5 pm, at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa. The groups is also calling on other organizations across the country to organize local solidarity demonstrations on or near May 31, to protest Mr. Netanyahu’s visit and the Canadian government’s apparent complicity in Israel’s violations of international law.

“The occupation. The wall. The siege. The settlements. The impunity. The Israeli occupation is becoming increasingly brutal with the unflinching support of the Canadian government. For all these reasons and more, it's crucial for all Canadians who believe in justice and peace and justice to take a stand,” reads a statement by the OPSN.

The illegal siege of Gaza continues to suffocate the Palestinians who live there, preventing them from rebuilding following the devastating attack by Israel last year that took the lives of over 1400 Palestinians.

On April 13 this year, the Israeli army announced that a new decree was in effect which will allow tens of thousands of Palestinians considered "illegal" in the West Bank--including East Jerusalem -- to be expelled to Gaza within 72 hours of their arrest. The new decree has serious implications for around 70,000 Palestinians in the West Bank.

Palestinians born in Gaza, or even with one parent born in Gaza, who live in the West Bank may be deported. Those born in the West Bank but having stayed temporarily outside of the West Bank and having therefore lost their resident status are also vulnerable. Palestinians' spouses who were born outside the West Bank may also be affected.

The new decree has been roundly condemned by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and at least a dozen Israeli human rights organizations but has elicited no reaction from the Canadian government.

Mr. Netanyahu is visiting at the invitation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has taken staunchly pro-Israel positions since taking office in 2006.

"It is a pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu to Canada," Mr. Harper said in a statement earlier this month. "Our countries have a close and enduring friendship which we are working to further strengthen."

In 2002, a planned visit by Mr. Netanyahu, then Israel's foreign minister, to Concordia University in Montreal was canceled after students protesting the trip rioted and caused widespread damage.

The OPSN is Ottawa's city-wide coalition of unions, faith groups, students, and community organizations, united in their demand for peace and justice in the Middle East. For more information on the planned protests, visit: http://notowarcrimes.blogspot.com/