Not In My Name
Ottawa, ON — September 16, 2025 — Today, over 70 prominent Canadians, including actors, scholar, artists, and activists came together to say “Not In My Name” demanding that the Canadian government end its complicity in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. This campaign, coordinated by Oxfam Canada, is a sweeping public outcry against silence, inaction, and the continued sale of Canadian arms to Israel.
Since October 2023, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has escalated to catastrophic levels. Tens of thousands have been killed, entire neighborhoods flattened, and basic infrastructure decimated. In the West Bank, Palestinians face mounting violence, displacement, and repression. Leading genocide scholars have recently declared that Israel’s actions meet the legal definition of genocide.
Despite this, Canada continues to authorize arms exports to Israel and has failed to take meaningful diplomatic or legal action. Oxfam Canada’s campaign makes clear: Canadians refuse to be complicit.
“We are creating a moment that is impossible to ignore,” said Oxfam Canada’s Communications Manager, Caroline Leal. “Through portraits, videos, and a mass call to action, we are saying loudly and clearly: Not In My Name.”
Canada’s lack of action sends the signal that governments can commit war crimes and violate international law with impunity. By continuing to authorize arms sales to a military accused of grave human rights violations, Canada violates its own obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, which it ratified in 2019, and becomes complicit in the genocide. Under the Genocide Convention, Canada is legally obliged to take proactive and immediate steps to protect Palestinians. “Yet, all we see are statements of concern, rather than concrete and meaningful actions that hold Israel accountable for its actions,” said Leal.
Oxfam Canada is calling on the federal government to:
- Impose a complete arms embargo on exports to Israel
- Use every diplomatic tool available to secure a permanent ceasefire
- Ensure accountability for war crimes and violations of international law
- Oppose illegal settlement expansion and dispossession in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
“True solidarity means refusing complicity,” the campaign declares. “We will not stay silent while war crimes are committed with Canadian support. We demand justice, accountability, and peace.”
For more information about the campaign, visit www.notinmyname.oxfam.ca
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