During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Ottawa this weekend, Stephen Harper should take the opportunity and ask for the prompt return of the Canadian Boat to Gaza, the Tahrir.

We are sharing this appeal for action from the Campaign to Defend Free Speech which outlines the series of attacks on free speech and Palestine solidarity organizing in Canada.

Three Canadians, who were forcibly abducted from the Canadian ship Tahrir by Israel and detained without charge this past fall, are demanding the Conservative government press Israel to return the boat and its contents. And they are taking this message directly to nine communities from coast to coast in an upcoming speaking tour beginning February 15 to address Canada’s role in the blockade of Gaza and give their firsthand account of the capture at sea of the Tahrir.

Dates, locations, and details of the speaking tour: http://www.tahrir.ca/speaking-tour-2012

Canadian Boat to Gaza

For Immediate Release - Wednesday, November 9, 2011

On Tuesday, Freedom Waves to Gaza activists detained in Israel -- including Canadians David Heap and Ehab Lotayef -- came before a judge and were told they could be held in prison for two months without charges or trial.

To avoid this, the judge told them, they must sign a statement that they entered Israel "voluntarily" and "illegally" despite being violently kidnapped from international waters and taken to Israel against their will while trying to reach Gaza. While a handful of Freedom Waves to Gaza participants have been deported -- including Canadian Karen DeVito -- 18 activists and journalists have now been in Israeli prison for five days with no end in sight.