On November 7-9, 2003, parliamentarians from around the world gathered in Vancouver for the first international conference of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament. The goal of this event was to consider ways that parliamentarians can work collaboratively in order to address dangers arising from nuclear proliferation, as well as the increasingly-threatening policies and practices of the nuclear-weapon States.

The conference opened with the unnerving news that one of its would-be participants, Israeli Member of Parliament Issam Makhoul, had been the target of an assassination attempt only two days earlier.   It was suspected that the assassination attempt arose in reaction to Mr Makhoul's criticism of government policies on security issues, including Israel's secrecy over their nuclear weapons program. Fortunately, Mr. Makhoul, along with his family, survived when the bomb planted under their car was detonated.