The Liberals' latest stance moves Canada closer to Hamas and further away from Israel
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The Trudeau government’s policy towards Israel and the Palestinian Territories became more muddled than ever on Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Foreign Minister Melanie Joly likely thought they were clarifying Canada’s position – they were not.
Despite how good the words sounded coming out of their mouths and how good they both looked practicing them in the mirror, Canada’s policy is a bigger mess now than it was before their Friday statement.
About the only thing that is clear is that Canada is moving closer to the Palestinian side, closer to rewarding Hamas for their terrorist attacks of Oct. 7. That is the effective outcome of the policy change posted to the Global Affairs website.
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“It is clear we must urgently build a credible path to achieving the two-state solution, one that gives hope to both Palestinians and Israelis that they may live side by side in peace, security, and dignity,” the unsigned statement reads.
From there it goes right off the rails.
“That process cannot indefinitely delay the creation of a Palestinian state. Canada is prepared to recognize the State of Palestine at the time most conducive to lasting peace, not necessarily as the last step along that path,” it states.
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The statement makes clear that the Trudeau government blames the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu for the lack of a two-state solution, a point made by the statement and reiterated by Trudeau when asked about the change by reporters.
“The Israeli government under Prime Minister Netanyahu has unacceptably closed the door on any path towards a two-state solution and we disagree with that fundamentally,” Trudeau said.
While Trudeau and his government admit Hamas is a problem, they lay the blame for the lack of a two-state solution solely at the feet of Israel.
It seems lost on them that even if Israel were to agree to whatever Trudeau’s vision of a two-state solution is, Hamas would reject it simply because it would allow Israel to exist. Just as with the calls for a ceasefire, the calls for a two-state solution ignore the simple fact Hamas wants neither a ceasefire nor a two-state solution.
Even Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution isn’t an outright rejection of the idea, it is a rejection of the idea under the current circumstances.
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That kind of nuance is lost on Trudeau who, for partisan political reasons, wants to spar with Netanyahu. It’s not just that the Liberal Trudeau holds very different views from the Israeli leader, it’s also that Trudeau knows there are votes to be gained in Canada from shifting our position on Palestinian statehood.
So, on Friday at the United Nations, Canada, under Trudeau, moved from our longstanding position of opposing recognizing Palestinian statehood until there is a viable two-state solution to abstaining on that vote. We didn’t just abstain though, Trudeau and his government also sent a clear message that they are open to recognizing a Palestinian state sooner rather than later.
The change in policy is part of what Trudeau calls “pushing towards that two-state solution.”
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By altering Canada’s position, by signalling a willingness to entertain the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state while Hamas remains the official government of Gaza, while Fatah is the government of the West Bank, is highly problematic. This is a signal to Hamas to just hang on, to keep fighting, to keep using Gaza civilians as human shields and countries like Canada will come to their aid.
Whether this is the intended message from Trudeau is irrelevant, that is the message being received by the leadership of Hamas. Time and again since Oct. 7, the Trudeau government has uttered words about both sides – time and again, their actions have favoured Hamas.
Friday’s policy change is just the latest one moving Canada closer to Hamas and away from Israel.
blilley@postmedia.com
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“It is clear we must urgently build a credible path to achieving the two-state solution, one that gives hope to both Palestinians and Israelis that they may live side by side in peace, security, and dignity,” the unsigned statement reads.
From there it goes right off the rails.
“That process cannot indefinitely delay the creation of a Palestinian state. Canada is prepared to recognize the State of Palestine at the time most conducive to lasting peace, not necessarily as the last step along that path,” it states.
Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond.
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The statement makes clear that the Trudeau government blames the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu for the lack of a two-state solution, a point made by the statement and reiterated by Trudeau when asked about the change by reporters.
“The Israeli government under Prime Minister Netanyahu has unacceptably closed the door on any path towards a two-state solution and we disagree with that fundamentally,” Trudeau said.
While Trudeau and his government admit Hamas is a problem, they lay the blame for the lack of a two-state solution solely at the feet of Israel.
It seems lost on them that even if Israel were to agree to whatever Trudeau’s vision of a two-state solution is, Hamas would reject it simply because it would allow Israel to exist. Just as with the calls for a ceasefire, the calls for a two-state solution ignore the simple fact Hamas wants neither a ceasefire nor a two-state solution.
Even Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution isn’t an outright rejection of the idea, it is a rejection of the idea under the current circumstances.
That kind of nuance is lost on Trudeau who, for partisan political reasons, wants to spar with Netanyahu. It’s not just that the Liberal Trudeau holds very different views from the Israeli leader, it’s also that Trudeau knows there are votes to be gained in Canada from shifting our position on Palestinian statehood.
So, on Friday at the United Nations, Canada, under Trudeau, moved from our longstanding position of opposing recognizing Palestinian statehood until there is a viable two-state solution to abstaining on that vote. We didn’t just abstain though, Trudeau and his government also sent a clear message that they are open to recognizing a Palestinian state sooner rather than later.
The change in policy is part of what Trudeau calls “pushing towards that two-state solution.”
By altering Canada’s position, by signalling a willingness to entertain the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state while Hamas remains the official government of Gaza, while Fatah is the government of the West Bank, is highly problematic. This is a signal to Hamas to just hang on, to keep fighting, to keep using Gaza civilians as human shields and countries like Canada will come to their aid.
Whether this is the intended message from Trudeau is irrelevant, that is the message being received by the leadership of Hamas. Time and again since Oct. 7, the Trudeau government has uttered words about both sides – time and again, their actions have favoured Hamas.
Friday’s policy change is just the latest one moving Canada closer to Hamas and away from Israel.
blilley@postmedia.com
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.
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