Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations surprised many when he cast Canada’s vote in favour of a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. But the bombing and the killing in Gaza continue. What will Canada do now? OFIP has some suggestions….

On December 12th Canada voted in favour of a United Nations resolution that calls for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Israeli war on Gaza. The resolution passed the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly with 153 votes in favour, 10 against and 23 abstentions. Canada’s vote was strongly criticized by Israel, and by the Israel lobby in Canada including some members of Trudeau’s own Liberal caucus.

But the UN resolution is non-binding – that is UN members are not required to follow it – and in any event the UN has no way to enforce it. Israel has already indicated that he will ignore the “preposterous” UN vote and continue the bombing and killing with or without the support of the international community. And in fact over 200 new Palestinian deaths recorded since the UN vote.

So what will Canada do?

Enforcement of the ceasefire resolution falls to individual UN members.

One option is for Canada to join with other “like minded” countries to bring further pressure on Israel, and its prime backer the United States. This was the approach Prime Minister Trudeau took in signing a joint statement with the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand calling for a “sustainable ceasefire” last week.

However, there are several steps that Canada could take unilaterally that would gain broad public support. Here are three:

1 Stop selling arms to Israel

Canada’s two way military trade with Israel has been growing significantly. Canadian arms makers benefit from selling equipment to Israel. According to Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) Canada sent more than $20 million in military exports to Israel in 2022. It is not known how much Canadian equipment is used by the IDF in Gaza or in the West Bank. Many organizations in Canada have called for an end to Canadian sales of military equipment to Israel, including CJPME, Project Ploughshares, Oxfam and the NDP.

2.Stop encouraging the recruitment of Canadians to join the Israeli Military

The Israel Defence Force (IDF) comes to Canadian campuses every year in order to recruit young Canadians to go to Israel. Many of them will be deployed in Gaza, or in the West Bank. There have been attempts to stop this practice but so far these have not been successful. On the contrary, Canada actively encourages yoiung Canadians to join the IDF and provides support to them.

Then Canadian Ambassador to Israel Deborah Lyons offered support to Canadians who join the Israeli military. Here she receives them at the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv.

3. End military collaboration with Israel in “Operation proteus”

Canadian and Israeli military officers work together in Jerusalem.

Under Operation PROTEUS Canadian armed forces members serve to encourage security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“Media largely ignores how Canadian military trainers and aid have supported the creation of a Palestinian security force explicitly to enforce Israel’s occupation of the West Bank“, noted Yves Engler in an article in 2021. In 2019-20 Canada allocated $5 million to Operation Proteus and millions of dollars more in Canadian “aid” in support for Palestinian security forces.

“We spend most of the time trying to facilitate co-ordination between the Palestinian Authority security forces and the Israeli Defence Force,” noted Brig.-Gen. Jeannot Boucher, told the Toronto Star in 2021.

Now what?

All of these activities are examples of Canadian SUPPORT for the Israeli military at a time when that military is acting contrary to explicit Canadian policy.

Voting in favour of the UN resolution was a good first step brought on by massive public pressure. It will take even more pressure to get Canada to actually “walk the talk’.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca