On July 30th Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly. Recognition didn’t change much on the ground, of course. The genocide continued unabated, and Israeli settlers in the West Bank continued to attack and kill Palestinians. But back in Canada there are indications, it has made a difference. A crack has now appeared in the Israel lobby’s door. Read more.

There are encouraging signs that Canada’s recognition of Palestine has opened a door to broader discussion of a topic the Zionist lobby has tried hard to keep closed.

Here are some examples.

On Friday, Oct 17th, CBC’s 5th estate ran a hard hitting documentary “Funding the Occupation” on Canadian charities using tax free funds to subsidize the activities of illegal settlers. It is available on youtube here:

It hit a nerve. The program was immediately attacked by the pro Israel propaganda group Honest Reporting Canada claiming CBC’s The Fifth Estate Turns Investigative Journalism Into Anti-Israel Propaganda.

Honest Reporting Canada’s ongoing series of “Action alerts” reveals a growing anxiety over many CBC articles and interviews on an array of reports including the Gaza Flotilla, protests in Vancouver, Chris Brown’s reference to “historic Palestinian lands”, and several others. (HINT: It’s worth subscribing to Honest Reporting Canada to see interesting articles you may have missed – and how worried they are over the pounding Israel is starting to get even in mainstream media.)

There is also a sign of “opening up” in other mainstream meadia. The Globe and Mail, Canada’s paper of record, has been historically sympathetic to Israel and demonized Palestinians resistance and Hamas in particular. But for several weeks in a row the Saturday Globe has had significant articles about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. On the 2nd anniversary of Hamas’ spectacular breakout, it ran a long opinion piece from Raja Khouri and Jeff Wilkinson humanizing Palestinians, entitled “As a Palestinian, this is what I wish the Jewish community could hear”.

Evolution on the Israel/Palestine file is also reflected in the increasingly hard-line taken by some student newspapers across Canada. An editorial in the McGill daily on the anniversary of October 7th said:

“Israel’s genocide in Gaza is the culmination of a century-long colonial project: one that began with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, (…) It started implementation in 1948 with the wave of ethnic cleansing known as the Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic). The indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza is not solely the policy of the current ruling party, but the core of Israeli policy from its foundation to the present day.“

The McGill Daily has been a critic of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza for many years, but this editorial seeing the creation of Israel itself as a colonial project beginning in 1948, has moved well beyond simply “End the Occupation”.

There have also been some movements at the Canadian municipal level. Only 4 weeks after Carney’s announcement on recognition, Burnaby B.C. became the first municipality in Canada to call for a “full two-way arms embargo with Israel“. The motion affirms Burnaby City Council’s “commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people, opposes all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression“.

On October 7, the City of St. John’s passed a similar motion calling for a two-way arms embargo between Canada and Israel.

A crack in the door

None of these actions is a direct result of Carney’s move. But official recognition by Canada has opened up room for serious discussion about Palestine and Canada’s role in ignoring, or even supporting, the Israeli genocide. When our prime minister unequivocally declares that Netanyahu would be arrested if he travelled to Canada, it signals to those interested in human rights and international law that they are now backed by Canadian official policy and should keep on pushing that door ever wider.

When more Canadian municipalities pass legislation like those of Burnaby and St. John’s, when professional associations including teachers, doctors and nurses denounce the genocide, when Canadian sports associations refuse to play with Israeli sports teams, the Canadian government will have to listen and start to implement the “concrete actions” actions against Israel promised by Prime Minister Carney in his statement of May 19th.

The Israel lobby in Canada, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs saw this coming. They tried to stop Canadian recognition of Palestine claiming it would be a “reward for terrorism“. But the door is now open and they will have trouble shutting it.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine is the weekly newsletter of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion about Canada’s response to the 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.
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