Prime Minister Trudeau at the opening of Canada’s Holocaust Memorial, 2017. Are Jewish Israeli fears about a new Holocaust real, or are they only an excuse to keep on oppressing Palestinians? Canadian Palestinian Monzer Zimmo thinks that human rights activists interested in bringing an end to the Israel/Palestine conflict need to think carefully about Jewish fears and how to deal with them. Read more. (more…)
A delegation of 18 Canadian parliamentarians, led by MP Marwan Tabbara (Lib. Kitchener South – Hespeler), spent 6 intensive days visiting Israel/Palestine in April 2018. The official report of their trip has just been released and makes for interesting reading. It seems they were quite disturbed by what they saw/heard. Read more.
In diplomacy, words matter. After saying for years that Canada was an “ally” of Israel, that terminology was quietly dropped last month. We now say Canada is a “friend of Israel, and a friend to the Palestinian people”. That sounds balanced. CTIP’s research department has discovered some of the ways Canada puts that apparently “balanced” statement into practice. Read more…
International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland answers a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa, on Monday, Dec. 7, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Until very recently, Canada’s foreign affairs minister Hon. Chrystia Freeland repeatedly stated that “Canada is a steadfast ally and friend of Israel, and a friend to the Palestinian people”. Two months ago, CTIP wrote the minister asking for clarification on what she meant, exactly, to say that Israel is an “ally” of Canada. We never got an answer, or even an acknowledgement. But as Palestinian casualties began mounting in Gaza, the official wording was quietly changed. No more reference to Israel being an “ally”. Just a “friend”. Did CTIP’s letter prompt this change? Or was it Israel’s behaviour in Gaza? We will never know. But, here is our letter….. (more…)
Only a few days ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was aggressively calling for an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Then CIJA began a serious lobbying effort. And he got a call from Mr. Netanyahu. Trudeau is caught like a deer in the headlights. But perhaps Mr. Netanyahu has found him a way out…. Read more…
