NCCAR suggests 6 questions to ask PM Harper during his visit to Israel/Palestine

Prime Minister Harper has indicated that he sees his Middle East trip as a means to promote “essential Canadian values” such as human rights, and to strengthen international relationships throughout the region.

“Canada recognizes the importance of building inclusive and stable societies, underpinned by democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law,” Harper told a crowd at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in December when he announced that he would be travelling to Israel.

In this regard, Canadians should know the answers to 6 key issues relating to Canada, and the Israel/Palestine issue.

1. Is it still Canada’s official policy that the occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank is illegal? If so, what are we doing to support that policy? In March 2010, former minister Lawrence Cannon said that Israeli expansion into East Jerusalem “is contrary to international law and (we) therefore condemn it. We are very concerned about what is taking place.” Yet barely a year later Hon. John Baird held an unprecedented meeting with an Israeli official in occupied East Jerusalem. This would seem to indicate a change in the Canadian position, and to presage Canadian approval of the annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel.
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2. How does Canada view the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank? Does Canada agree that this is an obstacle to peace? Since the signing of the Oslo accords, over 400,000 additional Israeli settlers have moved into the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), bringing the total to over 650,000. There is now an almost continuous circle of Israeli settlements around Jerusalem and also over 100 more settlements scattered across the West Bank. Most observers feel that ongoing settlement construction is a major obstacle to an eventual peace agreement. What is Canada’s opinion on the newest batch of settlements announced by Prime Minister Netanyahu? Will Canada ask Israel to stop settlement construction as the UK and the US have done?
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3. Will Canada join Britain, France and other countries that have called for goods from the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be labelled as such? The United Church of Canada, our largest Protestant church, has called for a boycott of all goods exported from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Many EU countries, including the UK and France are demanding that settlement products be labelled, as they do not qualify for trade benefits. Yet the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement extends benefits to goods coming from the settlements. Thus at the same time Canada says that the occupation is illegal while supporting trade in goods from the settlements.
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4. Given the resonance in Canada to the late Nelson Mandela’s successful campaign to end apartheid in South Africa, what does the Prime Minister feel about the apartheid-style developments in the West Bank? Many observers, from Bishop Desmond Tutu, to former President Jimmy Carter, have warned about the apartheid-like features of Israeli rule in the West Bank. Mandela himself stated “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” Former NYTimes Jerusalem Bureau Chief Clyde Haberman has referred to the “suffocating blanket of permanent restrictions” on Palestinians in the West Bank. A short drive around Jerusalem to the other side of the wall will reveal the network of controlled access roads, checkpoints, barricades and other evidence of the separation of Palestinians from the Israeli settlers in their midst.
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5. Given the Prime Minister’s well known concern for the protection of children, what is his attitude to the recent UNICEF report detailing widespread and extensive abuse of Palestinian children by Israeli military forces? Last March, UNICEF released a briefing paper titled “Children in Israeli military detention” which was severely critical of the treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military custody. The report said that 7,000 minors, some as young as 9, had been detained between 2002 and 2012. The paper stated that there appeared to be a pattern of ill-treatment during the arrest, transfer and interrogation of child detainees in the West Bank.
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6. Given Canada’s commitment to religious freedom, will the Prime Minister express Canada’s concerns about the difficulties imposed by Israel on Christian and Muslim Palestinians who wish to practice their faith? Palestinian Christians who live on the other side of the “separation barrier” must get a permit from Israeli security before visiting Jerusalem including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Similarly, Palestinian Muslims from either side of the barrier are regularly denied the right to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites for Muslims.

For media requests, please contact Peter Larson, Chair of the National Education Committee on Israel/Palestine (NECIP) with the National Council on Canada Arab Relations: 613-238-3795

Posted on January 13, 2014