As Israel moves to annex the West Bank — crushing the dreams of a homeland for the three million Palestinians living there — it can only hope that the world’s disapproval of this brazen defiance of international law will be as feeble as the one coming from Canada.
Officially, Canada has long taken a principled position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, supporting the rights of Palestinians to their own sovereign state alongside the state of Israel.
But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has taken no steps to back up this principled position — nor has he even clearly protested as Israel has escalated military raids in recent months, killing at least 130 Palestinians and injuring journalists and paramedics.
In a bland statement last week, Trudeau said merely that Canada recognizes that the violence “is difficult for people across the region — both Israelis and Palestinians.” He acknowledged that Canada has a “long-standing position that (Israeli) settlements in the West Bank are illegal.”
Lest it sound like he was actually criticizing Israel, Trudeau was quick to point out that while Canada and Israel have points of disagreement, Canada is and always will be a “steadfast friend” to Israel.
READ MORE: Canada-Israel report exposes mistreatment of Palestinian child detainees
This warm, embracing language signals to the extreme right-wing coalition that came to power in Israel last December that all is well; it needn’t worry about any pushback from Canada as it bulldozes Palestinian olive trees and sends 2,000 military troops into a Palestinian refugee camp. These are mere “points of disagreement” — like happen in any steadfast friendship.
However, to the untrained Canadian eye, these “points of disagreement” might seem pretty significant, and the long-touted “shared values” between Canada and Israel somewhat elusive.
By any reasonable measure, Israel’s new right-wing coalition government is extremist — embracing far-right European parties — and quite out of sync with the moderate democratic values held by most Canadians.
Its judicial reforms, which prompted massive protests by Israelis last weekend, are aimed at preventing its Supreme Court from acting as a check on government actions, including actions to consolidate control over the West Bank.
Upon taking office, the new government listed its basic principles, starting with the top one: “The Jewish people have an exclusive and inalienable right to all parts of the Land of Israel” — including the Palestinian-inhabited West Bank that Israel has militarily ruled over for 56 years.
This is the longest occupation in the modern world, according to former UN Special Rapporteur and Western University law professor Michael Lynk.
The government also made clear that its top priority will be to further “promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel.”
The presence of 700,000 Israeli settlers on Palestinian land — illegal under international law — is a flashpoint for violence.
There’s also been a ramping up of open hostility towards Palestinians as some key government positions are now filled by far-right coalition members, such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who tweeted: “Hamas rockets require more than blasting dunes and empty sites. It’s time to rip heads off in Gaza.”
This kind of bloodthirsty language has prompted demands — including from some NDP MPs and even a Liberal MP — that Ottawa go beyond bland statements and signal strong disapproval, as it did, for instance, when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
In response to that open defiance of the international rules-based order, Canada and the international community expelled Russia from the G8 and imposed a range of sanctions and travel bans, notes Lynk.
By comparison, when Israel stated back in 2020 that it planned to annex part of the West Bank, Trudeau’s response was so weak that 58 former Canadian cabinet ministers and diplomats — including ambassadors from the Chretien and Harper governments — called for stronger resistance.
Now, as Israel’s more extreme right-wing coalition declares even more sweeping plans to take over the West Bank, we urgently need our prime minister to speak up — if not in defence of millions of helpless Palestinians, at least in defence of the rules-based international order.
This article was originally published in the Toronto Star.
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