What did Foreign Minister Cannon discuss with his extremist Israeli counterpart?
Auld Bob
counterpart?
By Bahija Réghaï | June 30, 2009
The announced press conference that Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence
Cannon and Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign
Affairs Avigdor Lieberman were to have on Monday June 22, 2009 at 12
pm was cancelled in the morning, without explanation.
Instead, following his meeting with Lieberman, Cannon issued a release
(Meeting of Foreign Ministers Strengthens Canada-Israel Partnership)
stating that “a range of bilateral issues that support the continuing
partnership between Canada and Israel, and matters of mutual concern
in the Middle East” was discussed.
Cannon stressed once again “Canada’s full support for Israel’s right
to defend itself and to live in peace and security with its
neighbours,” and with a view to further ensuring Israelis’ security,
he also pledged to keep “helping the Palestinian Authority improve its
security capacity.”
However, notable by their absence from Cannon’s statement were any
points pertaining to International and Humanitarian Law. This is
amplified by the fact that Lieberman himself does not reside in his
own country, but in the illegally occupied Palestinian Territory. Mr.
Cannon failed to state:
-That all settlement construction stop as called for by the
international community, including the United States; settlements are
illegal and considered so by Canada ; they represent a roadblock to
peace;
-That violations of Lebanese sovereignty – by sea, air and land
incursions stop;
-That Israel withdraw unconditionally from Lebanese Territory as per
UN resolution 1701;
-That the Gaza siege be lifted as demanded by more than 40
humanitarian organizations to allow for the basic necessities to reach
civilians in Gaza;
Remarkably, there was no Canadian rebuke of Lieberman’s various
heinous statements, such as
-Calling for Israel to use nuclear weapons against the Gaza Strip;
-Calling for flooding Egypt by bombing the Aswan Dam
-Suggesting that Palestinian prisoners being released by Israel should
be drowned;
-that Arab members of the Knesset who meet with members of the then
Hamas-led Palestinian Authority should be killed;
-Calling for the expulsion of Israeli-Palestinian citizens from
Israel.
Lieberman, himself an immigrant to Israel, demonized Israeli-
Palestinian citizens who have been living in the land far longer than
he has. He created a right-wing party, Yisrael Beiteinu, running on
the slogan "No citizenship without loyalty", maintaining that one’s
existing Israeli citizenship is conditional on swearing a loyalty oath
to Israel as a Jewish state. Such linkage undermines the most basic
rights in a democratic society, including the right to express and
promote one's views.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism described
Lieberman’s campaign as "outrageous, abominable, hate-filled" and
"brimming with incitement that could lead Israel to the gates of
hell” (Feb. 2009), and David Harris, Executiv Director of the American
Jewish Committee called Lieberman’s proposals “deeply irresponsible at
best”, adding that they “threaten to chill Israeli democracy” (Feb.
27, 2009).
Now in the Knesset, Yisrael Beiteinu members continue to push forward
anti-democratic legislative proposals. These proposals include the
Nakba bill -- which would make it a criminal offense to hold a public
event commemorating Israel's Independence Day as the Palestinian
"Nakba" (catastrophe) day -- and the loyalty oath bill, which would
require new immigrants and 16-year-old Israelis to swear allegiance to
the "State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state" as a
precondition for obtaining an Israeli identity card.
Cannon and the Harper government have overlooked the hate-filled
statements and incitement to hatred, illegal activities and violence
against identifiable peoples from the elected representative of a
foreign state, while citing hate rhetoric and violence as reasons for
not speaking to the equally democratically elected Palestinian and
Lebanese representatives.
Both Israelis and Palestinians long equally for security. It is an
error to ignore that they are two sides of the same coin. Canadian
official statements should reflect this reality. There are conventions
and accepted international norms of behaviour which are well-known,
and upon which we need to confer some modicum of authority.
The Conservative party’s belief in Israeli “exceptionalism,” along
with lapses in other aspects of our foreign policy, clearly stands in
opposition to Canada’s values and interests. They also diminish our
stature in the world.
The government needs to remove Canada from the extreme at which it has
put us, and reclaim the middle ground amongst our traditional allies.
Bahija Réghaï is a well-known human rights activist, former president
of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relatons (NCCAR).
Scotius
<fraeoldbob...@gmail.com> wrote:
>What did Foreign Minister Cannon discuss with his extremist Israeli
>counterpart?
Bob, I understand that it's very fashionable in Toronto to
talk about Israelis as "extremists", and to call the wall they built
to keep bombers out the "apartheid wall", etc, but please... the rest
of the country has better things to do than sit at the coffee shop
pretending to be smarter than everyone else.
>By Bahija R�gha� | June 30, 2009
> Bahija R�gha� is a well-known human rights activist, former president