PALESTINE/CANADA: He is a zionist idiot...

LEFT: JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES Palestinians shout as tear gas is fired by Israeli soldiers after two shepherds from the village of Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were allegedly attacked by Jewish settlers. The UN Human Rights Council has set up a panel to probe Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. (July 7, 2012)

Prime Minister Harper, are you listening?

Published on Sunday August 19, 2012

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Thomas Woodley

You can’t get much more “mainstream Canada” than the United Church of Canada (UCC). The fact that the UCC’s democratic decision-making body, the General Council, has now opted for a boycott of Israeli “settlement” products in an effort to press Israel to change its conduct toward the Palestinians, is indicative of a sea-change in Canadian public opinion. Pay attention, Prime Minister Harper — and for that matter, other Canadian leaders.

The church’s decision comes after years of talking and listening to Jewish Israelis and Palestinians about their experiences and aspirations. The UCC working group on Israel-Palestine visited the region, as have hundreds of grassroots church members. UCC members, like many other Canadians, have finally decided that it’s time to directly pressure Israel to end its ongoing land-grab there — the “settlement enterprise” — that is killing any prospect for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Hence the decision to boycott “settlement” products.

Why does the UCC care, and why should the government of Canada care? Because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the greatest source of instability in the Middle East. It’s also a test of the West’s commitment to international law. The developing world watches with growing cynicism as, decade after decade, the West fails to insist that Israel stop its illegal colonization of Palestinian land.

As the report of the United Church’s Working Group on Israel/Palestine points out, the annexation of East Jerusalem and the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank — housing more than 500,000 colonists by conservative estimates — effectively prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

For a church with a proud history of leadership on issues of social justice, a stand against Israeli settlements is a no-brainer. For a country whose diplomatic reputation is faltering, a principled stand against Israeli settlements would be a welcome and positive step forward.

The United Church’s members are not alone. Like most Canadians, they want Israel to be secure, but they want to ensure some measure of justice for the Palestinians.

The Harper government is ignoring this ground shift in Canadian opinion. No action by Israel’s government and military of the past several years — however violent, and however flimsy the posited justification — has drawn a word of genuine protest from Canada’s current government. Au contraire. Be it Israel’s 23-day assault on Gaza just after Christmas in 2008, or its lethal attack on the Gaza Aid Flotilla in 2010, or its imprisonment of Palestinian children for months at a time, the Harper government has defended the indefensible, or said nothing.

The government has also ignored the endless string of recent Israeli “settlement” expansions. Each announcement undermines the “two-state solution” — which the Harper government claims it supports and which most Canadians really do support. A few public words of criticism from Ottawa would be expected. Many moderate governments have raised serious objections. But Canada? Zip, nada.

When Palestinians asked the UN — an eminently multilateral body — to admit it so that it could negotiate with Israel on a more equal footing, the Harper government condemned the move, admonishing them to wait until a peace agreement with Israel is reached.

Canadians want a more equitable approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. International polling by the BBC found that the percentage of Canadians who believe that Canada should support Palestine’s admission to the UN is almost twice as high as the percentage who would oppose such a move.

Many countries have had the common sense to publicly challenge the “settlement enterprise.” Some Israelis have too. Former Israeli ambassador to South Africa Alon Liel recently took the courageous step of urging a boycott of settlement products, in the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper. As he noted, in June alone, the Israeli government had announced plans for another 851 settlement units.

It’s time Canada made some effort to bring the Israeli government to its senses. For decades, millions of Palestinians have been languishing in refugee camps. Millions more have lived under harsh military occupation in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), being evicted or barred from more and more of their land every year to make way for the settlements, restricted roads, Israeli “security zones,” and the Wall and its “buffer zones.” When they resist non-violently, they are often beaten, jailed or killed.

United Church members want a just peace between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians. So do most Canadians. They know that to achieve it, the first step is to convince the Israeli government to halt the “settlement enterprise” and the military occupation it necessitates.

Mr. Harper, are you listening?

Note: This article was edited from a previous version that referred to "Jewish only" roads and settlements in the West Bank.

Thomas Woodley is the president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.

 Seven Harper, PM