Has Canadas love affair with Israel reached

its climax?

Palestine solidarity protestors march toward Parliament Hill in Ottawa to rally against Israels assault on
Gaza, 26 July 2014.
Chris WattieReuters

Yves Engler The Electronic Intifada 18 September 2015

Supporters of Israel have had it good in Canada.
The outgoing government is wildly supportive and the opposition New Democratic
Party has purged a number of candidates for publicly expressing pro-Palestinian
sympathies.

But national elections on 19 October may turn out to be the zenith of Israeli influence.
The pro-Israel stance of Prime Minister Stephen Harper is legend. At the United
Nations General Assembly recently, Canadian diplomats voted against the vast
majority of the world in opposing a bid to fly the Palestinian flag at the UN
headquarters.
Further adding to Harpers Zionist credibility, Canada and Israel
recently expanded their free trade agreement, which allows goods from Jewish-only
settlements in the occupied West Bank to enter Canada duty free.
Aside from Israel, Canada may be the only country that isnt officially supporting the
nuclear deal between Iranand the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN
Security Council, as well as Germany).
Protecting Israels nukes
While theyve criticized the accord for not guaranteeing that Iran wont pursue a
nuclear weapon, Harpers Conservatives have repeatedly opposed initiatives
addressing Israels undeclared nuclear activities.
This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu singled out Canada, along with
the US and Australia, forpraise for blocking a resolution at the UN atomic energy
agencys annual meeting in Vienna censuring Israel over its nuclear capabilities.
In the spring, Canada joined the US and the UK in opposing a plan for a nuclearweapons-free zone in the Middle East during a review conference of the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT). As the regions only nuclear-armed state, Israel objected to
scheduling a conference on a nuclear-free Middle East even though it hasnt signed the
NPT.
In a bid to protect Israels large nuclear stockpile, Canadian diplomats worked to
scuttle the meeting.
Harper has deftly pandered to Israel for his political gain. The prime ministers
aggressive public defense of Israeli actions pleases elements of his Christian
evangelical base and plays well with most of the Jewish community, all the while
strengthening his neoconservative bona fides.
But the Conservatives have also successfully stoked tensions within the opposition

parties over Israel.

At the start of the ongoing election campaign the Conservatives set up a website titled
Meet the NDP, detailing purportedly controversial statements its candidates have
made on various issues including a number of comments critical of Israel.
One NDP candidate the Conservatives targeted, Morgan Wheeldon, was forced
to resign by the party leadership because he wrote on Facebook that Israel
committed war crimes in Gaza during the summer of 2014. Wheeldon added that one
could argue that Israels intention was always to ethnically cleanse the region there
are direct quotations proving this to be the case.
Apparently, the NDP has excluded as many as eight individuals from contesting
nominations to be candidates in parliamentary districts because of comments
criticizing Israel.
When the NDP blocked Paul Manly, a filmmaker and son of a former NDP member of
parliament, from seeking the NDP candidacy in British Columbias NanaimoLadysmith district at the start of the year, he decided to run for the Green Party.
In 2012, Manly criticized the NDP after it failed to call on Israel to release his father
who was arrested on a humanitarian boat bound for Gaza.
Jolting the Greens
The Greens embrace of Manly reflects the growing clout of pro-Palestinian activists
inside Canadas fourth national party.
In November 2013, a Jewish Tribune reporter challenged Green Party leader Elizabeth
May over her planned participation in a fundraiser for Canadians for Justice and Peace
in the Middle East (CPJME).
Apparently thinking the interview wouldnt be read outside pro-Israel circles, May
described CJPME as anti-Israel and noted that she had attended a Jewish National
Fund (JNF) fundraiser in Ottawa, even lauding the JNF for the great work thats done
in making the desert bloom.
The JNF is a Zionist organization that predates the establishment of Israel
and currently uses tree-planting initiatives as a cover for uprooting Palestinians from

their land.
While the Jewish Tribune likely saw its intervention as a way to pressure May, it
sparked a pro-Palestinian backlash that jolted the Green Partys only member of
parliament and pushed the party towards a better position on the issue. A few months
later the party approved a resolution critical of Israeli expansionism.
And after Paul Estrin, the Green Party president, published an anti-Palestinian blog
post in the midst of Israels 2014 assault on Gaza, he was pressured to resign.
It seems Green Party activists are no longer willing to accept blatant anti-Palestinian
sentiment. Moreover, the party leadership has realized it can bleed support from the
NDP, particularly among activists, over Israel.
If NDP leader Thomas Mulcair who once said I am an ardent supporter of Israel in
all situations and in all circumstances continues to take anti-Palestinian positions,
the Greens are likely to gain more traction among those sympathetic to the Palestinian
cause. This should push the party to take stronger positions in favor of Palestinian
liberation.
The NDPs purge of pro-Palestinian candidates, which largely bypassed those with a
strong chance of winning seats in the House of Commons, was a depressing reminder
of the official dominance of pro-Israel bias.
But the large number of individuals targeted reflects the growing number of NDP
activists critical of Israel.
A historical perspective helps to see the shift. By far Canadas most significant
contribution to Palestinian dispossession was in 1947, when Canadian
diplomats played an important role in shaping the UN partition plan which provided
diplomatic legitimacy to a Zionist movement intent on expelling Palestinians from
their homeland.
Few Canadians understood the implications of that plan, let alone protested against
their governments actions. Yet when Israel attacked Gaza last year, protests were held
across the country.

In recent years, many Canadians have voted through their labor or students unions
and churches to support the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign
against Israel.
History may view 2015 as the zenith of pro-Israel influence in Canada.
Yves Engler is the author of Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid and the
newly released Canada In Africa: 300 Years of Aid and Exploitation. He will be
speaking across Canada in the lead up to the election. His website is yvesengler.com.
Posted by Thavam