Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada, July 3. 2020
On July 1st Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli-imposed deadline had been reached for its illegal annexation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Jordan Valley. He added, Israel could delay a little bit if there was “good reason”.
Indeed, there is good reason, as the whole world knows. The Israeli annexation is completely illegal under international law, and is an act of war against the Palestinian People whose land has been illegally occupied by Israeli troops and settlements over more than five decades. The annexation is the main point in the Trump-Netanyahu “Deal of the Century”, which has been rejected out of hand by the Palestinian people, and by governments around the world which recognize it a provocation, an act of war and genocide.
Instead of obeying international law and the many UN resolutions calling for the creation of a Palestinian state on the territory of the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital, and with the right of return, Israeli governments have pursued a policy of driving the Palestinians off their land by means of unending wars and aggression, and the construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian lands.
Further, the Israeli blockade around the besieged territory of Gaza, where the Palestinian inhabitants have been denied access to water, food, medical supplies, employment and other necessities of life, is intended to compel Palestinian submission, extinguish Palestinian resistance and all hope of hope of a Palestinian state, in a show of Israel’s vastly superior military and economic might.
Israel’s actions have provoked the revulsion of the world’s peoples, as expressed in United Nations votes and resolutions, in the statements of world leaders and prominent personalities, and in mass public demonstrations of solidarity and support around the globe for the Palestinian cause.
Canada is one of only a countries (along with a handful of mostly small countries totally dependent on the US for aid) not to have condemned this “Deal of the Century” concocted by Trump and Netanyahu, and the impending Israeli annexation of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.
Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois-Philippe Champagne is still “studying” these illegal acts of war by Israel and the US, while Palestinians prepare to defend themselves, and the world looks on in horror. It is the Trudeau government’s continuing subordination of Canada to US foreign policy on Israel, and its refusal to adopt an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, that cost Canada its bid for a seat on the Security Council last month, and that has made Canada a pariah on the world stage.
Canada needs an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, and the world needs Canada to do this now. For peace in the Middle East, Canada must condemn US-Israeli annexation plans and demand implementation of UN resolutions leading to a Palestinian state, a territory within the 1967 borders, with its capital in Jerusalem, and with the right of all Palestinians in exile to return.
This is the path to peace which the Trudeau government needs to advocate now.
The alternative is a renewed struggle of a people united with the will never to be defeated, and with the sympathy and support of the whole world.