How Trudeau and Canada’s Liberals enable devastation of Palestinian life

Justin Trudeau claims to support human rights and the international rules-based order. But that is certainly not the case regarding Palestine.

As Israel’s nearly century-long war against Palestinians expands, the pro-Israelism of Canada’s Liberal government has taken centre stage. In recent days Prime Minister Trudeau has attended Israel rallies and repeatedly said that the country has the “right to defend itself”. As Israeli officials were making genocidal statements, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly travelled to Israel last week. After meeting Canada’s top diplomat, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen boasted, “We continue to mobilise the world for the fight against Hamas! I met today with Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, who also came to support Israel”.

Despite Israel killing at least 6,000 Palestinians, including at least 2,000 children, over the past two weeks, Trudeau has refused repeated requests to call for a ceasefire. The government has ignored these requests even though 33 MPs, including 23 Liberals, signed a letter calling on the government to appeal for a ceasefire.

But opposition to Israel’s killing threatens to undermine Trudeau’s current policy. Tens of thousands have taken to the street in cities across the country and on Friday Trudeau was forced to leave a mosque after being booed for his position on Palestine. International trade Minister Mary Ng subsequently cancelled a planned speaking event at another mosque.

While Hamas’ violence is the currently stated reason for its pro-Israel policy, Ottawa’s support is not new. Since taking office in 2015 the Trudeau government has repeatedly justified Israeli violence against Palestinians while mostly ignoring its brutal blockade of Gaza, demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and growing Jewish supremacy inside its 1948 borders.

The Trudeau government has repeatedly isolated Canada from world opinion on Palestinian rights. It voted against over 60 UN resolutions, supported by most of the world, upholding the long-oppressed people’s rights. In December 2017 Canada sided with the US, Israel and some tiny Pacific island states in opposing a UN resolution supporting Palestinian statehood that was backed by 176 nations.

The Liberals have repeatedly expressed their fidelity to Israel. During an Israel Council on Foreign Relations gathering then foreign minister Chrystia Freeland declared, “Canada’s commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering and ironclad”. At the November 2018 event alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Freeland added that if Canada won a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2020 it would act as an “asset for Israel”.

The Liberals have also demonised those advocating for a people under occupation. They formally adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) anti-Palestinian definition of antisemitism. The explicit aim of those pushing the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism has been to silence or marginalise those criticising Palestinian dispossession and supporting the Palestinian civil society led BDS movement. In 2020 the Liberals created the position of Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, which is designed to protect Israel from criticism. For his part, the PM repeatedly equated supporting Palestinian rights with hatred towards Jews.

In January 2020 Canada’s ambassador to Israel held an event at the embassy in Tel Aviv to celebrate Canadians fighting for Israel. They invited all 78 Canadians in the Israeli military to an event to demonstrate the embassy’s appreciation. Referring to non-Israelis who join the IDF, Ambassador Deborah Lyons told the Jerusalem Post, “Canadian lone soldiers are a particularly special group … This is something we want to do on a yearly basis to show our support”. At the event, Canada’s ambassador said, “We both share a love of Canada and a love of Israel. We at the embassy are very proud of what you’re doing”.

Further enabling its illegal occupation, the Liberals “modernised” Canada’s two-decade-old Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Israel that allows products from West Bank settlements to enter Canada duty-free. Liberal MPs on Parliament’s Standing Committee on International Trade rejected an opposition party amendment to the trade accord’s legislation stipulating its implementation “shall be based on respect for human rights and international law”. They also rejected a New Democratic Party amendment to the deal that would have required distinct labels on products originating from “Palestinian territory that has been illegally occupied since 1967”.

In 2017 the federal government said its FTA with Israel trumped Canada’s Food and Drugs Act after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency called for accurate labelling of wines produced in the occupied West Bank. Quoting from long-standing official Canadian policy, CFIA noted that “the government of Canada does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the territories occupied in 1967”.

In response to pressure from the Israeli embassy, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B’nai Brith, the government announced that it was all a mistake made by a low-level CFIA official and that the Canada-Israel FTA governed the labelling of such wine, not CFIA rules.

Two years later the Federal Court ruled against the government’s decision to allow wines produced on illegal settlements in the West Bank to be labelled as “Products of Israel”. However, the Liberal government refused to accept the court’s sensible ruling that respected consumer rights and international law. Ignoring pleas from the NDP and Green opposition parties to stop wasting taxpayer money on their anti-Palestinian agenda, the government appealed the decision. Two months after the Liberals appealed the federal court’s ruling the highest court in the European Union echoed the Canadian court’s position in a decision that targeted one of the wineries complained about in Canada.

Ottawa’s repeated indifference to international law has enabled Israeli impunity. In 2020 Ottawa pressed the International Criminal Court to stop investigating Israeli war crimes. Canada sent a letter to the ICC saying it didn’t believe the court had jurisdiction over Palestine. In a similar move, two months ago Ottawa sought to block a World Court opinion on Palestine. Canada submitted a statement opposing an International Court of Justice advisory opinion called for by a UN General Assembly resolution titled “Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”.

When it suits the Liberals, usually once Canada’s neighbour to the south has made its position clear, Trudeau claims to support a “rules-based international order” but in practice, this means a Washington-run world, not one governed by international law and the will of the United Nations. On no issue is this clearer than Canada’s support for Israel. Like the USA, Justin Trudeau’s government proudly proclaims its support for that country and enables the killing and dispossession of Palestinians.