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December 10, 2004
Canada's shift at the UN
Critics divided over significance of foreign policy tweak.
PAT JOHNSON
A step in the right direction – but a small step – is
the reaction of some observers to a subtle shift in Canadian foreign
policy toward Israel. The federal government is denying its policy
toward the Middle East has changed, but a commitment to end Canadian
support for blanket anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations
is seen by some Canadian Zionists as a good initial move.
Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Alan Rock, made the first
public announcement of the change last week and a clarification
came soon after from Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.
In his public statement, Pettigrew said, "In reviewing the
long history of the resolutions adopted every year at the General
Assembly, I have concluded that some, including some that Canada
supported, have contributed neither to strengthening dialogue nor
enhancing trust between the parties."
Pettigrew also stated that each party in the conflict should be
expected to live up to its responsibilities, fair criticism should
be applied on both sides and Israel's security needs should not
be overlooked by the General Assembly.
The statements addressed complaints that Canada has for many years
supported or abstained in a series of annual boilerplate denunciations
of Israel at the United Nations. Canadian representatives from now
on will oppose at least three of 22 resolutions that come up annually
condemning Israel. Even so, the resolutions will continue to pass
with margins that usually surpass 100 votes in favor and just a
half-dozen or so opposed.
At the same time, Pettigrew is denying that the change in votes
represents a substantive shift in Canadian foreign policy. Nevertheless,
Zionists who have condemned Canada's support for the annual anti-Israel
onslaught are optimistic.
Bernard Pinsky, one of two British Columbia representatives to the
national Jewish umbrella group CIJA – the Council for Israel
and Jewish Advocacy – sees the comments by the minister and
the ambassador as reason for hope.
"It is significant from the point of view that Canada has decided
to take a principled approach to this and to think through how Canada
can become a constructive force for peace in the Middle East,"
said Pinsky.
Though Canada's vote won't alter the overwhelming support for the
anti-Israel positions at the UN, it signifies that Israel has reason
to trust Canada. Prime Minister Paul Martin is turning his attentions
to reforming the UN and reviewing Canada's votes at the international
body may be a step toward that end, said Pinsky, who wants to see
Canada make more active approaches to Israel, in the form of increased
trade, academic exchanges and other bilateral actions that can help
Israel become a "normal nation in the family of nations."
"Canada, I think, has an important place to assist Israel
to become exactly that," Pinsky said.
Another local Zionist activist sees the shift as consistent with
Canada's claimed equanimity in the Middle East.
"Canada has to be more straightforward because we claim to
be Israel's friend, but we vote against Israel at the United Nations,"
said Dr. Sally Rogow, co-chair of the Christian Jewish Action Committee
and a member of the Vancouver chapter of the Canada-Israel Committee.
She said the subtle change may have come as a result of combined
pressures from the United States, the Conservative party and activist
groups like hers and CIJA.
At least one national advocate is less optimistic.
"We have to keep things in perspective," said Joseph Ben-Ami,
director of government relations and diplomatic affairs for B'nai
Brith Canada. "A couple of votes at the United Nations do not
make a policy shift."
Over the past three decades, a bloc of countries at the UN have
successfully turned world attention away from their own egregious
human rights violations by focusing on Israel, Ben-Ami said, and
countries like Canada turned a blind eye.
Canada could not turn world opinion around single-handedly, he added,
but it could lend its good offices to a more balanced approach,
said Ben-Ami. The prime minister's proposals for UN reform are positive
but unproven, he added. More significant, he said, could be the
pressure of other forces pushing against a moderating approach.
"This is not a time for people who are supportive of Israel
to rest on their achievements or to give themselves a pat on the
back or to take a break now and say we did a great job the government
has changed its policy," Ben-Ami said. "This is a time
for us to recognize there is a lot more work to be done. We have
to be very cautious in our optimism."
The harshest criticism came from outside the Jewish community. Naresh
Raghubeer, executive director of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies,
dismissed the apparent shift as insignificant.
"We don't see it as anything tangible," said Raghubeer,
whose non-partisan, nonprofit group advocates changes to foreign
policy that support democracies and democratic movements. "There's
a lot of Orwellian doublespeak here.... We need to see real actions
that save lives."
Raghubeer would like to see Canada halt its annual $10 million contribution
to UNRWA, the UN agency that provides civil infrastructure to Palestinian
refugees, until the agency demonstrates it is not co-operating with
Hamas terrorists or their supporters.
Rock's admission that the resolutions are biased against Israel
is a good first step, Raghubeer said, but Canadians should not overstate
the significance.
Raghubeer was at a dinner in Ottawa recently where Martin declared
that when politicians see anti-Semitism, they must condemn it in
the strongest possible terms.
"The sad part is that Martin had not [and] no one actually
in the Martin government, no minister, had condemned Sheik Younus
Kathrada in Vancouver. No one had condemned [Canadian Islamic Congress
leader Mohamed] Elmasry for inciting the killing of Israelis. No
one had condemned the hooligans at Concordia. Not one minister commented
on it," said Raghubeer. "No one is holding him to account
for his words. They tell the Jewish community one thing and then
the moment these things happen they do nothing about it."
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.
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