MacKay states obvious

Editorial

Peter MacKay, Canada's foreign affairs minister, was in the Middle East last weekend, meeting with regional leaders and surveying, among other things, the security barrier.

Looking for something – anything – to report, Canadian media focused on MacKay's comments on the security barrier that Israel is constructing to prevent terror attacks.

The barrier, which has succeeded in almost eliminating terror attacks originating from the West Bank, is a horrible humanitarian affront. But it is better than the alternative.

MacKay's concern, he said, was that the barrier does not follow the 1967 borders between the two entities. Though it is a favorite tactic of Israel's critics to suggest that the trajectory of the fence is a land grab, in reality it follows a path that is most likely to save lives.

MacKay essentially acknowledged this, noting that Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister, has given him assurances that "the borders are issues that have to be discussed in the broader context of peace negotiations."

As plain as this truth may seem, there are those who espouse the view that Israel should fulfil its responsibilities as set out in the peace process, even as the Palestinian leadership continues to pile earth on the grave of that process.

There is nothing that MacKay said that even hints at a switch in Canadian policy toward this region. He seems to recognize that the security fence will be disbanded, boundaries solidified and bilateral relations restored when the Palestinians acknowledge Israel's right to exist in peace and take steps to make that right a reality.

We're not there yet.

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