Canada's Despicable Role in Opposing Palestinian Human Rights
- Yi Nicholls -
February 1, 2020. Montreal demonstration stands with Palestinian people
against U.S. so-called Deal of the Century.
On November 19, Canada voted along with 162 other
countries in favour of a draft UN resolution affirming the Palestinian
right to self-determination. The resolution emphasized "the right of
the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to
their independent State of Palestine" and "stressed the urgency of
achieving without delay an end to the Israeli occupation that began in
1967 and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the
Palestinian and Israeli sides," based on a two-state solution.
 The resolution
passed 163 to five with 10 abstentions. In addition to Israel and the
U.S., the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Nauru also voted against the
resolution. Australia, Cameroon, Guatemala, Honduras, Kiribati, Palau,
Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Togo and Tonga all abstained.
In previous years Canada voted with Israel against
the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination but for the
second straight year, prompted by the U.S. Secretary of
State's decision last year to reverse the position of the State
Department's legal opinion that deemed Israeli settlements to be
illegal, it voted for the resolution. At the same time, it voted
against 15 other resolutions affirming Palestinian rights, all raising
substantial issues which relate to the implementation of the first
resolution.
Canada is playing games unworthy of any country
which claims to stand for rights. In fact, for the past 20
years Canada's voting record on Palestinian issues has moved
consistently in a direction which defends Israel's violation of its
duties as an occupying power. This trend coincided with then Prime
Minister Paul Martin's appointment of the Zionist Irwin Cotler as
Minister of Justice. This was followed by the adoption of extremist
Zionist positions by the Harper government, which the Trudeau Liberals
are continuing to implement. Trudeau's appointment of the self-avowed
Zionist, Bob Rae, as Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations is par
for the course and also reveals the path Canada has chosen in
international affairs, to take up every reactionary
counterrevolutionary cause which pushes the U.S. as so-called
indispensable nation while claiming to be humanitarian and the greatest
defender of peace, democracy and rights.
 This
past week the Trudeau Government named Irwin Cotler as Canada's
"Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting
Anti-Semitism." It is well known that Cotler has been advocating
internationally on behalf of the International Holocaust Remembrance
Alliance whose definition of the "new anti-Semitism" labels any
criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. To reward with this appointment
the despicable activities of Cotler and his attacks on the struggles of
the Palestinian people and their supporters around the world for basic
human rights is a clear indication that the pretense of the Trudeau
Liberals of being on the side of human rights and freedom in defence of
the Palestinian people is hollow.
The vote on the resolution affirming Palestine's
right to self-determination took place on the UN's Third Committee
which, each year, considers a package of 16 resolutions on important
issues facing the Palestinian people. The resolutions, listed below,
now go to the UN General Assembly for debate and vote in plenary
session in December. Click on the abbreviated titles below to see more
detailed information.
1. Natural
Resources: "Permanent sovereignty of the
Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan
over their natural resources"
In brief: Brings attention to the inalienable
rights of the Palestinian people and of the population of the occupied
Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land, water and
energy resources, and demands that Israel stops damaging or exploiting
those resources.
2. Self-Determination:
"The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination"
In brief: Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian
people to self-determination, including the right to their independent
State of Palestine.
3. Assistance:
"Assistance to the Palestinian people"
In brief: Calls on the international community to
increase humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians.
4. Israeli
Practices: "Israeli practices affecting the human
rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem"
In brief: Demands that Israel stops violating
international law in the occupied territories, and calls for
international protection of the Palestinian civilian population.
5. Settlements:
"Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including
East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan"
In brief: Reaffirms that Israeli settlements are
illegal and an obstacle to peace, and urges UN member states to
distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between Israel proper and its
settlements.
6. Applicability
Geneva: "Applicability of the Geneva Convention
relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War,
of August 12, 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories"
In brief: Reaffirms that the Geneva Convention is
applicable to Israel's occupation, and urges Israel to comply with the
provisions of international law.
7. Special
Committee: "Work of the Special Committee to
Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the
Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories"
In brief: Tells the UN's "Special Committee" on
this issue to continue to investigate Israeli policies and practices in
the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
8. Refugees'
Properties: "Palestine refugees' properties and
their revenues"
In brief: Reaffirms that Palestinian refugees are
entitled to their property, and asks the UN to protect Arab assets and
property rights in Israel.
9. UNRWA:
"Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East" (UNRWA)
In brief: Recognizes the work of
the UNRWA, which is the agency responsible for Palestinian
refugees, and urges the international community to support it.
10. Displaced
Persons 1967: "Persons displaced as a result of the
June 1967 and subsequent hostilities"
In brief: Reaffirms the right of all persons
displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities to
return to their homes or former places of residence in the territories
occupied by Israel since 1967.
11. UNRWA
Assistance: "Assistance to Palestine refugees"
In brief: Extends the mandate of
the UNRWA.
12. Occupation
of East Jerusalem: "Jerusalem"
In brief: Condemns Israel's occupation of East
Jerusalem as illegal, calls for a just and lasting solution that takes
into account the legitimate concerns of both Israelis and Palestinians,
and calls on all parties to respect the historic status quo in regard
to holy places.
13. Peaceful
Settlement: "Peaceful settlement of the question of
Palestine"
In brief: Calls for a comprehensive, just and
lasting peace in the Middle East, calls for Israel to withdraw from the
Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,
and urges the international community not to recognize any unilateral
changes to the pre-1967 borders.
14. DPI
Info Program: "Special information program on the
question of Palestine of the Department of Global Communications of the
Secretariat"
In brief: Extends the mandate of the "special
information program on the question of Palestine," which is undertaken
by the UN Secretariat's Department of Global Communications (formerly
the Department of Public Information (DPI)). Under this program, the
department collects, archives, and distributes extensive information
about Palestine, including related UN activities.
15. DPR:
"Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat"
In brief: Renews the mandate of the UN
Secretariat's Division for Palestinian Rights, which monitors
developments in Palestine, organizes meetings and events, and maintains
the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine
(UNISPAL).
16. CEIRPP:
"Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian
People"
In brief: Renews the mandate of the Committee on
the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The
committee was established in 1975, and has a mandate to promote the
realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. It
organizes meetings and events and has a variety of information and
training programs.
To see the UN Dashboard on Canada's voting
history, click
here.
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 47 - December 5, 2020
Article Link:
Canada's Despicable Role in Opposing Palestinian Human Rights - Yi Nicholls
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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