Canada/Israel - Partners for Peace

"I think it won't be a huge shock to anyone that Canada is a strong supporter of the state of Israel. We have been a strong supporter of the only liberal democracy in the region. I would say the state of our relationship with the Arab world is strong, getting stronger every day. We have a good relationship with the Palestinian Authority.
"We have a lot of confidence that she will be able to do a good job. We certainly can't be hostage to past comments. She is being appointed as our ambassador to Israel, not Ramallah (in the Palestinian West Bank). She has been critical of the Palestinian Authority, and critical of the Israeli government on occasion."
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird

"I know that this government's principled stance on various fronts is warmly welcomed and appreciated by both the Israeli government and the Israeli people.
"Canada supports Israel's right to exist in peace and security. Canada stands firm in the international fight against anti-Semitism, including raising the awareness of the Holocaust. And Canada recognizes the importance of building inclusive and stable societies underpinned by democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law."
Toronto lawyer Vivian Bercovici

Handout / Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada    Vivian Bercovici, a Toronto lawyer who studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the London School of Economics, was appointed to the sensitive diplomatic post on Wednesday by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird

 

All of this may very well be true, but these are realities that simply don't appeal to the sensibilities and ideological cant of a growing and significant number of Canadians who place their trust in the messages that emanate from the Canadian Arab Federation, to single out one group which must be simmering with rage. There, John Baird has done it again. Antagonized a sizeable proportion of the Canadian immigrant population.

And for what? The Jewish vote? A far smaller demographic than the Arab presence in Canada, and which doesn't, in any event, vote as a bloc.

Good grief, might it be a matter of principle? Of knowledge of the historical record, both the far distant past and the more readily observable present? Of course Mr. Baird does not act in a vacuum. He is an integral and important member of the Parliament of Canada, a lawmaker and member of the Conservative Cabinet whose statements and orientation reflect those of the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper.

There will be ripe and rather impolite things said of both within certain cliques and demographic groups.

In announcing Canada's newly appointed ambassador to Tel Aviv, the choice was made to bypass the ranks of the professional foreign civil service diplomatic corps. Ambassador Bercovici will certainly present a far different outlook and diplomacy on behalf of Canada and its citizens than that formerly expressed by the traditional diplomatic staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Which has always, in the past, harboured more than a hint of bias in that role.

A somewhat unorthodox appointment, but not exactly rare to pluck someone out of the professional ranks of Canadian citizens-at-large to represent Canada abroad; they have more generally been those of the political class and sometimes well-known news personalities. Ms. Bercovici has made numerous statements as a private citizen concerned with events in the Middle East, and specifically Israel, that will undoubtedly make those on the left and 'Palestinian sympathizers' uneasy.

Boycott Israel? Apartheid Israel? "Big Fat Lie". As for Israel representing the major obstacle to peace in the Middle East because of the unsettling effect of a Jewish State in a Muslim geography, whose presence is an assault against consecrated Islamic ground, and which represents a goad to Muslims everywhere, even with a somewhat altered public perception of Israel unwilling to wage peace because it is dedicated to war: "misguided fantasy"; for there "is no willing negotiator on the Palestinian side."

And there are other provocations from a strong-minded woman who will have to deal with the realities of Syria in crisis, Lebanon hovering on civil war, Egypt repressing Islamism and under military rule again, and finally Iran intent on achieving its nuclear aspirations, with a failing American presence:

• "For Israel, a nuclear Iran is a clear existential threat. It's no joke."
• "The Iranian regime is a brutal theocracy ... I wouldn't buy snake oil from these guys, much less trust them, on a smile, when they assure that they enrich uranium for peaceful purposes."
• "A weak president means a weak America, a very worrisome proposition for Israel."
• "In the UN, no country on the planet can be a more heinous violator for human rights than Israel."
• "That Western leaders, among them President Barack Obama and U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague, regard Israel as the peace spoiler defies logic."

However, she has also stated that, "Israelis are intransigent; Palestinians are intransigent; Israelis will never relinquish settlements; Palestinians will never accept a Jewish state; and on and on it goes." Yet there is also this, that Israel and the West Bank represent "the most stable enclave in the perennially unstable region", and that it is possible that over time both sides might possibly come to "an imperfect coexistence."

"Having lived in Israel and written extensively on the region, Ms. Bercovici has an excellent understanding of the challenges facing the country and deep insight into the opportunities provided by the strong links between our two countries", affirmed Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird.