The Canadian View: Shalom

"I think what distinguishes the Harper government from its predecessors is a lack of doublespeak. Everything is out there. I think we are seeing clarity."
"There's a lot of constructive ambiguity in diplomacy when you're dealing with hard issues. There's a lot of bull... from governments when you're dealing with highly political issues. Nowhere is that more so than in the Middle East."
"This is not the behaviour of normal politicians. We always criticize politicians for not being direct and forthcoming."
"For whatever reason, the government seems less buffeted by public pinion on this issue than other governments."
Norman Spector, Canada's ex-ambassador to Israel, 1992-95

"Obviously no one likes to see the suffering and loss of life that has occurred. That said, we hold the terrorist organization Hamas responsible for this. They have initiated and continue this conflict and continue to seek the destruction of the state of Israel."
"We Canadians understand that Israelis live with this impossible calculus: If you act to defend yourselves, you will suffer widespread condemnation over and over again. But should you fail to act, you alone will suffer the consequences of your inaction and that consequence will be final. It will be your destruction."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the Knesset, on Monday, January 20, 2014. At right is Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Photo credit: Flash 90)

"We have chosen a position of support for one party, I would say, at the expense of the other. The government holds to it tenaciously, regardless of where that puts Canada in terms of any role it might play in international circles."
"It marginalizes us. We're outside what we used to call a 'like-minded' or 'western' consensus. Our views on this are very predictable."
"If we're not taken particularly seriously on these issues, it does hurt our overall credibility."
Michael Bell, Canada's ex-ambassador to Israel, 1990-92 and 1999-2003

If Mr. Bell, in speaking of two 'parties', means to suggest that they are to be equally considered, perhaps it has slipped his mind that one of the 'parties' he refers to is on Canada's terrorist list. Hamas, indeed, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and much of Europe, as well. There alone his reasoning is faulty to begin with. And he must be aware that this Conservative-led government knows full well that its views are out of sync with many other western countries.

However, as the Prime Minister has stated on more than one occasion, his vision and view for Canada is that of morality, that Canada must position itself on the 'side' of right and justice, and this is precisely what he is doing for his country. The facts are parsed in reflection of reality; a terrorist theocratic jihadist group whose formation was meant for a specific purpose; the destruction of a legal, established state, has continually attempted to achieve its mandate.

On behalf of Canada and the people of Canada, Prime Minister Harper has committed to the support of the right of the state of Israel to exist, to protect itself when it is attacked, and it is as simple as that. Mr. Spector's view that Canada's principled stand on this issue may yet have the end effect of motivating debate internationally and perhaps even moving other countries to the same position is a positive one, given that no matter what Israel does it is slandered and held guilty of the crime of self-protection.

The photographed evidence of Palestinian Gazans, women, children and other civilians dying as a result of their statelet's governing body's determination to wipe the existence of a neighbouring country's population out of the Middle East, cannot but be painful to observers. This is, however, a war that their government, such as it is, in its fixation on meting out death rather than governing its people, has chosen on their behalf; a government that was democratically elected by themselves.

And lest there be any doubt that most Canadians do believe as does the governing Canadian political party, so too do the opposition parties in Parliament believe, as well in Israel's right to defend itself, although none of them would ever be asunambiguously clear in that position as the incumbent party is in its declaration for full support for the well-being of a partner-nation in Western liberal democracy.