Canada recognizing Palestinian statehood right now would be a 'grave mistake': Israel

The embassy of Israel to Canada says that recognizing Palestinian statehood “at this time” would be a “grave mistake.” “Such a step would amount to an unconscionable reward for the heinous Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 — an attack marked by mass murder and the brutal kidnapping of innocent civilians, including Canadian citizens,” it said in an emailed statement to National Post on Wednesday. “Rather than advancing peace, it would legitimize violence and severely undermine international efforts to restore stability and security in the region.” The statement comes after chief representative of the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada Mona Abuamara told The Canadian Press she feels that Canada is getting closer to formally recognizing Palestinian statehood. In an article published on Wednesday, she said the recognition would “set in stone for Canadians the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination.” Abuamara has been in the role, which is to promote and strengthen relations between Palestinians and Canada, since 2021. It is coming to an end after her four-year term. She was appointed by a government that only has control of the West Bank, not the Gaza Strip, CP said. She is still pushing for Canada to take a harsher stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza, and has commended Canada for its recent use of “tougher language.” “Accountability means everything to the Palestinian people. That’s all we are looking for,” said Abuamara. “Canada could have done better and must do better.” Canada’s approach to the conflict in recent years has been to support Israel “without budging,” she said. Meanwhile, the Palestinian territories received funding for smaller projects, such as police training. The mentality was that the Palestinian territories would be “managed under the occupation,” she said, adding that she was looking to Canada to “get rid of that occupation instead, so we could make our own money.” Israel maintains that it withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Abuamara praised the Carney government for making “stronger, clearer statements,” and mentioned comments made by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. Speaking to reporters in May , Anand said Israel used food as a political tool and that more than 50,000 people have died as a result of Israel’s “aggression.” That number, which cannot be independently verified, was provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. In an Instagram post on June 3 , Senator Marilou McPhedran thanked Abuamara for her “hard work and advocacy.” McPhedran, along with other senators from Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, urged the Canadian government to recognize a State of Palestine, among other demands, in a June 25 news release. “Canada needs to just stand by international law,” Abuamara told CP. “It’s not about Palestine. It’s about the international rules-based order, about human rights, about values and principles.” The federal government said in May 2024 it is “prepared to recognize a Palestinian state at the time most conducive to lasting peace, not necessarily as the last step along the path to achieving the two-state solution.” Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to questions about the Middle East during an interview with CNN in late June. “Can there be a lasting peace in the Middle East without peace in Gaza, that takes into account Gaza and West Bank and effectively working on a path to a Palestinian state? I would agree with all of those,” he said. “(Palestinians) living side by side in security with Israel — a Zionist, if you will, Palestinian state that recognizes the right of Israel not just to exist, but to prosper and not live in fear — we can’t have peace unless we move towards that.” Abuamara said talks with other countries, including a recent one between Canada, Qatar, and Mexico, are helping to push Canada toward recognizing Palestinian statehood. Although a United Nations conference set to be organized by France and Saudi Arabia was cancelled due to the Israel-Iran war, she said there would be conversations about how to achieve that goal when it’s rescheduled. At a White House dinner this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked whether or not he believed there could be an independent Palestine. “I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us and that means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands,” he said. “After October 7th, people said the Palestinians have a state, a Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They built down into bunkers, into terror tunnels after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns, our kibbutzim and did horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn’t see since World War Two and the Nazis, the Holocaust. So people aren’t likely to say, ‘Let’s just give them another state.’ It’ll be a platform to destroy Israel.” Carney’s office did not respond to National Post’s request for comment.

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