Poll: Large majority of Canadians oppose annexation of West Bank, nearly half want sanctions on Israel

Michael Arria
Mondweiss
Thu, 18 Jun 2020 00:00 UTC

A new poll found that three out of four Canadians want their government to oppose Israel's proposed annexation West Bank, and almost half would support sanctions on the country over the issue.

The survey (which randomly sampled 1,000 random Canadians over the age of 18) was conducted by EKOS Research Associates and co-sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel. 74% of those surveyed "want the government to express opposition to Israeli annexation in some form" and 42% want economic or diplomatic sanctions placed on the country.

"These results prove that Canadians want more than words from Trudeau when it comes to opposing Israel's annexation," said Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME, in a press release. "Not only is it necessary to threaten sanctions to discourage annexation from taking place, but there is considerable support among the Canadian public to do so."

This week the Canadian government lost its bid to join the UN Security Council, with Norway and Ireland prevailing over the country. Members of the Palestine Solidarity community opposed Canada being given a seat, based on its longtime support of Israeli aggression. An open letter signed by over 100 pro-peace organizations and prominent activists urged the Security Council to reject Canada's bid:

The Canadian government for at least a decade and a half has consistently isolated itself against world opinion on Palestinian rights at the UN. Since coming to power - after the dubious record of the Harper government - the Trudeau government has voted against more than fifty UN resolutions upholding Palestinian rights that were backed by the overwhelming majority of member states. Continuing this pattern, Canada "sided with Israel by voting No" on most UN votes on the Question of Palestine in December. Three of these were Canada's votes on Palestinian Refugees, on UNRWA and on illegal settlements, each distinguishing Canada as in direct opposition to the "Yes" votes of Ireland and Norway.

"During Trudeau's time in power, Canada supported only one pro-Palestinian resolution at the General Assembly. It repeatedly chose to stand against nations' attempts to condemn Israel for its human rights violations and illegal settlements, and support Palestinians' struggle for rights and self-determination," wrote Palestinian attorney Jonathan Kuttab at Al Jazeera.

Comment: Not that this will make much difference as the Canadian government is tone deaf to the desires of its citizens, preferring instead to support Israel unequivocally:

Israeli annexation, Canada's confusion and hypocrisy

Canada welcomes the importation of settlement products, extends preferential tariff treatment to them under the terms of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) and defends Israel's right to label settlement products as Israeli in origin. The Trudeau government knows full well why Israel insists on labeling settlement products as Israeli, and it isn't for tariff favors. In response to a complaint of mine [full disclosure: read more here], Ottawa went to Federal Court to defend Israel's right to stake sovereign claim to its colonies on Canadian stores shelves. It lost its case. 'Product of Israel' labels on settlement wines are "false, misleading and deceptive," Justice Anne Mactavish ruled in July 2019. Undeterred, Canada's Attorney General is now appealing Justice Mactavish's decision — going to the wall in support of Israel's annexationist ambitions.

Meanwhile, the Canada Revenue Agency lets Canadian Zionists write settlement contributions off their taxes. The Jewish National Fund of Canada, Canadian Friends of Ariel University (in Ariel, the largest settlement in the northern West Bank) and Canadian Friends of Yeshivat Har Etzion (in the Gush Etzion settlement block) are all registered charities, in spite of their declared commitment to colonization and de facto (if not de jure) annexation of Palestinian land. Among Yeshivat Har Etzion's publicly stated goals: To foster a "lifelong commitment" to "Am Yisrael and Eretz Israel."

Astonishingly, Canadian government support for settlement expansion is accompanied by acknowledgement that settlements are absolutely illegal, under both the Fourth Geneva Convention (FGC) and Canada's own Geneva Conventions Act (GCA).