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.
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