Daniel LeBlanc
The Globe and Mail
5/20/2011
The Harper government is refusing to join the United States in calling for a return to 1967 borders as a starting point for Mideast peace, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from Canada’s staunch ally Israel.
At a briefing ahead of the upcoming G8 summit in France, federal officials said the basis for the negotiations must be mutually agreed upon.
The article continues at The Globe and Mail
H/T Weasel Zippers
Related:
G8 leaders omit mention of 1967 borders in Middle East statement
Group of Eight leaders had to soften a statement urging Israel and the Palestinians to return to negotiations because Canada objected to a specific mention of 1967 borders, diplomats said on Friday.
Canada’s right-leaning Conservative government has adopted a staunchly pro-Israel position in international negotiations since coming to power in 2006, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper saying Canada will back Israel whatever the cost.
Even Obama’s ineptitude cannot mask his profound hostility
…The fact is that Obama’s refusal to play along with the UN gambit is merely – and for whatever reason — a tactical decision. The important thing is that in his recent speeches, Obama has shown that he is not only still refusing to hold Abbas and co to account for their unbroken hostility to the existence of Israel and acts of aggression towards it, but is still intent on rewarding them – while proposing to cut off their prospective victim, Israel, at the knees.
Thanks to Netanyahu, the American people have now been made aware of this…
Fareed Zakaria: Obama good. Netanyahu bad. (Video)
…He goes back to some old footage of Netanyahu when he was 28 years old, well before he was ever Prime Minster, where he stated publicly that there should be no Palestinian state in Israel. But that was a long time ago and he’s since been Prime Minister twice. He has dealt with this problem from a leadership standpoint for a long time now and has apparently resigned his position on the issue to that of accepting a Palestinian state in Israel. He publicly stated it before Congress and the world just the other day and I think if they called him on it, they’d see he isn’t bluffing.
But to Zakaria this is just more reason that Netanyahu is the problem and not all the Muslim countries that want to destroy Israel. It’s not the coalition government of Hamas and Fatah that’s the problem. No, thousands of Iranian/Hamas rockets later it’s all Bibi’s fault….
Israel thanks Canada for pro-Israel stance at G8
FM tells Canadian counterpart John Baird “Canada is a true friend of Israel”; Canada objected to wording of G8 call for renewed negotiations.Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper had insisted that no mention of the 1967 lines be made in the leaders’ final communiqué, even though most of the other leaders wanted a mention, diplomats said on Friday.
Meanwhile, an Arab League committee decided at a meeting in Doha, Qatar on Saturday to seek full UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and theWest Bank, with east Jerusalem as its capital, it said in a statement.
The Arab League’s peace process follow-up committee said it would request membership for the state of Palestine at the UN General Assembly’s meeting in New York in September.
…Can you imagine. Harper disrespected my President. Waiting for outrage and indignation in the Salons of The Atlantic.
Am I now not patriotic for taking back prior Canada jokes?
Canadian Government Money Going To The Next Gaza Flotilla?
The Montreal-based group Alternatives has received $5 million from the government in recent years. It is also listed as one of the “Canadian Endorsers” on the Canada Boat to Gaza website.
The Canada Boat to Gaza (CBG) will carry a delegation to Gaza in the end of June on a boat named Tahrir, meaning “liberation” in Arabic, along with at least 12 other ships from around the world. “Despite news that Egypt plans to open the Rafah border crossing,” the group notes, “the maritime blockade by Israel remains a major obstacle to achieving normal life in Gaza. The Canadian Boat to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla movement will continue our work until the Port of Gaza is opened to ensure free circulation of goods and people.”…
