It was nearly 80 years ago that a Canadian diplomat and future prime minister first laid out the boundaries of an independent and equal Palestinian state.
Lester B. Pearson was chairman of the United Nations committee that drafted the former British territory’s . Had it not been hindered by a war the following year that led to the creation of the state of Israel and kicked off a decades-long cycle of violence, the plan would have carved up the land into side-by-side Arab and Jewish territories.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mark Carney took a significant step to revive the idea of a two-state solution to the conflict, one he said has been Ҡby the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on IsraelÌý²¹²Ô»åÌýIsrael’s ensuing countermeasures.
In announcing that he would recognize a Palestinian state before the United Nations General Assembly in September, Carney said Canada was “standing with all people who choose peace over violence or terrorism.â€
It is a step that Middle East observers see as a potentially powerful signal, one that comes in concert with an identical pledge from France and a warning that Britain will follow suit .
On top of snubbing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the recognition of Palestine risks isolating the United States, which could end up as the only permanent member of the United Nations Security Council resisting the movement. This is important because a potential United Nations member state must first have the backing of the UNSC before submitting to a vote of the General Assembly, where 147 out of 193 countries already support Palestinian statehood.
The move by Canada, France and the United Kingdom could also split the wealthy and influential G7 member states and push their numbers into the majority at the G20.
But this political recognition is far from a magic wand that will end the war and the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Much depends on what comes after the words.
If recognition is not followed by action, the declaration will remain largely symbolic, said Yossi Mekelberg, a senior consulting fellow with Chatham House in London.
Canada can intervene in the case against Israel in support of the principles of international law.
Canada can intervene in the case against Israel in support of the principles of international law.
But it could also prove to be hugely significant if it leads to a larger plan to end the war in Gaza, free the remaining Israeli hostages, deliver humanitarian aid and rebuild the devastated territory, reduce tensions in the West Bank and forge a long-term peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
“It actually should have been done long before as a way to overcome the asymmetry in negotiation between a state (Israel) and a non-state actor (the Palestinian Authority),†Mekelberg said in an interview.
Carney, who spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas following his declaration, said he expects the governing body, which administers the West Bank, to commit to governance reforms, to holding elections in 2026 and to demilitarizing the Palestinian state.
“It puts the onus on the Palestinians to behave as a state and not as a liberation movement,†Mekelberg said.
The Israeli government has strongly objected to the move, saying that recognition is a reward for terrorism and supports a movement that wants to destroy Israel, not live beside it in peace.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump that Canada’s decision “will make it very hard for us to make a trade deal with them.â€
The White House confirmed that tariffs on Canadian goods which don’t comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement will jump from 25 per cent to 35
The White House confirmed that tariffs on Canadian goods which don’t comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement will jump from 25 per cent to 35
The U.S. State Department also that it had decided to prevent Palestinian political leaders from obtaining travel visas on grounds they had, among other things, attempted to “internationalize†the conflict with Israel through legal proceedings at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.â€
But the decision by Canada, France and Britain — three countries with historically close ties to Israel — to back the Palestinian cause will also make it hard for average Israelis to ignore the existence of a shifting tide in global public opinion.
This, even if a found that only about one in five Israelis believed it was possible for separate Israeli and Palestinian states to peacefully coexist, while half said it was not possible.
The prospects for a peaceful future have little to do with the determination about whether a territory constitutes a state.
The generally accepted definition was agreed to nearly a century ago at a gathering of mostly central and South American countries in Uruguay.
They signed a treaty, , resolving that a state existed as a legal entity wherever four basic criteria were met: a permanent population; a defined territory; a government; and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
Canada’s own difficult history with the Quebec independence movement and the geopolitical chaos prompted by the fall of communism in the 1990s is a reminder that what is written on paper rarely translates neatly into what occurs in real life.
It took nearly a decade after the guns had fallen silent for Canada to as a state separate from neighbouring Serbia, although the Balkan nation still does not have a seat at the UN.
In the case of Palestine and Israel, Canada and dozens of other frustrated countries have determined that recognition can serve as a potential precursor to peace, not simply as a reward for having achieved an end to the fighting.
Mekelberg said that rather than viewing international recognition of Palestine as an attack on Israel, it should be seen as a “pro-Israeli move” to end the wars, to ensure Israel’s security and to fulfil the potential of both the Arab and Jewish populations.
“It’s not a punishment,” he said. “It’s a step toward once and for all, finishing a conflict that is not only 77 years old, it’s more than 100 years old.”
