Avi Benlolo: Sanctions against Israeli settlements expose the deep rot in Ottawa - National Post
Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand. Photo by Dave Chan/AFPArticle contentThere is a deep rot in this country. In the middle of a trade war with our greatest ally, the United States, our government has also initiated another trade war — this time with one of its historically closest allies in the Middle East, Israel. On Tuesday, the Government of Canada announced, through a series of statements, that it will impose trade restrictions on so-called Israeli settlements. In other words, on Jews.
Canada’s government is failing to work diplomatically, bilaterally and professionally. Instead, it is blowing up decades of positive relations with Israel. This is negligence. Alongside a joint statement issued by Canada, the United Kingdom and several other European countries, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand stated on social media that, “In the coming months, we will introduce restrictions on trade in goods with settlements in the West Bank that are illegal under international law.”
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But wait, there’s more ridiculousness. As if Anand’s statement wasn’t clear enough in its attack on the one and only Jewish state, Prime Minister Mark Carney, along with his counterparts in Britain and France, also directed fire at Israel using stronger language: “Canada, France and the U.K. will therefore take steps to ban the importation of goods from settlements and enforce targeted measures against settlements.”
Any casual observer must inquire as to why is our government is relentlessly and disproportionately picking on Israel. The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which was adopted by the Government of Canada, states that applying double standards with respect to Israel is antisemitic. Needless to say, boycotts of Israeli companies in the West Bank have proven to harm the livelihoods of Palestinian workers more than Israelis, as they force companies to simply relocate to Israel proper, thus precipitating Palestinian job losses, as was the case with SodaStream.
Israel could fit inside Canada roughly 450 times. But you wouldn’t know it given the outsized criticism Israel gets from our own government. There seems to be a drunken state of hatred not based on rationality and diplomacy, but on some kind of vicious vendetta that is harmful to our own national interests. Let’s be honest here: Canada wants to put down a productive country that is contributing to the world. Israel is producing more economic output per person than is Canada — approximately US$60,300 (C$83,300) per capita compared with US$55,700 in Canada.
