Actions, not statements, needed to advance two-state solution in Middle East: expert
The Liberal government's statements about its commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not enough to advance this outcome as real action is needed to push the parties in a positive direction, says an expert.
Rex Brynen, a political science professor at McGill University, said Ottawa should raise the cost of behaviours that undermine the two-state solution by supporting the International Criminal Court's investigation into settlement activity and military operations in Gaza.
He said that would signal to various parties that there are costs associated with their inappropriate behaviour whether that is Israeli settlement activity or Hamas firing rockets at Israeli cities.
"(Stating that) 'We support a two-state solution isn't going to move any closer to a two-state solution," he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke Tuesday with the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of his foreign affairs minister's visit to Jordan, Israel and the West Bank later this week.
A readout of the call said Trudeau discussed political and security developments in the region with Abbas.
The readout said Trudeau underscored his belief in the right of Palestinians and Israelis to live with dignity, without fear, and with their human rights respected, including the creation of a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel.
Marc Garneau's office said last week that his visit to the Middle East aims to advance Canada's support towards the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region and a two-state solution following a deadly 11-day war between Israelis and Palestinians last month.
The minister's visit to the region comes weeks after a ceasefire ended the war that left at least 230 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.
Brynen, who is a former longtime consultant to the Canadian government on Middle East issues, said Garneau will tell the leaders in the region that a two-state solution is the only viable resolution of the conflict and the parties should not take actions that compromise that solution, but these statements won't be useful.
"I don't actually think (Garneau) will do anything useful at all," he said. "I'm really cynical about visiting the Middle East and making nice statements about our commitment to a two-state solution because it's really not enough to help and no one much cares about what we think."
He said the government believes in a two-state solution but it will not do anything that would be a significant contribution to moving in that extremely difficult direction as the prospects for that solution are eroding.
Mira Sucharov, a political science professor at Carleton University, said the two-state solution is becoming more and more unlikely to happen with increased settlement building by Israel and a very little political will on the Israeli side to make any major withdrawals or even settlement freezes.
"(Israel's) incoming Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, for his part, has said that he wanted to annex parts of the West Bank," she said.
"In the course of his coalition agreement, he agreed to hold off on that. So, it's unlikely that we'll see annexation on the one hand, but it's also very unlikely that we'll see any significant change."
Israel's Parliament approved two weeks ago a new rotation government led by the leader of The New Right, a right-wing political party, Naftali Bennett, and the leader of Yesh Atid, a centrist political party, Yair Lapid, ending Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year grip on power.
Human Rights Watch called on the Trudeau government in April to take action against alleged "crimes against humanity" by the Israeli government, which it labelled an "apartheid" state in a report that accused Israeli authorities of methodically discriminating against Palestinians within both Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government refused the report and accused the New York-based organization of harbouring an "anti-Israel agenda."
Brynen said that a couple leading Israeli human rights organizations also labelled the country "akin to apartheid" because the situation is no longer a temporary one of Palestinians being denied political rights pending resolution of conflict, he said.
"It looks permanent or semi-permanent."
Sucharov said the basic question now is whether Israel is able live with the status quo.
"They've proven very much so that they can," she said.
"How to persuade Israelis who hold the lion's share of the power to seek political change is the great obstacle before us."
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on June 29, 2021.
--
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'She was waiting for you': The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother in England
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Macklem tries to stay out of the fray as MPs do their best to use him to score points
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem navigates a political minefield every time he testifies before the House of Commons finance committee.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza's southern city of Rafah to start evacuating from the area, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Local Spotlight
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.