If the Liberals and Conservatives do move to opposing positions on the rights of Israelis and Palestinians, then their division will reflect growing divisions within Canada itself
Canada’s decades-old bipartisan consensus in support of a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question is falling apart.non-binding NDP motionThe amended version arrived at almost literally the last minute, after Parliamentarians had spent the day debating the original and much firmer NDP motion. Clearly, the two parties had been in talks that went down to the wire, before reaching wording both could live with.
Nonetheless, the day represented another sign that Conservatives and Liberals appear to be drifting apart on the issue of Israeli and Palestinian rights. Increasingly, Conservatives defend Israel virtually without qualification while Liberals are gradually evolving toward a more pro-Palestinian stance.For the NDP, which proposed the original motion, the killing and maiming of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in Gaza trumps all other considerations.
On the most contentious point, recognizing Palestine as a state, the Liberal rewording piled clause upon clause of boilerplate that would see Canada “work with international partners” to seek peace in the Middle East, and which would include recognizing the state of Palestine “as part of a negotiated two-state solution.” Which is pretty much what everybody already agrees to, at least in principle.
But “a two-state solution cannot be achieved by a declaration,” in the House of Commons, Conservative foreign affairs critic Michael Chong said. The Conservatives opposed the watered-down motion just as they opposed the original, in part because everything was so rushed.
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