OTTAWA — Canadian members of Parliament are working with their colleagues in Australia and New Zealand to try and convince their respective governments to jointly recognize Palestinian statehood.
NDP MP Heather McPherson, who is leading an effort to recruit Canadian MPs, said building on work the three governments have already done might be the best leverage to advance a two-state solution.
"It would send a very important message to the rest of the international community for our countries to back recognition of Palestine at this time, in a positive and constructive way," he said. Australian MP Maria Vamvakinou said the issue is already prominent in her country's looming election. She said both Canada and Australia have diaspora communities who want their elected officials to advocate harder for an end to the war.
The three MPs say the idea is to limit the blowback such a move might prompt. Already, Israel has threatened to block European diplomats' access to their missions in the West Bank or East Jerusalem at checkpoints if their government recognizes a Palestinian state. That leadership is split, with the Palestinian Authority administering the West Bank but losing control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in 2007. It has been nearly two decades since the Palestinian Authority under the Fatah party has held presidential and legislative elections.
MPs on the House foreign affairs committee have voted to launch a study on how Canada could best recognize Palestine, with the Liberals and NDP passing a motion that the Conservatives approved. The United Nations' human-rights body said in June that 146 of the assembly's 193 members had recognized the State of Palestine, including most of Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
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