M-113 was presented by NDP Member of Parliament Heather McPherson. Initially, the motion was one that recognized the state of Palestine, as well as a two-state solution. The Two-state solution is closer to the status quo as it stands with Israel.
My first read of that initial motion was that it asked a lot of Israel, while giving little recognition of the Israel’s suffering on October 7. That hasn’t changed. What has was almost a literal eleventh hour amendment that saw the formal, unilateral recognition of a State of Palestine dropped in favour of the more neutral version of “work toward with our international partners.” A second change formally recognized the attack on October 7, and a third that Israel has a right to defend themselves. All are positive steps when compared to the initial motion. But it’s still significantly flawed.
The calls for the reinstatement of funding to the United Nation Works and Refugees’ Agency (UNWRA) are perceived by some as funding terrorism. I wrote about the UN Watch’s report on Terrorgram where they detail the Telegram postings of 30 of the agency’s workers. It’s enough to raise the question of the agency’s continued existence. It’s surprising there is no recognition of the possibility that Hamas operatives might work there in the motion. You’d think that would eliminated or toned down, given the appearance that tax dollars go to potentially funding terrorism.
War, due to its its violent, tragic, unpredictable nature kills people. But nailing down that number to something as round, and exact as 30,000 is almost impossible. A google search turns up the 30,000 casualty number quoted in CNN, BBC, and Associated Press as being from the Gaza Ministry of Health. Hamas has controlled much of Gaza for a number of years now, including the Ministry of Health. It’s questionable data to be using a Parliamentary document, much less a motion that will be noted by the world.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the basis for Canadian law. However, there is no mention in the final motion of how the protests have brought the freedom of expression, into conflict with the freedom to worship. Equality between men and women is another Canadian value, but not a word about the sexual crimes committed by Hamas.
I understand that the motion was symbolic, and you can’t include everything. This a complete sell-out of Canadian values in the name of appeasing political opponents.