The eight bannual dinner for members of Parliament, sponsored by the Canada-Israel Committee, become the occasion last week for a sharp exchange of views between External Affairs Minister Mark MacGuigan and members of the audience. The minister, who was the guest speaker, came under fire and was accussed of “asymmetry” when he tried to explain Canada’s Middle East policy.
MacGuigan responded to this charge by stating that “if there is any asymmetry in the situation, it is not because of something we have done but because of changes in the status quo (of the administered areas) by the State of Israel.”
During the debate which ensued after the minister delivered his address, one member of the audience said that MacGuigan should not use the word “homeland” when speaking about the aspirations of the Palestinians since it implied a sovereign status for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The minister answered that when Canada says the Palestinians are entitled to a homeland, the word does not imply any kind of sovereignty.
SAYS ISRAEL IS ALIENATING ITS FRIENDS
Another guest speaker, former External Affairs Minister Flora MacDonald, now a member of Parliament for Kingston in Ontario, told the meeting that the dismissal of the mayors was a backward step in the progress towards peace in the Middle East. “It is a step which has discouraged friends of Israel, true friends of Israel, because we see this not only as a step away from the Camp David road, but a step that threatens all the gains so far made,” she said.
MacDonald, who was the External Affairs Minister during the previous Conservative government which retreated from its announced plan to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, reaffirmed her party’s support for the right of Israel to live within secure and recognized borders. But she cautioned Israel, which she described as a country united in brotherhood with Canada through a mutual respect for democracy and human rights.
MacDonald said: “We cannot speak of democracy as the answer for mankind if we are not prepared to extend it to all mankind. Similarly, we cannot expect our own rights to be respected if we cannot respect the rights of others.” Continuing, she said: “So it has been with apprehension that many of us in Canada have watched the events of the past few weeks, as the elected mayors of West Bank communities have been ousted and tension and conflict in the occupied territories have escalated.”
At the luncheon preceding the annual dinner, Ambassador Yeshayahu Anug of Israel made a detailed presentation of the situation facing Israel under the assault from PLO-inspired disturbances on the West Bank and the pressures from the European Economic Community’s 10 member-states.
The dinner was co-sponsored by the Canadian Zionist Federation, Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai B’rith.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
