Canada Halts Validating Papers of Travelers to Arab Countries

A Canadian Jewish Congress spokesman said that, in response to a protest by the CJC, the Canadian High Commissioner in London has been ordered to halt immediately a practice of validating certificates of Canadians seeking entry to Arab countries that the applicants were not Jewish or were Christians.

Alan Rose, CJC executive director, was advised Friday by telephone from the office of Allan MacEachen, the External Affairs Secretary, of the instructions to the Commissioner in London.

The practice was denounced last week by Rose and Claude Wagner, a leader of the opposition Progressive Conservative Party. Rose, in his letter to MacEachen, said the practice was “obviously discriminating” against Canadian Jews, adding that the practice had been repeatedly condemned by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and was “abhorrent” to all Canadians.

Rose added that the effect of the Commissioner’s practice was to “assist Arab countries to deny Canadian citizens entry only because they are Jews” and that it was “absolutely unacceptable” for any government agency to “even unintentionally support or buttress anti-Semitic policies of a foreign state directed against Canadian citizens.”

OPPOSITION LEADER SLAMS PRACTICE

In a statement released in Ottawa. Wagner, who is the opposition spokesman on external affairs, said the practice was “unbecoming of Canadian government employees to indirectly grant official recognition to discriminatory policies against any racial or religious group of Canadian citizens.”

Wagner said the High Commissioner’s action is “tantamount to subscribing to a kind of discrimination contrary to all Canadian laws and practices. Whatever their origin or their faith, law abiding Canadians traveling abroad and holding valid Canadian passports should be accepted in every country for what they are; that is Canadian citizens, without intruding into their personal ancestry or religious beliefs.”

A spokesman for the External Affairs Department said the practice was discontinued because it gave the appearance of Canadian support for the Arab boycott policy. He said this practice is not necessary to permit Canadians to travel to Arab countries where this validation is required. The spokesman added, however, that the High Commission at no point issued certificates of non-Jewishness on its own but merely acted as a notary certifying documents that travelers brought with them.