Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, in an apparent reversal of his earlier position, said today that it might be a good thing if the Palestinian question is raised at the UN-sponsored “Habitat” Conference which opened in Vancouver last week. “I am not one of those who gets shocked when Arabs or Third World members bring in politics.” Trudeau declared.
The Prime Minister had warned only last week that Canadian authorities would take appropriate action if the Arabs attempted to politicize the “Habitat” Conference. Such warnings were also issued by Canada’s Minister of External Affairs Alan MacEachen. UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim stressed earlier that the Palestine question was not on the “Habitat” agenda.
Trudeau said today, however, that political discussions should not be allowed to interfere with “Habitat’s” main thrust which is to find solutions to human settlement problems. He said if political matters disrupted the proceedings “so as to prevent humanity from getting together and progressing along lines this conference wants to, nobody will love them (the Arabs) for it and maybe we should kick them out.”
Meanwhile, in Vancouver today, the Arab and Third World delegates to “Habitat” walked out of the hall as the Israeli representative. Interior Minister Yosef Burg, rose to deliver his address.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
