Alan Baker: Anita Anand’s misguided condemnation of Israel

The recent statement by Global Affairs Canada condemning “the ongoing violence in the West Bank” and exhorting against “the expansion of Israeli settlements” invites some analysis and clarification inasmuch as it appears to be both misinformed and misguided.

Violence of any kind directed against Arab or Jewish residents cannot be condoned, and must punished in accordance with the law. This is a clear societal norm in any civilized society, and is applicable whether committed by terrorists or marginal criminal elements. And it is no less applicable to violence committed by demonstrators, religious groups or soccer hooligans.

However, in specifically condemning violence in the West Bank, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand appears to forget, or chooses to ignore, the ongoing, near-daily acts of Palestinian terror carried out against Israeli citizens. In so doing, she is in effect turning a blind eye to such terror, and sanctioning it.

In singling out and condemning Israel for “violence in the West Bank” and linking it in such an obvious and blatant manner to Israel’s settlements, Ottawa is creating a false generalization and a malicious equation. This is totally unacceptable, all the more so when made by the Government of Canada, a country that has historically taken pride in the commonality between it and Israel.

Regrettably, Minister Anand and her colleagues, who are always apt to politicize anything connected with Israel, appear to be characterizing instances of violence committed by marginal and irresponsible groups of youth from the settlements, as if it is the officially sanctioned policy of the Israeli government to incite violence against Palestinians.

To characterize isolated instances as if they are a systematic, government-sanctioned policy of violence against Arabs, and to dub this “settler violence,” would appear to be ingenuine and contrived.

The absurdity of such a negative buzz phrase directed only against Israel is particularly blatant when one compares this with the violence and hooliganism seen around the world, including the violence and hate seen at political marches and demonstrations on campuses and on major thoroughfares throughout Canada.

There exists no Israeli policy encouraging or sanctioning violence against Arabs. Such violence is clearly illegal and, as in any normal society, law enforcement bodies are required to act against it. While laxity in such enforcement may well warrant criticism and require more assertive action by authorities, this cannot, and should not, be seen as indicative of any official policy of sanctioning violence. As such, the term “settler violence” is misguided, ill-advised and malicious.

Global Affairs’ statement that Israel’s settlements are “illegal under international law & undermine prospects for peace, security and stability” is no less ill-advised.

Customary international law enables an administering authority, in governing territory it holds, to use and benefit from land that is not privately owned, as long as it refrains from altering the status of the land, pending the negotiation of a peaceful settlement of the dispute.

Furthermore, the Oslo Accords between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Israel, which established a special legal regime applicable to the West Bank, overriding any other legal framework, accorded to both sides the power to conduct zoning, planning and construction projects in the areas under their respective control and administration, pending the outcome of negotiations between the parties on the permanent status of the territories.

Furthermore, the parties agreed that the issue of settlements would be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations.

To claim that settlements that were legitimately established and comport with Palestinian-Israeli agreements are illegal and “undermine prospects for peace, security and stability” would appear to indicate a lack of knowledge on the part of those advising Global Affairs Canada in general, and Minister Anand in particular.

The fixation by Minister Anand and her advisers with Israel’s settlements is curious, as is their evident lack of understanding that “prospects for peace, security and stability” are not being undermined by Israel’s settlements. They are being undermined by the consistent refusal of the Palestinian leadership to return to the negotiating table and by their preference for inciting, financing and engaging in terrorism.

One may wonder why Canada’s leaders choose to single out and condemn Israel, while turning a blind eye to the support given by Iran, Qatar and Turkey to Hamas and other groups that continue to engage in terrorism targeting Israel and its citizens.

As the former ambassador of Israel to Canada, it is distressing to see how the relationship between our two countries has deteriorated. One can only wonder as to the reasons are for the souring relations.

National Post

Alan Baker served as the legal adviser to Israel’s foreign ministry and as Israel’s ambassador to Canada (2004-2008). He presently heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.