Although Quebec’s Minister of International Relations recently stated the opposite, the director of the new Quebec Office in Tel Aviv, Alik Hakobyan, has just spent a month in Israel to prepare the ground for his team. Since the tragic events of October 7, the diplomatic post was functional, but had not been inaugurated in Tel Aviv as planned.
As Mercier MP Ruba Ghazal points out, if even the United States, Israel’s greatest ally, cools its relations with the Jewish state, it is difficult to argue for a strengthening of Quebec’s ties with the Jewish state. this right now.
For the first time since the start of hostilities, Washington recently abstained from voting on a UN resolution demanding an immediate “ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip. Until now, the US president refused to use the term and even used his veto to block three previous resolutions using it.
In addition to demanding a ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the resolution calls for an end to hostilities and “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.” This abstention is a slap in the face of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which also canceled the visit of an official Israeli delegation to Washington in retaliation.
Why not Algiers?
I agree with the Coalition Avenir Québec government on one point: a diplomatic post for Quebec in the Middle East is an excellent idea. It is time to diversify our allies internationally, and diplomacy necessarily implies an increased physical presence.
The Minister of International Relations, Martine Biron, affirms that it would be a “gateway to the Middle East” for Quebec. Note, however, that there are at least 15 other countries in the region. Saudi Arabia is Canada’s largest bilateral trading partner in the Middle East: why not set up shop in Riyadh?
Quebec has several projects underway in Egypt in the areas of information technology, medical technology, aerospace and agri-food: why not set up in Cairo? The third source of immigrants to Quebec (behind France and Haiti) is Algeria: why not settle in Algiers?
The arguments invoked last August in a press release justifying this diplomatic office in Tel Aviv are now making people cringe. Minister Biron’s office then affirmed that Israel is one of the “most innovative and technologically advanced countries in the world” and that it has “the largest number of young people per capita”. These arguments take on another significance today as these technological innovations are used to bomb Palestinian hospitals and many of these young people are sent to machine-gun the population of the Gaza Strip.
Minister Biron affirmed that Quebec kept a “balance” between its relations with Israeli establishments and its relations with Palestinian establishments, but such a balance seems unlikely today.
The question is not whether the city of Tel Aviv is safe, as the minister maintains. The question is: do we want to build more ties with a country currently under investigation by the International Court of Justice for acts of genocide? Would we have installed a new diplomatic post in Pretoria in 1949 or in Phnom Penh in 1976? Are we going to open one in Moscow when Russia is illegally annexing Ukrainian regions, even if the city is calm and safe?
Front door
Although opinions differ on the legality of Israel’s actions in Gaza, military forces under Prime Minister Netanyahu have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since October 7, the vast majority civilians. Tel Aviv is the capital of a country accused by senior United Nations officials of war crimes.
Beyond the location of this “gateway to the Middle East”, the minister lied to the Quebec population. This is not a broken promise, a lie of omission, or a statement that is not entirely accurate.
Minister Biron was asked directly if the director of the office had gone to Israel and she answered no. The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, did well to emphasize that it is a question of “transparency” and “intellectual honesty”. The director of the office had been preparing the ground in Tel Aviv for almost a month when the minister lied to the Quebec population.
A citizens’ petition with more than 12,000 signatures was submitted to the National Assembly last month by Québec solidaire to denounce the opening of the office in Tel Aviv. There is still time to be on the right side of History, it is a question of political will.
Canada itself reversed course by voting in the House of Commons on March 18 to stop granting new arms contracts to Israel, and is now calling for a ceasefire. Two things he had stubbornly refused to do for months. At this point, there is too much to lose by standing our ground, morally and politically.