“Stand back or I’ll shoot.” Back up even further, I shoot. Take this route to go back and avoid the shots. Well, finally, I pulled into the road while you were backing up, but back up again. Well, I had to shoot at the hospital where you were treating the wounds taken on the road where I told you I wouldn’t shoot, but back off again or I’ll shoot. Did you back up to the wall? Don’t you have anywhere to go? Back up again because I’m going to shoot. Actually, I’m already shooting, but I’m still asking you to move before I shoot. Step over the bodies of the women and children I said I was going to avoid shooting. Evacuated. Somewhere we’ll find it. Everything will be alright. »
There is only one word to describe this game: cruel. Cruel, in the way that only a war taking so many civilians in such a short time can be cruel. But I’m still looking for the right word to describe a person who acts publicly, at 132e day of such a game, as if its protagonist were a trusted partner. If anyone can find the expression strong enough, I’ll take suggestions.
Which brings us back to the details of Canadian foreign policy, as the Israeli army prepares its ground invasion of Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip. Tuesday morning, Minister Mélanie Joly reacted as follows: “The civilians of Rafah are people – they are mothers, children. They have names, stories — and they exist. Asking them to move again is unacceptable. They have nowhere to go. » Before adding, more concretely: “We need an agreement on the release of the hostages, an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza and a lasting ceasefire. »
It is crucial to understand the context surrounding this position. First, it took until December 12 for Canada to vote for a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. By that time, more than 18,000 Palestinians had already been reported killed.
Second, Canada authorized at least $28.5 million in new permits for the export of military equipment to Israel between last October and December, according to information obtained from Global Affairs Canada by The Maple. To understand the order of magnitude in question, let us recall that Canadian companies exported $21.3 million worth of military equipment to Israel in 2022, and $27.8 million in 2021, a record year. Yes, of the total budget of the Israeli army, Canadian supplies constitute a derisory proportion, but all the same, what emerges is a significant acceleration of Canadian military aid to Israel.
Recall that on January 23, Nicaragua requested intervener status in the case brought to the International Court of Justice against Israel by South Africa. His government announced that it wanted to hold Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada “responsible” for “serious violations” of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, in particular. Once the request has been processed, the issue of arms trade between Canada and Israel is therefore likely to be the subject of considerable international attention.
Already, on Monday, a court ordered the Netherlands to stop delivering F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel. On Tuesday, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs, Joseph Borrell, called on Israel’s allies who say they are concerned about the fate of the Palestinian population in Rafah to rethink their military support for Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The Government of Canada has still not reassessed its policy on this issue.
Third, Ottawa announced in January its intention to cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), an organization crucial to the operation of schools, hospitals and of a range of humanitarian and basic services in the Gaza Strip. Canada announced this abrupt change of course as the Jewish state alleged that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the brutal attack on October 7 against Israeli civilians.
British media Channel Four has since obtained a copy of the document provided by Israel, which is only six pages long. Its journalists’ investigation found “no tangible evidence” supporting the Israeli allegations. Since then, too, Canada has yet to obtain further evidence from Israel or conduct an independent investigation that would justify its decision to cut off funding to UNRWA. Instead, he announced that $40 million in aid to Gaza would be distributed to other agencies. Several UN experts have already argued that, in the immediate future, only UNRWA has the resources to really improve things for the Gazan population.
Fourth, the emergency program to allow Palestinians with family in Canada to leave Gaza can already be described as a complete failure. Unlike the program adopted to help Ukrainian civilians flee the war, Ottawa has decided to accept only 1,000 applications for this program. No financial assistance is offered to families, who must find the funds themselves to flee Gaza and prove their financial viability. There has been no provision for emergency relief from the usual burden of paperwork and bureaucracy, while Gaza’s homes and registry offices have largely been reduced to dust. Result: at the end of January, no temporary visa application for these Palestinians had been finalized.
So let’s return to Minister Mélanie Joly, who reminded us on Tuesday that the “civilians of Rafah are people” – in the name of a government which adopted and which still maintains in place the policies cited above. I am still looking for the word to adequately describe such a gap between words and gestures. I trust collective intelligence to find it.