(Ottawa) The Palestinian ambassador in Ottawa welcomes Canada’s vote at the United Nations (UN) in favor of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. At the same time, she urges the Canadian government to become the catalyst for global efforts towards a two-state solution.
“Israel has put Canada in a position where it cannot excuse the scandalous situation on the ground,” Mona Abuamara, senior representative of the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada, said in an interview on Thursday.
“We cannot excuse the bodies, the corpses in the streets, devoured by stray dogs. We cannot excuse those who are under the rubble and whom their loved ones cannot even reach,” she explained.
Canada supported a non-binding resolution Tuesday at the UN General Assembly that called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas, breaking with its long-standing policy of standing by side with Israel in important votes at the UN.
The Liberals explained that they felt compelled to vote in favor of the motion because of the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the need to focus on a lasting peace that would ultimately enable the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, argued that Canada’s vote amounted to pointing the finger at Israel for trying to stave off the threat of further attacks by Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate Israel. Canada considers Hamas a terrorist entity.
“Hamas is responsible for this terrible situation,” Moed said Wednesday. We are obliged to fight, because if we don’t, we will be killed. »
Encourage the two-state solution
However, Mme Abuamara said Thursday that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was behind the cycle of violence that includes the Hamas attack.
Mme Abuamara said Canada should encourage a short-term ceasefire and do everything possible to get the two-state solution back on track and implement plans agreed to by both sides dozens of years ago. years.
She encourages Canada to join most countries in Asia, Africa and South America in recognizing Palestine as a country and to support efforts by the United Nations to do the same.
Canada currently recognizes the Palestinian territories as separate entities from Israel, but not as a state in its own right. The Canadian government recognizes the delegation of Mme Abuamara, but not as envoys of a sovereign state.
The Palestinian ambassador believes that Canada could “play the leading role” in rallying the international community behind a two-state solution.
Double standard
Mme Abuamara stressed that the Jewish people have the right to live in peace, in Canada and in Israel. According to her, military actions carried out by Israel are undermining this peace and the violence is pushing many Palestinians to support militant groups.
Since the start of the conflict, Israeli armed groups living in West Bank settlements deemed illegal under international law have attacked Palestinians at a rate the United Nations describes as unprecedented. Britain and the United States have imposed travel bans on extremist settlers.
The ambassador said that to break the cycle of violence, we must accept that militant groups like Hamas are not the only ones to perpetrate acts of violence.
She said Israel was using “an excuse that it is necessary and inevitable to cause such casualties, that it is collateral damage.”
Mr. Moed firmly rejected these arguments, emphasizing before the interview with Mr.me Abuamara that Israel is doing everything in its power to limit the number of Palestinian deaths.
On Thursday, Montreal MP Anna Gainey joined Liberal colleagues in saying Canada should not have supported the UN resolution because it failed to recognize Israel’s right to exist and denounce not the atrocities committed by Hamas.
Mme Rather, Abuamara sees it as a double standard, in which militant groups like Hamas are seen as the main threat to peace in the region, while many more people are killed by the Israeli army.
The conflict began on October 7 when Hamas militants killed 1,200 people in brutal surprise attacks on Israel and took another 240 hostage.
Israel responded by withholding vital supplies from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, bombarding it with airstrikes and waging a military offensive on the ground. Local authorities say more than 18,700 people have died.
With information from the Associated Press