Canadian MPs join international push for recognition of Palestinian state

Thirty Canadian MPs — including NDP and Green leaders Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May, and four members of the governing Liberal caucus — have joined forces with counterparts in New Zealand and Australia in support of recognizing a Palestinian state.

In an open letter published on Wednesday, more than 100 parliamentarians from nine political parties urged their governments to join the 146 countries which have recognized Palestinian statehood.

Canada's first official call for a ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict came nearly a year ago, through a vote in favour of a non-binding United Nations resolution.

It passed the UN General Assembly with 153 votes in favour, 10 against and 23 abstentions.

The vote followed a joint statement released by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Australian and New Zealand prime ministers calling for a sustained ceasefire.

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,000 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once. It was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said in a news statement on Wednesday that "conditions for a two-state solution are increasingly threatened by illegal settlements and state-sanctioned violence."

"It is urgent that Canada recognize the State of Palestine before it is too late," McPherson said.

The open letter says that recognizing Palestinian statehood would help restart rights-based peace talks and "reinforce the moderate voices on both sides who seek a peaceful and political solution in line with the requirements of international law."

"Currently, neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli people can live their lives in security," the letter reads. "Recognizing the State of Palestine will benefit both Palestinians and Israelis."

Liberal MPs presented a motion in September to study Palestinian statehood and identify the quickest way toward recognizing it, but the text has been controversial.

Earlier this month, Alexandre Lévêque, an assistant deputy minister at Global Affairs Canada, spoke to a committee of parliamentarians studying the motion. He told them the federal government was discussing the proposal with like-minded countries.

Global Affairs legal adviser Louis-Martin Aumais told the same committee that there are no legal impediments to recognizing a Palestinian state, which makes it a purely political decision.

"Based on practice, based on customary international law, the criteria are there and it is totally available to the government to make an assessment based on those criteria," Aumais said.

Parliamentarians have heard from community groups with diametrically opposed views on whether Canada should move ahead immediately with recognizing a Palestinian state.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B'nai Brith Canada — two Jewish community advocacy groups — have warned the committee against recognition, citing the risk of rewarding Hamas and the lack of Palestinian statehood institutions.

Other groups — such as Independent Jewish Voices, the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations — argued the Canadian government's recognition would pave the way to peace and help Ottawa end what they see as its complicity in Israeli occupation.

These are the Canadian MPs who signed the letter:

• Charlie Angus (New Democratic Party)
• Niki Ashton (New Democratic Party)
• Jenica Atwin (Liberal Party of Canada)
• Taylor Bachrach (New Democratic Party)
• Lisa Marie Barron (New Democratic Party)
• Stéphane Bergeron (Bloc Québécois)
• Rachel Blaney (New Democratic Party)
• Alexandre Boulerice (New Democratic Party)
• Richard Cannings (New Democratic Party)
• George Chahal (Liberal Party of Canada)
• Laurel Collins (New Democratic Party)
• Leila Dance (New Democratic Party)
• Don Davies (New Democratic Party)
• Blake Desjarlais (New Democratic Party)
• Leah Gazan (New Democratic Party)
• Matthew Green (New Democratic Party)
• Lori Idlout (New Democratic Party)
• Gord Johns (New Democratic Party)
• Peter Julian (New Democratic Party)
• Iqra Khalid (Liberal Party of Party)
• Jenny Kwan (New Democratic Party)
• Alistair MacGregor (New Democratic Party)
• Brian Masse (New Democratic Party)
• Lindsay Mathyssen (New Democratic Party)
• Elizabeth May (Green Party of Canada)
• Heather McPherson (New Democratic Party)
• Mike Morrice (Green Party of Canada)
• Jagmeet Singh (New Democratic Party)
• Salma Zahid (Liberal Party of Canada)
• Bonita Zarrillo (New Democratic Party)

The letter comes as Canada voted Wednesday in favour of a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in 1967. Successive Israeli governments have allowed Jewish settlements to expand and flourish on Palestinian land.

The settlements are widely considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Canada abstained from a vote on a similar UN resolution in September.