BREAKING: Carney officially recognizes 'State of Palestine' while Conservatives say Canada is rewarding terrorism

PM Mark Carney announced Sunday that Canada has formally recognized the State of Palestine, as critics allege the move rewards Hamas’ terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Sunday that Canada has formally recognized the State of Palestine, as critics allege the move rewards Hamas’ terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023.

“Since 1947, it has been the policy of every Canadian government to support a two-state solution for lasting peace in the Middle East,” Carney said in a statement.

While mentioning the October 7 attacks, Carney accused the current Israeli government of working “methodically to prevent the prospect of a Palestinian state” through West Bank settlement expansion and a “sustained assault in Gaza” that has caused famine and mass displacement.

At the same time, Carney argued that recognition “in no way legitimises terrorism, nor is it any reward for it,” and said the decision aims to “empower those who seek peaceful coexistence and the end of Hamas.” He noted that the Palestinian Authority has pledged to reform its governance, hold general elections in 2026 in which Hamas “can play no part,” and to demilitarize the Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority has not held elections since the 2006 legislative vote that saw Hamas elected in Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly ‘delayed’’ subsequent elections for fear of Hamas electoral victories, and no elections are currently scheduled.

Palestinian President Abbas welcomed the decision, calling it “an important and necessary step on the path to achieving a just and lasting peace.” Abbas said Canada’s recognition affirms the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and will help pave the way for a two-state solution in which Palestine and Israel can live “in security, peace, and good neighbourliness.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a statement directed towards Western leaders reckoning a Palestinian state; “you are rewarding terror with an enormous prize.”

Netanyahu vowed “it’s not going to happen, there will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River”, in reference to the West Bank.

Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman said, “In the short term, this reckless decision destroys Canada’s credibility, shreds the international rules-based order, and abandons the Western values we once proudly defended.

“In the long term, the consequences are obvious: Hamas is rewarded, terror is legitimized, hostage-taking is vindicated … Canada just recognized a Palestinian state whose current ‘government’ literally pays salaries to terrorists for killing people. That makes them a state sponsor of terror by Canada’s own definition.”

“Canada is weaker, smaller, and more isolated from our allies,” Lantsman added, calling Carney’s foreign policy “cold, calculated, and done entirely for votes,” and accusing the prime minister of having “just written a cheque to terror and all its victims — everywhere.”

Liberal MP Salma Zahid, who represents Scarborough Centre, offered a starkly different view in an interview with True North on Parliament Hill last week.

Zahid, a long-time advocate for Palestinian statehood, said “this recognition is very, very important, and I have been a strong advocate of this recognition for a long time,” and that “it is really very important for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and for the self-determination of the Palestinian people that the state of Palestine is recognized.”

She added that “it’s a genocide which is happening in Gaza, and it’s important that the state of Palestine is recognized so that people have a right to live freely in their homeland and also this war in Gaza should come to an end. There should be a ceasefire.”

Carney said Canada’s recognition is part of a co-ordinated international effort and remains “firmly aligned with the principles of self-determination and fundamental human rights reflected in the United Nations Charter,” even as critics warn it could strain relations with key Western allies.

The United Kingdom and Australia also joined in on recognizing Palestine Sunday. France is expected to follow on Monday morning.