Despite enormous pressure from Washington, Jean Chrétien refused to send Canadian troops to join the foolish and destructive U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. It was one of Canada’s finest moments on the world stage.
The former prime minister showed a degree of independence from Washington that took real guts — particularly given the “war on terror” mentality that the U.S. had imposed on the world since the terrorist attack on New York City on September 11, 2001.
The closest Canada has come to again showing that kind of moral strength and independence from Washington happened last week when Prime Minister Mark Carney joined the leaders of France and the U.K. in demanding Israel stop its “egregious” military actions in Gaza and its “denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population.”
The joint statement backed up these demands on Israel with the threat of “concrete actions,” while also calling on Hamas to release the Israeli hostages it’s holding.
The statement is an important breakthrough that could signal the end of western compliance with the immense human tragedy in Gaza, as Israel continues for the 19th month to bomb and starve the two million people of Gaza in response to Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel has particularly been emboldened in recent months as re-elected U.S. President Donald Trump has floated the idea of transforming the tiny strip of Palestinian land into a beachside enclave for the wealthy.
The significance of the joint statement was spelled out last week in Israel’s leading newspaper Yediot Ahronot: “Israel has reached a diplomatic nadir: Some of its most important friends in the world — Great Britain, France and Canada — have taken the liberty of issuing a statement threatening Israel with sanctions if it continues the war in Gaza. . . Never before has such a statement been issued against Israel, turning it into a pariah state,” wrote diplomatic correspondent Itamar Eichner in the centrist Tel Aviv daily.
Carney’s participation in the joint statement represents a much stronger position than the Trudeau government, which avoided criticizing Israel.
It’s possible the initiative for the trinational statement actually came from Carney. Certainly, it seems likely that Gaza was a priority on his agenda (along with Trump’s tariffs) when he made his first foreign trip as Canada’s prime minister to the U.K. and France in March, only days after being sworn in.
Carney was correct in acting with urgency. Not only are lives at stake in Gaza, where the UN estimates 52,000 have already been killed by the Israeli military, but there’s an urgent need for leading Western nations like Canada to stand up for international law, which they’ve long championed, at least in words.
The helplessness of the Gazan population, which has no army to defend it, cries out for intervention by the world community. However, at least up until now, the West has remained staunchly supportive of Israel.
This has been the case, despite statements from the UN, World Health Organization, human rights and other international groups documenting Israel’s killing of more than 1,400 health-care workers and 180 journalists, as well as destroying 17 hospitals and 19 universities in Gaza.
Just this week, a Palestinian pediatrician was at work in a semi-functioning Gaza hospital when she learned that nine of her ten children had just been killed in an Israeli bombing.
While other countries, such as Sudan and Myanmar, are carrying out horrific acts of violence, these countries have long been treated as pariahs by the West and certainly don’t enjoy the unwavering support and billions of dollars in military aid that Israel has received from Western nations, particularly the U.S.
Carney will have to follow through with “concrete actions,” as promised in the joint statement, if Israel continues to impose “intolerable” conditions on Gaza. But at least let’s credit him with taking a bold — and desperately needed — first step.
This article was originally published in the Toronto Star.
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