Canada reverses course, votes ‘yes’ on UN pro-‘Palestine’ resolution

Prior to Tuesday’s vote, 14 of the same types of resolutions dating back to 2006 reportedly have been rejected by Canada.

By World Israel News Staff 

Canada voted “yes” on Tuesday for a U.N. resolution that supports the Palestinian right to self-determination, reports CBC News.

The resolution sponsored by North Korea, Egypt, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, and the “State of Palestine” called for a “just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement” to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and refers to land in Judea and Samaria as “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

It also stresses “the urgency of achieving without delay an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967” and calls on all member states “to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-determination.”

According to the report, prior to Tuesday’s vote, 14 of the same types of resolutions dating back to 2006 have been rejected by Canada.

It’s believed that Canada’s departure from its previous policy is meant to send a message to the U.S. that Ottawa does not agree with Washington’s new announcement that Israeli communities in the Judea and Samaria are not illegal, according to an unnamed official at Global Affairs Canada as cited by CBC.

Pro-Israel groups and officials have expressed dismay that Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allowed this to happen.

“Trudeau is trading Canada’s bedrock principles of fairness and equality for a UN Security Council seat,” said Hillel Neuer, chairman of the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy.

“By voting for a resolution co-sponsored by North Korea & Zimbabwe, he has entered a Faustian bargain with dictatorships that does not bode well for a free & democratic society,” he added.

Jeff Rosenthal, a co-chair at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said the vote is a “distressing departure not only from the Canadian voting record at the U.N. but a betrayal of longstanding Canadian foreign policy that rejects prejudgment of the outcome of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.”

“Palestinian self-determination cannot come at the expense of Israel’s security,” he added.