So I've sort of been sitting on this one, waiting for a post from my blograde Allan, but it's been a lengthy wait, so I'm going to go ahead and post about what's going on in Israel and Gaza, and what Canada should have been doing while the government enjoyed its lengthy Christmas break.
First off, I initially supported Israel's actions pretty strongly. While a two-state solution seems viable and reasonable in the long run, Hamas's unliateral end to the truce and its tendency to fire rockets into Israel represent some pretty strong apathy towards long-term political solutions, and a response targeting Hamas installations seemed more than reasonable. Israel does after all have the right to self-defence.
Since then... well, the Israeli response has gotten unreasonable, and both sides have been sort of vacillating on the topic of peace deals. For once I find myself agreeing with James Zogby when he says that the situation is in need of adult supervision, and kudos to France and Egypt for working in that direction..
Harper's response to the situation has been muted and delayed. Almost two weeks after hostilities started, and one day after the UN Security Council considered the issue, he called for a ceasefire, and hasn't really said much else.
This vague and inoffensive position is a reflection of the seemingly low priority the government has accorded the Mideast peace process - our ambassador to Israel had zero prior Mideast experience, and the Foreign Affairs website makes no visible mention of the Middle East at all. This may be part of a Conservative strategy to court Jewish and Muslim voters at the same time (although it's not clear there are that many single-issue voters in either of these groups) - or it might just be a lack of enthusiasm for dealing with possibly-complicated issuesby a tenuous minority government.
Canada dropped the ball on evacuating its citizens from Gaza - much like in Lebanon in 2006. At the time, Conservatives criticized the high cost of evacuating Canadian citizens - but the fact remains that they retain their Canadian citizenship, and ending recognition of dual citizenship would be far out of the international mainstream. The government has a responsibility to evacuate these people promptly.
At the same time, the government has a responsibility to protect citizens currently within its borders - not much has been done to prevent stupid attacks by people who cannot distinguish everyday Jews on the street from the Israeli government. (The article isn't from Canada, but I am wholly unconvinced that the same sort of things couldn't happen here.) During the election campaign, the Conservatives promised $3 million to protect religious institutions; the Liberals promised $75 million. It would cost very little political capital to adopt such an initiative, and demonstrate some response on the part of the government. Hoping to see something like this in the next budget.
If this post has put you to sleep, tune in soon for a more stats-friendly discussion of some exciting new poll results. There will be graphs. Seriously.
First off, I initially supported Israel's actions pretty strongly. While a two-state solution seems viable and reasonable in the long run, Hamas's unliateral end to the truce and its tendency to fire rockets into Israel represent some pretty strong apathy towards long-term political solutions, and a response targeting Hamas installations seemed more than reasonable. Israel does after all have the right to self-defence.
Since then... well, the Israeli response has gotten unreasonable, and both sides have been sort of vacillating on the topic of peace deals. For once I find myself agreeing with James Zogby when he says that the situation is in need of adult supervision, and kudos to France and Egypt for working in that direction..
Harper's response to the situation has been muted and delayed. Almost two weeks after hostilities started, and one day after the UN Security Council considered the issue, he called for a ceasefire, and hasn't really said much else.
This vague and inoffensive position is a reflection of the seemingly low priority the government has accorded the Mideast peace process - our ambassador to Israel had zero prior Mideast experience, and the Foreign Affairs website makes no visible mention of the Middle East at all. This may be part of a Conservative strategy to court Jewish and Muslim voters at the same time (although it's not clear there are that many single-issue voters in either of these groups) - or it might just be a lack of enthusiasm for dealing with possibly-complicated issuesby a tenuous minority government.
Canada dropped the ball on evacuating its citizens from Gaza - much like in Lebanon in 2006. At the time, Conservatives criticized the high cost of evacuating Canadian citizens - but the fact remains that they retain their Canadian citizenship, and ending recognition of dual citizenship would be far out of the international mainstream. The government has a responsibility to evacuate these people promptly.
At the same time, the government has a responsibility to protect citizens currently within its borders - not much has been done to prevent stupid attacks by people who cannot distinguish everyday Jews on the street from the Israeli government. (The article isn't from Canada, but I am wholly unconvinced that the same sort of things couldn't happen here.) During the election campaign, the Conservatives promised $3 million to protect religious institutions; the Liberals promised $75 million. It would cost very little political capital to adopt such an initiative, and demonstrate some response on the part of the government. Hoping to see something like this in the next budget.
If this post has put you to sleep, tune in soon for a more stats-friendly discussion of some exciting new poll results. There will be graphs. Seriously.
1 comment:
There are two very separate issues here one is whats happening on the Mediterranean and two what Canada should be doing about it.
The underlying factor in this is rocket attacks on Israel. With that Israel has a right to defend itself from attacks against its civilians. Hamas doesn't discriminate between soldiers and regular people. This is an unacceptable situation. Israel has previously just carried out an air campaign unsuccessfully there was a minor delay in rockets coming in but it gradually ramped back up. Its not Israels choice that the rocketers and rocket builders as well as Hamas take shelter in civilian neighborhoods. Hamas doesn't set up in barracks and rocket factories precisely because its more likely to get what it wants done by shielding itself with civilians. In order to respond to attacks civilians are unfortunately in the crossfire, not through malice but lack of other options. Israels response to move to ground action is a necessary second step in securing their own territory. The actions will continue until Hamas commits to a lasting independantly monitored ceasefire.
There is a need for both sides to respond to this situation. Israel needs to actively start addressing the refuge situation and living up to agreements that were made since Palestineans were originally displaced.
There is plenty of responsiblity in this situation and it will take sacrifice on the parts of both parties. There needs to be a mutual recognition of the right of both sides to exists and an acknowledgement that all the people there will continue to be there.
Canadas response should be to facilitate a peaceful long term solution to the difficulties present not taking sides but working with both sides and the international community. A ceasefire is only a viable option if its not a stopgap measure allowing Hamas to regroup and rebuild its rocket stockpile and reengineer even more powerful and longer range rockets.
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