Statement from the Canadian Coalition for Democracies

Toronto, Canada - Sunday, March 12, 2006 - Nathan Sharansky argued in this book, The Case for Democracy, that we need leaders with the moral clarity to see evil. March 10, 2006 may prove to be the day in which Canada moved from being a follower of the world’s tyrants and appeasers to a principled leader at the United Nations.

On the first of this year’s many anti-Israel resolutions that will be tabled at various UN forums, Canada shifted its vote at the UN Economic and Social Council from ‘abstain’ to ‘no’, standing against a tide of 41 out of 43 representatives on that forum who voted to censure Israel.

As Canada’s new government prepares to evaluate our foreign policy, many are asking, “How should Canada vote on these anti-Israel resolutions?” Put simply, we at the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) are strongly urging Canada to vote ‘no’ on every anti-Israel resolution tabled at the UN, regardless of the resolution’s content and regardless of whether or not Israel deserves criticism.

The abuse of process that has gone on for decades at the UN makes a policy of ‘Just vote NO’ the only ethical position to take. No fair-minded person could believe that UN resolutions have been used as an even-handed mechanism for censuring inappropriate behaviour of its member states. In fact, of over 700 General Assembly resolutions passed since the UN’s 1945 establishment, nearly 450 condemn Israel! Almost none have been passed against any Arab country nor any Arab terrorist organizations. The UN has been corrupted to support the genocidal goals of Israel’s enemies, and Canada must not legitimize such a process by its participation.

If the General Assembly were a balanced forum, resolutions would have overwhelmingly dealt with issues such as two decades of massacre and enslavement in Sudan, the brutal occupation of Lebanon by Syria, the denial of human rights in Iran, the Apartheid treatment of non-Muslims under Egypt’s dhimmitude, the murder of thousands in Tiananmen Square, the terrorism and brainwashing of the Palestinians, the Taliban’s brutalizing of Afghanistan, the denial of freedom by the Soviet Union, the threat of military force by China to thwart the democratic will of Taiwan, and a thousand other violations infinitely worse than the transgressions of tiny, democratic Israel, most of whose so-called ‘abuses’ were necessitated by self-defence against terror. And all this bullying has been directed at the very best custodian of human rights, while the worst have enjoyed Canada’s tacit support.

Therefore, for a nation such as Canada to give careful consideration to any anti-Israel resolution is to give credibility to an obviously corrupt and unproductive process of bullying. Once UN resolutions are applied proportionately to all nation states of the UN, then a resolution criticizing Israel can be given its due consideration and voted on the basis of its merit. But until that balance is achieved, Canada must signal that it will no longer join the thugs who put the boots to Israel every year, with Canada bouncing about on the perimeter sinking a few kicks just to prove we’re part of the gang. And that signal can only be delivered by voting ‘no’.

This position is neither pro-Israel nor anti-Arab. If anything, it is pro-UN in that it returns balance and moral authority to UN resolutions. Israelis and Arabs alike will benefit from a UN whose resolutions have moral weight, and they will only acquire that weight when they are applied even-handedly.

Few supporters of Israel realize that Canada’s official position toward Israel, reflected in our support for these UN resolutions, is that Israel has no jurisdiction over any part of Jerusalem and that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who have never set foot in Israel have the right to become Israeli citizens. Of immediate concern is a Canadian delegation headed by Michael Bell that is attempting to insinuate itself into the process that will determe the ultimate fate of Jerusalem. Consensus almost always trumps ethics in such delegations, and those seeking the destruction of Israel far outnumber the solitary voice of the Jewish state. Canada must resist the lure of joining every self-important UN initiative, and instead serve the interests of Canada and our democratic allies.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay have an opportunity to assume a leadership role in global foreign policy. Will Canada follow Europe in appeasing the bullies at the UN, or will Canada do the right thing and show its contempt for the obviously corrupt use of UN resolutions against the only true democracy in the Middle East? Canada does not need a massive military to achieve this leadership position. We merely need to do the right thing. Others will take note and follow.

From vilification by those who sought accommodation of Hitler, history now writes that it was Churchill who understood the threat of Nazism and the cost of seeking consensus with Hitler. Stephen Harper could go down in history as the Prime Minister who broke from the herd and let the UN know that ethics and democracy are more important than consensus.

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CCD has tracked Canada’s voting record on the annual ritual of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN General Assembly. The chart now has a column for the year 2006, which will be filled in as the votes take place at the UN. Please check back from time to time to see if Canada has decided to be a leader or a follower.

Founded in 2003, the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) is a non-partisan, multi-ethnic, multi-denominational organization of concerned Canadians dedicated to the protection and promotion of democracy at home and abroad.

For additional information, please contact:

Alastair Gordon
Canadian Coalition for Democracies
PO Box 72602
345 Bloor Street East
Toronto, ON M4W 3J0 Canada

Web: http://CanadianCoalition.com
Public Forum: http://canadiancoalition.com/forum/ccd-forum.shtml#currentMessages
Tel: 416-963-8998
Fax: 360-294-2839
Email: admin@CanadianCoalition.com

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Related: Israel, Political Correctness, Canada

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