Statement from the Canadian Coalition for Democracies

Toronto, Canada, 29 March 2006 - Canada’s announcement that it is ending financial aid to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority demonstrates global leadership by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay and International Cooperation Minister Josée Verner. The Stephen Harper government has said that our tax dollars will not continue to support those whose charter calls for the violent destruction of democratic Israel.

Since 1993, Canada has sent over $330 million tax dollars to the Palestinians. In that time period, Canada has donated on average $25 million a year to the West Bank and Gaza. As Canadians, we need to ask if our tax dollars have helped Palestinians to become less dependent on foreign aid and if our influence has diminished the inculcation of hatred in Palestinian education and media. Our last government boasted how it was funding Palestinian teachers, but this brief video shows that Jew-hatred and murder are the lessons taught, even to an innocent three-year-old. These lessons must no longer be funded by Canada.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the $25 million annual aid, $7.2 million has gone directly to the Palestinian Authority, and that is the portion that will presumably be terminated. Another $10 million per year goes to UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency), the agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, and the balance to other NGOs and directly funded projects.

If the Canadian government is genuinely committed to ending the funding of terror, aid to UNRWA must likewise be terminated until there is absolute verification that UNRWA is being run in an effective, neutral, and accountable manner, and that UNRWA plays no role, directly or through Hamas, in terror or incitement. Canada must determine its own policy on UNRWA, regardless of requests from foreign governments.

There is a massive body of evidence that links UNRWA to Hamas and to the worsening plight of refugees (see reports below), and until the Canadian government can refute that evidence and assure Canadians that our tax dollars are used only for humanitarian projects, then all aid to UNRWA must be terminated. Today, funding UNRWA is little different from funding Hamas directly.

By this decision, the Stephen Harper government has shown true leadership among Western nations. Canadians will accept providing humanitarian aid to people in need, but in Gaza and the West Bank our government must present an irrefutable audit trail proving that our tax dollars are no longer serving the interests of incitement, hatred and terror.

If you would like to comment on this statement or other topics relating to foreign policy, please visit our public message forum and post your comments:

http://canadiancoalition.com/forum/messages/15541.shtml

Background Links:

What 3-year-olds learn from Palestinian teachers

UNRWA: A hard look at an agency in trouble

UNRWA: The refugee curse

UNRWA’s role in incitement and promoting Jew-hatred

UNRWA: How terrorists in Israel use the UN

UNRWA: UN dollars for terror

UNRWA and Hamas “charities”

Reuters video of UNRWA ambulance used in terror attack

Statement by Canadian government on Hamas-dominated Palestinian government

For more 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: Canada, Israel, Palestinians

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