Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters
A national Muslim advocacy group called Wednesday a “historic day” after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada would formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
But a national Jewish organization said the decision was “deeply concerning” and would embolden the terrorist group Hamas.
With the announcement, Canada joins a growing list of countries around the world to formally recognize Palestinian statehood.
Response among Canadian political leaders, diplomats and advocacy groups was swift and divided.
Stephen Brown, the chief executive officer of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said the decision is “more than symbolic.”
“It is a small step in the right direction, and the recognition of sovereignty is essential to the survival and dignity of all people, which, of course, includes the Palestinian people,” Mr. Brown told a news conference on Parliament Hill.
He said that “long-term peace cannot come without Palestinian self-determination.”
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Mr. Brown said many Canadians are trying to get their loved ones out of Gaza, spending thousands of dollars to secure safe passage for relatives.
“This is not an abstract foreign-policy issue. It is a domestic emergency for communities across Canada,” he said. “Canada has taken an important step in our history and what matters now is what follows from it. Recognition must lead to immediate relief and long-term justice in the region.”
The NCCM, which has more than 200,000 members across Canada, called on Ottawa to apply further sanctions on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, impose a full two-way arms embargo on the Israel Defense Forces, review the Canada-Israel free-trade agreement and better assist those fleeing Gaza.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the recognition is “predicated on misplaced faith in vague commitments” by Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, and that it would only embolden Hamas.
“Extending recognition absent real change on the ground is a recipe for another failed Palestinian pseudo-state controlled by terrorists,” the advocacy group said in a statement.
NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson welcomed the decision, saying it reflected the power of the people to push governments to take action.
“It should not have taken the Liberals this long to make this decision − and it should not take until September to implement it,” she said in a statement. “Under international law, the state of Palestine already exists, and the majority of the world – 148 countries – recognize it.”
The Conservative Party said it has long supported a two-state solution but said recognizing Palestinian statehood in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks would legitimize Hamas and undermine peace efforts.
“A unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, without peace negotiations or a renunciation of violence, destroys the path to a durable, two-state solution,” the party’s foreign affairs critic, Michael Chong, said in a statement. “Worse, it legitimizes terrorism by handing political rewards to a group that rules Gaza through fear, oppression and brutality.”
Jon Allan, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Israel from 2006 to 2010, was among nearly 200 former Canadian ambassadors and career diplomats to sign a July 29 letter to Mr. Carney calling on him to recognize a Palestinian state.
In an interview after the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday, Mr. Allan said the importance of the recognition is two-fold.
“I think it sends an important signal to the Palestinian people that at least the international community continues to believe that the two-state solution is the only way to find peace and security for both the Israelis and the Palestinians in the region,” he said.
“And, I think it sends a signal to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his coalition that their policies of settlement expansion, refusal to accept a two-state solution, and their activities in Gaza, which are having a devastation effect on the Palestinian population, are unacceptable.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has rejected the move, saying “the change in the position of the Canadian government at this time is a reward for Hamas and harms the efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of the hostages.”
With a report from Ian Bailey in Ottawa