Minister, I want to talk to you about the vote on the resolution in the UN last week. I appreciate the attempt at what I would call damage control with respect to the conversation between you and Ms. Dabrusin earlier, but with the greatest respect, it's not the part of the resolution that says that Canada supports a two-state solution that the Jewish community is concerned about. It's the rest of the resolution that is problematic.
In fact, your own ambassador, Mr. Rae, said there were parts of the resolution that he simply did not agree with. You own former colleague Mr. Levitt said, “By supporting this resolution, Canada is providing ammunition to those who seek to delegitimize and demonize the State of Israel, which ultimately sets back the prospects for peace in the region”.
The aspects of the resolution that are problematic, Minister, have to do with three things.
First, it says that the security wall, which was put up to protect all Israeli citizens, Jewish and non-Jewish, from terrorist attacks, severely impedes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Your government voted for that.
It says that the so-called occupied territory should be contiguous—in other words, the West Bank and Gaza should be contiguous. If that were to come true, Israel simply would no longer exist. Your government voted for that.
It also refers to Israel as an occupier, which has never been the official position of the Government of Canada.
If your goal was simply to reaffirm Canada's commitment to a two-state solution, wouldn't it have been simpler to simply vote against this ill-conceived resolution, and then put out a press release saying why you voted against it, and that you support, as always, a two-state solution?