UN Resolutions Intro HOME Israel Deserves Better from
UN Brian Mulroney's speech to the United Nation's
Association of Canada (excerpts) October 30, 2001 The United Nations has
long been an indispensable cornerstone of Canadian foreign policy, the
central pillar of Canadian multilateralism since the end of the Second
World War. It is a measure of Canada's commitment to the UN, and the high
regard in which it is held by the world community, that we have been elected
to two- year terms on the Security Council on six occasions, on average
once a decade, since the founding of the United Nations. But no organization
is without fault or failing, and the UN membership has made its share of
egregious errors, particularly in the pursuit of its objectives in the
Mideast, and on the issue of human rights and racism. The UN Human Rights
Commission has lost its way, singling out Israel for censure on human rights
violations.
March 7, 2002 Canadian Jewish groups that monitor Canada's
voting record on Israel at the United Nations say the Liberal government's
support for the Jewish state has long been patchy. Official policy positions
appearing to back Israel often are not reflected in the way Ottawa orders
its delegates to vote during numerous UN debates on the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, they say. Friction reached a crisis level in October, 2000, when
Canada used its seat on the UN Security Council, the organization's most
important executive body, to endorse a resolution that condemned Israel's
"excessive use of force" against the Palestinians, but barely mentioned
Palestinian violence. One of the Liberal Party's
own MPs -- Irwin Cotler -- was outraged by the vote. "This resolution
is one-sided, prejudicial to the state of Israel and misinformed," Mr.
Cotler, a human rights lawyer who represents the Montreal riding of Mount
Royal, said at the time. With a federal election approaching, Jean ChrŽtien,
the Prime Minister, personally wrote to Canadian Jewish leaders expressing
"regret" for the "distress and frustration" the resolution had caused.
"One UN vote cannot define or redefine the deep and longstanding friendship
that exists between Canada and Israel," he said. But almost simultaneously,
Canadian delegates at the UN were following Ottawa directives to quietly
approve a batch of annually recurring measures slamming Israel. The measures
were headed for the General Assembly, where a majority of developing and
Muslim nations traditionally vote against the Jewish state. After the National
Post detailed the delegates' actions, the Liberal Party moved quickly to
defuse Jewish anger by issuing a statement downplaying the resolutions
as "technical and procedural." The statement added: "Canada will not support
unbalanced resolutions and will vote to encourage the peace process and
protect the integrity of the United Nations." At the General Assembly vote
two months later, the resolutions passed, with Canada backing or abstaining
from almost all of them, leaving the United States and Israel isolated
in their opposition. "The [Jewish] community certainly expected more from
the government's ... pre-election pledges of even-handedness in the Middle
East, as well as 'understanding' for Israel's position," wrote Ruth Klein
in The Jewish Tribune, Canada's largest Jewish newspaper. The United Nations
is an important forum for the Palestinians, who argue the accumulation
of anti-Israel resolutions gives them the moral high ground in their bid
for a state. Conversely, the Israelis consider the world body virtual hostile
territory as they defend themselves from one condemnation after another.
At his first and so far only visit to the United Nations since becoming
Foreign Minister in January, Bill Graham insisted Canada had not traditionally
voted with the majority to the detriment of Israel. "I would argue [against
the view] that Canada has always been with the pack that leaves the United
States and Israel isolated," he said. "What we try and do is find a way
to make sure that our votes on specific resolutions are in a way that will
help the peace process." Canada's record suggests otherwise, with votes
often in contradiction to what appears to have been said in Ottawa. One
recurring resolution that Canada has consistently supported states Israeli
jurisdiction in Jerusalem is "illegal and therefore null and void." Yet
the official Canadian position on the Israeli capital represents the "status
of Jerusalem can be resolved only as part of a general settlement of the
Arab-Israeli dispute." In December, Jewish groups were shocked that Canada
approved a new measure slipped into one of the recurring resolutions considered
by the assembly. It protested against Israeli searches of UN trucks laden
with aid for
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