If the Canadian government is not willing to bar settlement products outright, the least it must do is to ensure they are not mislabelled “Made in Israel.”
The general council of the United Church of Canada (UCC) took a momentous decision last week. After years exploring the issue, and dialoguing with Muslim and Christian Palestinians, Jewish Israelis and Jewish Canadians, the UCC has decided to support a boycott of products from Israeli settlements.
In making its decision, the UCC has provided principled leadership on an issue of international importance – leadership sorely lacking from the Harper government and our other political leaders.
The UCC took its decision very seriously. In addition to dozens of consultations with Canadian organizations interested in this issue, the church's working group on Israel-Palestine policy visited the region, and spoke to diverse leaders on the ground. As many people have observed, including Stephen Scheinberg, co-chair of the Canadian Friends of Peace Now, the UCC report on the issue was "balanced and thoughtful," and the church's direction is "moderate and responsible."
Despite this careful work, some have suggested that the church's move is a clueless foray into a "political" issue. But with its settlement boycott decision, the UCC is demonstrating the same commitment to fairness that it has shown on other issues, such as women's rights, gay rights, aboriginal rights and climate change. Most other Canadians are either with them already, or not far behind. Most, like me, admire the courage of UCC members to live out their faith-driven principles.
That the UCC – eminently "mainstream Canada" – has taken this step is both a tribute to the church members' understanding and compassion, and indicative of a ground shift in Canadian opinion. It is illegal under international law for a military occupier to colonize the territory it controls – as Israel has done in the West Bank. Canadians – like those in the UCC – are increasingly ready to hold Israel to the reasonable standards of international law, and to press for some measure of long-postponed justice for the Palestinians. For example, recent international polling done by the BBC found that the percentage of Canadians who believe that Canada should support Palestine's admission to the United Nations is almost twice as high as the percentage who would oppose such a move.
Unfortunately, there's no indication the Harper government has accepted Canadians' beliefs about what should be done in Israel-Palestine. An official in the Harper government recently indicated that it will make no distinction between products from the illegal settlements and products from Israel proper – both of which currently enjoy preferential treatment under the Canada-Israel free-trade agreement. Worse, government leaders have frequently smeared and attacked those criticizing Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. These are puzzling government actions, given that official Canadian policy recognizes that Israel's settlements violate international law and are an impediment to peace.
If the Canadian government is not willing to bar settlement products outright, the least it must do is to ensure they are not mislabelled "Made in Israel." If not, many Canadians will conclude that to be on the safe side, they will have to boycott all products labelled "Made in Israel." (Some consider a boycott of Israeli products justified regardless of labelling issues, to exert even greater pressure on Israel to change its conduct.)
The Harper government's ostrich-like refusal to acknowledge any of the above does a disservice to Israelis, Palestinians and, ultimately, Canadians.
Canadian politicians are going to have to catch up to mainstream Canadians. The sooner they do so, the greater Canada's contribution to a just peace in the Middle East will be.
Thomas Woodley is the president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.