December 10, 2012: The only path to peace remains direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians

By Michael Regenstreif

On November 29, 1947, with the British Mandate for Palestine drawing to a close, the United Nations (UN) voted to partition the area into two states: the Jewish State of Israel and an Arab Palestinian state.

The partition was accepted by the Jews, who declared Israel’s independence on May 14, 1948, and rejected by the Palestinian Arabs with the support of the surrounding Arab states, which attacked the nascent Jewish state en masse in Israel’s War of Independence.

We can only speculate on how differently the Middle East would have developed, and how different today’s Middle East would be, had the Palestinians accepted the UN partition plan. So many wars, so many acts of terrorism, so much retaliation – all with their tragic death tolls – could well have been avoided over the past 65 years. Think of all the resources that could have been deployed elsewhere and all the human suffering and all the hatred that could have been avoided.

On November 29, 2012, the 65th anniversary of the UN partition plan that led to the creation of the State of Israel, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to recognize Palestine – under the administration of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – as a non-member observer state, a move which MP Irwin Cotler, a former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, and one of the world’s leading international human rights lawyers, points out violates numerous UN resolutions providing frameworks for peace as well as bilateral Israeli-Palestinian agreements, including 1995’s Oslo II accord, which states “neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the Permanent Status negotiations.” (“An affront to the peace process, and to international law,” National Post, November 30)

That the UN General Assembly would vote in favour of this measure was never in doubt. After all, in that forum, the votes of Syria and Iran carry the same weight in the tally as the United States and Canada.

Israel, to be sure, opposed the Palestinian plan for this UN recognition, believing the only path to peace and Palestinian statehood is through direct negotiations without preconditions. And Israel’s strongest support in that position came from the United States and Canada.

A few other major democracies, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and the Netherlands, took a wishy-washy approach and abstained, while others, including many countries that have relatively good relations with Israel such as France, Italy, Spain and Greece, voted in favour of the Palestinian bid.

Canada’s reaction was swift. Foreign Minister John Baird quickly announced Canada will mount a full review of our relationship with the PA.

“Canada is proud of the support it has provided to improve the stability and security of the Palestinian society. Yesterday’s unilateral action does nothing to further the Middle East peace process. It will not change the reality on the streets of the West Bank or Gaza. This unilateral step is an impediment to peace,” Baird said on November 30. “We again call on the Palestinian Authority and Israel to return to negotiations, without preconditions, for the good of their people.”

While the results of the review will almost surely not be known by the time you read this column, the consequences for the Palestinians could be significant with Canada’s five-year, $300 million aid package to the PA about to expire. As well, there are moves afoot in the U.S. Congress to slash American financial support to the Palestinians in reaction to their move at the UN.

What does the UN measure realistically mean?

Most significantly, it might add to Palestinian status in UN agencies or give them enhanced status at the International Criminal Court. But, as Baird, American UN Ambassador Susan Rice, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have all pointed out, nothing really changes on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza. The only way to peace and to real Palestinian statehood is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. And the only way for those negotiations to take place is for the PA to come to the table without preconditions – something they’ve been unwilling to do over the past four years.

And let us not forget that, although the UN has recognized the PA as the government in the West Bank and Gaza, it has no practical authority in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, a terrorist organization opposed to the peace process and to the existence of the State of Israel.

November 26, 2012: Things could have been so very different in Gaza

By Michael Regenstreif

As I write, on the morning of November 16, just before this issue of the Bulletin goes to press, the attention of the Jewish community here in Ottawa, and in Jewish communities around the world, is nervously focussed on Israel and its latest conflict with Hamas, the terrorist organization that controls the Gaza Strip.

Hopefully, by the time you read this column a week or so after it was written, Operation Pillar of Defense will be finished and Israel will have accomplished its goal of ending the ongoing barrage of rocket fire from Gaza aimed at Israeli civilians with minimal loss of life.

As I write, the conflict is in its third day. Rockets continue to fly out of Gaza and have reached as far as Rishon Lezion, just south of the Tel Aviv area, and three civilians were killed when a Hamas rocket hit an apartment building in Kiryat Malachi.

So far, Israel has been conducting the operation from the air. But 30,000 reservists were called up and troops have been massed near Gaza. Whether or not there will be a ground operation like Operation Cast Lead almost four years ago remains, at this writing, to be seen.

Operation Pillar of Defense was launched in response to a severe escalation of rocket attacks on Israel, which have recently reached levels not seen since before Operation Cast Lead – more than 120 attacks just in the three days prior to the operation.

As then-U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama stated during his 2008 visit to Sderot, “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.”

The operation began with an amazingly precise hit on Ahmed Jabri, the head of Hamas’ military wing. Jabri, who was behind the recent escalation of rocket fire from Gaza, was a leader of the Hamas forces in its violent overthrow of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and long imprisonment of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. The air operation then continued, targeting rocket launchers and other military installations belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

It should be stressed that, while Hamas specifically targets Israeli civilians, Israel has acted with restraint in this operation and the loss of life by Palestinian civilians, while tragic, has been minimal (and stands in great contrast to the massive loss of civilian life almost every day in the Syrian regime’s war against its own people).

And, while there has been great outrage towaard Israel from much of the Arab world, democracies like the United States, Great Britain and Canada have stood solidly behind her right to self-defence in the wake of the ongoing attacks.

“We fundamentally believe that Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens from terrorist threats,” said Foreign Minister John Baird in a statement released after the first day of the operation.

“Far too often, the Jewish people find themselves on the front lines in the struggle against terrorism, the great struggle of our generation. Just last weekend, more than 100 rockets rained down on civilians in southern Israel from positions in the Gaza Strip.

“Canada condemns the terrorist group Hamas and stands with Israel as it deals with regional threats to peace and security.”

I yearn for peace in the Middle East and am convinced the two-state solution is the only way it can be achieved. The two-state solution is the key to both Israel’s long-term future as a Jewish and democratic country, and to the long-term future of a democratic and prosperous Palestine. But, to be sure, Hamas is an enemy of peace. Its terrorist acts are aimed at preventing peace and provoking Israel into conflict.

Israel, in a move that many – including, I believe, its top leadership of the day – hoped would help pave the road to peace, unilaterally ended its occupation of Gaza in 2005. It was an incredible opportunity for the Palestinian people to show the world they, too, were ready for peace, for statehood, for the future. Instead, Gaza has been the launching pad for thousands of rockets and other terrorist attacks.

Things could have been so very different in Gaza. Hopefully, someday sooner than later, they will be.

November 12, 2012: We were lucky to escape Sandy’s wrath

By Michael Regenstreif

Here in Ottawa, it rained a little and it was somewhat windier than usual, but we were lucky enough to escape the devastation that wreaked havoc on much of the American northeast just a few hundred miles from here. Particularly hard hit were many areas with large Jewish communities in the New York and New Jersey areas.

As we prepare to go to press four days after the storm, the death toll has reached 100, many have been left homeless, there are still many millions without power, gasoline is scarce, and there are many buildings, including some synagogues and Jewish community centres, which are too damaged to be used.

On November 1, three days after Sandy blew through Manhattan, a friend of mine who lives there managed to post a message on Facebook about how she and her family were making out.

“We have no power, no water, no cell phone service here in lower Manhattan, no subways. But we’re fine and, of course, we’re incredibly lucky compared to so many people. We’re so grateful to be safe and together and our building is fine. It’s horrifying how awful things are for so many people,” she wrote.

As has so often been the case at the time of natural disasters, Jewish communities have mobilized quickly to do whatever is possible to help. The Jewish Federation of Ottawa has set up the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund and is working with Jewish Federations of North America to help bring immediate aid where it is needed most and to support recovery and rebuilding efforts.

Antisemitism on campus

Last issue in this space I discussed a Carleton University report on inter-cultural, inter-religious and inter-racial relations on campus. The report noted Jewish students and staff were more likely than most other groups to be made uncomfortable or face discrimination on campus, largely because of tensions surrounding anti-Israel events and campaigns.

A few days after I wrote that column, the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, publishers of the Jewish Virtual Library, released a study – Israel and the Campus: The Real Story – that looked at 4,000 university campuses in North America and found all of the anti-Israel incidents took place at just 108 universities in the U.S. and 25 in Canada (Carleton among them) and the vast majority of those incidents took place during events like the so-called Israel Apartheid Week.

There were no anti-Israel events at 97 per cent of North American campuses according to the study.