"Ghayyur draws particular attention to Canada’s trade relationship with India, which has continued to grow despite India’s worsening treatment of its Muslim population. Equally noteworthy, however, is Canada’s friendly relationship with Israel, which has been committing crimes against humanity for more than 75 years. In fact, in 2023 alone, Israeli forces have killed over 180 Palestinians, many of them children. Canada’s free trade agreement with Israel only fuels Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian people and their land. Canada has also decided to 'boycott' the UN’s High-Level Special Committee Meeting on the 75th Commemoration of the Nakba."
Re: “If Canada wants a seat on the UN’s Human Rights Council, it needs to step up on its own record”
May 25, 2023
Taha Ghayyur’s article highlights how Canada has loudly condemned human rights violations in Ukraine and Myanmar while staying silent, or even complicit, in the violent subjugation of populations in India, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia ahead of its bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. Ghayyur draws particular attention to Canada’s trade relationship with India, which has continued to grow despite India’s worsening treatment of its Muslim population. Equally noteworthy, however, is Canada’s friendly relationship with Israel, which has been committing crimes against humanity for more than 75 years. In fact, in 2023 alone, Israeli forces have killed over 180 Palestinians, many of them children. Canada’s free trade agreement with Israel only fuels Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian people and their land. Canada has also decided to “boycott” the UN’s High-Level Special Committee Meeting on the 75th Commemoration of the Nakba.
Reem Majid
Policy Analyst, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East