"Peace cannot be a transaction or a temporary arrangement; it needs to be built on international consensus and legitimacy, moving it from managing the conflict to ending it. Western governments are complicit in consistently shielding Israel from accountability at the United Nations and by providing arms and funding. Canada stopping their military and diplomatic support of Israel would be a step in the right direction."
June 25, 2025
In an ideal world, the optimism expressed in Gene Monin’s article, Don’t keep living by the sword, might result in a lasting peace among Israel and its neighbours. However, given the current situation that is not possible.
In the case of both India and South Africa, the movements led by Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela supported the achievement of independence and peace but they were not the only catalysts for change. Peace was achieved by a combination of factors, including negotiations, international pressure, and the dismantling of the apartheid and/or colonial systems. It will take a similar combination of factors if a lasting and just peace in the Middle East is to be achieved.
Furthermore, there can be no sustainable peace in the Middle East without a solution to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. There are no shortcuts. The region’s future will remain bound to its unresolved past – unless bold political will and decisions break the cycle.
To begin, there will need to be mutual responsibility for the ongoing violence and an equal balance of power between Israel and Palestine. However, nothing could be further from reality at this moment in time. Israel is a nuclear-armed state with one of the world’s most powerful militaries and full control over Palestinian territory, while Palestinians live under occupation and siege and what many including the World Council of Churches call an apartheid system of control.
Peace cannot be a transaction or a temporary arrangement; it needs to be built on international consensus and legitimacy, moving it from managing the conflict to ending it. Western governments are complicit in consistently shielding Israel from accountability at the United Nations and by providing arms and funding. Canada stopping their military and diplomatic support of Israel would be a step in the right direction.
Debbie Hubbard