Under Stephen Harper, the Canadian government has shown a more pronounced pro-Israel position, or perhaps "bias" might be the better term.
In response to the recent Israeli incursions in Gaza, thirty three member countries in the 47-seat UN Human Rights Council endorsed a resolution that accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza. Nations that favored censuring Israel included China, India and Russia. Thirteen nations abstained.
Despite the overwhelming military force used in Gaza that resulted in 120 deaths, including children and non-combatants, one nation stood out against condemnation of Israel - and that nation was Canada.
In the recent past the Canadian position has at times been even more unabashedly pro-Israel than the United States itself. Condoleezza Rice condemned continued housing construction in East Jerusalem on land annexed in 1967. By contrast, Canadian Foreign Affairs minister, Maxime Bernier, refused to condemn Israeli settlement activity in East Jerusalem.
The pro-Israel bias of the Canadian government, and the pro-Israel cheerleading of the Canadian Jewish Congress and Canada-Israel Committee has run up against a reality check in the form of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians. The Alliance was set up by a woman named Diana Ralph and has the support of the well known Canadian author, Naomi Klein.
The pro-Israel bias of the Canadian government, and the pro-Israel cheerleading of the Canadian Jewish Congress and Canada-Israel Committee has run up against a reality check in the form of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians. The Alliance was set up by a woman named Diana Ralph and has the support of the well known Canadian author, Naomi Klein.
This isn't the first time Diana Ralph has spoken out against injustices directed at Muslims. Her father was a lawyer at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal in the aftermath of WW2 and she sees a troubling parallel between the targeting of Jews in Germany and the post-9/11 detentions of Muslims in Canada, the UK, US and Guantanamo Bay.
"My father taught me that we all have an obligation to protect justice and human rights ... I won't allow my country to betray its democratic character."
Ms Ralph believes that Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories, and that Palestinians who lost homes in the last 60 years should have the right to reclaim them. She takes the position that human rights are universal, and that no pass should be handed to Israel in its treatment of the Palestinians. She cites the situation in the West Bank and Gaza, where there have been critical shortages of water, food and medicine, and contends that turning a blind eye to "despicable acts" on the part of Israel, simply fuels anti-Semitism.
The alliance has adopted a set of founding principles, as follows:
• Human rights are universal and indivisible and should be upheld without exception. This is as applicable in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories as it is elsewhere.
• Palestinians and Israelis alike have the right to peaceful and secure lives.
• Peace and stability require the willingness of all parties in the conflict to comply with international law.
• There is no justification for any form of racism, including anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism or Islamophobia, in any circumstance.
• The battle against anti-Semitism is vital, and it is undermined whenever opposition to Israeli government policies is automatically branded as anti-Semitic.
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