July 29, 2025
NEW YORK, N.Y. – B’nai Brith Canada is urging the Federal Government to act with moral clarity following a disturbing high-level United Nations conference on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“The United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine promoted a one-sided narrative that excused terrorism, legitimized authoritarian regimes, and obstructed any serious path to peace,” said Richard Robertson, B’nai Brith Canada’s Director of Research and Advocacy. “Further, Canada’s performance in the conference was deeply troubling.”
B’nai Brith Canada took particular issue with Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand’s remarks about “competing narratives,” as they created a false moral equivalence between a democratic state defending its population and terrorist organizations committed to its destruction.
During the conference, the Federal Government pledged 40-million dollars in funding to the Palestinian Authority (PA), including 10-million earmarked for so-called “state-building.” This funding was offered without any conditions related to political reform, financial transparency, or commitments to combating hate and violence.
“The Palestinian Authority has not held an election in nearly two decades,” Robertson said. “It glorifies terrorism, suppresses dissent, misuses international aid, and rejects even the most basic standards of democratic accountability. Despite this, the conference granted the PA full political legitimacy and treated it as the representative of a future Palestinian state.”
The conference failed to properly address the ongoing captivity of Israeli hostages who are still being held by Hamas. Their release, which is a prerequisite to peace, became an ancillary issue. This was not an accident, and it reflects a continued choice to ignore Jewish suffering when it is politically inconvenient.
The broader structure of the conference placed exclusive blame on Israel while systematically ignoring the factors that continue to make peace impossible. It failed to address the use of civilian infrastructure for terrorist purposes. It made no mention of indoctrination through state-run education and media, the financial payments provided to families of attackers, or the PA’s refusal to permit elections or allow internal opposition. These are not just peripheral concerns: they are structural features of a political system built to sustain violence and prevent reconciliation.
Canada also failed to oppose continued international support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), despite overwhelming evidence that the agency is complicit in terror activity. UNRWA has employed individuals affiliated with Hamas, permitted it to store weapons in its facilities, and distributed antisemitic content in Gazan schools.
A credible peace process cannot begin while these obstacles remain in place.
“Prime Minister [Mark] Carney and Minister Anand should be reminded that leadership is not about optics,” Robertson said. “Leadership means defending allies when they are under attack and standing up for democratic values, even – and especially when – doing so is unpopular.
“When the Canadian government embraces narratives that vilify Israel and excuse terrorism, those narratives do not stay in Geneva or New York. They show up on Canadian campuses, in Canadian communities, and on Canadian streets.”
