United Nations General Assembly (Council on Foreign Relations)
Nov. 5, 2021
B’nai Brith Canada condemns the Government’s decision to again support an unbalanced United Nations resolution that compounds problems in the Middle East.
The resolution, passed today, “is retrograde thinking and makes no sense,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada.
The resolution fails to recognize Jewish indigeneity and the legal rights of Jews to live in the land of Israel. It indirectly calls for an unacceptable division of Jerusalem, the historical and spiritual capital of the Jewish State of Israel.
After last year’s ratification of the progressive Abraham Accords, there is even less reason to play into the hands of hardliners who are unwilling to accept the existence of the Jewish State of Israel. While B’nai Brith supports peace for all in the region, this resolution unquestionably promotes dangerous scenarios where Israel is unable to defend itself and that jeopardizes the safety and security of Israelis – both Jewish and Arab.
The Abraham Accords have been fostering a newfound peace in the Middle East and are harmoniously connecting Jews and Arabs in business, academia, science, and beyond.
However, this resolution – similar to UN resolutions supported by the Canadian Government for the past three years and strongly opposed by all leading Jewish organizations — only further emboldens groups that unfairly seek to delegitimize Jewish legal rights in their historic homeland.
“Peace in the Middle East is a noble goal that requires parties coming to the table open to finding solutions to incredibly complex issues,” said Marvin Rotrand, National Director of B’nai Brith Canada’s League for Human Rights. “Canada’s signature on ideological resolutions like this only further propagates the tribalistic mentality that failed the region before the Abraham Accords.”
Mostyn added: “The Government must look toward the Abraham Accords as a model for resolutions and treaties to endorse. Our Government is well aware that calling on Israel to retreat to the 1967 borders is a non-starter. This resolution is a barrier to moving forward on the pathway to peace. Peace between Israelis and Palestinians will only come through bilateral negotiations and not through unrealistic and biased demands from the UN.
“Rather than supporting a fantasy of Israeli retreat to pre-1967 lines, which will never happen, Ottawa should be following Washington’s lead in moving our embassy to Jerusalem.”
