Dear JiC readers: I had the honour and opportunity to present my views to the Canadian House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on 29 October. A video of my testimony – and that of others, including Ambassador Jon Allen and law professor Ardi Imseis is available here. In case of interest, I have also shared the text of my speech below. – Mark

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

There is no reason for Canada to wait to recognize Palestine. It is time.

Palestinian statehood is a legal fact. 146 out of 193 United Nations member states currently recognize Palestine. Our allies – Sweden, Ireland, Ukraine, Norway, and Spain – all recognize Palestine.

But not Canada. Why?

Let me take this opportunity to dispel some arguments that have been put forward against immediate recognition.

First, some claim that Canada should not recognize Palestine because doing so would go against our NATO and G7 allies.

But Sweden, Norway and Spain are NATO members. So too are Poland and Czechia. All recognize Palestine. G7 countries like Japan and France have likewise moved closer to recognizing Palestinian statehood. The only G7 state to oppose the May 2024 UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood was the United States.

Second, it is said that recognizing Palestine as a state is a “reward for Hamas”.

This argument is duplicitous and dangerous. It relies on an assumption that Palestinians are all Hamas, a notion that drives the collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and is used to justify mass atrocities.

Recognition is not a reward. Nor is recognition a consolation for the relentless and well-documented war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people. It is a basic, inalienable human right. It is the right of Palestinians.

The International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – treaties Canada has signed and ratified – list the right of all peoples to self-determination. Both list it in Article 1.

Third, some say that recognizing Palestine as a state would undermine the prospects of a negotiated, Two-State solution.

There is no evidence for this proposition. What has undermined the Two State solution is the atrocities of Hamas and Israel, neither of whom are interested in a Palestinian state existing beside Israel.

The argument that recognition can only be achieved if Israel agrees to it through negotiation is – in both intent and effect – a cover to permit the continued destruction and annexation of Palestinian land.

Recognizing Two States cannot undermine a two-state solution. Rather, it could jumpstart a new, better, more promising political solution to the conflict in the Middle East. Spain has said that recognizing Palestine is “the only way of advancing towards what everyone recognises as the only possible solution to achieve a peaceful future, one of a Palestinian state that lives side by side with the Israeli state in peace and security”.

Why can’t Canada do the same?

As the International Court of Justice has ruled, the right to self-determination is not conditional on a non-existent peace process. And so, Canada cannot condition the right of Palestinians to self-determination on the interests of a government openly engaged in the destruction and illegal occupation Palestine.

Finally, some say recognizing Palestine is wrong because it departs from long-standing Canadian policy.

But what justifies keeping the same policy in the face of mass slaughter?

Canada should depart from long-standing policy. Otherwise, it risks doing and saying the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. The status quo is not fit for purpose.

Recognizing Palestine now should be easy for Canada. Palestine exists. We’d only be joining our allies. There are no good arguments not to recognize Palestine. There is no reason to delay.

Let me leave you with an image.

It is fifteen years from now. The world is coming to terms with its inaction in the face of atrocities committed against civilians in Gaza.  Canadian MPs stand in the House of Commons to recognize a day of mourning for the tens of thousands of lives lost. The Prime Minister apologies on national television for not doing more when we all knew – we all watched – the massacres take place.

What would you say to your children or grandchildren who ask you then: what did you do?

I join Canadians who are watching you now – today – to see what you do. 

Canada has an opportunity to do something no Canadian government has done before, and something that is the legally, politically, and diplomatically right thing to do.

This Committee has voted to study the “quickest path” to recognition. The quickest path is the one that you take today.

The time has come to recognize Palestine. Now.