10) UNPACKING THE GREEN PARTY POLICY ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE
People’s Voice Commentary
Supporters of the Green Party of Canada sometimes argue that their party has a more nuanced and “even-handed” approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict than the larger parties in Parliament. This applies especially to the most pro-Zionist governing party in the world, the Harper Conservatives, who enthusiastically support every war crime and violation of international law perpetrated by the Netanyahu regime.
It is true that the Greens allow more scope for pro-Palestinian views than the NDP or the Liberals.
Last year, the NDP leadership denied Paul Manly the right to seek a nomination in the Vancouver Island riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith. Manly says that while nothing was put in writing, he was told verbally that the reason was “what I said and did when my father was in Israel,” and concerns that he would make Israel and Palestine an election issue.
In October 2012, Manly’s father Jim, a retired NDP MP, took part in a humanitarian mission to Gaza aboard the Estelle, along with European members of parliament and Israelis who oppose the blockade of Gaza. The Estelle was illegally seized in international waters by the Israeli military, and Jim Manly was taken to an Israeli prison and held incommunicado.
Not surprisingly, Paul Manly spoke out on behalf of his father, for which he was punished by the NDP. Unhappy with this development, and with the NDP’s support for “free trade” deals and other policies, he moved to the Green Party, winning its nomination in Nanaimo-Ladysmith.
This episode has been interpreted to mean that the Greens have a relatively pro-Palestinian position. But in fact, the party’s policy is based on the view that the “conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians” is the fault of “both sides.” This “balanced” position ignores that historic reality that Israel displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 “nakba,” and eventually occupied huge and growing pieces of the remaining Palestinian territories.
The Green policy goes on to state that “military or insurgency strategies” will not bring about an end to the conflict, as though there was any true comparison between the enormous Israeli military machine (including its nuclear arsenal) and the unguided rockets fired by Hamas.
On a more positive note, the policy says that “Canada’s role in the Middle East should be to reduce tensions, find working solutions, and uphold international humanitarian law..” The Greens also support “a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict”, which is also the historic position of the PLO (and the Communist Party of Canada).
However, the policy statement insists on regarding the occupying Israeli state and the oppressed Palestinians as “equal” partners. For example, the statement says Green MPs will “call on both sides to immediately stop the killing of civilians and adhere to international law,” but nowhere does it recognize the vastly asymmetrical nature of the conflict.
During Israel’s 2014 war against Gaza, an estimated 2200 Gazans were killed (70% of them civilians) and over 10,000 wounded (including 3,374 children). By comparison, 66 Israeli soldiers and five Israeli civilians were killed, and 469 IDF soldiers and 261 Israeli civilians were injured. About 520,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (almost one-third of its population) were displaced, of whom 485,000 needed emergency food assistance and 273,000 took shelter in 90 UN-run schools. The UN calculates that more than 7,000 homes for 10,000 Gaza families were razed, together with an additional 89,000 homes damaged by Israeli bombing. Rebuilding costs are estimated at $4-6 billion over 20 years. In Israel, an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 citizens temporarily fled their homes due to the threat of rocketry from Gaza.
Despite these shocking figures, the Green Party policy is to “protect as inviolable the right of the State of Israel to exist, in the absence of fear and conflict,” remarkably omitting any reference to the rights of Palestinians to exist without fear!
The statement concludes that Green MPs would “call for an end to the collective siege of Gaza so that medical and humanitarian aid can be provided; call on Israel to stop expansion and the building of illegal settlements beyond the 1967 borders; (and) actively support the efforts of civil society groups working for peace, human rights, and justice in the region.”
These are laudable goals. But many questions still need to be asked. For example, would the Greens call for Israeli citizens to be completely withdrawn from the illegal settlements? Do they support the right of return for Palestinians driven out by Israeli ethnic cleansing in 1948 and afterwards? Will the Greens support the call by Palestinians for “boycott, disinvestment and sanctions (BDS)” against Israel? And will they join the growing international recognition that Israel’s anti-Palestinian policies constitute a modern day form of racist apartheid? Or will the Greens remain silent on these crucial questions, allowing the Netanyahu regime a free pass to continue its murderous tactics?
In conclusion, it seems that despite its “balanced” language, “unpacking” the Green Party policy contains an inherent bias in favour of protecting the Israeli occupation state, at the expense of the Palestinian people. Among the registered political parties taking part in this federal election, only one - the Communist Party of Canada - stands in full solidarity with the Palestinian people and in support of the BDS campaign.
We urge People’s Voice readers to use every opportunity in this campaign to pressure the parliamentary parties on this issue, including the right to express solidarity with Palestine without being treated as a terrorist or a “threat to the security of Canada”.
(The above article is from the October 1-15, 2015, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)