Harper
Government’s Tacit Support for Israel’s Racist Visitation Policies
Israel
has now created a two-tier visitors’ visa process. International visitors with family or
businesses in the occupied territories are facing increased restrictions not
imposed on any other visitors to Israel.
Canadians
of Palestinian ancestry report that Israeli officials have recently begun
issuing new and onerous visas to them.
The new visas restrict travel to Palestinian areas only and limit those
visitors to only one month, while other international visitors are eligible for
visas of up to three months.
While
the U.S. State Department has condemned the practice, with a spokesperson
calling it “unacceptable” and stating that “U.S. citizens should be treated
equally regardless of their national origin”, the Canadian government has
remained silent on the issue. Dozens of
Canadian citizens with family or businesses in the Occupied Territories have
reported the new policies are causing them undue hardship.
In a
news release issued earlier this month (September), the group Canadians for
Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) called on the Harper government to
defend the rights of all Canadians. “We
cannot allow foreign states to discriminate between our citizens based on their
place of birth, ethnic origin, where their family resides or where they choose
to conduct their … business,” said CJPME President Tom Woodley.
Given
that the U.S. and a number of other western countries have protested the new
visa requirements, the Harper government's silence on the issue can only be
interpreted as tacit support. Overall, the Harper Conservatives have
emerged as the most pro-Israeli government in the West, moving away from a
decades-old Canadian policy of at least stated neutrality on this issue.