Canada Cuts Aid To Palestinian Authority: Foreign Policy Double Standard

Shortly after the new Hamas Palestinian government was sworn in on March 29 Canada became the first western government to cut all aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA). This was something of a reversal of the position Foreign Minister Peter McKay had expressed just weeks earlier when, following a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister, McKay declared that Canada would work with the Palestinian government .

In the statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs announcing the decision , McKay is quoted as saying that Hamas has failed to address Canada’s concerns about “non-violence, the recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the roadmap for peace. A clear commitment by the Hamas government to the principles that we and the international community have outlined remains an essential precondition for Canada to resume any assistance to the Palestinian Authority.”

The same statement quotes International Cooperation Minister Josée Verner saying there is a distinction to be made between aid to the Palestinian Authority and to Palestinians. Canada will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestinians by working through NGOs and the United Nations, she said. “Canada will also continue to work with the voices of moderation within Palestinian society.”

Of the roughly $30 million Canada provides in aid to Palestine per year, around $7 million goes directly to the Palestinian Authority. The aid that has been cut was earmarked for a handful of projects, with most of the money earmarked for use in a PA-led project to reconstruct housing demolished by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to reporters after issuing the statement, McKay stressed repeatedly that Canada would not provide any money to a Hamas-controlled PA unless Hamas agrees to meet a number of conditions. “Until such time as we see a change in position from the Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority, there will be no direct contact, and there will certainly be no aid flowing through that government,” he said. Pressed to elaborate, McKay said Hamas must “respect existing agreements, follow the road map, recognize Israel as a state and renounce all violence. To date, that has not happened.”

On the same day that Canada cut aid to the PA, Prime Minister Stephen Harper phoned Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Olmert to congratulate him on his Kadima party winning the most seats in the March 28 parliamentary elections in Israel. “Canada and Israel enjoy solid bilateral relations and Mr. Olmert and I agreed to work together at expanding them even more,” Harper told reporters. “Canada remains a staunch supporter of peace in the Middle East and we will continue to work with Mr. Olmert and [Palestinian] President Mahmoud Abbas to reach that goal.”

Olmert campaigned and won the Israeli election on a platform that openly contravenes the road map to peace and all existing agreements on the Middle East, namely Israel unilaterally declaring its international borders to include the largest settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Olmert and his predecessor Ariel Sharon also presided over a campaign of targetted assassinations against suspected Hamas and other Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip and Occupied Territories that has resulted in the killing of dozens of civilians.

However, this blatant double standard apparently presents no problem to the Canadian government or other western governments. On April 7, the U.S. and European Commission announced that they too are suspending aid to the PA.

In an opinion piece published in The Guardian on March 31, PA Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh notes that since Hamas was elected in what all international observers agree were free and fair elections in January, western governments have continually insisted the group recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace agreements. “But we have not heard a single demand of the Israeli parties that took part in [Israeli] elections, though some advocate the complete removal of the Palestinians from their lands.”

“The problem,” he writes “is not with any particular Palestinian group but with the denial of our basic rights by Israel. … The message from Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to the world powers is this: talk to us no more about recognizing Israel’s ‘right to exist’ or ending resistance until you obtain a commitment from the Israelis to withdraw from our land and recognize our rights.”

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