NDP pushing Liberals to recognize state of Palestine as U.K., U.S. signal openness

OTTAWA — New Democrats are calling on the Liberal government to have Canada formally recognize Palestine as a state, saying it would help advance peace in the Middle East.

“It’s time for Canada to do more, to build a peaceful resolution for the people of Palestine and the people of Israel,” NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson said Tuesday.

McPherson will table a private member’s motion in the House of Commons that would recognize Palestinian territories as a sovereign state.

The motion should appear in parliamentary documents Wednesday but is unlikely to come up for a vote anytime soon. Still, McPherson is asking MPs to endorse it and pressure the federal government to follow through. 

The British and U.S. governments have both recently said they’re considering fully recognizing Palestine once the Israel-Hamas war ends, she noted. 

Neither Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly’s office nor the Opposition Conservatives responded right away when asked if they would endorse the motion.

McPherson announced her motion on Parliament Hill, flanked by a handful of fellow caucus members. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was not present, though his office said he and all caucus members endorse the motion. 

For decades, the Canadian government has endorsed the eventual creation of a Palestinian country that exists in peace alongside Israel — the essence of what’s known as the two-state solution.

Canada currently recognizes the Palestinian territories as entities separate from Israel, but not as a state unto themselves. Similarly, Palestine has a diplomatic delegation and ambassador that is fully recognized by Ottawa but not as a country, similar to the European Union ambassador in Ottawa.

“I’ve never understood how the Liberals or the Conservatives can say that they believe in a two-state solution and not recognize two states,” McPherson said with a shrug.

Doing so would be a necessary step in order to push back against Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing efforts to thwart such an outcome, she said. 

“From that position, then you can start having peaceful conversations, then you can start looking at what the state of Palestine would look like.”

Much of Asia and Africa already recognizes Palestine as a state. Mona Abuamara, the Palestinian ambassador to Canada, has been saying for months that Ottawa should do the same.

South Africa joined those calls following a January ruling by the International Court of Justice, which ordered Israel to prevent a genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 13, 2024.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press