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Canadian Foreign Minister's Visit to East Jerusalem Was No Provocation. It Was Brave

(Globe and Mail-Canada) Einat Wilf and Noah Slepkov - The simple fact, now seen clearly by Canada's leadership, is that the Palestinians are not prepared to make the difficult, but necessary, decisions that would end the conflict and are therefore using any possible excuse to avoid negotiations. In the past, the Canadian leadership often took the comfortable path of least resistance by voting with the majority of countries in international forums. The current leadership of Canada has chosen the far more difficult and courageous path of focusing on resolving the conflict by facing reality and truth. Granted, this means that Canada no longer enjoys the comfort of the majority, but it does mean that Canada is now a leading nation rather than a follower. Foreign Minister John Baird's meetings with Israeli officials in east Jerusalem is in no way a provocation. After all, when the UN General Assembly voted in 1947 to support partition of Palestine into two states, Jewish and Arab, it also voted to leave Jerusalem, Bethlehem and their surroundings as belonging to neither. In the 66 years since, the world has recognized neither Jordanian, Israeli or Palestinian control of any part of this area and has maintained that the status of Jerusalem will be determined in negotiations that end the conflict. As long as the status of Jerusalem has not been negotiated, diplomats and leaders from around the world should be free to meet their counterparts in both east and west Jerusalem. Rather than negotiating with Israel over the status of Jerusalem, the Palestinians are conducting a global campaign to argue that Israel is trying to make Jerusalem Jewish, neglecting to accept that east Jerusalem, and especially the ancient holy city of Jerusalem, was once the capital of ancient Israel, millennia before the Arab conquest of the city. Only under Israeli control has Jerusalem remained a city open to all peoples, of all religions, to practice their religion freely. Mr. Baird's visit held up a mirror to the Palestinians, that tactics of delay, distraction, endless escape from tough decisions, and avoiding negotiations and serious assumption of responsibility will no longer find a ready audience among those who truly care about achieving peace. Former Knesset member Einat Wilf holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. Noah Slepkov serves as an Adjunct Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute in Jerusalem.
2013-04-19 00:00:00
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