Palestine, Israel and Canada

Saturday, September 19, 2011 - Since 1947 when the United Nations offered statehood to Palestine, everyone who cares to read about it has known that a two-state solution is the only way out of the Palestine-Israeli conflict, the single most dangerous, divisive and persistent threat to world security—save for a coterie of ultra-conservative Israelis who, unfortunately, control enough votes in the Knesset to topple any government that tries to implement it. In four years of working in Jordan, from Cabinet Ministers’ boardrooms to Bedouin tents, I never heard anyone say anything bad about Jews or Israelis, only about the Israeli Government’s policies. People who haven’t spent much time in the Middle East, including some Canadian politicians, do not know how close Israel and Palestine are to peace and how easily in can be achieved. The Palestine leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has taken a bold step to break a deadly impasse by asking for statehood recognition from the United Nations. Canada should get on the bus instead of standing in front of it.