Canada officially recognized a Palestinian state Sunday ahead of the United Nations General Assembly, where several other nations are expected to do the same.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office announced the declaration as Carney travelled to New York to attend the UN meetings.
The controversial move is aimed at increasing pressure on efforts to broker peace in the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict, which has destabilized the Middle East and increased tensions globally.
Canada and other countries officially recognizing Palestine this week, including France and Britain, also say it’s meant to keep alive the possibility of a two-state solution to the conflict at a time when it’s been called into question.
Carney will join several other international leaders at an event Monday focused on a two-state solution and Palestinian statehood.
Israel and its chief international ally the United States have strongly opposed recognizing Palestinian statehood while the conflict continues to rage, and as Hamas still holds hostages in Gaza. Both countries, as well as some Jewish groups, say the move undermines peace efforts.
Carney first announced its decision in July, yet he did not publicly address the official announcement Sunday.
A senior government official said Canada’s recognition of Palestine is being done “to formally and explicitly affirm the continuity of its existence under international laws and to remove any question that a state of Palestine should exist.”
The government notes that 147 of the 193 member states of the UN already recognize a Palestinian state, meaning Canada is joining “the vast majority of the international community.” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, who is also travelling to New York and will address the UNGA, said Friday that recognizing Palestinian statehood won’t mean an immediate normalization of diplomatic ties or upgrading the Palestinian Authority’s delegation in Ottawa to a full embassy.
“Recognition is binary. In Mexico City, Anand told reporters, “You either recognize or you do not.” “Normalization is a process, and the process of normalization involves increases in diplomatic relationships. It entails opening diplomatic missions. The government has stated that Hamas violence, the rhetoric of some Israeli officials, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, and its policies targeting the Palestinian territories it occupies, including expanded settlements in the West Bank, are “eroding” the possibility of a two-state solution. Canada’s recognition of Palestine was contingent on the Palestinian Authority, the governing body over parts of the West Bank, undertake “concrete and meaningful reforms,” including new elections.
Canada officially recognizes Palestinian state ahead of UNGA
