Feb 18th, 2011
Most Canadians watched the Egyptian revolution unfold with a mixture of delight and admiration. The courage of the young demonstrators and their unflinching faith in peaceful, non-violent protest, even in the face of violence and provocation from the dictatorship, was a lesson for people everywhere, but especially for those suffering under the reactionary autocracies that exist throughout the Middle East. Bloody repression against similar protests in Iran, Libya and Bahrain show just how difficult it will be to advance democracy and the rule of law beyond Egypt and Tunisia.
The Stephen Harper government has been missing in action. Worse, it seems actually to side with the dictators, not the people
But Canadian solidarity with progressive movements in the Arab world is lacking one crucial element: the support of the government of Canada. The Stephen Harper government has been missing in action. Worse, it seems actually to side with the dictators, not the people. After initial hesitation, the Obama administration finally broke with its long-standing military ally, and in effect advised Hosni Mubarak to step down in favour of a transition to constitutional democracy. Yet even when he flanked President Obama at a joint news conference in Washington, Prime Minister Harper refused to endorse Obama’s call for change.
Indeed, by the last few days of the old regime, Canada was the only Western country left standing as Mubarak supporters. When Mubarak was finally pushed out, Mr. Harper gracelessly expressed thanks not to the courageous protestors, but to the fleeing dictator! As if democracy was a gift bestowed by the corrupt old Pharaoh on “his children” (as Mubarak notoriously liked to describe the Egyptian people) and not something won by the struggle and the blood of the people.
The performance of the Harper government on Egypt is disgraceful, and we can expect worse to come from Ottawa as the other autocratic regimes of the region resort increasingly to violent repression to crush dissent. To be sure, there will be one exception – Iran. We can confidently expect fulsome condemnation by Ottawa of any Iranian repression. Not, of course, that the Ahmadinejad regime should escape condemnation, but focusing the official finger of Canadian blame solely on Iran is hypocritical. It does, however, point to the real basis for the Harper government’s bizarre behaviour in the current Middle Eastern crisis.
Previous Canadian governments, including previous Conservative governments, saw Middle Eastern policy in complex terms, involving a host of factors and interests that required careful and judicious balancing. Even when they did not get the balance right, they at least tried to keep a wide range of elements in the picture. No more. The current government sees only one element and one Canadian interest: Israel. Our Middle Eastern policy has been reduced under Harper to the Bush doctrine – a blank cheque for Israel. The Mubarak dictatorship was an ally of Israel; hence Mubarak got Canada’s unconditional support. Iran has been defined by Israel as an “existential” threat to the Jewish state; hence Iran is in Ottawa’s bad books.
It is true that a tilt toward Israel – always a characteristic of Canadian policy – became more pronounced under the brief Paul Martin Liberal governments between 2003 and 2006. But since 2006, the tilt has reached the tipping point. In part this sharp shift reflects the hard conservative foreign policy thinking of the current government. In part it may reflect an evangelical Christian Right echo in Canada of the alliance in the United States of American evangelicals with the pro-Israeli lobby. It certainly does reflect an avid pursuit by the Tory party of the Jewish Canadian vote. This became clear during the Israeli invasions of Lebanon and Gaza, when the blank cheque offered Israel included automatic Canadian whitewash of any Israeli action (including the death at the hands of the IDF of a Canadian serving in the UN), and adamant refusal to even recognize the death and destruction wrought by the sometimes indiscriminate Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. This uncritical support of Israel has been marketed relentlessly in predominantly Jewish electoral districts, although thus far with only limited success.
Witch hunts have been conducted against NGOs and supposedly arms-length government agencies for alleged anti-Semitism
While this could be put down to partisan politics as usual, there is another, darker, side to the Tory government’s marketing of its pro-Israeli stance. Any criticism of their deliberately slanted policy, indeed any criticism, however mild and even constructive, of Israeli policy and actions, has been denounced by the Harperites as evidence of anti-Semitism. This is not only deeply offensive to critics, including many who are in fact themselves Jewish, but degrades and demeans democratic debate. Witch hunts have been conducted against NGOs and supposedly arms-length government agencies for alleged anti-Semitism. The respected aid group Kairos was rudely cut off government funding after minister Jason Kenney accused it (falsely) of advocating boycotts against Israel. The Rights and Democracy agency has been torn apart by a vicious purge launched by Harper appointees against the former management for allegedly supporting Palestinian so-called ‘terrorist’ groups.
The point of responsible critics is not to flip Canadian policy from being pro-Israeli to being ‘anti-Israeli’. That is to fall into the trap of the phony “you’re either with us or against us” Tory discourse. The point is to restore a more even-handed balance. But five years of the Harper bulldozer have already cost Canada dearly in terms of lost international reputation. When Canada was dumped from consideration for a UN Security Council seat, it was its slavish devotion to whatever is done by the Israeli government that sank its credibility as an impartial player on the global stage.
Israel faces a serious challenge from the democratic revolutions sweeping across the Middle East, since it has anchored its security around deals with autocratic regimes like Mubarak’s Egypt and Jordan. Its own adherence to democracy is suspect with its refusal to talk with Hamas, which won a free election among the Palestinians, and its refusal to deal with Hezbollah, which is a legitimate, elected partner in the Lebanese government. Wiser heads within Israel have been urging that it shift direction to welcome the secular democratic forces rising on its borders, and negotiate seriously with the Palestinians on the creation of a Palestinian state. Will Israel rise constructively to this challenge? The past record offers little encouragement and the future is always uncertain. But one thing is certain: Canada will be no help whatsoever in nudging Israel toward a more accommodative position. Instead, if Israel gives in to its own worst instincts, it can count on Canada as ready, aye, ready to defend the indefensible.
In the face of the wave of democratic aspirations sweeping across the Arab world, Ottawa is paralyzed by the spectre of militant Islamism that would threaten its Israeli ally. This is a bogyman, but one that could actually be conjured into existence by the continuation of violent repression in the region. Israel, along with its faithful Canadian ally, faces a choice of futures. Do they wish to foster more Irans, or do they wish to encourage the Turkish model: a state in which moderate Islamic parties freely compete with secular parties within a constitutional democratic framework guaranteed by the military?
Reg Whitaker is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at York University, and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Victoria. He has published extensively about Canadian politics; security, intelligence, and politics of information issues.
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