“That statement was supposed to be an entrance to turn back to negotiations,” Palestinian Interior Minister Said Abu-Ali told Postmedia News.
“Canada adopted the Israeli position and this does not serve the peace process.”
Middle East peace talks have been stalled since September 2010, when Palestinian negotiators walked out in protest of the Israeli government’s continued construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
In May, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a major speech in which he said an eventual compromise between the borders of Israel and a new Palestinian state should be based on the lines that existed before Israeli troops took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a war in 1967.
G8 leaders had been expected to reiterate that point in their final communique two weeks later, but Harper objected, saying it was unbalanced and did not make necessary demands of Palestinians.
Abu-Ali said Palestinians appreciate the $300 million over five years Canada has committed in food aid and training for Palestinian police and judges.
“But I believe this position of extreme support for Israel does not serve the peace process because the Israelis always adopt one point of view,” Abu-Ali said. “As a result, Canada supports the two obstacles that we have now to return to negotiations.
“We don’t want Canada to support our side,” he added. “What we really need is Canada to be in the middle.”
The past two months have seen calls for a resumption of negotiations since Palestinians asked the United Nations for recognition as a state in a controversial attempt to apply pressure on Israel.
While unsuccessful at the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority was granted a seat at the UN’s cultural agency, UNESCO.
In retaliation, the Israeli government accelerated construction of 2,000 apartments in occupied East Jerusalem.
Canada condemned the Palestinian initiative at the UN, but was largely silent on the Israeli apartments.
Asked about the Conservative government’s position on settlements during an appearance with his Israeli counterpart in Ottawa last week, Defence Minister Peter MacKay did not respond directly.
Instead, he said Canada remains an ardent supporter of a negotiated agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, and he said the government believes Israel’s commitment to the process.
"Certainly Canada’s previous position at the G8 summit was almost universally regarded as unhelpful by other Western countries,” said Rex Brynen, a Middle East peace expert at McGill University.
“At this point we’ve so marginalized ourselves that it is hard to think how Canada could play a constructive role in rebuilding a meaningful peace process."
Origin
Source: Canada.com
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