LILLEY: Trudeau’s compromise on genocide accusation against Israel

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The Trudeau government’s ongoing craven attempts to play both sides in the Israel-Hamas war truly knows no end.

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After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made vague comments early Friday that would seem to suggest Canada opposed South Africa’s charge of genocide, the full statement came out later in the day.

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That statement essentially said Canada doesn’t support South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide, but we will wait and see before making up our minds.

The statement also came out late on a Friday, landing in my inbox at 3:38 pm ET, which was 36 minutes before Shabbat began in Montreal and one hour and six minutes before it began in Toronto. This essentially meant that observant Jews and most of the major Jewish organizations that represent the community didn’t have time to review the statement and respond before observing the sabbath.

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Do I think the Trudeau government chose this timing on purpose? Absolutely.

It’s not like they haven’t known South Africa was taking Israel to the International Court of Justice or what the arguments were. It’s not like the Trudeau government hadn’t already heard from allies who had denounced this political attempt to use the international body to take down Israel.

“We find this submission meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever,” John Kirby, spokesperson for Biden’s National Security Council, said on Jan. 3.

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It took nine days longer for the Trudeau government to say anything on this issue.

“Our wholehearted support of the ICJ and its processes does not mean that we support the premise of the case brought forward by South Africa,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday morning in Guelph.

Those comments got Trudeau lots of headlines that he didn’t support South Africa’s attempt label Israel as a genocidal state. Of course, when the full statement came out, just before the sabbath began for most Canadian Jews, the words were more “nuanced” – meaning less clear.

“Canada’s unwavering support for international law and the ICJ does not mean we accept the premise of the case brought by South Africa,” the statement for Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said, echoing Trudeau’s words.

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“We will follow the proceedings of South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice very closely.”

Trudeau’s position lacks clarity

Unlike the Biden administration, there was never any attempt to say that South Africa’s claims were without merit.

There are plenty of reasons to believe that from the submissions themselves to the conduct of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who just days after his government accused Israel of genocide met with Mohamed Dagalo, leader of the RSF, a Sudanese militia accused of genocidal acts many times over.

Rosalie Abella, a liberal stalwart on the Supreme Court of Canada from 2004 until 2021, wrote about South Africa’s problems supporting genocidal regimes. More importantly, she said the claim that Israel was engaged in genocide “represents an outrageous and cynical abuse of the principles underlying the international legal order that was set up after the Second World War.”

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Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre called the charges by South Africa political during a news conference on Friday. And he questioned why the same people accusing Israel of genocide don’t accuse Hamas of the same despite their publicly stated goals.

“Why are they not bringing a case against China for its persecution of the Uighur Muslims who are in concentration camps in that country? Why are they not going after (Syrian President) Bashar Al Assad who’s been carrying out a genocide against Sunni Muslims in that country?” Poilievre asked.

“Of course, because this is not about genocide, it is about shamelessly and dishonestly attacking the Jewish people and the Jewish state,” Poilievre added.

Attacking the Jewish people and the Jewish state is an ongoing obsession for many countries on the international stage, but that doesn’t mean Canada should be part of it.

With his weasel words in the morning, Trudeau got the headline he wanted while the full statement made the bureaucrats who fret about the United Nations happy because it took no side.

Joe Biden has stated America’s position using clear principles while Justin Trudeau has muddied Canada’s position with cowardly compromise.

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