Speakers
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Dr. David Matas
Dr. David Matas is an immigration, refugee and international human rights lawyer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is senior honorary counsel to B’nai Brith Canada. He has authored, co-authored or co-edited eleven books including “Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism.” In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Canada.
His position: Now is not the time for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine. The time for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine is the time when Israel and the Palestinian Authority have to come to a peace agreement. In particular, it is untimely for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine before the Palestinian Authority recognizes the State of Israel.
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Dr. Peter Larson
Dr. Peter Larson is the Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine a small Ottawa-based NGO which promotes a serious discussion of Canadian policy with respect to the difficult Israel/Palestine issue. He has led many trips of Canadians on “come and see” tours of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Professionally, he worked at Le Droit, an Ottawa daily French-language paper and was subsequently Executive Vice President of the Public Policy Forum. He has a Doctorate in Political Economy from the University Pierre Mendes-France, in Grenoble, France. In 2012, he was awarded The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada in recognition of his educational work on Canada Arab relations.
His position: Canada’s official position on the Israel/Palestine issue claims to be even-handed. In fact, it is heavily skewed toward protecting the state of Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. Joining the other ¾ of the UN membership in recognizing the State of Palestine is not only the fair thing to do but will help promote a solution that respects the needs of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: Dec 06 2021
- Time: 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Is It Now Time For Canada To Recognize The State Of Palestine?
The CIC National Capital Branch cordially invites you to this flagship virtual panel discussion featuring a debate between the following speakers:
Dr. David Matas is an immigration, refugee and international human rights lawyer based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is senior honorary counsel to B’nai Brith Canada. He has authored, co-authored or co-edited eleven books including “Aftershock: Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism.” In 2008, he was awarded the Order of Canada.
His position: Now is not the time for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine. The time for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine is the time when Israel and the Palestinian Authority have to come to a peace agreement. In particular, it is untimely for Canada to recognize the State of Palestine before the Palestinian Authority recognizes the State of Israel.
Dr. Peter Larson is the Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine a small Ottawa-based NGO which promotes a serious discussion of Canadian policy with respect to the difficult Israel/Palestine issue. He has led many trips of Canadians on “come and see” tours of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories. Professionally, he worked at Le Droit, an Ottawa daily French-language paper and was subsequently Executive Vice President of the Public Policy Forum. He has a Doctorate in Political Economy from the University Pierre Mendes-France, in Grenoble, France. In 2012, he was awarded The Queens Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada in recognition of his educational work on Canada Arab relations.
His position: Canada’s official position on the Israel/Palestine issue claims to be even-handed. In fact, it is heavily skewed toward protecting the state of Israel at the expense of the Palestinians. Joining the other ¾ of the UN membership in recognizing the State of Palestine is not only the fair thing to do but will help promote a solution that respects the needs of both Israelis and Palestinians.
Moderator:
Dr. Gerald Wright is a senior fellow of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, a member of the National Board of the Canadian International Council and a former president of the National Capital Branch. In 1992-93 he was special advisor to Canada’s foreign minister.
Opening and closing remarks:
Elizabeth Kingston is the President of the CIC-National Capital Branch. She had a career of 35 years with the Parliament of Canada as a Procedural Clerk and is now retired. She has held numerous positions including Clerk of the Standing Committees on Finance, Public Accounts, Aboriginal Affairs, Industry as well as the Special Joint Committee on the Meech Lake Accord. She has also served as Executive Secretary to the Canada – United States Inter-parliamentary Group, the Canada-China and Canada-Japan Parliamentary Associations, the Canada-United Kingdom Parliamentary Association and the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Elizabeth also served as Executive Secretary to the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), which serves to strengthen the participation of women in politics, government and society. Elizabeth served as both a short term and long term observer for the presidential, then parliamentary elections in Ukraine in the spring and summer of 2019. Elizabeth recently returned from Guyana and Ukraine as an election observer for their elections in January and November 2020. Elizabeth holds a Master’s degree in French Literature and is presently working on a Master’s degree in Theology.