Volume 4 No 1 - Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

348 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 4:341
• Canada and Israel agreed in 2008 to raise cooperation in security and
military sectors, in public safety, and in counterterrorism. Canadian and
Israeli governments fund the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and
Development Foundation to collaborate on research and development
projects in surveillance, nanotechnology, photonics, precision optical
equipment, and the life sciences.
2007
• In 2007, Canada condemned the UN Human Rights Council’s undue
focus on Israel and its one-sided resolutions. John McNee, Canadian
ambassador to the UN, chastised members for naming only Israel to the
Council’s permanent agenda. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has consistently
directed Canada’s delegation to the UN to oppose such anti-
Israel resolutions.
• At Francophonie Summits, Prime Minister Harper was directly responsible
for stopping passage of one-sided resolutions.
2006
• After elections that swept Hamas to power, Canada was first to boycott
the Hamas government—even before Israel. In one of his first acts as
prime minister, Stephen Harper removed $30 million in funding to the
Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. Minister Peter MacKay said:
“There will be no contact and no funds, period . . . to an organization
that refuses . . . to renounce violence.”
• On the Israel-Hamas and Israel-Hezbollah conflicts, Prime Minister
Harper stood firmly with Israel: “Extremists who committed cross-border
murder and kidnapped Israeli soldiers bear responsibility for instigating
the crises.” Harper described the actions of Olmert’s government
as a measured response. “We are not going to give in to the temptation
of some to single out Israel, which was the victim of the initial attack.”
He later said, “When it comes to dealing with a war between Israel and a
terrorist organization, this country, and this government, cannot and will
not be neutral . . . Those who attacked Israel and those who sponsor such
attacks seek what they and those like them have always sought: destruction
of Israel and the Jewish people.”