{"id":4067,"date":"2026-03-08T19:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/?p=4067"},"modified":"2026-03-08T19:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T19:47:12","slug":"canadas-response-to-the-war-in-gaza-raises-questions-about-its-commitment-to-human-rights-and-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iranians.global\/news\/canadas-response-to-the-war-in-gaza-raises-questions-about-its-commitment-to-human-rights-and-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s response to the war in Gaza raises questions about its commitment to human rights and justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Wildeman, Research Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre, University of Ottawa and Adjunct Assistant Professor, Carleton University<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n

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Canada and Canadians have long considered themselves defenders of human rights, democracy, justice and the rule of law. Canada played a significant role in the development of what\u2019s known as the liberal international order<\/a>, including multilateral institutions like the United Nations, and international law.<\/p>\n

Canada was once highly respected for the role it played developing the framework for United Nations peacekeeping<\/a>, the Mine Ban Treaty<\/a>, championing the UN\u2019s Responsibility to Protect<\/a>, supporting Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations<\/a> and establishing the International Criminal Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canada has acted as a moral voice denouncing abuses of human rights and violations of international law. It challenged South African apartheid, and passed a parliamentary motion calling China\u2019s treatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

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It has advocated for Iranian women\u2019s<\/a> rights at the United Nations and sanctioned Russia for its 2022 invasion of Ukraine<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In 2023, Canada joined a declaration<\/a> of intervention against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice over its treatment of the Rohingya people, reaffirming the requirement for states to prevent genocide.<\/p>\n

Where is Canada on Gaza?<\/h2>\n

Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada intends<\/a> to recognize a Palestinian state<\/a> at this week\u2019s UN General Assembly. <\/p>\n

Yet Canada\u2019s response to Israel\u2019s war on Gaza since October 2023 and countless well-documented instances of war crimes committed against Palestinians \u2014 including allegations of ethnic cleansing<\/a> and genocide<\/a> \u2014 raises serious questions about Canada\u2019s commitment to its own values and the liberal international order.<\/p>\n

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\n Pro-Palestinian protesters are seen during a demonstration near Parliament Hill in Ottawa in April 2025.<\/span>
\n (THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Spencer Colby)<\/span><\/span>
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Observers have documented countless Israeli violations of international law while turning Gaza into an unliveable wasteland. Seventy-eight per cent of all structures in Gaza have been<\/a> destroyed, including housing (92 per cent), water and sanitation infrastructure (89 per cent), hospitals (50 per cent), schools (91.8 per cent) and roads (81 per cent). <\/p>\n

The health-care system has been systematically<\/a> dismantled, and Gaza has recorded the highest number<\/a> of deaths of health-care workers, United Nations staff and journalists<\/a> of any recent conflict zone.<\/p>\n

Israel has denied and attacked humanitarian aid<\/a>. Since mid-March, it has enforced a total siege<\/a> on Gaza, blocking entry of food, water, medical supplies, hygiene and dignity kits, and infant and maternal care items, including baby formula<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Famine<\/a> has been unfolding and starvation<\/a> is widespread, but now 100 per cent of Gaza\u2019s estimated 2,100,000 people face<\/a> acute levels of food insecurity.<\/p>\n

Aid is scarce<\/h2>\n

Only four aid<\/a> distribution sites currently operate in Gaza, down from 400. They were set up in May by the United States\/Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. M\u00e9decins sans fronti\u00e8res (Doctors Without Borders) say they violate<\/a> core humanitarian principles. <\/p>\n

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been accused of weaponizing aid, engaging in ethnic cleansing<\/a> and funnelling Palestinians south to displace them. Its contractors and Israeli forces have been accused of firing on<\/a> starving Palestinians, accounting for many of the 1,838 Palestinians killed and 13,409 wounded while seeking aid since the foundation began operations.<\/p>\n

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