By Mike Blanchfield
The intractable Middle East conflict threatens to overshadow Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s trip to the United Nations next week.
Harper is travelling to the large General Assembly gathering ostensibly for meetings on Libya and child and maternal health.
On Friday, the Prime Minister was drawn into the brewing showdown over the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition at the UN.
“We view this unilateral action on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to be not helpful,” Harper said during a stop in Saskatoon.
“No unilateral actions like this are helpful in terms of establishing a long-run peace in the Middle East. Canada views the action as very regrettable and we will be opposing it at the United Nations.”
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who will be accompanying Harper to New York, has already expressed Canada’s opposition to the Palestinian plan. Canada supports a two-state solution to the conflict but only after a negotiated settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
read full article http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1055404
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This should read: “No unilateral actions like this are helpful in terms of establishing a long-run peace in the Middle East. The Harper Government views the action as very regrettable and we will be opposing it at the United Nations.”
Personally, most of the Canadians I know either could csre less, or are willing to see an independent Palestine.