The Amnesty International report is one of the many signals that should convince Canada to recognize the genocide underway in Gaza, argues this doctoral student affiliated with the Center for Studies and Research at the University of Montreal.
Published at 9:00 a.m.
Marion Zahar
Doctoral student in political science affiliated with the Center for Studies and Research of the University of Montreal (CERIUM)
At the beginning of December, Amnesty International published its report on the Israeli military offensive in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. The organization’s investigation demonstrates that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide as it is defined by article 2 of the Genocide Convention1 ratified by the Hebrew State itself in 1950.
Research carried out between October 2023 and July 2024 also allowed investigators to establish the intentional nature of the crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian enclave.
The publication of this damning report comes after the orders of the International Court of Justice (of January 26 and May 24, 2024) ordering Israel to end its offensive because it imposes “conditions of existence capable of leading to [la] total or partial physical destruction”2 Gazans.
The report was published following arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity against, among others, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades, Mohamed Deif.
Amnesty International’s report is an essential milestone in the future legal battle to have the ongoing genocide recognized. Above all, it is the latest in a series of signals that Canada can no longer ignore.
2023, year zero?
Caught in the acceleration of events, few governments have demonstrated a detailed understanding of the situation. Canada has not escaped unconditional and simplistic positions.
Presented as the starting point of a genocidal war whose name is difficult to say, the date of October 7, 2023 brought to an end 75 years of occupation, violations of international law, massacres and violence against the Palestinian people.
Already in 2021 and 2022, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International concluded that the Palestinian population was subject to an apartheid regime3.
Like the authors of the report of Amnesty International4 say, there is no question of minimizing Hamas’ responsibility. But the war in Gaza is part of a continuum of violence. This observation alone should amend our analyzes of the situation.
Gaza, tomb of international order
By adopting this decontextualized reading grid, Canadian diplomacy demonstrates a vision of the international order marked by Western-centrism. This posture, which international relations experts have been working to deconstruct for more than 20 years5, has too often led diplomacy into dead ends and fueled sterile analyses.
Suffering from the Israeli operation, Palestinians are relegated to their eternal position of beneficiaries of international aid. They are not presented as equal interlocutors capable of self-determination and are deprived of the power to act on their own political future.
Resisting the Israeli occupation and the risk of annihilation, they cannot be thought of outside the “terrorist” category. These labels hinder a relevant reading of the situation, reproduce commonplaces, but above all undermine a real peace process.
Faced with the crises with which the international community is grappling, Canadian representatives cannot ignore the biases of the order they pride themselves on representing.
In this regard, the Amnesty International report must serve as a signal. This warning is an opportunity to radically reform Canadian foreign policy in the Middle East and to assume the ambitions it displays.
This will involve recognition of the Palestinian state and a commitment to a process of justice and truth, including on the ongoing genocide.
By ignoring the genocide and mechanically calling for Israel’s “right to defend itself,” Canadian foreign policy representatives demonstrate a dramatically limited analysis of the situation.
It is only at the cost of concrete reform and the abandonment of Manichaeism that we can hope for lasting peace. Faced with an international order that is dying in Gaza, the credibility of Canada’s foreign policy depends on it.
1. Visit the United Nations human rights website
2. Consult the UN order for the prevention of genocide in the Gaza Strip
3. Consult the Amnesty International document “Israel: Palestinians are victims of apartheid”
4. Amnistie internationale, « Israel/OPT : Civilians on both sides paying the price of unprecedented escalation in hostilities between Israel and Gaza as death toll mounts », 7 octobre 2023
5. For a clear presentation of the issues, read: Barkawi, Tarak and Mark Laffey. “The Postcolonial Moment in Security Studies.” Review of International Studies 32, no 2 (2006) : 329 – 52.
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