No to Appointing Bob Rae as Foreign Affairs Critic in Canada

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To: The Liberal Party of Canada

In October of 2007, Liberal Party Leader
Stéphane Dion appointed Bob Rae as the party's
foreign affairs critic.

Bob Rae had also been appointed earlier as the
co-writer of the Liberal Party platform.

However, in addition to holding no federal electoral office,
Bob Rae is a committee member of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

The JNF is responsible for funding many projects in
Israel including the illegal construction of Canada Park,
lying within the internationally recognized 1967 borders of
the West Bank. Canada Park is built upon the remains of
three destroyed Palestinian villages: Beit Nuba, Imwas and Yalu,
whose residents had been forcefully expelled out of their homes,
according to the testimony of Amos Keenan, one of
the Israeli soldiers involved [1].

According to the Liberals' speech as recently as
September 20, 2007, the Liberal foreign policy
goals are well known and include "preserving peace
through non-violent conflict resolution and full
compliance with international law",
"promoting human rights", and
"active participation in international
organizations that contribute to peace and
economic cooperation." [2].

However, during the summer of 2006,
Rae failed to recognize the deliberate targeting of
Lebanese Civilians by the Israeli Army [3].

This was despite reports from international
NGO's, such as Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch proving otherwise [4].

Bob Rae's stance appears to be in clear
contradiction with the principles of
Liberal foreign policy.

We as Canadians believe that the position of a
party's foreign affairs critic should be served
by an elected government official with no history
of bias towards either side, be it Israeli or Palestinian.

It is essential for the Liberal Party to form a balanced
foreign policy devoid of bias especially in an area as
volatile as the Middle East.


[1] Fifth Estate Report: Canada Park. CBC, 1991.

[2] http://www.liberal.ca/story_13150_e.aspx

[3] Click Here for National Post story

[4] Click Here for Amnesty.Org

The Undersigned