Trudeau's Refusal to Take a Stance on the Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Having gained immense traction in worldwide media throughout the last decade, the Israel-Palestine conflict has been cause for immense partisanship, with many world leaders being forced to take a stance on the issue - either publicly or with their voting decisions at the United Nations. This paper investigates the conflict itself and contextualizes Canada’s foreign policy towards Israel while under Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, and eventually Stephen Harper. Following this, it discusses the current Liberal Party’s stance on the conflict, comparing it to perspectives of their opposition. Further, it directly compares the party’s policies to Justin Trudeau’s statements and actions, and in doing so demonstrates the glaring discrepancies between the two. Using these analyses, the paper provides a critique of Trudeau’s lack of direct action despite his clear desire to present himself as a bipartisan leader of peace on the world stage, with this contradiction only working to excuse Israel’s countless human rights violations.