Canada’s Conditional Recognition of the State of Palestine
July 30th, 2025
In a historic announcement and shift of decades-long foreign policy, the Canadian government announced that it may be prepared to conditionally recognize Palestine as a state, alongside 147 other countries. Justice For All Canada recognizes this as an overdue step in the right direction for the Palestinian people living under apartheid and occupation for over 70 years; however, we lament that Canada has preconditioned its recognition on unreasonable requirements. Over a 22-month genocide, communities in Gaza and Occupied West Bank are simultaneously experiencing ongoing targeted bombing campaigns, mass displacement and a state reduced to rubble.
Canada’s statehood recognition should not be conditional or detached from the atrocities and violence committed by Israel. The framing around “demilitarization” implies that Palestinians are to blame for the current situation, ignoring the overwhelming force used by Israel to maintain occupation and control. In international law and diplomacy, it is typically the state responsible for atrocities that faces demilitarization or sanctions, not the population subjected to those abuses. Reversing this logic means rewriting the power dynamic at the heart of this genocide.
Considering the Israeli-manufactured humanitarian disaster and mass killings in Gaza, today’s conditional statehood announcement serves less as a principled shift in foreign policy and more as a political move to relieve public pressure. The language used by Prime Minister Carney allows the government to merely gesture toward justice without meaningfully confronting Israel’s actions or affirming the rights of Palestinians in full. Without a faithful declaration of support, this becomes a gesture that can be walked back, and one that does not guarantee a just or viable outcome for Palestinians.
Canada’s recognition is framed in a way that demands Palestinians surrender their right to self-defence while continuing to live under occupation and foreign control. The conditions tied to this announcement effectively force Palestinians into permanent subjugation to the same state that has bombed, starved, and displaced them over several decades. Israel and the United States have already made clear that any future Palestinian state would remain under Israeli military oversight. Canada’s approach echoes this model by prioritizing Israel’s concerns over Palestinian sovereignty.
Additionally, we are disappointed that when questioned by a media representative on the famine crisis, Prime Minister Carney refused to confront Israel’s role in the forced starvation of civilians and the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s population.
Canada’s call to normalize ties with Israel should be contingent on Israel facing accountability under international law for the killing and maiming of thousands of Palestinians in actions that leading legal experts and human rights bodies have identified as genocidal. Today’s act of normalization without justice only reinforces impunity. Otherwise, no recognition will be meaningful.
Next Steps
There’s still time before September to urge Prime Minister Carney to support full recognition of Palestinian statehood without preconditions. Call on the government to ensure that any normalization of ties with Israel is tied to clear enforcement of international law, including consequences for the obstruction of aid and the targeting of civilians: https://www.justiceforallcanada.org/palestine-statehood.html
In a historic announcement and shift of decades-long foreign policy, the Canadian government announced that it may be prepared to conditionally recognize Palestine as a state, alongside 147 other countries. Justice For All Canada recognizes this as an overdue step in the right direction for the Palestinian people living under apartheid and occupation for over 70 years; however, we lament that Canada has preconditioned its recognition on unreasonable requirements. Over a 22-month genocide, communities in Gaza and Occupied West Bank are simultaneously experiencing ongoing targeted bombing campaigns, mass displacement and a state reduced to rubble.
Canada’s statehood recognition should not be conditional or detached from the atrocities and violence committed by Israel. The framing around “demilitarization” implies that Palestinians are to blame for the current situation, ignoring the overwhelming force used by Israel to maintain occupation and control. In international law and diplomacy, it is typically the state responsible for atrocities that faces demilitarization or sanctions, not the population subjected to those abuses. Reversing this logic means rewriting the power dynamic at the heart of this genocide.
Considering the Israeli-manufactured humanitarian disaster and mass killings in Gaza, today’s conditional statehood announcement serves less as a principled shift in foreign policy and more as a political move to relieve public pressure. The language used by Prime Minister Carney allows the government to merely gesture toward justice without meaningfully confronting Israel’s actions or affirming the rights of Palestinians in full. Without a faithful declaration of support, this becomes a gesture that can be walked back, and one that does not guarantee a just or viable outcome for Palestinians.
Canada’s recognition is framed in a way that demands Palestinians surrender their right to self-defence while continuing to live under occupation and foreign control. The conditions tied to this announcement effectively force Palestinians into permanent subjugation to the same state that has bombed, starved, and displaced them over several decades. Israel and the United States have already made clear that any future Palestinian state would remain under Israeli military oversight. Canada’s approach echoes this model by prioritizing Israel’s concerns over Palestinian sovereignty.
Additionally, we are disappointed that when questioned by a media representative on the famine crisis, Prime Minister Carney refused to confront Israel’s role in the forced starvation of civilians and the deliberate destruction of Gaza’s population.
Canada’s call to normalize ties with Israel should be contingent on Israel facing accountability under international law for the killing and maiming of thousands of Palestinians in actions that leading legal experts and human rights bodies have identified as genocidal. Today’s act of normalization without justice only reinforces impunity. Otherwise, no recognition will be meaningful.
Next Steps
There’s still time before September to urge Prime Minister Carney to support full recognition of Palestinian statehood without preconditions. Call on the government to ensure that any normalization of ties with Israel is tied to clear enforcement of international law, including consequences for the obstruction of aid and the targeting of civilians: https://www.justiceforallcanada.org/palestine-statehood.html