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Canada denies snub to grieving family Why The Insult to Victims of Terror? Conservative MP Jason Kenney Slams Snub of Goldberg Family |
| Feb. 6, 2004. 06:13 AM Canada denies snub to grieving family Envoy didn’t visit West Bank home Toronto-born man killed in bombing MIDDLE EAST BUREAU JERUSALEM—The grieving relatives of a Toronto-born bomb victim say they feel “neglected and insulted” by Canada’s refusal to pay a condolence visit to the family’s West Bank home. Canada’s ambassador has been conspicuous by his absence at the Jewish settlement of Betar Illit, the family says, despite the flow of several thousand mourners in remembrance of psychologist Yechezkel Goldberg, one of 11 people killed Jan. 29 in a horrendous bus bombing in downtown Jerusalem. Yet Canadian policy — to have diplomats stay well clear of the controversial Jewish settlements, which are illegal under United Nations resolutions — is subscribed to by most Western governments, a Western diplomat in the region told the Star last night. Goldberg, 42, a father of seven, grew up in Toronto attending high school at Yeshivat Or Chaim, an Orthodox school for boys. He moved back and forth between Israel and New York with his family before settling in Israel about 10 years ago but was “forever proud” of his Canadian roots, his brother Chaim Goldberg, a Thornhill doctor, said last night. “That’s why this is so painful,” Goldberg said. “We don’to get so much as a phone call from the Canadian government for a full week, and finally they tell us today the ambassador cannot visit us because it is against policy. “They said it is outside their jurisdiction to pass the Green Line (demarking Israel’s pre-1967 border). This is discriminatory. This little house is just 10 minutes from Jerusalem, and it is in pain. But if Canadian policy comes before people, Canadian policy stinks.” A foreign affairs spokeswoman in Ottawa last night defended the government’s response to the tragedy, citing a host of “unusual measures” Ottawa has taken to convey sympathies. Marie-Christine Lilkoff said the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv contacted the family within 24 hours of the attack offering condolences and consular assistance. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham has sent letters of condolence to both the mother and wife of the victim, as has Canada’s ambassador to Israel, Donald Sinclair. Graham also condemned the attack in a press release, a move that “is not standard practice,” Lilkoff said. “Ambassador Sinclair has also offered to meet the family at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem to convey his condolences and the condolences of the government of Canada,” she said. “And he has offered to pay a condolence visit to the family in Toronto when he returns in the near future. “But the Canadian ambassador to Israel does not have jurisdiction beyond the Green Line,” she added. “This is consistent with Canada’s policy regarding the occupied territories. Canada has never sent its ambassador to a settlement in any official capacity, and this longstanding policy will not change.” Moshe Ronen, a childhood friend of Goldberg’s, told the Star’s Melissa Leong last night: “The Canadian government showed poor judgment. “Protocol is for politics, not for tragedy,” said the Toronto lawyer who is also chair of the board of governors of the Canadian Jewish Congress. “The family was really incensed,” Goldberg’s sister-in-law Chavi Goldberg said from her Toronto home last night. “They want to drag (Goldberg’s) kids to a hotel and there, a Canadian ambassador will talk to them£ Their baby isn’t even 1 1/2. This child isn’t going to have a second parent to hold it. There is no comfort for our family.” Despite local media reports indicating Sinclair had initially agreed to the visit and subsequently cancelled, Lilkoff said “there was never any plan for the Canadian ambassador to visit the family home of Goldberg.” Chaim Goldberg dismissed the offer of a meeting at the historic King David Hotel as “more than an insult to the memory of my brother. It is a well-known fact that Foreign Minister Graham has met with Arabs in the West Bank. If he goes there, he should come here. That would be balanced policy.” Graham visited the West Bank city of Ramallah in May, 2002, for a 30-minute meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, where he reiterated Canada’s commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state, but warned it cannot happen without an end to bombings, terrorism and violence. Graham met the same day in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, telling the Israeli leader there could be no military solution to the conflict. Canadian politicians from several parties have also visited the West Bank on fact-finding missions. A Western diplomatic source in the region said last night Canadian policy is identical to that of most Western governments in steering clear of the controversial Israeli settlements at any cost. Goldberg’s home in Betar Illit, south of Jerusalem, comprises one household among the estimated 250,000 Jewish settlers living in Israeli-sponsored enclaves on occupied land the Palestinians claim for a future state. “Canada never has gone there, Canada never will go there. And to my knowledge, no foreign diplomat has ever gone to a settlement for any official reason. These are illegal settlements under international law. That’s the whole point,” the source told the Star, on condition his name not be used. Goldberg disputed the claim, saying “the United States wouldn’t do this. They would put their people first.” A U.S. State Department spokesperson in Washington declined comment on the matter. Officials at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and U.S. consulate in Jerusalem were unavailable. “Kenney, Jason - M.P.” 2/6/04 5:05:02 PM Friday February 6, 2004 Why The Insult to Victims of Terror? Conservative MP Jason Kenney Slams Snub of Goldberg Family Ottawa - In the House of Commons today, Conservative MP Jason Kenney asked the Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham why Canada’s Ambassador to Israel first scheduled then cancelled a condolence visit to the family of Yehezkel Goldberg, 42, a Toronto native who was killed by a terrorist bomber in Jerusalem on Janaury 30th. “It is a shame the Government of Canada would not allow its Ambassador to cross the green line into Judea to visit with the Goldberg family,” said Kenney. “After the 9-11 attacks and the attack on Bali, and now again in the aftermath of this terrible event, the Canadian government has failed to stand with Canadian victims of terror.” Below is Hansard transcript of Kenney’s question to Liberal Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham: Mr. Jason Kenney (Calgary Southeast, CPC): Mr. Speaker, last week Chezi Goldberg, a Toronto native who had served in the Canadian Forces was killed by a terrorist bomber in Jerusalem. He was a man of great compassion and is survived by his wife and seven children. The Canadian ambassador to Israel scheduled, but then suddenly cancelled, a condolence visit to the Goldberg family, apparently because he thinks they live in a disputed part of Judea, compounding the Goldberg’s tragedy with an insult from their own government. Was the Minister of Foreign Affairs aware of this insult to the Goldbergs and does he condone it? |
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For further information, please contact: The Office of Jason Kenney, MP 613.992.2235 www.jasonkenney.com |