Date of publication: May 02, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 3 minutes reading • 42 Comments The relocation of the Canadian embassy to Jerusalem “was used as a tool by politicians to rally support instead of promoting peace in the region,” said a spokesman for Patrick Brown. Photo by Carlos Osorio / Reuters / File
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Patrick Brown has come under fire from pro-Israel groups following a split in the Conservative Party of Canada’s official position on the Canadian embassy in Israel and on the export of analogies between Ukrainians and Palestinians.
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Brown, who is running for federal Conservative leader, made both comments in an interview published this weekend with Sada Al Mashrek, a publication serving the Muslim community in Montreal. However, Brown’s team said Monday that the published copy was an inaccurate reflection of his views. Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said he was concerned about Brown’s “worrying comments” in the article. “We have worked directly with both Mr Brown and his campaign team and we look forward to the public clarification he can provide in the coming days,” he added. Members of the Conservative Party of Canada voted overwhelmingly in 2018 in favor of relocating the Canadian embassy to the Israeli capital from Tel Aviv, something the United States did the same year. The two previous Tory leaders, Erin O’Toole and Andrew Sir, both promised to relocate the embassy if elected prime minister. However, with Palestinians insisting that East Jerusalem should become part of a future Palestinian state, most countries have refrained from setting up an embassy in Jerusalem.
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In an interview with Sada Al Mashrek, Brown responded to a question about the relocation of the Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, saying “If I am prime minister, I will not relocate the embassy.” Brown was also asked if he saw any “double standards” between Canada’s treatment of Ukrainian refugees and the military, as they fight against the Russian invasion, and Palestinian refugees and territories that the Palestinians consider “occupied” by Israel. “I agree. That is why I spoke openly against the violence in Palestine,” Brown said. but believes that Canada has copied “Washington’s position and Donald Trump” on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. “I’m not interested in being a sheep following others. “I think it’s right,” Brown said.
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He also called on Canada to do more to help Palestinian refugees, as well as those from Afghanistan and Yemen, as it did for Ukrainian refugees. He was also the first Canadian politician to make a public statement about the clashes last month between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. On April 15, Brown wrote on Twitter that he was “deeply concerned by the violence in Jerusalem” and called for peace. “It is dishonest to compare the situation in Ukraine with the riots at the Al Aqsa mosque,” said Michael Mostyn, chief executive of B’nai Brith Canada. “Israel will continue to defend itself against terrorist instigation, just as Ukraine will continue to defend itself against Russian military aggression.”
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“Patrick Brown needs to know that,” Mostyn continued. Asked to clarify his position, Brown’s team suggested that the leadership candidate’s views “were not accurately represented in the article”. “While he believes Canada must act quickly to help refugees, it has never made or intended to make a comparison between the tragedy of the refugee situation in Ukraine,” a Brown campaign spokesman told the National Post. Brown, however, did not back down from his position on the location of the Canadian embassy. “The top priority now is, and always has been, a two-state solution for peace in the region. “The relocation of the embassy has been used as a tool by politicians to gather support and not to promote peace in the region,” the spokesman said. Mostyn said it was “unfortunate” to read that Brown would not move the Canadian embassy to the Israeli capital. “Every country has the right to choose what its capital should be. “And Israel chose Jerusalem.”
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