The Driving Factors of Canada's Foreign Policy and History Concerning Israel and Palestine

Abstract

One of the most prominent conflicts in the modern world is that regarding Israel and Palestine and Canada's role within this conflict has been apparent before the creation of the Israeli state. Literature has researched and demonstrated the United States' role in this conflict however, minimal literature has been produced for Canada's foreign policy role and attitudes towards Israel and Palestine. With the use of secondary literature, this thesis uses qualitative data to display four driving factors of Canadian foreign policy in Israel and Palestine. It also presents several Canadian Prime Ministers to demonstrate the various policies, actions, and attitudes towards notable Israeli-Palestinian events within their governments, and the driving factors that were used to implement these policies. This thesis will demonstrate that Canada's stated interests and values differ from their implied interests and values, as the first favours human security and peacekeeping initiatives, while the latter is rooted in racism and Western supremacy.