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The UN Charter, Article 1, states that a key UN purpose shall be “To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights … of peoples….” In other words, Article 49 must be applied uniformly. Recently, the eminent legal scholar Prof. Eugene Kontorovich elaborated in detail how blatantly inconsistent was the application of Article 49 by numerous states. He also concluded that state practice allows populations to move into occupied areas.

For Canada to be faithful to the principle of the rule of law, we must revisit our long-standing position on the Israeli “settlements.”

At the very least, we can no longer state that Article 49 applies to Jews living in and moving to the ancient Hebrew city of Hebron, the ancient Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem or the Jewish population blocs around Jerusalem.

Jews lived in Hebron for thousands of years. It was sacred to them because of their faith-based belief that the founders of Judaism are buried there. In 1929, a genocide occurred. The entire Jewish population was attacked and either killed or scattered. For Canada now to take the position that Jews cannot live in Hebron is to legitimize the 1929 genocide, a position that is contrary to fundamental international law.