Tories would follow U.S. on Jerusalem, Feb. 27

The Conservatives intend to follow Israel and recognize Jerusalem as its capital, claiming that every sovereign nation “has a right to determine where its capital is located.”

Strictly speaking that’s a false claim. Every sovereign nation has the right to determine where, in its own sovereign territory, its capital is located. And that’s why Jerusalem is a problem.

In 1980, Israel declared all of Jerusalem its capital, even though, strictly speaking, East Jerusalem was still only part of the territory it occupied after the 1967 war, not part of its own territory.

Instead of formally annexing East Jerusalem, it had simply extended Israeli law to cover the whole city, while gradually expanding the city limits to take in more of the West Bank.

The United Nations thought this jurisdictional expansion had no legal foundation and that it made peace negotiations more difficult. As a result, over the years, it has called upon other nations to avoid making a bad situation worse by refusing to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

I think we should heed the call.

Doug Odegard, Guelph, Ont.

We were most upset with this article about Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer pledging to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital if elected.

It may well be true that a right-wing Conservative would support this provocative move by the U.S., but the article omits the fact that such a move would be contrary to United Nations declarations, to Canada’s own principles and to international law.

Christine and Mel Johnston, Victoria

So Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wants to follow U.S. President Donald Trump and recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It’s hardly shocking that the Conservatives, not known for their enduring friendship with the Palestinians, would want to stay in lock-step with the Republicans. It reminds me of when the former prime minister Stephen Harper talked about “old-stock Canadians.” He was not referring to First Nations peoples.

Wajid Sayeed, Edmonton

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