Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority conservative government in Canada was brought down on grounds of being tainted by sleaze, managing the economy poorly and being in contempt of parliament.
The liberal opposition should have added that the Harper government was also responsible for harming Canada's international standing, recklessly damaging its relationship with the Arab world at a very crucial moment in history and being unnecessarily nasty to a friendly country like the UAE.
The UAE's modest request for 14 additional landing rights to UAE carriers in Canadian airports could have been a perfect win-win situation. Instead, Harper foolishly politicised the landing rights issue and turned it into a political feud and an escalating tit for tat war between Canada and the UAE.
The genesis of the dispute has to do with the extreme pro-Israeli position the Canadian government has taken over the last five years. Under Harper, Canada acquired the unflattering title of being ‘the most pro-Israeli country in the world'. Canada is now more pro-Israel than the US and Harper even vowed that "as long as I am prime minister … Canada will stand by Israel, whatever the cost".
Immediately after assuming power in January 2006, the Harper minority government cut off Canada's long-standing assistance to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). This made Canada the second country after Israel to cut off financial aid to the PNA — a move designed to sow division within Palestinian society.
Ottawa also voted against 16 UN resolutions condemning Israel's aggression. Last week, Canada was once again criticised for not cooperating with the UAE, until now, in the investigation of the Mahmoud Al Mabhouh murder in Dubai last year.
Blind support
The Harper government has consistently refused to join the international community's condemnation of Israel's suffocating siege of Gaza. Indeed, Canada was the only country to vote against the 2008 UN resolution calling for an immediate end to Israel's siege of Gaza. The resolution was adopted by 30 votes.
Israeli officials were understandably elated about this new love affair because it was uncharacteristic of Canada. The extremist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman even admitted that "it's hard to find a country friendlier to Israel than Canada these days. No other country in the world has demonstrated such full understanding of Israel".
He described Harper as a "loyal friend and a trusted ally".
The B'nai B'rith, an international voice of the Jewish community, has bestowed Harper its presidential gold medallion for his unequivocal policy of ‘I support Israel no matter what it does'.
Harper is the first Canadian to receive such an award. Ironically, the Harper government's strident support of Israel comes at a time when grass roots opposition to Israeli aggression against Palestinians and its brutal occupation is at an all-time high in Canada.
It is not just Harper's pro-Zionist inclination, but his latent anti-Arab sentiment that is clearly annoying and politically troubling. Things reached such a point that it became legitimate to raise the question: Does Canada have a racist prime minister, one who harbours anti-Arab prejudices and believes that Arabs are inherently the bad guys even if they are Canadians of Arab origin?
Consequences
The Harper government made it crystal clear who its friends were and where it stood when it came to the Palestinian issue. It made its choice, but Canada has to bear the consequences of these strong pro-Israeli policies, including turning 330 million Arabs into Canada's possible enemies.
Naturally, there is a price attached to acquiring the infamous title of being ‘the most pro-Israeli country in the world'. The Harper government should have expected a reaction from Arabs and Muslims at large. He is fully responsible for damaging the Arab-Canadian relationship and wiping out years of good ties between the UAE and Canada.
The UAE's swift reaction to the Harper government's politicisation of a purely commercial landing rights issue is just the beginning. It comes as a gentle wake-up call from a genuine friend that has a deep respect for peace-loving Canada.
The UAE will defend its interests no matter what the price is. It will chip in for its flag carrying companies just like all other states in the world would do. But the UAE is also very sensitive to the plight of the Palestinians and stands by the just Palestinian cause as it has always done. It will act decisively when some of its friends are more Israeli then Israelis themselves.
If peace-loving Canadians value their relationship with the UAE and the rest of the Arab world and are eager to maintain Canada's traditional standing as a friendly country, then the right-wing and pro-Israeli Harper is clearly not the man to be voted in again in the election next month.
The UAE and the new Arab world will be watching the results of this election very closely.
Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdullah is a professor of political science at Emirates University.
