Montreal, September 21, 2025 — Following today’s announcement that Canada is officially recognizing the State of Palestine, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) issued the following statement from Acting President Michael Bueckert:

Today’s announcement is a real policy victory, and the result of sustained pressure from civil society. It is evidence that Canadian policy towards Israel and Palestine, which for so long appeared to be impermeable to the realities on the ground, is capable of being reshaped in the direction of justice.

If there is little enthusiasm for this victory, however, it is easy to see why. Recognizing Palestinian statehood is the very least that Canada could do, and it can easily feel like a distraction from the gravity of the moment. It does nothing to avert the catastrophic policies of genocide and dispossession that Israel is pursuing throughout occupied Palestine.

While we are aware of the limitations of recognition, we also believe that recognition has real benefits for the ability of Palestinians to seek justice -- including through institutions such as the International Criminal Court. That is why CJPME has been actively mobilizing in support of Canada’s recognition of Palestine for over fifteen years, including in our testimony to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee when they studied the question last year.

But as we told the Foreign Affairs Committee, the act of recognition is not enough. It will not automatically end Israel’s unlawful occupation of Palestine. To accomplish that, recognition must be backed by meaningful economic pressure against Israel, including sanctions. So far, we have not seen any indication that Canada is contemplating this type of necessary action. We need to maintain the pressure and push Canada to take real action: from sanctions, to an arms embargo, to the cancellation of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement.

Unfortunately, Carney has also predicated Canada’s recognition of statehood on Palestinians agreeing to certain conditions, which are unfair and would undermine their sovereignty. Of particular concern, Canada wants to dictate which parties are allowed to run in future elections, and demands that a future Palestinian state must be demilitarized -- demanding that one state unilaterally put down its weapons without making the same demands of the state that is illegally occupying and committing genocide against it. This is a discriminatory double standard and a death sentence, telling Palestine that it alone does not have the right to defend itself.

At a more fundamental level, the ICJ’s advisory opinion of last year made it clear: the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination is inalienable and cannot be conditioned on the demands of the occupier. This right cannot be bargained or negotiated away. Canada is right to recognize Palestine, but cannot hold it to unfair conditions that would violate this right. Instead, Canada should work to realize the right of self-determination by doing whatever it can to bring an end to Israel’s illegal presence in occupied Palestine.