Ottawa’s roundabout way of enabling Israel’s genocide
Written by: Yves Engler
Canada recently listed the military of a country of 90 million people a “terrorist” organization. Even though the move assists Israel’s holocaust in Gaza, there’s been little criticism of the decision.
Three weeks ago, the Canadian government labeled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a designated terrorist organization. Ottawa joined Washington in designating the 100,000-member elite Iranian military force as such.
The Iranian government condemned Canada’s move. According to that country’s foreign minister, Ottawa’s decision “took place in alliance with terrorists and Zionists.”
Additionally, Iran’s envoy to the UN sent a letter to the Secretary-General and UN Security Council labeling Ottawa’s move “a blatant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.”
When foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly made the announcement Liberal MP Judy Sgro stood by her side. Sgro is a high-profile supporter of the violent, cult-like, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), which Canada previously listed as a terrorist organization. Last year Sgro called MEK leader Maryam Rajavi’s 10–point plan a “model for the world”.
At the recent “Free Iran World Summit 2024”, Sgro crowed about convincing the government to list the IRGC. “I’m amazingly happy”, she told the crowd in Paris, “that it was my government that actually two weeks ago labeled the IRGC as a terrorist organization, something that many of us have been working on for a very long time. And again, now we have the European Union and we have the UK. They have to be the next two [jurisdictions to label the IRGC as a terrorist organization].”
During the Iran-Iraq war the MEK fought with Saddam Hussein’s forces. In the mid 1980s Iraq armed and equipped a 7,000 strong MEK force. According to US government sources, the MEK has teamed up with Israel to assassinate Iranians. In 2012, NBC News reported that the MEK was “financed, trained, and armed by Israel’s secret service” to assassinate Iranian scientists. The MEK killed 12,000 Iranians in terrorist attacks between 1979 to 2016 alone.
Listing the IRGC strengthens Israel as it unleashes untold horrors in Gaza, which the British medical journal The Lancet says has caused 186,000 deaths. In a news release, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, celebrated the designation and so did the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the apartheid state’s other Canadian lobby groups.
The Trudeau government directly connected the IRGC listing to those resisting Israeli colonialism and violence. Their release noted, “the decision to list the IRGC through the Criminal Code listing regime sends a strong message that Canada will use all tools at its disposal to combat the terrorist activity of the IRGC, conducted both unilaterally and in knowing association with listed terrorist entities such as Hizballah and Hamas.”
Listing the IRGC bolsters Israeli violence in the region, which Ottawa supports, whether in Palestine or other countries. For example, Ottawa stays mum when Israel regularly kills Iranian and other officials in Syria. Three months ago, it remained silent when Israel damaged Canada’s embassy in Damascus while murdering eight Iranian officials at the country’s diplomatic compound. Then the Canadian government condemned Iran when it responded to Israel’s flagrant war crime.
Listing the IRGC emboldens Israel as it looks set to ramp up its violence in the region. Last week Knesset Member and former defence minister Avigdor Liberman threatened a nuclear strike on Iran.
The listing specifically tells Israel that Canada backs its violence in Lebanon. In late June Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant told reporters in Washington, DC, that Israel “can inflict massive damage in Lebanon” and could take “Lebanon back to the Stone Age”.
Canadian officials did not respond. They also stayed silent when Israel nearly assassinated reporter and Canadian citizen Laith Marouf in southern Lebanon recently.
Canada is sanctioning the IRGC partly on the grounds that it assists Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, which provides a check on Israeli colonialism and violence.
Siding with the colonial power, which is operating on behalf of the American Empire, is precisely the point of Ottawa’s move. The IRGC listing strengthens Israel’s regional position. As such, it reveals Canada’s real position on the holocaust in Gaza. This country backs Israel no matter the cost in human lives.
Yves Engler is the author of 13 books. His latest book, available now, is "Canada's Long Fight Against Democracy”.
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