Exclusive: Palestinians fed up with Hamas pitch Canadian MPs on Gaza bubbles plan

Article content

Canadian MPs heard directly from Palestinian dissidents in Gaza last month about the idea of setting up Hamas-free bubbles in the conflict-ridden Palestinian territory, according to multiple sources.

The listening sessions were facilitated by the New York-based Center for Peace Communications, which patched the officials through to contacts in Gaza and provided Arabic-to-English translations. Multiple sources, including a highly placed source within the Conservative party caucus, have confirmed that MPs took part in these sessions.

Joseph Braude, founder and president of the Center for Peace Communications, told the National Post that elected officials from the Liberal and Conservative parties were open to hearing what the dissidents on the ground in Gaza had to say.

“The receptivity (to hearing the dissidents’ perspectives) crossed party lines,” said Braude, who added that his organization was also in contact with staff at Global Affairs Canada when they visited Ottawa in June.

No members of the NDP’s caucus were present, according to a source who helped plan the meetings.

Sources with knowledge of the meeting say that the Canadian MPs heard firsthand accounts of Hamas disrupting the flow of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, often aided in this effort by complicit United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) personnel.

This problem, among others, has led some dissidents to push for the creation of designated Hamas-free enclaves in Gaza, where aid can flow freely to those who need it. Such enclaves, or “bubbles,” would be set up away from areas of active fighting and would be administered by local community leaders.

Canada, and other western nations, are being asked to redirect aid dollars currently earmarked for UNRWA to the self-governing bubbles and other projects led by Gazans who are unaffiliated with Hamas. Canada gave just under US$40 million (C$54.5 million) to the troubled UN agency last year, making it the organization’s eighth-largest state donor. The Canadian government sent an additional $25 million to UNRWA in April.

The Ottawa listening sessions mirrored engagements with elected officials in four other world capitals: Berlin, Rome, Madrid and Washington, D.C.

Dennis Ross — former U.S. envoy to the Middle East, a distinguished fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and chair of the board of the Center for Peace Communications — said that the disaffected Gazans were willing to potentially put themselves in harms way for a chance to get their message out to the West.

“In their testimony to European and North American officials, Gazan civilians opposing Hamas braved risk to deliver a defiant message,” said Ross. “This action reflects Palestinians’ broader aspiration to turn the page on a generation of Hamas rule in Gaza.…

“Continued Hamas dominance will mean no hope for the future, no rebuilding of Gaza and more death and destruction for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”

While no Canadian MP has spoken on record about last month’s listening sessions, elected officials elsewhere have indicated that they were swayed by the direct appeals for protected self-governance zones in Gaza.

“They’re asking for something very practical,” said Frank Mueller-Rosentritt, who was among the German parliamentarians who heard testimony from the Gazan dissidents in May. “Cordon off an area where they can forge a decent, rules-based system, then let the (Gazan) population judge where it would rather live.”

The idea of creating Hamas-free bubbles in Gaza has gained traction among Israeli politicians and military leaders in recent weeks, although it’s unclear whether the Gazans who are reaching out to western governments have nudged Israel in this direction. Retired Israeli Gen. Israel Ziv has been identified as one of the key behind-the-scenes advocates of the plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted recently that he’s sympathetic to the idea, telling reporters that his government would soon roll out a phased plan to set up a civil administration in northern Gaza run by local community leaders. Netanyahu added that he hoped neighbouring Arab states would help secure the enclaves, presumably by sending armed personnel to Gaza.

Current and ex-Israeli officials later said that the prime minister likely made these comments in reference to the “bubbles plan” favoured by some Gazan dissidents, according to the Wall Street Journal.

While the Canadian government has played a counterproductive role in Gaza over the past nine months, it now has an opportunity to be a more constructive partner, with Gazan reconstruction on the horizon. Listening to voices on the ground — who are loudly rejecting the Hamas-UNRWA axis and proposing a new path forward — would be an excellent starting point.

National Post