thespeaker

Is it surprising that the RCMP went after Mr. Dziekanski's reputation? that no charges were laid against officers? that it has fiercely resisted real attempts at imposing accountable, civilian oversight? Not really. Many are quick to blame the police for actions they take daily, and some of that is unjustified. But the culture of impunity remains in police forces, which protect officers who, if they were private citizens, would be jailed for the actions they took.

Actually that's not really the case. While international law can be violated, there are binding agreements between states regarding a whole range of issues - from the criteria for statehood (Montevideo Convention) to basic rules of warfare (the Geneva convention). There's no need for world parliament is all (or almost all) states pass binding treaties/conventions/protocols. Part of non-binding international law is made up of UN General Assembly resolutions, which are pretty clear when it comes to Israel: Its occupation of the West Bank and any territory gained beyond the 1967 borders is illegal...

At the very least, I'll give Harper this: his foreign policy position on Israel is quite clear. Unfortunately, the conflict in Israel/Palestine is not black and white, despite what our current leaders want to believe. The Israeli government is not always good, threatened by "evil Palestinians", nor are Palestinian leaders the good guys, threatened by the "evil Zionists". Of course, we are willing to condemn Israel when the US does - though this condemnation is hardly equivalent to the condemnation it heaps upon the Palestinian leadership (and Hamas, though of course this is more justified). Canada's stand on this conflict should be based in large part on the international consensus, which is generally that a two-state solution is required and should be (largely) based upon the 1967 borders. The problem with blindly supporting Israel is two-fold: 1) You alienate pretty most of the population in the Arab (and Persian) world. 2) Israel will be doomed to continue policies that make it less secure: witness the recent attacks on Lebanon (2006) and Gaza.