Quebec National Assembly says no to “Nakba” commemoration

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Wednesday at approximately 11:15 am, Amir Khadir, the MNA for Mercier, presented his annual motion requesting that the National Assembly of Quebec commemorate ‘Nakba Day’, and once again he was rejected. By blocking any discussion on the motion the members of the Quebec Liberal party, the Parti quebecois, and the Coalition Avenir Quebec stood up for the legitimacy of the birth of the State of Israel. They did not allow themselves or the National Assembly to be used as a tool in Amir Khadir’s relentless efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel, and for this we applaud them.

This was yet another reminder of the increasingly warm relationship between Quebec and Israel. In January 2012 the President of the National Assembly Jacques Chagnon travelled to Israel at the invitation of the Speaker of the Knesset. The Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Yitzhak Vaknin was recognized at the National Assembly of Quebec just a few weeks ago. There are also several longstanding trade and cooperation agreements between Quebec and Israel.

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The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is a non-partisan organization creating and implementing strategies to improve the quality of Jewish life in Quebec and Canada, increase support for Israel, and strengthen both the Canada-Israel and Quebec-Israel relationships.

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The blocked motion read as follows:   «Que l’Assemblée nationale souligne la commémoration annuelle de la NAKBA, catastrophe, qui se tient le 15 mai en signe de solidarité avec les millions de Palestiniens et Palestiniennes qui vivent en apatride, de refuge en refuge, depuis qu’ils ont été chassés de leurs maisons et de leurs terres en 1948. » A full transcript can be found in French here (select 11:15)