Canada has stood by Israel and will continue to do so, Harper says
May 8, 2008TORONTO - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada has stood by Israel even when it wasn't popular to do so and will continue to support Jewish people in the future.
Harper was speaking in Toronto on Thursday night at a celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary and pledged to stand with the nation as a friend and ally.
Harper says any groups that threaten Israel also threaten Canada.
He says those groups spout thinly-veiled rationalizations based on hatred and bigotry.
Harper told the crowd of about seven thousand that he hopes one day Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace.
Palestinian-Canadians call the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of Israel an insult to the millions of Palestinians living in exile or as refugees.
"The inhabitants of 531 towns and villages were forcibly evicted from their homes by the Zionist forces," Dr. Farid Ayad, president of Palestine House, said Thursday.
