Robert Corbett (Canadian politician)

Israel-Palestine

Throughout his career, Corbett was an outspoken supporter of Palestine and condemned Israeli occupation in the Arab territories. In June 1982, he gave a speech to the graduating class of Caledonia Regional High School in which he shared about the destruction he witnessed in a recent visit to Lebanon during hostilities with Israel. Corbett also recalled witnessing soldiers blockading a school in the West Bank.^[4] Corbett served as chairman of the Canada-Arab World Parliament and in early 1983 addressed the Palestinian National Council during a session in Algiers, in which himself, along with Quebec MP Marcel Prud'homme, were pictured raising hands with Yasser Arafat.^[5][6] He was criticized by a number of Tory allies for the incident,^[7] but also received praise from well-known poet Alden Nowlan, who expressed that he agreed with Corbett that Palestinians deserved their right to a homeland.^[8] In early 1984, Corbett and six other MPs were criticized by the Canada-Israel Committee after they had recently met with Arafat. Corbett afterwards stated that the purpose of the meeting was to convince the Palestine Liberation Organization to recognize the State of Israel's right to exist.^[9] Corbett, a promoter of Canada-Arab relations, attended a meeting in Montreal in 1985, during which he stated "I'm a Canadian by birth, an Irishman by heritage and a Palestinian by choice." The meeting was held to discuss the treatment of Iraqi prisoners of the Iran–Iraq War.^[10] In February 1988, Corbett toured the Jabalia refugee camp in the Gaza Strip along with three other MPs and two Senators, later recounting that "as a human being I was very disturbed" and further stated that "apparently there has been a systematic policy by the Israeli army to inflict the greatest amount of damage possible".^[11]