Mohammed Shtayyeh
Mohammed ShtayyehFlash 90

Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh met on Wednesday in his office in Ramallah with a delegation from the Confederation of Canadian Unions.

During the meeting, Shtayyeh accused Israel of harming Palestinian Arab workers, reported the PA’s Wafa news agency.

"The Israelis regularly violate the rights of Palestinian workers. The workers in Israel are hostages of permit profiteers, and it is very difficult to cross the border. Israel also limits the quota of Palestinian workers,” he told the Canadian delegation.

Shtayyeh called on the Confederation of Canadian Unions and on Canadian companies to invest in the PA to create new jobs and enable economic growth.

He also accused Israel of “destroying the two-state solution and any opportunity to establish a Palestinian state by continuing the expropriation of land and the expansion of the settlements. We demand that Canada and all countries supporting the two-state solution recognize the State of Palestine in response to this."

"The Palestinians are fighting to bring an end to the occupation and to live in dignity within the framework of an independent state within the 1967 borders whose capital is Al-Quds," added Shtayyeh.

The PA cabinet leader recently urged Britain to realize the recognition of a Palestinian state in accordance with a resolution passed by its parliament several years ago.

PA officials have been pressuring countries to officially recognize “Palestine”, in a move meant to bypass direct peace talks with Israel.

Last week, Majdi al-Khaldi, the diplomatic advisor to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas called on the Canadian government to recognize the “state of Palestine” and to support it in the international arena.

The Canadian government refrained from supporting US President Donald Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel in December of 2017, though it did not harshly criticize the move as other countries had done.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made clear that the Canadian embassy in Israel would remain in Tel Aviv and would not be relocated to Jerusalem as the US embassy was.

In contrast to Trudeau’s statement, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer has said his party would follow the US lead and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel should he be elected prime minister.

Delegates from the Conservative party of Canada last year approved a resolution recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel.