Canada: Convening of Fourth Geneva Convention meeting unfairly singles out Israel

Canada criticized in very strong terms the convening of the Fourth Geneva Convention set to take place on Wednesday in Geneva. The meeting is expected to take up various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.“Canada has conveyed its deep concerns and has communicated clearly that it will neither attend this conference nor lend it any credibility," Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird stated. “Canada is deeply disappointed by the convening of this one-sided and politicized conference, which serves only to single out one Jerusalem is expecting the meeting – only the third time the signatories have met since 1949, and each time only to deal with Israel – will be unabashedly one-sided against Israel.Israel’s efforts to get Western democracies to boycott the meeting have largely failed, as only the US, Canada and Australia have said they will do so. Rwanda also has said it will boycott the meeting, but efforts to get European countries to do the same were not successful. Baird said the conference, "risks undermining the integrity and credibility of the Geneva Conventions and the neutrality of their application."