Canada, in coordination with the UK, France, and Australia, has just imposed sanctions on seven Israeli individuals and entities, reportedly suspected of involvement in violence against Palestinian civilians and property. In truth, Canada has targeted Israeli civil society organizations, construction companies, and even an advocacy and think-tank organization, almost certainly based on false and manipulated reports of “settler violence”. These sanctions are unjust, unwarranted, and inappropriate against the citizens of a fellow democratic country. Canadians naturally support punishing violent offenders, yet these groups are not involved in violence.

In February 2024, the Biden administration, for the first time, issued sanctions against allegedly violent settlers, intended as a counterbalance to sanctions against Hamas terrorists. The United States, like other countries, does not compile data on settler violence and instead relies on figures provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory (OCHA-oPT). OCHA’s data is regularly quoted in the media, yet it compiles the numbers using a flawed methodology that undermines its reliability. While violent crime certainly exists among Israeli settlers and is deplorable, OCHA’s definition is so broad as to include cases in which Palestinians were injured........

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