From the Editor/Lisa Van Dusen

First-off this issue, we’d like to let readers know that, following a series of health challenges, Policy Editor and Publisher L. Ian MacDonald has taken on the new role of publisher emeritus. While I’ve succeeded Ian as editor and publisher, I remain enormously grateful for his invaluable guidance and input, and for his leadership at Policy over the past decade. Many thanks to all our contributors, readers and sponsors for your support and loyalty during the transition of the past six months.

Yes, our cover headline this issue is a trick question. Or at least, a rhetorical one. Of course, peace in the Middle East is possible. But to swipe a cliché terribly inadequate to the topic at hand; it’s complicated. Which is of no consolation to either Israelis or Palestinians. From the moment the world became aware of the horror unfolding across the Negev on October 7^th, it was clear that this was no ordinary Israeli-Palestinian skirmish. From the medieval barbarity of the Hamas rampage to the breathtaking intelligence failure that enabled it to the scorched-earth devastation of Gaza to the unprecedented political dysfunction on both sides, this time really is different. The amplifications and distortions of social media, the use of performative proxy-wars and propaganda, and the leveraging of loaded language as a borderless extension of the belligerence have all added a whole new layer of complexity to the conflict.

In editing this issue, we wanted to present a balance of voices representing the full panorama of the story without simply echoing what you’ve read since October. We do not agree with every view expressed in these pages — that would be impossible since, as always on this conflict, some are contradictory — but we respect the experience and insight of the authors expressing them, and thank them all for sharing both with Policy readers.

First, former diplomat Jeremy Kinsman, who served as ambassador to Russia, to the European Union and to Italy, and as high commissioner to the United Kingdom, gives us an overview and insight as to how Israelis and Palestinians might move forward in, The Possibilities for Peace.

Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, in accepting the Herzl Award from the World Jewish Congress in New York in November, made an eloquent acceptance speech indispensable to our cover package. “Antisemitism, born in ignorance and nurtured in envy,” said the former prime minister, “is the stepchild of delusion and evil and is a scourge that must be eradicated.”

In Why, Once Again, Israel Will Survive, McGill history professor, US presidential historian and Policy Contributing Writer Gil Troy, who lives mostly in Tel Aviv, conveys the mood on the ground in the wake of “Israel’s 9/11”, and where this hinge of history fits in its Zionist story.

In Gaza’s Children Deserve Peace, Policy Contributing Writer Aftab Ahmed describes the terrible death toll among Palestinian children produced by Israel’s bombardment, and where it stands as a test of international humanitarian law.

Our regular contributors former Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch and former White House aide Paul Deegan err eloquently on the side of moral clarity with, Canada’s Moment to Show Leadership on Antisemitism.

And, my own piece, Israelis, Palestinians and Democratic Peace Theory, explores how the hijacking of democracy on both sides has influenced outcomes.

In our Canada and the World section, the must-read Policy Q&A: Jim Munson with Jean Chrétien on Loving Canada, Hating No-One and Turning 90. “You know, my father always liked to say, in French, ‘Grouille ou rouille!’, quips Chrétien. “Or, ‘If you don’t move, you rust’.”

Former longtime diplomat Senator Peter Boehm, now chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, summarizes the committee’s report on modernizing Canada’s foreign service in Meeting the Global Challenge: Strengthening Canada’s Diplomacy.

Our COP28 correspondent, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, filed the must-read A Climate Lifeline Worth Grabbing from Dubai, about the global consensus on a transition away from fossil fuels.

In Kissinger on Canada, or Realism vs. Self-Righteousness at Madison Square Garden, former career foreign service officer Colin Robertson relates his encounters with the late, formidable éminence grise and Kissinger’s impact on foreign policy.

Our sponsored Issue Article is an excellent piece from the Forestry Products Association of Canada on the year that was for a crucial Canadian industry, The Year that Proved Why Forestry Matters.

With his regular Policy column, the great Don Newman tackles the prospect of a second Trump presidency in Welcome to 2024 and Happy New Year*.

And, in our Book Reviews section, we close on a lighter note with Paul Deegan’s review of Picturing the Game: An Illustrated Story of Hockey, from our friends at McGill Queen’s University Press.

Enjoy the issue!

Policy Editor and Publisher Lisa Van Dusen served as Washington columnist for Sun Media, international writer for Peter Jennings at ABC News and editor at AP National in New York and UPI in Washington. She was also communications director for the McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace Building.