44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 16, 2023 11:00AM
- Oct/16/23 2:33:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are all shocked by the brutality, the kidnappings and the targeting of civilians, including the elderly and children, by Hamas militants.
Now the region is spiralling. Thousands of innocent Palestinians and Israelis have been killed in a conflict that they are not responsible for. Today, we learned that a fifth Canadian was murdered, and we know more Canadians are among the captives.
What is the government doing to ensure the hostages are protected and returned to safety?
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- Oct/16/23 2:34:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are profoundly alarmed by what we are witnessing in Gaza.
The UN has said that nearly half of Gaza's people have been forced to flee from their homes and that morgues are overflowing. This is a humanitarian crisis of extreme proportions.
It took almost a week for the minister to start paying attention to the impact of this war on Palestinians, even though thousands of people have been killed. Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in peace.
Why will the Liberal government not stand up for international law and call for a ceasefire?
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- Oct/16/23 3:56:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, New Democrats are devastated by the brutal massacre and terrorist attack by Hamas, that, on October 7, killed over 1,300 Israeli civilians, including women, children and the elderly. Among those victims were Canadians, members of our communities. The accounts of what was done to Israelis in this attack, including what was done to children, horrifies every one of us.
We condemn Hamas and these terrorist attacks that have caused so much pain to the Jewish community globally and in Canada. This begs the question of what Canada has done in the past few years to stop arms from going into the hands of Hamas. Hamas's actions constitute heinous violations of international law and international crimes for which it must be held accountable.
I want to express my profound sadness and anger at the rising anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian racism that we are seeing globally, including in Canada. The rising anti-Semitism is causing Canadian Jews to keep their children home from school. Rising anti-Palestinian racism took the life of a six-year-old in Chicago yesterday.
Canadians from both of these communities are distraught, and I think the federal government could do more to increase the security across places of worship, something many communities have called for, for years.
We are in a very dark time and I am urging all members of this House to take care to understand how deeply communities are hurting. I grieve with Canadians who have lost loved ones and who are afraid for their families. I stand with the families of hostages and call for their immediate release.
As this crisis worsens, I also want us to pay attention to the unfolding humanitarian nightmare in Gaza. I want to state clearly that international law obligations are not reciprocal. One war crime does not excuse another. Retribution is not justice. Retribution does not bring peace.
I want members of this House to know that international law was not written by pacifists. The laws of war were written by governments whose militaries had suffered extraordinary losses, who had seen civilians massacred and who had experienced the horrors of war.
International law, which Canada has promised to uphold, sets limits on military actions, state and non-state, and what those countries can do in war. It seeks to protect civilians, all civilians.
David Miliband, the head of the International Rescue Committee, said yesterday, “International Humanitarian Law is the way that previous generations have learnt to mitigate the worst of war”. It is a very low bar, but this low bar applies to everyone.
We are, unfortunately, watching violations of international law in Gaza. It is a siege with no water, no electricity and no food. Entire communities have been destroyed. Entire families have been wiped out. Over 1,000 children have been killed. Hospitals have been bombed and humanitarian aid workers killed. United Nations independent experts have said this amounts to collective punishment.
The former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, said, “A full blockade of Gaza could be considered a crime against humanity and a genocide.”
This morning, Defence for Children International confirmed more than 1,030 children in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7. That is one child every 16 minutes.
We are now reading reports that Hamas is stealing what little humanitarian aid is available for civilians. Let us be clear: Hamas is making already vulnerable Palestinians suffer further in this siege. Palestinians have been suffering from Hamas's brutality, as well as the absence of real democratic Palestinian leadership. With the dangerous influence of external states like Iran, this has made things worse.
However, it does not absolve Israel of its obligations to protect civilians; nor does it absolve Canada of its obligations to call out violations to international law when they occur.
United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths said yesterday, “The past week has been a test for humanity, and humanity is failing.” The forcible transfer of a million people from their homes is not an evacuation; it is illegal. There are babies in incubators unable to be relocated and medical staff refusing to abandon these babies, knowing that they may die in the coming days. Gazans are afraid to be pushed into Egypt because they do not know if they will be allowed back. This is a humanitarian and political disaster of enormous proportions and Canada is silent.
Where is the government in condemning this siege, this forcible transfer, this humanitarian crisis? The minister has spoken to his Israeli counterparts. The Prime Minister has spoken to the leader of Israel to convey Canada's support. However, in any of those conversations has Canada told Israeli officials that this scale of revenge, these clear violations of law, are unacceptable to Canadians?
So many Israelis are speaking out against Israel's actions in Gaza. Survivors of the Hamas terrorist attack are asking for peace. They are saying “not in our name”. They are asking for the release of hostages, including Canadians. Maoz Inon, whose parents were murdered by Hamas said:
I am not crying for my parents; I am crying for those who are going to lose their life in this war. We must stop the war. ...we are not seeking revenge. Revenge will just lead to more suffering and to more [tragedies].
Yonatan, the son of Canadian hostage Vivian Silver, said, “She would be mortified [by the attack on Gaza]... because you can't cure killed babies with more dead babies. We need peace.”
Vivian Silver is a member of Women Wage Peace. She has spent years working for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. Yesterday, Women Wage Peace made the following comments:
We hear words of revenge all the time – [we hear] “all restraints have been removed”, “we will wipe out Gaza”.... But one cannot resolve one injustice with another injustice.
We in this House need to be thinking of both the short-term humanitarian crisis and also the long term. New Democrats for decades have called for an end to the occupation and for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians. This year has already been brutal for all in the region before the terrorist attacks and before this new siege of Gaza. Now we are moments away from a broader war that could engulf the entire region. We are moments away from an alarming and long-term refugee crisis. We are further from peace than we have ever been. We speak of ending the occupation, but we are so far away from a political solution and the Liberal government is failing to step up. It is failing to step up for international law, for Israelis and for Palestinians.
This is the moment to call for calm. We are witnessing an increase of attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and in the West Bank by settlers and Israeli security. We have seen reports of abuses of Israeli families who are demanding that the leadership of the Israeli government put the hostages first. People are divided. People are hurting.
The only solution is a political solution. There is no military solution to this conflict. I am begging the government to realize that what its members say now matters. It matters so much and they must call for a ceasefire. Canada must support international justice efforts by the ICJ and the ICC to investigate war crimes by all military actors in Palestine. All war crimes by all parties in this conflict must be prosecuted. Canada must call for a ceasefire and an end to the forcible transfer of civilians.
I want to end by thanking all Israelis and Palestinians working to preserve life: medical workers, humanitarians, human rights advocates, those calling for peace, ordinary people doing what they can in the face of such horror. They are the light in this darkness. We see them and we stand with them.
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- Oct/16/23 7:40:18 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for her intervention.
We have spoken before in this place about the impact that anti-Semitism has had on the member, her family and her community, and I know that we are seeing a rise in that across the country. I also know that we are seeing anti-Palestinian hate happening across this country.
I spoke to a colleague today who said that she is worried about her mother who sometimes speaks Urdu in public and has told her that she has to stay home. I have spoken to other people who have said that because their sisters are wearing a hijab, they are going to go home and protect them as they are worried about them.
Perhaps the member could talk a little bit about what more we could do as Canadians, as a country, to come together to protect against the anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinian hate we are seeing, which is on the rise across this country.
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- Oct/16/23 8:11:00 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I have a great deal of respect for that member, and I am deeply disappointed by that intervention.
He spoke about the need to eliminate Hamas. The children who are being bombed in Gaza today are not Hamas. The children who are dying every 16 minutes, right now, in Palestine are not Hamas.
Would the member agree that collective punishment is against international law, and that that is what is happening right now in Gaza?
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- Oct/16/23 8:42:41 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the leader of the New Democratic Party for the love he has shown for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Right now, we know that the hostages who have been taken by the terrorist organization Hamas are likely in Gaza. We know there are 150 Canadians, at least, who are in Gaza. We know that more than 50% of the population in Gaza is in fact children. The New Democrats have called for a ceasefire.
Why does he think the other parties in this House think it is all right to be bombing the hostages, to be bombing children and to be bombing Canadian citizens who are in Gaza right now? Is a ceasefire not a better solution right now as we try to get those hostages out?
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- Oct/16/23 8:57:23 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I know my colleague to be a very kind man, and I feel for him and his community. I know how difficult this week must have been for the member, as a Jewish Canadian, and I am deeply sorry.
However, my concern is that the member speaks about the right that Israel has to eradicate Hamas, and I utterly agree with him on that. Israel has every right to eradicate Hamas. The problem is that it is not Hamas that I am worried about; it is the children in Gaza. Israel does not have the right to undertake collective punishment. In fact, Noi Katzman, whose brother was murdered by Hamas, has said, “The most important thing for me and also for my brother, is that his death will not be used as a justification for killing innocent people.”
There has to be a way we can protect civilians, and right now, that is not happening. There is no corridor. There is no safe place for these families to go. There is no safe place for these children to go. There is nowhere for them to go to escape from the bombardment. How do we stand by and say that killing innocent children will make up for the murder of innocent people?
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- Oct/16/23 9:27:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I want to send my heartfelt sympathy to my colleague. As a Jewish Canadian, I know he is experiencing such incredible heartbreak right now.
While I am not Jewish, I empathize with every Jewish Canadian and with Jewish people around the world for the horrific things that have happened in Israel over the last several days.
Because I am not Jewish, I am going to quote from somebody who is a survivor of the massacre at the Kibbutz Be'eri, who asked, “How am I supposed to wake up every morning and know that 4.5 kilometres from me, from my home in Kibbutz Be'eri, in Gaza there are people for whom this is not over? If you hear my words, look deep, deep inside and ask yourselves what your values are. I know what I want. I want a just peace.”
Do the children in Gaza not deserve the same peace that we are all hoping for, for the Israeli people?
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- Oct/16/23 10:01:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague works with me on the Canada-China committee, and I actually was in his riding recently.
He spoke a bit about international law and the right of Israel to defend itself. We know that former International Criminal Court prosecutor Ocampo has said that there is potential for what is happening in Gaza to be a humanitarian genocide. Would the member be open to having all crimes committed at this time investigated by the ICC or the ICJ?
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- Oct/16/23 10:08:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think everyone in this House recognizes that adherence to international law is key and that international law needs to be applied equally.
Would the member agree that collective punishment is an example of being against international law?
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- Oct/16/23 10:18:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my colleague cares deeply about his constituents and the community.
Like him, I have been hearing horrific tales and stories about people. The mother of one of my colleagues was speaking Urdu, and my colleague had to tell her mom to stop speaking that and to go home, because she was so worried there would be violence perpetrated against her. The entire Jewish community is afraid. The entire Palestinian community is afraid. I am deeply worried that there is going to be an increase in violence in this country, that we are going to see an increase in hate crimes and that people are going to get harmed.
I wonder if the member could talk about how he sees his government taking action on this and what can be done to protect people.
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- Oct/16/23 10:48:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have heard that there are about 150 Canadians in Gaza right now. We also know that the hostages who have been seized by the terrorist organization Hamas are in Gaza right now. We also know that 50% of the population in Gaza are children, who have had nothing whatsoever to do with the horrific crimes committed by Hamas. Does this member believe that those people, those Canadian citizens, those people who have been held hostage against their will by the Hamas terrorist organization and those children deserve to receive punishment?
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- Oct/16/23 10:56:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the things that I think we all agree on in this place is that Hamas has done something unspeakably horrific to Israel and the Palestinian people. I think we can all agree that the Palestinian people are not Hamas. That is not who they are.
I would ask whether the member, who has a great deal of experience in public safety, agrees with the statement that all crimes committed against civilians should be investigated by the ICJ.
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- Oct/16/23 11:10:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I work with my colleague on the foreign affairs committee.
On October 14, the president of UNICEF, Catherine Russell, said, “The situation for children in Gaza is catastrophic, with hundreds of children reportedly killed. UNICEF calls for an immediate ceasefire, compliance with the rules of war and humanitarian access. All children, everywhere, must be protected at all times.”
Would the member agree that a ceasefire is in the best interests of the children in Palestine right now?
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- Oct/16/23 11:22:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her intervention in the House today. I am sorry, but I am not going to speak in French. It is a very late night and the topic is very difficult for me.
One of the things that I have been thinking about is that today we have been talking about how Hamas needs to be defeated. I know that the member is on the defence committee. We have babies in incubators in Gaza. We have doctors who refuse to leave those babies because, obviously, the children are trapped there, and they know they may die.
The people who are most able likely to leave the territory are in fact members of Hamas, the very terrorists we should be trying to target. The people least able to leave Gaza right now are the elderly, the infirm, the children, the babies and people in the hospital. I am struggling to understand why anyone in this place thinks that bombing Gaza right now would not cause more harm to those people than to the terrorists.
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