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House Hansard - 244

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 1, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 244 - Nov/1/23
Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)
  • Nov/1/23 5:03:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for the opportunity to put a question to the hon. member. There are heartbreaks beyond heartbreaks, and they seem to be unending since October 7. One of them is the dreadful irony of Hamas's brutal attack on Israel, which has taken the world's attention, for obvious reasons, off Ukraine. It has been described, and rightly so, as a gift to Vladimir Putin. I will read a statement from President Zelenskyy, because I was deeply moved by his condemnation of Hamas in this moment, while also recognizing that Israel's government has been the only one of our allies, the only modern, industrialized, western democracy ally of Canada, that has never put a sanction on Russia. Israel has not responded to Ukraine's dreadful situation of invasion and brutal assault from the illegal war by Russia. Zelenskyy himself is a Jewish leader. However, none of that contaminated his statement. He said very clearly, “Let the value of human life and the intolerance of terror be the principles that will finally unite the whole world.” He also said, “Wherever they aim their missiles and whomever they attack, terrorists must lose. And this is important for the whole world.” Again, we must not lose our focus in assisting and being there for Ukraine. At the same time, we must not ignore the breaching of international law, the bombing of civilians and so on in what is happening now, as Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.
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