44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 18, 2024 11:00AM
- Mar/18/24 12:38:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her important work in the House.
Right now what we are seeing is tens of thousands of innocent civilians losing their lives. Over 13,000 children have lost their lives. Right now, today, at this moment, there is a population facing starvation. They are facing starvation in 2024, and it is not starvation because there is no food. The food is at the border rotting in trucks instead of getting into the bellies of innocent children.
We need to do everything we can to stop the war and to alleviate the suffering of innocent civilians. This is why part of our motion is to make sure there is a ceasefire and to make sure we stop selling arms to Israel. The final piece, recognition of Palestine as a state, is so that we can build toward this. It is so that the world can work together and we can build toward a more peaceful outcome into the future. Ultimately, what we are all looking for is a secure and safe future for Palestinians and Israelis.
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- Mar/18/24 12:41:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I welcome debate during this pivotal moment for the region and the world.
I rise having just returned from visiting the Middle East, where I met with my counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the U.A.E., Israel and also the Palestinian authority.
Of course, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the path toward peace was at the top of our agenda. These conversations were not always easy. We do not all share the same perspectives, but we all share the goal of peace and stability in the region so we must be pragmatic and find a way forward together.
While in Israel, we visited Yad Vashem, the memorial dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust, one of the world's darkest chapters. It is important to remember that the persecution of the Jewish people did not start or end with the Holocaust. Before the creation of Israel, Jewish communities around the world struggled to find a place to call home, a place where they could feel safe, a place where they could live in security, a place where their human rights would be respected and a place where they could live with dignity, have a family and build a better future for their loved ones without fear. For the Jewish people, Israel is that home.
On October 7, Israelis' sense of security and confidence in their institutions was shaken; for many, it was shattered. The Hamas terrorist attack was the deadliest in Israel's 76-year history. Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 240. Some 134 remain in captivity in Gaza. That means 134 families are desperately awaiting their return so they can hold them tight.
Every single person in Israel knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone, who was killed or kidnapped on that fateful day. The entire country bears the weight of that shared trauma. Therefore, we once again unequivocally condemn Hamas for its October 7 terrorist attacks.
While in Israel, we also travelled south to kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the first communities to be attacked by Hamas on October 7. There, I met Ayelet, the mother of Netta, a Canadian who was killed protecting his fiancé.
Ayelet walked us through her neighbourhood and recounted the agonizing massacre of October 7. She described the chaos of not understanding what was happening, of friends and family breathlessly running from house to house, passing those that had been set on fire, looking for their loved ones. However, in many cases, it was too late; they had already been killed.
While we bore witness to the horrors of October 7, we could hear and feel the shudder of bombs falling onto Gaza nearby, followed by the unmistakable peppering of gunfire. In that moment, the duality of the tragedy befalling the Israeli and Palestinian people was profound. It was a moment that I will forever remember.
Since October 7, more than 31,000 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza. Over 70% of these people are women and children. There are 1.7 million Palestinians displaced, and even more at risk of starvation, disease and death.
I sat down with humanitarian workers who described the crisis in Gaza as the worst they have seen in their careers. They have witnessed mothers undergoing C-sections without anaesthesia, the desperation of children asking for food as cars pass by and the despair of children who are now orphans.
It is safe to say that every Palestinian family tree has lost entire branches to the violence that has occurred since October 7. That is clear from our conversations in Ramallah.
In the midst of this tragedy, extremist settlers are subjecting Palestinians in the West Bank to increasingly frequent and intense violence. These violent acts alone have cost the lives of over 300 Palestinians and displaced 1,000 more since October 7. One family we spoke to was forced from their home by Israeli settlers and denied access to the family farm they depend on for their survival.
We strongly oppose this violence, and we will impose sanctions on those responsible for it.
Palestinians continue to struggle for their self-determination and for the creation of a Palestinian state, a state where they could feel safe, where they could live in security, where their human rights would be respected and where they could live with dignity, could have a family and could build a better future for their kids. Palestinians struggle for a home of their own.
This crisis has exposed cracks and has deepened the wounds of society on both sides. It is fuelled by dehumanization. When we do not see the humanity of others, injustice falls onto the shoulders of innocents. This pain has extended throughout the region and here at home. In Canada, we mourn the loss of eight Canadians killed on October 7. Countless Canadian families mourn the loss of loved ones in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
In Canada and around the world, we have witnessed a sharp rise of anti-Semitism, as well as a sharp rise of Islamophobia. Muslim and Jewish communities are targets of physical and verbal attacks. They have been harassed on streets and online, barred from places of worship and made to feel unsafe in their schools. This is not the promise of our country. Our government will continue to strongly denounce and condemn all forms of discrimination and racism, which have no place in Canada.
Beyond the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, this conflict has polarized our society and is testing the strength of our social cohesion. We are entangled in a web of devastation, and we face pressure to pick sides. We are forced to believe that if we speak up for one, of course, surely, we are against the other. For us, it is not that simple.
Given the current situation, I doubt there will be a winner. There will be only victims and survivors left to forever mourn their losses. With the current level of destruction taking place, it will take years to rebuild everything.
Rebuilding Gaza will require our help. Canada will be there. We will be there to rebuild the health care system in Gaza, especially the children's hospitals. It will take decades, if not generations, for the consequences of the trauma experienced by Israelis and Palestinians alike to emerge and be treated.
That is why, in this tragedy, I will always stand on the side of human dignity and the protection of civilians, both Palestinian and Israeli. We owe it to Palestinians and Israelis alike, who have been abandoned for decades because no lasting solution to this conflict has been found.
Besides this failure, terrorists and extremist voices are being heard from all sides. They are undermining the future of both Israelis and Palestinians. This is not to mention the broader implications throughout the Middle East. We do not have a choice. We must do better.
In Canada, our position is rooted in three principles. First is the right for Israel to exist and, by extension, to defend itself in accordance with humanitarian law. Second is the protection of civilians. Third is the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. We fully recognize that these principles are in tension with each other right now, but we remain committed to all of them.
The violence must end. An immediate humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed. This ceasefire cannot be one-sided. Of course, Hamas needs to lay down its weapons, and all hostages must be released. The need for humanitarian assistance in Gaza has never been greater. Rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian relief must be provided to civilians now. This is why Canada will participate in every single way to help.
Due to the urgency of the situation, we have resumed funding to UNRWA while supporting efforts to reform the organization. We will contribute to the humanitarian sea corridor. We will support air drops. We recognize that this will not replace the urgent need for more access by land, and we will continue to press for it.
We are gravely concerned by Israel's plan for a ground military offensive into Rafah. About 1.5 million Palestinians are taking refuge in the area, including many of our citizens and their families. They have nowhere else to go. We have made it clear to the Israeli government that we urge them not to go down this path.
With respect to the International Court of Justice, we fully acknowledge that its interim measures are binding on both parties. The court was clear: Israel must ensure the provision of basic services and essential humanitarian aid and it must protect civilians.
As for exports of controlled goods to Israel, I would like to reiterate that Canada has a very strict export regime whereby each application is considered on a case-by-case basis. We have not issued any weapons permits per se since October 7.
Given the rapidly developing situation on the ground, the Department of Foreign Affairs has not approved a permit since January 8, considering our inability to confirm that human rights are being upheld and, of course, that our export regime requirements would be met.
In conclusion, the only way to achieve lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians is through a negotiated political solution. I believe that Canada has a role to play. We owe our diplomatic heritage to the likes of Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien. That heritage centres on peacekeeping and bridge-building to promote negotiations. Today, we have a responsibility to build on that tradition.
Canada will remain committed to a two-state solution, including the creation of a Palestinian state where Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in peace, security and dignity. The long-term security of Israel, the normalization of diplomatic relations in the Arab world and the creation of a Palestinian state cannot be considered separately or in opposition to one another. They are intertwined. We must recognize this and act on it. We are committed to being pragmatic and to doing our part.
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- Mar/18/24 12:58:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs speaks for Canada, but I did not hear the minister clearly state the Government of Canada's position on this motion.
I think the Government of Canada has often, in the last several months, been unclear about its position on the conflict that has emerged between Israel and Hamas, so I will give the Minister of Foreign Affairs an opportunity to clearly state whether the government will be supporting or opposing the motion.
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- Mar/18/24 1:05:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague that, of course, we always stand up for justice and peace in this world. That is our foreign policy. That is what we do every day.
Of course, when it comes to the Israel-Hamas issue, we believe in a two-state solution. We believe that we are, after this war, closer than ever to a two-state solution. Why? It is because, coming back from the region, what I heard is that many Arab countries would be interested in the normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel. Many Arab countries, in terms of Iran, want to make sure that Israel and the region are safe. We believe in that. It is in the interests of the Government of Canada in general to make sure that is the case.
This normalization, this security architecture for the region, must come also with the recognition of the state of Palestine. We must do the two together. This is sound foreign policy, and this is also what our closest allies in the world will continue to do. Canada will be leading that conversation.
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- Mar/18/24 1:16:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke about the recognition and the value of international law. Does he believe international law applies in all cases? Does he believe the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, institutions Canada has supported and has shown respect for, should be respected? Does he believe those provisional measures that have been put in place against the Government of Israel should be adhered to?
Does he believe the Canadian government should urge its friends within Israel to in fact stick with those provisional measures despite the fact that right now they continue to bomb innocent civilians, they continue to kill children and we continue to see the death toll of people who are innocent go up?
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- Mar/18/24 1:17:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, international humanitarian law, in other words the law of armed conflict, makes it clear that what Hamas did on October 7, 2023, was war crimes. The taking of hostages is a war crime. I think we all acknowledge that hostages were taken. The raping, murdering and targeting, deliberately, of civilians is a war crime. This has been assessed by reputable organizations.
What I am not aware of is any reputable organization's, including the International Court of Justice's, assessing that Israel has committed a war crime. States have the right to defend themselves and to use force to defend themselves. They have the right to target military infrastructure and the right to eliminate terrorist entities like Hamas that pose a threat to the safety and security of their own citizens.
I am not aware of any international organization, the UN or any high court that has assessed that the State of Israel has committed war crimes since October 7, 2023.
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- Mar/18/24 1:19:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what I will say is that Conservatives have supported Canada's long-standing position on the State of Israel. That position calls for a negotiated settlement between the two parties, the State of Israel and the Palestinian people, that would arrive at a two-state solution.
Conservatives also support a long-standing position that was held by the previous Liberal government and the previous Conservative government, a policy developed by Irwin Cotler, Pierre Pettigrew and then prime minister Paul Martin that said that we were not going to vote in favour of resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly that singled out the State of Israel for targeting.
We support Canada's returning to that long-standing position at the UN, where resolutions that single out the State of Israel would be voted against by Canada in order to indicate that we are not supportive of an anti-Semitic approach that we often see, where the Jewish people or the State of Israel is singled out for special condemnation when there are plenty of other cases around the world in which there are actual cases of human rights violations and actual cases to be condemned but that go ignored.
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- Mar/18/24 1:34:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, history is clear. There is no such thing as a military solution. There are only political solutions. Nowhere is that clearer than what we are seeing right now in Israel and Palestine.
This is what I want to understand: Conservatives today are going to vote against a motion that states that the House recognize a Palestinian state, like 139 countries have already done. Let us be clear. Are Conservatives saying they no longer support a two-state solution? Are the Conservatives today saying that they do not support statehood for the Palestinian people?
That is what they are saying by voting against this motion.
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- Mar/18/24 1:58:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the UN has called for an end of arms sales to the State of Israel. Specifically, it has called out Canada for fuelling this crisis with military trade. The International Court of Justice made a ruling to prevent genocide. For years, New Democrats have called for an arms embargo. We are also calling on the government to do more to stop arms smuggling to Hamas.
The member spoke about the increase in military trade that has happened since this conflict started. It is not enough, as the minister said, to go export permit by export permit. We need an arms embargo. Canada must do more to prioritize human rights, international law and peace for Palestinians and Israelis.
Could the member speak to how horrific it is that the government is still allowing military trade to the State of Israel?
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- Mar/18/24 1:59:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with my colleague, especially since the Netanyahu government is a hardline government. It wants the war to go on, so it needs weapons.
The reason the Netanyahu government wants the war to go on is very simple. It knows that its political survival depends on the war continuing, because once the war is over, then it will have things to answer for. It will have to explain to Israelis why it promoted the illusion that creating a cordon sanitaire around Israel would be enough to ensure peace. It will have to explain why security services failed to anticipate October's attack. It will have to explain why it encouraged the creation of Hamas in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority and prevent negotiations on the creation of a Palestinian state.
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- Mar/18/24 2:14:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I will read into the record what legal expert Dr. Ardi Imseis said about the legal framework for Palestinian statehood.
He stated, “Palestine is recognized by 140 states.
“Palestine is a juridical fact. Its territory is under illegal foreign military occupation by Israel, but that does not mean that the State of Palestine does not exist in law.
“It possesses all four of the criterion for statehood as codified in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States: (1) a permanent population; (2) a territory; (3) a government; and (4) the capacity to enter into foreign relations with other states.
“Successive Israeli governments have, for years, indicated that they will never allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and that only the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in the land between the river and the sea.
“This is unlawful.
“As a peremptory norm, no people's right to self-determination in their own territory can be the subject of negotiation under international law. This is the last chance Canada has to save the two state framework set in motion by the UN in 1947.”
Where will the Liberal government stand today on Palestine's statehood?
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- Mar/18/24 4:35:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I hope not, far from it. That said, Israel launched its deadly assault on Gaza vowing to destroy and annihilate Hamas.
The fact is that even if Israel were able to find all of Hamas' hiding places, seize all of its weapons and take all of its leaders and fighters prisoner—we know very well that most of the leaders are probably in Qatar or Lebanon—even if Israel managed to capture all of Hamas' infrastructure, given the extent of the destruction and killings in Gaza, unfortunately I feel that Israel will only have ensured that the very concept of Hamas will endure.
Even it manages to destroy Hamas, it will have created so much resentment among Palestinians in the process that hatred could well overtake them again, and yet that is what should be avoided at all costs to finally secure a path to peace.
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- Mar/18/24 4:39:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if there was one thing I tried to show in my speech, it is that we have reached an impasse. If the parties are no longer able to find a way out of the crisis, the international community must step in and try to impose one. This means that certain states must find the courage to do what others have done. Some 140 states around the world have already recognized the state of Palestine, and Spain, the United Kingdom and Belgium are considering recognizing it.
I think that if Canada joined the movement, it would send a strong message to Israel, not that we are against the very existence of the State of Israel or its security, quite the contrary. We support the creation of two states living side by side in peace and security. This can only happen by recognizing of the state of Palestine.
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- Mar/18/24 5:23:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just want to acknowledge, as somebody with a similar history, that what is going on right now in Palestine and in Israel is very painful and brings up for me a lot of intergenerational trauma. I want to acknowledge that as a fellow human being in the discussion.
One of the comments the member made was in response to providing military arms and technology to Israel on a case-by-case basis. I have a problem with that, because Israel is currently being investigated by the ICJ for genocide. Can she explain her rationale for providing arms to Israel when it is being investigated for potential genocide?
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- Mar/18/24 5:37:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his work and standing up for justice and humanity.
The week of January 13, I had the honour of joining the hon. member in visiting the West Bank, Israel and Jordan. I had heard about illegal settlements for a very long time, but I saw the scope of the illegal settlements and the dehumanization that Palestinians face in their lives every day. I was in Bethlehem at the Aida refugee camp, where I spoke directly with families. I heard from them that, every night, they sleep with the fear that someone might raid their houses. Men tell their wives and daughters not to take their hijabs off because someone might enter.
They are facing dehumanization every second, so it is very important that Canada recognize those settlements as illegal. We need to make sure that we take action. Netanyahu's government has expanded and encouraged illegal settlers. It is important to take that into account and make sure that we put an end to the illegal settlements.
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- Mar/18/24 6:28:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the war in the Middle East has torn the fabric of this country apart. We are seeing people who are passionate and emotional on both sides who are speaking past each other often, and it is tragic to watch.
However, I have to say that the main issue I see are the demonstrations that are crossing the line and verging on intimidation and hate speech, surrounding Jewish buildings and doing things that create fear and all kinds of intimidation for the Jewish community. It is not right, as I mentioned before, that synagogues, Jewish community centres, Jewish schools, or Jewish businesses for that matter, are the focus of these protests. We, as Jews in Canada, do not control what is happening in the State of Israel, and this has to stop. It must end.
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- Mar/18/24 8:23:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will just refer to Chapter 12 of our procedure book by Bosc and Gagnon, the 2017 edition, which says, “An amendment is out of order, procedurally, if...it is completely contrary to the main motion and would produce the same result as the defeat of the main motion”.
I draw your attention again to the original motion in paragraph (i), which is on the official recognition of the state of Palestine, and then go to what the amendment says. I will go back to the very last part of paragraph (n), which says, “maintain Canada's position that Israel has a right to exist”.
Defeating the original motion, the motion that was debated all day long in the House, would have our position go back to what is the official position of the Government of Canada and has been for the last couple of decades. The amendment is out of order procedurally and should be ruled as such by you as Chair.
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