- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Nepean
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $104,578.46
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- May/10/24 11:00:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, during the last about 200 days, Israel has killed over 34,000 Palestinians, including about 14,000 children. In Gaza, Israel has displaced 90% of the population, destroyed 70% of the infrastructure, destroyed all universities and demolished all hospitals. Not satisfied with this, Israel has now initiated a ground invasion of Rafah.
The reign of Israeli terror must come to an end. Innocent Palestinians, including children, held in Israel must be released, and the terrorist organization Hamas must unconditionally release all the hostages immediately. The United States has admitted that its bombs have been used to kill Palestinians.
I call on Canada to immediately implement an official arms embargo using Canada's Special Economic Measures Act and pressure Israel to end its invasion. This is the issue that defines who we are as Canadians.
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- Mar/18/24 6:29:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we are debating one of the most important topics, which appears to be about foreign policy, but it actually goes deep into exploring who we are as compassionate Canadians.
Since being elected about eight and half years ago, I have been a strong public and vocal supporter of the just cause of Palestinian people. For the first time in the history of the Canadian Parliament, I hosted a day about Palestine on Parliament Hill. On November 29, 2021, on the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, I called on Canada to recognize the state of Palestine. It was probably the first time in the history of the Canadian Parliament that any member speaking in this chamber demanded recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine. I repeated my call again on June 6, 2022, and again, that same year on November 29. In 2023, on November 29, I called on Canada to ask for a permanent ceasefire and recognize the sovereign state of Palestine.
Since I was elected in 2015, I have participated in numerous events and protests along with Palestinian Canadians and others. What I and many other Canadians were afraid of all these years is happening right now in Gaza.
Before I proceed further, let me mention a few Canadians who are having the nightmare scenario they have dreaded actually unfolding in front their eyes. They are Burhan Shahrouri and Jamal Hamed, the former presidents of Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians; Mousa Zaidan, the national coordinator of the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations; Dr. Habib Khoury of Ottawa Run for Palestine; Thomas Woodley, president of CJPME, or Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East; Corey Balsam, national coordinator for Independent Jewish Voices Canada; Dr. Mohamad Abu Awad from the Canadian Palestinian Professional Foundation; and Rashad Saleh, the president of the Arab-Palestine Association of Ontario.
These Canadians and many others have struggled through long years advocating for the just cause of Palestinian peoples. Let me be very clear. I have condemned, and I will continue to condemn, the barbaric and inhuman acts of the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, and I demand the immediate release of all hostages.
After the horrific attacks of October 7, three of us from the House, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and I, were at the Ottawa Jewish community centre standing in solidarity with Jewish Canadians and the people of Israel.
We all should condemn the terrorist organization of Hamas. At the same time, we need to condemn the Israeli equivalent of Hamas. There is more in common between the extremists in the current Israeli government and Hamas. They both have acted in tandem on maintaining the status quo to achieve their objectives.
Hamas does not believe in a two-state solution. It wants to wipe out Israel. The extremists in the current Israeli government also do not believe in a two-state solution. They want a greater Israel, which includes West Bank and Gaza, and they want to oppress Palestinians with their apartheid policies. When it comes to its intent about Israel, Hamas has made clear its evil intent in its charter.
When it comes to their intent on Palestine, here is the intent of the extremists in the current Israeli government: The Prime Minister of Israel, Netanyahu, while addressing Israeli soldiers attacking Gaza, invoked the Biblical story of Amalek, which basically says to go and attack, sparing no one, to kill all men, women, infants and animals.
An extremist, the Israeli minister of defence, called Palestinians “human animals”. He stated that “Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.” Another extremist, the Israeli minister of agriculture said, “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba”. These extremists in the current Israeli government have a stronger hand with their resources and their military power compared to their equivalent in the Hamas, and they are using their brutal strength to achieve their genocidal objectives.
On the question of genocidal intent, the strongest and most powerful words I have heard came from the Israeli-born professor at Brown University, Omer Bartov. He is a respected historian of the Holocaust and genocide. He wrote in The New York Times, on November 10, 2023, “My greatest concern watching the Israel-Gaza war unfold is that there is genocidal intent, which can easily tip into genocidal action.” Again, this is from an Israeli-born professor who is a respected historian of the Holocaust and genocide.
The genocidal intent has transformed into action. Over 31,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed by the current extremist Israeli government. Over two-thirds of the structures have been destroyed or damaged. When it is using 2,000 pounds of dumb bombs, possibly provided to it by its friendly western countries, these deaths and destruction should not be a surprise.
Let me be clear that the extremists in the current Israeli government do not represent the people of Israel. They do not represent the vast majority of Jewish Israelis and Arab lsraelis.
Before entering politics, I visited Israel twice. I also visited Palestine after I was elected. I had good exposure to Israeli society when I was there. I have utmost respect and admiration for the majority of Israeli citizens, both Jewish and Arab. In Canada, after being elected, several times, when invited, I attended the Israeli flag raising ceremony at the Ottawa City Hall.
During my visit to Palestine, it was not hard to notice the oppressive regime of the occupying power and the depressive nature of several generations of Palestinians in refugee camps. I am probably the only member here of both the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group and the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group, so it is with the utmost respect and humbleness, for the safety and security of Israel and Jewish Israelis, Arab Israelis and for the safety and dignity of the Palestinian people, that I ask members to let us all do the right thing.
Let us start with the recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine. There are 139 countries around the world that have recognized Palestine. Canada has to take a step forward to change our attitude toward the Middle East, starting with the recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine.
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- Nov/29/23 2:10:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is recognized by the United Nations as International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
For over 70 years, Palestinians have been living under occupation, robbed of their fundamental rights, with no regard for human dignity. This is the most terrible year, with thousands of Palestinians, including thousands of children, killed in front of our eyes. Western democracies have not taken any measures to prevent this.
Today, I and millions of Canadians are angry, frustrated and feeling helpless with our unsuccessful advocacy to get Canada to change its position and do what is just and right.
I call on Canada to ask for a permanent ceasefire and take the right step forward, starting with the recognition of the sovereign state of Palestine, for a two-state solution.
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- Nov/29/22 2:02:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, today is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. It is an occasion to remember, reflect and renew our commitment to the just cause of the Palestinian people.
On this day in 1947, the United Nations adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine, which has yet to be implemented. Millions of Palestinians have been deprived of their fundamental human rights. Millions are refugees, and a third of registered Palestinian refugees live in camps and need humanitarian assistance.
I call on Canada to stand up to its reputation as a defender of human rights and immediately take steps to implement its policies. I also call on Canada to join 138 other countries in recognizing the sovereign state of Palestine.
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- May/12/22 12:40:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member mentioned human rights. Why focus on China alone? Why do we not focus on the killing of the Palestinian American Al Jazeera reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, by the Israeli military even though she was wearing a press vest that clearly marked her as press? What about the human rights violations in Israel and Palestine as highlighted by the Human Rights Watch report? What about the apartheid that is practised by Israel on Palestinians, according to an Amnesty International report or what the former Israeli attorney general, Michael Ben-Yair, says, which is that the country is following the apartheid system? Why not discuss human rights beyond China? Why not include the Middle East issues too?
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