Good morning, everyone, and good morning to the guests we have in the House. It is an honour for me—and I’ve met some, especially at the recent museum opening, and I’ve had the privilege of hearing about your stories. So I appreciate the opportunity to speak to this motion and to have you all here this morning. I represent Scarborough Southwest, and as the deputy leader of the official opposition, I also feel a great, great load of responsibility, speaking to this today. I believe I can say this for all of us—and it has been spoken in the House already: The last week has been an extremely, extremely difficult week. So many of our communities are still in shock, while for some, it’s even more personal, with family members and loved ones suffering immense loss and trauma triggered from the atrocities.

As an immigrant myself from a nation that was born out of a liberation war and a genocide, and as a daughter of the descendants of people who faced subjugation and were treated as second-class citizens in their own country just for who they are, for their language, for their religion—a country that experienced the horror of genocide, which was committed not too long ago, just in 1971—I stand before this House with a heavy heart, reflecting on the painful and horrifying events that unfolded in Israel and Palestine over the past week.

I know that I stand amongst colleagues and friends on both sides of the House who can relate to the anguish and the sorrow that come with such painful stories and history, and experience of violence, colonial violence—some carrying a much heavier burden of pain and suffering of their families and, in some cases, themselves. We have heard in this House about the Tamil genocide from our colleagues; the Armenian genocide; the Sikh genocide; the horrific killing in Jallianwala Bagh; or, just recently, on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the systemic violence carried out on the people of this land, here in Canada.

And we can never, ever forget the dark chapter in human history of the Holocaust—a harrowing chapter in history, when the world witnessed the systemic genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany, a state-sponsored killing. Jews endured unimaginable suffering in concentration camps and extermination camps, with mass shootings and inhumane conditions. It is a stark reminder of the depths to which hatred and bigotry can lead. I was able to have the interactive demonstration that we have at the museum—which will bring you to tears, to learn about that history.

I want to make this very clear: Hamas’s senseless violence—war crimes and attacks on innocent civilians, women, seniors, babies—has caused unimaginable pain and trauma for not only Israelis but for Jewish communities across the world. I know that many Jewish Canadians are feeling unsafe—terrified at seeing targeted violence on this scale.

Last week, we were shocked by the brutal attacks on civilian lives in Israel—over 1,600 dead and thousands injured, children and families kidnapped.

In this House, today, we mourn the lives of the five Canadians who lost their lives in this violent conflict: Shir Georgy, Adi Vital-Kaploun, Ben Mizrachi, Alexandre Look, and Netta Epstein.

We have heard from friends and family members—I have in my community, and I know some of you have as well—who are worried and waiting to hear from family members in Israel. I know that many of you in this House have had similar conversations in the past, and it is heart-wrenching. At the same time, we have also heard from friends and family members who are in fear and waiting to hear from their family in Palestine. So many Palestinian family members are feeling anxious and scared.

I want to be very clear: The Palestinian people do not represent Hamas, just like the State of Israel does not represent all people of Israel and all Jewish people.

Sometimes in this House we talk about or we debate on opposite sides about an action a government does—and it is the people, it is their voice, that should be the loudest, that truly matters.

But more than that, the struggles that we are seeing right now are what I want to talk about. It is an honour for me, also as a Muslim Canadian, to start by saying that there is an Arabic phrase that I will translate: “Harming one single human is a harm to all humanity.” If you harm even a hair of a human, an innocent civilian, you’re harming all of humanity. That is the belief that I truly believe in as a Muslim and as a Canadian, and it is the deep-rooted understanding that I come with.

Today, when I speak to this issue, I want to share some of the things that I have received over the last five, seven days—because I have talked to community members who come from both sides, and it has been an extremely, extremely painful week. I don’t think, in my career as an MPP, as a representative, I have had this difficulty, navigating through this as I did this past week, just hearing the stories, and I cannot imagine what the community is feeling—because it is horrendous, what Hamas did. One of the things that I want to make very clear is that when something like that happens, it doesn’t just harm the one side—and their action has also hurt Palestinians. We have heard from those family members who are waiting to hear back.

So when we look at this motion and understand, how do we address the atrocities and how do we make sure that we stand with the people who have suffered this immense loss—so many Palestinian families are feeling anxious and scared, or, more than that, their struggles are neglected and undermined by the rhetoric of those in power and a lot of mainstream media, and their story has not fully been told.

When I look at the difference between those who return to Canada and Canada’s effort in Israel—it has been very different in the reality of Palestinian Canadians and Palestinians in Gaza. While we hear about the stories, we also heard from NCCM—where Hala Alshaer, who lives in Ottawa and is a Canadian, talked about her family, who are still waiting to return. Hala shared about the killing of her 16 family members, who were killed after the Israeli attacks.

I want to thank the federal government—and this is part of something that I want to make clear: I want to thank the federal government for the safe return of 1,300 Canadians from Tel Aviv. I think that we need to make sure that we urge our government to do much more in ensuring that all Canadians, all Jewish Canadians who are stuck, must return safely. I would like to put in a motion to make sure that I add onto the—and so, Speaker, I would like to move that the following sentence be added to the end of the main motion: “And that this House calls on the government of Canada to advocate for immediate release of all hostages and protection of all civilians in accordance with international law, an end to the siege of bombardment of Gaza and for humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians urgently without restriction.”

Good morning, everyone. I would also like to welcome Susy Whiskeyjack from Slate Falls First Nation. Welcome.