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Context: House Hansard - 232 - Oct/16/23

Oct/16/23 8:15:37 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we agree that innocent civilian lives need to be protected, and that is why we have called for three things. First, we have called for the establishment of a safe zone in the southern part of the Gaza Strip to allow Gazans who are fleeing from the north, where a lot of the IDF is targeting Hamas infrastructure, to get to the south of the Gaza Strip in safety. Second, we are calling for a humanitarian corridor to allow for food, water and medical supplies from outside the Gaza Strip to enter the Gaza Strip. Third, we are calling for a humanitarian corridor to evacuate foreign nationals who are in Gaza, particularly Canadian citizens, who are trapped there.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, BQ)

Oct/16/23 8:16:25 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, on Saturday, October 7, Hamas launched a coordinated attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip. The attack was sadly dubbed “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”. It was a large-scale terrorist operation that killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians—men, women, children and babies only a few months old—who, according to some sources, were beheaded and burned. In the face of that cruelty and brutality, in the face of terrorism and hatred, we must all first and foremost offer the Israeli people our deepest and most sincere condolences. It was with sadness and concern that I spoke these words earlier today, and it is with equal emotion that I repeat them tonight in the House. The Bloc Québécois strongly and unequivocally condemns these terrorist attacks by Hamas. We reiterate that Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas. However, we must not conflate Hamas with all Gazans or with the Palestinian people. Israel responded to these terrorist attacks by declaring war on Hamas and ordering half the population of the Gaza Strip to leave. Over one million civilians have been forced from their homes. It is an impossible situation, one that the UN even describes as illegal. Nevertheless, more than one million residents of Gaza have fled south, raising ominous concerns for young families. In addition to bombing the Gaza Strip, Israel has laid full siege to the area. The resulting blockade has forced Gaza's only power plant to shut down, cutting off the water supply and depriving hospitals of electricity. According to a number of sources, many Palestinians are now resorting to drinking salt water, leading to rising mortality rates. The worst is yet to come, as the days dwindle to hours before Israel's anticipated ground offensive against Gaza begins. Faced with this situation, we are appealing to Israeli authorities. A democracy like Israel has a duty and a responsibility to act within the framework of international law and human rights. Not enough attention is being focused on the need to create a humanitarian corridor into the Gaza Strip. Time is running out. The situation is beyond urgent. Human lives are at stake. At this very moment, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy are working together to try to open humanitarian corridors and help civilians. Canada must join these efforts and do everything in its power to pressure its partners and use every means necessary to help at-risk populations. Canada can and must do more in the current context. This is a matter of responsibility in the face of the real humanitarian crisis that is unfolding right now. I stand before the House this evening knowing how little impact my words can have on the situation and on the despair of those whose lives are being ravaged by the atrocities of war, but wholeheartedly supporting victims on both sides of the armed conflict, the families of the missing, and those who have perished in the inhuman attacks we have witnessed in recent days. I cannot imagine, even for one second, how terrified the civilians must be. Hour after hour, they live with the uncertainty of not knowing whether they will ever be able to return home and hug their loved ones again. Unfortunately, their fears are well-founded. As reports emerge that Hamas is using civilians as a human shield and that Palestinian civilians could die in a ground assault on Gaza, there is nothing in this world that could justify an attack on these people, nothing that could justify the lack of humanity, nothing that could justify the horror. At the risk of repeating myself, I believe that, most of the time, collaboration and cross-party co-operation must triumph over political agenda pushing. For the sake of the victims and everyone affected by the conflict, I am calling on my colleagues from all parties to show wisdom and compassion. I am also calling for respect for the principles of international law. They are often undermined, but they should prevail in this situation. I spoke these simple words at the beginning of my speech, but they bear repeating: The Bloc Québécois strongly and unequivocally condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas and reiterates Israel's right to defend itself. With men, women, entire families and children dying, we cannot overemphasize how vital it is to create a humanitarian corridor in Gaza because, sadly, history has taught us the hard way that it is always the eleventh hour when we talk about human lives. Everyone here in the House is human. Let us prove it.

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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Oct/16/23 8:22:28 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this is a sad evening. Last week, we witnessed attacks by Hamas that cost brothers, sisters, parents and children their lives. What these families are going through is so sad and horrible. As the member just said, we know that collective punishment is not an option. Even today, tonight, we saw bombings in Gaza, a collective punishment that is causing the deaths of brothers, sisters, parents and children. My colleague spoke on the importance of a ceasefire, of a corridor for humanitarian assistance, and of insisting that all hostages be freed. Can my colleague tell us how critical it is for Canada to speak with such a voice to ensure that there are no more victims after the many grim events of recent days?

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Oct/16/23 8:23:52 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as a Quebec sovereignist I want to say that Canada is not a global military or economic power, but it has a history of leadership in international human rights. One need only think about Brian Mulroney during apartheid or of Lester B. Pearson and the peacekeepers. I will give only those two examples to keep things equal between the Liberals and the Conservatives. It has been a long time since Canada has played that sort of role on the world stage and now an opportunity is presenting itself. We need to resume that leadership role and make this our mission. As I was saying earlier, everyone here, the 338 members from all parties, even the independent members, must unite in calling for this humanitarian corridor, which is so important for saving human lives. That is something tangible that we can do. We would save lives. In order to do that, Canada needs to unite, all of the politicians here in the House must unite and ask Israel to set up a humanitarian corridor to bring in international aid.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Oct/16/23 8:25:00 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I agree with my colleague about the importance of having a humanitarian corridor. I would add that the setting up of a humanitarian corridor will require the buy-in and collaboration of multiple parties, but it is certainly important for the international community to work on delivering that outcome. I wonder if he could share specifically what he thinks the response of Israel should be to this terrorist attack. I do not know if I heard that specifically, and I would appreciate hearing what he thinks the response of Israel should be to these events.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Oct/16/23 8:25:40 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am going to borrow my leader's words to answer my colleague's question. As I said at the beginning of my speech, Israel obviously has the right to defend itself, and the Bloc Québécois strongly supports that notion. However, international law must be respected. I believe quite honestly that if we ever want the dream of two states in the region to become a reality, the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, Hamas cannot be part of the solution. Given what happened, Israel is right to want to uproot Hamas from the Gaza Strip. That said, it must do so while also upholding international law, and that obviously means ending the illegal blockade and giving people access to water, food and medicine.

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Mr. Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre, Lib.)

Oct/16/23 8:26:39 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, does my hon. colleague think that the actions of the Israeli government constitute revenge?

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Oct/16/23 8:27:06 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the answer to that is no.

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Mr. René Villemure (Trois-Rivières, BQ)

Oct/16/23 8:27:13 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, does my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean believe that the current Israeli government has everything it needs to resolve this situation peacefully?

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Oct/16/23 8:27:29 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as I was saying, Israel is the only democracy in the region. Israel has the largest army in the region and is supported by the planet's major powers. Israel obviously has a greater responsibility for resolving the conflict. I believe that it would be possible for Israel, as a democracy, to resolve this situation peacefully. However, it will depend on what happens with Hamas. Is Hamas ready to resolve this peacefully? That is another question.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Oct/16/23 8:28:16 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I completely agree with everything that my dear colleague from the Bloc Québécois said. A humanitarian corridor is essential. I especially want to thank him for underscoring the role of our country. That may be a bit hard for him to do, as a sovereignist, but he underscored Canada's historic role and leadership as a country in favour of peace and international law. For that, I thank him very much.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe

Oct/16/23 8:29:01 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for thanking me. Working with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands is always a pleasure. We are going to keep working together. As we said, we are all human. If there is one good and upstanding person in the House, it is certainly the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

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Mr. Jagmeet Singh (Burnaby South, NDP)

Oct/16/23 8:29:29 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, nine days ago we woke up to the news of the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on Israelis. Today we have learned that the fifth Canadian is among the victims of Hamas. Netta Epstein, who was just 21 years old, died while trying to protect his girlfriend by jumping on top of a grenade. He saved her life by sacrificing his own. May his memory and the memories of all those killed be a blessing. Like many of us in this chamber, I have heard the pain and devastation felt by Jewish and Palestinian Canadians; people who are worried for their loved ones stuck in Gaza, where every day brings more destruction, death and despair; Canadians who are afraid for their family and friends in Israel and who wait for news about those taken hostage. They are trying to maintain hope when there are so many reasons for despair. Jewish Canadians, descendants of Holocaust survivors, grew up listening to stories about their family members being dragged from their homes and killed. Today, they watch videos of young Jewish people at a music festive being massacred or taken hostage. They fear the promise of “never again” has been broken. Canadians of Palestinian origin see their families trapped in Gaza, said to be the worst place on Earth. In war, children are always the ones who pay the price. This is a time when we must speak clearly: We condemn Hamas. We condemn the brutal murders of whole families and the taking of hostages. Terrorism is abhorrent to all of us who love peace and strive for justice. We cannot allow the world to use this terrorism to justify the human catastrophe unfolding before our eyes in Gaza. The United Nations has said that nearly half of Gaza's people have been forced to flee from their homes. Morgues are overflowing. Hospitals are running out of supplies like painkillers, leaving those injured to endure terrible suffering. Food and water are scarce. There is raw sewage in the streets. Canada cannot stand by while the people of Gaza are left to die. It took the Prime Minister a full week to put out a statement about the suffering in Gaza. Surely we must recognize that the lives and suffering of Palestinians concern us equally. I want to tell the story of Reem Sultan. She has spoken of her relatives in Gaza who have fled for their lives, moving from shelter to shelter. She said that there is no electricity and little water and food. Some have died and everyone is in fear. There is no way to help those fleeing for their lives. After ordering Palestinians to evacuate, Israel hit the remaining access roads to Egypt with air strikes. These are Reem Sultan's words. They need the supplies to come in. They need the border opened. They need the water, medicine and food to come in by trucks. They are in an open-air prison right now. We are also witnessing a disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in Canada. Jewish and Muslim parents are worried as threats make them wonder if they should send their children to school. Places of worship are targets requiring police protection. Palestinian and Muslim Canadians report ugly harassment and threats on the streets as they are blamed for crimes they did not commit. We have seen the devastating impact of Islamophobia in Canada before. We saw it yesterday in Chicago, with the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy who was stabbed to death. At this moment, I take courage from the life and work of Vivian Silver, an Israeli-Canadian peace activist from Winnipeg, who is currently believed to be among the hostages. Like so many in Israel and Palestine, Vivian has worked tirelessly for peace. She has done this work for decades, trying to build understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. She organized Friday afternoon meetings between members of the kibbutz where she lived and people who would gather in a field and speak with Palestinians in Gaza. She helped people living in Gaza to get access to cancer treatment. She is a mother and grandmother whose family misses her terribly. Her son was recently interviewed about what he wants to see happen to free his mother. These are his words, “We need to stop the violence now. Vengeance is not a strategy.” Her son describes the last moments he spoke to her. They sent text messages, because she was too afraid to speak and let the terrorists know where she was hiding. His last message to her was to let her know that he was with her, that she was not alone. If he can resist the call for revenge, surely we must demand the same of the Israeli government. I also want to share Vivian's own words describing her life's work advocating for peace. She stated: I am driven by the intense desire for security and a life of mutual respect and freedom for both our peoples. The thought of yet another war drives me mad. Like the last three, it will not solve the conflict. It will only bring more dead and wounded. Vivian is not alone. Millions of Israelis and Palestinians all over the world desire peace. They want to live in safety and security. New Democrats have always been the ones to nurture the desire for peace, even when louder voices called for war. This is why we are calling on Canada to work with our international allies to end the bloodshed. We continue to call for an immediate release of all hostages, for the protection of all civilians, for an end to the siege and bombardment of Gaza, and for humanitarian aid to reach civilians urgently and without restriction. International law must be upheld and respected. Make no mistake, collective punishment is a violation of this law. Canada must insist that all those who broke these laws are held accountable, even those nations we have called friends. Canada must call for a ceasefire to end the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza immediately. We cannot allow for the continuing dehumanization of an entire population. When we stop seeing each other as human, when we stop believing that each life has value, this is when the seeds of genocide take hold. These are dark days, and the weeks ahead are likely to bring even more anguish, but we can never surrender to despair and never forget that we share a collective humanity and collective responsibility to protect all people from violence and terror.

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Mr. Ben Carr (Winnipeg South Centre, Lib.)

Oct/16/23 8:38:17 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, all week, since the events in Israel as a result of the terrorist attack by Hamas, I have been saying that we have to be able to condemn without the insertion of the word “but”. The leader of the NDP just began his speech, empathetic, so it seemed, to the victims of the terrorist attack by Hamas, only to insert the word “but”. Perhaps I misunderstood him, but it sounded to me that he was suggesting that Israel is committing or on the verge of committing genocide. Genocide, of course, is the intent to eradicate a people. Therefore, my question for the leader of the NDP is twofold: One, does he believe that Israel has a right to self-defence; and two, does he believe that the current reaction by the Israeli government in its response to a terrorist organization with anti-Semitic and genocidal objectives is revenge?

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Mr. Jagmeet Singh

Oct/16/23 8:39:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the concerns I want to raise are that we want to protect all lives. The outcome of war is more death and destruction. I quoted Vivian Silver, a peace activist who has spent her life trying to advocate ways for us to move toward peace and security. She herself suggested that conflict and war bring only more death and destruction. While we unequivocally condemn the terrorist acts of Hamas, we continue to implore that the only way forward to save lives is peace, and we continue to be a voice to say that war will beget only more destruction, more despair and more loss. We have to find a better way forward. Given the circumstances, given the conditions that are being imposed on the people of Gaza right now, who are without any proper access to resources like water, medication and food, the conditions are being set up for imminent and horrific despair, loss of life and tragedy. That must be avoided.

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Ms. Melissa Lantsman (Thornhill, CPC)

Oct/16/23 8:40:47 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will ask again. The leader of the NDP used words like “revenge”, “genocide” and “collective punishment”. It sounds like he has walked those back after his prepared remarks. I am going to ask him one more time if he believes, and this is a serious matter, that Israel is committing or is about to commit a genocide. Yes or no?

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Mr. Jagmeet Singh

Oct/16/23 8:41:22 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, many human rights experts and the United Nations have expressed dire concerns about the conditions and the lives of people in Gaza. I share those concerns. Anyone who cares about the collective responsibility and the collective humanity we have to protect life will look at the circumstances right now of people in Gaza and say that without access to food, without access to water, without access to electricity and without access to the resources needed to run a hospital, the conditions being imposed are dire. This is something that is deeply concerning. We know there are innocent people in Gaza, and the imposition of these horrific conditions on everyone in that community is deeply concerning. That is what the United Nations has expressed, and that is what we are expressing. What we want to be clear about is that our goal here should be to save lives. That is why we are calling for a release of all hostages. We are calling for a ceasefire. We are calling for a path to peace to save innocent lives.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

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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Mr. Jagmeet Singh

Oct/16/23 8:43:40 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we are in a very horrible time right now, and it is important to acknowledge how painful and how difficult this is. What my hon. colleague is pointing out is that the path we are suggesting is to look at our collective humanity, to not lose sight of the fact that every life is precious and dear and that we do not want to walk down a path that will result in even more death, destruction and despair. That is the path we are on right now. That is the path the world is headed on. We are calling out, as difficult as it is and understanding how horrible the circumstances are, and saying that more war and more violence will result only in more loss of life. We need to find a better way forward. That is why we are calling for a release of all hostages. We are calling for a ceasefire. We are calling for a path of peace. The only outcome of more war is more death, and we have to prevent that.

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Mr. Anthony Housefather (Mount Royal, Lib.)

Oct/16/23 8:44:40 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I was very concerned by what I heard before. The Jewish people were the victims of the greatest genocide in human history, the Holocaust. Israel is the only majority Jewish state in the world. It sounded to me very much like he accused the state of Israel of being on the verge of committing a genocide. I would like to ask, yes or no, do you believe that Israel is committing or is about to commit genocide?

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