44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 16, 2023 11:00AM
- 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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- Oct/16/23 9:48:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just heard the leader of the Green Party propose that perhaps Hamas could be eliminated by another international force. I would speculate that, if other countries volunteered to do that, Israel would be happy to have that occur. However, in the absence of having other countries commit troops to defeat Hamas, Israel is obviously on the front line and committed to protecting itself.
My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor and, as a result, I reflect a lot on the meaning of “never again”. Part of what this means for Jewish people or their descendants is that, during the horrific period of the Holocaust, other people and other nations did not step forward to prevent and stop the Holocaust. As such, Jewish people realized the need to protect themselves and develop the military capacity to defend themselves. If it were necessary to stand alone, they would have to protect themselves and make sure that something like this would never happen again. Could the member comment on that?
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- Oct/16/23 9:49:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have worked with my colleague on several occasions toward a common cause. He is touching upon a very important point, which is that October 7 and the horrific attack by Hamas mark the day when the most Jews were killed since the Shoah and the Second World War. That has served to retraumatize survivors of the Holocaust, and all Jewish people, here in Canada and around the world. I think that is a very important point.
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- Oct/16/23 9:57:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree 100%. It is something we all have a responsibility to do. It is why I have conversations with my friends in the Muslim community and have conversations with my friends in the Jewish community. We all need to work together toward that.
However, there are some things the government can do. It could rapidly disburse funds to religious organizations to beef up their security, because there is a feeling of insecurity right now. As much as we would hope that would not happen here in Canada, those are some of the things I am hearing. That member can speak to her government to make sure that happens.
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- Oct/16/23 10:33:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I too want to thank my hon. colleague for the strength she brings to this debate. Knowing her background as a Jewish Canadian, I cannot even imagine this, so I appreciate that.
She spoke a lot about the local impact. I come from London, where we are still dealing with a lot of the impacts of what happened to our London family. To move forward, I have been asking about concrete actions we can take in this place and that the government can take to continue to support all of our communities when we are dealing with such tragedy and acts of violence and hatred.
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- Oct/16/23 10:50:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Israel has always been held to a separate standard compared to other states. For some reason, when Israelis and Jews and those who live within its sovereign borders are attacked, they are immediately compelled to restrain themselves and find ways to be more civil, even though, as a democracy and as a professional military, they go above and beyond the standards that are required, compared to what most countries do. Therefore, we find that Israel is constantly singled out as a country internationally.
Its Jewish people are often identified as colonial settlers when in fact they are indigenous people who have revived the state and set an example in modern times. We have seen how Israel is seen in our academia, in our non-profit community and in many other places as somehow subjected to a different standard and to anti-Zionism. In campuses across the country, we have seen this distortion of facts and the reality of the actual truths of what modern Israel is built upon. I thank the hon. member for the opportunity to point out how unfairly Israel is characterized across the world.
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- Oct/16/23 11:30:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tonight, several of our Jewish and Muslim colleagues have shared their concerns about the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia here at home over the past week.
What does the member for Saint-Jean think about that? Can she share her thoughts on what the Government of Canada can do to address this reality?
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