Speaker, this morning, we began speaking on the motion to condemn the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas. We spoke about the trauma triggered and the immense pain that so many Jewish community members are feeling across the world. I shared my personal belief that is deeply rooted in the teaching of my faith that forbids and condemns the killings of innocent civilians. And with that belief, I want to reiterate my values, as a Muslim and a human, to condemn killings of all innocent lives. We must join together in condemning the attacks by Hamas, and with that responsibility to human rights and justice, we must also look at the bigger conflict that has brought horror across Israel and Palestine.

As an immigrant from a nation that was born out of a liberation war and as a daughter and descendant of people who faced war crimes in their own country—a country that experienced the horrors of genocide—I come to you asking for a call for peace: peace for the Israeli people; peace for the Palestinian people.

I want to quote an essay that scholar Peter Beinart published in the New York Times here, because it really resonated with me and I think it resonated with a lot of my colleagues and friends that I have spoken to over the last couple of days. Mr. Beinart is a professor of journalism and political science, and editor of the Jewish Currents magazine:

“As Jewish Israelis bury their dead and recite psalms for their captured, few want to hear at this moment that millions of Palestinians lack basic human rights. Neither do many Jews abroad. I understand; this attack has awakened the deepest traumas of our badly scarred people. But the truth remains: The denial of Palestinian freedom sits at the heart of this conflict, which began long before Hamas’s creation in the late 1980s.”

I felt Mr. Beinart’s words were powerful. The violence did not start last weekend with Hamas’s attack. The people of Palestine have endured brutality for decades—violence that has endangered the lives of civilians in Israel and Palestine—and we cannot deny the complex history that has impacted generations in this region and the deep trauma it has caused. Today, we are seeing innocent Palestinians suffering at a scale we have never seen before as a result of the siege of Gaza; two million Palestinians in Gaza, half of whom are children. These children must have the same rights as everyone else, and should not and must not be treated any differently because of where they live, who they are or what their families believe.

Within hours of Saturday’s tragedy, shock and horror, we saw what many feared: a massive bombardment on Gaza, killing thousands of innocent Palestinians civilians; a bombardment led by the current Israeli government—a hawkish government, one that has been called out by many of its own citizens in Israel as not reflective of their views, the values and the people it supposedly serves; a government whose defence minister called the people of Palestine “human animals.” These are innocent people who must not be punished for actions they are not responsible for, Speaker. And I want to reiterate: Palestinian people are not human animals. Palestinian people are not human animals. Palestinian people are not human animals.

We are outraged by the terrorist attacks by Hamas, and we are appalled by what we are seeing from the siege of Gaza by the Israeli government. We are seeing children, women and elderly people being attacked without discern—2,808 Gazans have been killed so far, including more than 1,030 children. More than 10,000 have been injured, and more than one million Gaza Palestinians displaced. Blockades and moves to stop or slow the flow of food, fuel, water, electricity and medical supplies into Gaza and the absence of a humanitarian corridor out of Gaza is causing massive suffering and casualties. Canada must urgently insist that Israel respect international law and protect the lives of innocent Palestinian civilians who bear no responsibility for Hamas’s horrendous attacks.

Just yesterday, the Israeli government bombed the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt, further preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those who desperately need it. Hospitals in Gaza are in the midst of a catastrophic shortage of medical supplies, and blockades are not only preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the region but also further jeopardizing the very lives of innocent civilians.

To make matters worse, the State of Israel has also cut power in Gaza, leaving hospitals reliant on external generators that are running on borrowed time, as confirmed by the United Nations. This power crisis places thousands of patients in even more immediate danger, particularly those already on the brink of life and death, including kidney and cancer patients. And according to the United Nations Population Fund, the situation is further exacerbated by the alarming fact that nearly 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza cannot access health care due to the damaged hospitals. This power outage is also threatening the lives of newborns in incubators.

Just on the health care front, Speaker: 24 health facilities, including six hospitals, have been directly damaged by air strikes. Tragically, 15 health care workers have lost their lives, while another 27 have been injured. On top of this—just today, I believe—the Toronto Star reported a story of a direct air strike on a hospital that killed 500 Palestinians and had thousands of others that were in that hospital—this just happened.

On top of all of this, the UN relief agency has reported that almost 500,000 people have been left without access to food. How can we, as a global community, stand idly by while health care facilities are not only targeted but decimated, leaving countless innocent lives in jeopardy?

Lastly, access to clean drinking water—something we talk about in this House, Speaker—in Gaza is becoming increasingly scarce, with families spending hours just searching for water. Those who do find water often rely on private vendors operating small desalination and water purification plants, primarily using solar energy. Others are left with no choice but to drink brackish water from agricultural wells, sparking concerns about the potential outbreak of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

From food, fuel, power, water—humanitarian aid has been blocked. The blockade which has been ruthlessly imposed by the Israeli forces has deprived Palestinian residents of freedom of movement and crippled Gaza’s economy. These tactics by the Israeli government may very well amount to a war crime; in fact, they have all been well-documented by Human Rights Watch—not us here, but Human Rights Watch—Amnesty International and the Jewish organization B’Tselem as war crimes against Palestinians of all faiths. The United Nations Secretary-General has said that “we are on the verge of the abyss” as he urged Israel to consider the humanitarian rights of Palestinians.

So I ask this House: Do innocent Palestinian civilians not have the same rights to survive as everyone else in this world? I ask again: Do innocent Palestinian civilians not have the same rights to survive as everyone else in this world?

The UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini says this: “The siege in Gaza, the way it is imposed, is nothing else than”—and this is what they called it—“collective punishment,” demanding an immediate passage for essential supplies. When the UNRWA commissioner general calls it a collective punishment—and you can just look up on Wikipedia what a collective punishment identifies as. You are co-signing on something that gives a free pass for any state, for anybody, to go ahead and do whatever they want. Just think about what you’re signing on to. Just think about what you’re signing on to if you’re giving carte blanche to do what they want to do and commit such crimes. Just think about it.

This morning, I talked about members who have their own stories. There were Parliaments that were sitting and there were debates in 1971, when the genocide happened in my nation, where I was born, and there were genocides that took place in other places.

The impact of this war has also been felt here in Canada—and I talked about this this morning, as well—as we are seeing an alarming rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate. In a concerning incident last week, the Toronto police arrested three individuals, and their hate crime unit is now actively investigating threats that were aimed at a Jewish high school in North York—a school, we’re talking about. Such acts of blatant anti-Semitism are deeply, deeply troubling, and it is essential that they are thoroughly investigated and addressed, to ensure the safety and security of all community members.

The Toronto police have also investigated two recent acts of vandalism at a local mosque, both believed to be hate-driven, one of which occurred on October 12 at the mosque at Danforth and Donlands Avenues, which was targeted with hate symbols and hateful writing.

In the United States—and I want to share this example because it was particularly horrifying—we have also heard about the heartbreaking story of a six-year-old Palestinian American boy being stabbed 27 times by their landlord, simply for being Palestinian. His mother, Hanaan Shahin, was attacked and severely injured by a man because she said she would pray for peace as the conflict in Israel and Palestine raged on.

In these times, the urgency for de-escalation and a ceasefire cannot be overstated. The loss of thousands of innocent lives, including women, children, the elderly and their entire families, is unjustifiable. We must join the international community in calling for an immediate end to the violence.

I join my Ontario NDP colleagues—and I think I can say this for everyone in this Legislature—to call on the federal government to do everything possible to reunite family members of Canadians who were horrified and impacted by these attacks. We cannot lose any more lives.

A colleague of mine, a staff member of our caucus, my friend Farah, has given me permission to share this, so I will share her story: Last week, Farah received a call with unimaginably devastating news, news that she had lost 18 members of her family in Khan Younis, Gaza, and 10 members of her family are still under rubble. That’s 18 members of her family, the Samoor family, gone in minutes: grandparents, children, moms and dads gone, and 10 of them are still under rubble.

Speaker, her story is just one of many. It is with her family in mind, and the families of everyone affected by this horrific crisis, that we call for a ceasefire, a humanitarian aid corridor to save human lives. And we call for us to work towards a sustainable solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace, security and mutual self-determination.

The solution can only be political. There is no possible military solution to this decades-long conflict. I’m calling on our federal government to do everything in its power to stand with the United Nations in calling for peace and justice, and to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for international law.

Canada must also support international justice efforts by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes by all military actors in Israel and Palestine. All war crimes by all parties to this conflict must be prosecuted.

I stand with all people in Israel and Palestine who yearn for peace, freedom and security.

I’m honoured to speak to this motion this afternoon. Speaker, over the last few days, many of our institutions have failed us, but more importantly, they have failed our students. Their inability to condemn anti-Semitism and, quite frankly, their silence is disappointing and equally disturbing as the hateful statements that we’ve seen. I have been shocked and appalled by social messages and the statements coming from organizations and members from our post-secondary community supporting the atrocities that have been committed against innocent civilians.

I want to be clear: I am very concerned about Palestinian students that have family and friends trapped in Gaza during the military operations against Hamas. But I will not tolerate the harmful and dangerous actions coming from those within my sector.

This government has been abundantly clear on our position regarding celebratory statements on the killings of Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists. The celebration, justification and/or denial of the atrocities committed by Hamas or other affiliated terrorist groups have no place in Ontario and certainly not in our post-secondary institutions, and therefore should be grounds for misconduct.

Speaker, on October 11, I sent out a memo to all post-secondary institutions to remind them of one of their priority obligations: to ensure that each and every campus is healthy, safe and a respectful learning environment. I want to inform the Legislature that I followed up regarding this memo by meeting with college and university presidents last Friday. At the meeting, I informed institutions that they need to work with one another to adopt appropriate measures to address any incidents of hate, racism and discrimination at their institutions. That includes ensuring students are not faced with discrimination, harassment or hate on campuses.

In the aftermath of the Second World War, the world saw the atrocities of the Holocaust and said “never again.” Ontario and the rest of Canada have made it their mission to ensure the justification of difference and otherness within our institutions becomes a thing of the past.

I want to thank the leadership of our colleges and universities for coming together under such short notice to work together. I specifically want to thank the leadership of McMaster University, York University and the University of Toronto, which have responded quickly to matters developing on their campuses and have developed plans to continue their work to ensure the safety of students on campus.

However, over the past several days, it has become apparent that some post-secondary sector members, student organizations and a member of this chamber have failed. Campuses are supposed to encourage debate and free speech. They should never be a place that incite and justify violence and hate speech. There is a line that has been repeatedly crossed, without any response from their members.

After seeing the statement by the York University students’ union and the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union that praises Hamas terrorist actions as necessary—it’s absolutely appalling. The student union defended the actions of Hamas and other affiliated terrorist groups. They defended rape, torture and mass murder. They knew the crimes they were justifying and supporting. While Ontario watched in horror at what was unfolding in Israel, individuals in our post-secondary institutions were laughing, celebrating and justifying these horrific acts. I was speechless, as were all Ontarians.

We’ve asked institutions to respond and ask student unions to take down their posts justifying violence and hate. To those who have removed their posts, either through self-reflection or at the direction of others, thank you. But actions still have consequences.

Today, Speaker, I call upon York University and the University of Toronto Mississauga to investigate and, if necessary, bring non-academic misconduct reviews regarding the actions of the executives of both respective unions for their statements.

The students on the executive who signed the letters are—and I’m going to name the students. I’m sorry if I mispronounce their names, but I think it’s important that their names are in Hansard, because these students put their names on letters in public, supporting Hamas:

—the York Federation of Students executive team: Ashley D’Souza, Rehaan Lachporia, Gemner Sandoval Fuentes, Olivia Ferguson and Shiniah Mark;

—the York University graduate executive team: Alireza Gorgani, Arefeh Shamskhany, Nathi Zamisa, Faezeh Esmaeili, Ali Gholami and Marjan Abdolahi;

—the University of Toronto Mississauga executive team: Gulfy Bekbolatova, Ruth Alemayehu, Kiki Ayoola, John Liang, Jasnoor Sandhu and Layana Alnabhan; and

—the Glendon College Student Union.

Speaker, let me be abundantly clear: Students who support terrorism must be held accountable for their public statements. But they were not alone. We also saw professors and teaching faculty join them in these statements. The executive at CUPE 3906 at McMaster University, who represent the teaching assistants, sessional professors and post-doctorate staff, glorified—yes, glorified—the violence as it was occurring and doubled down on their celebrations afterwards.

A social work professor, Dr. Jessica Hutchison at Laurier, justified—yes, actually justified—the sexual violence and mass murder. This is a social work professor. I have no words. But I do, however, want to acknowledge Laurier’s president, Dr. MacLatchy, for unequivocally condemning the attacks and addressing this matter with the professor. This is the leadership we need to see more of in this sector.

An Osgoode Hall law professor, Heidi Matthews, attempted to justify and diminish the murder of Israeli children by Hamas. She had in 2019 also stated: “The intent to kill ... a Jew even because you hate them does not equal the intent to destroy Jews ‘as a group.’”

A University of Toronto law professor, Mohammad Fadel, re-posted, celebrating “Hamas fighters” and nothing to apologize for or feel guilty about regarding the massacres on Israeli civilians.

As I’ve said and we’ve heard here today, it’s difficult to find words. These comments are despicable. These individuals thought they could hide behind the ivory tower. Well, it’s time for them to touch grass. These are the individuals who teach our students. They hold significant authority over the students they teach. How are our students supposed to feel safe when they have anti-Semites teaching them? How are our students supposed to prepare for the world when they feel obligated to conform their answers to the twisted world views of their professors or teaching assistants?

I’d also like to take a moment to mention that they were not alone, even in this House. MPP Jama has tried to justify the atrocities that unfolded. She apologized for the post, but she was documented attending rallies which glorified the crimes committed by Hamas terrorists. According to Documenting Antisemitism, the rallies she had attended were organized by those known for promoting Holocaust denial.

Some may criticize me for naming them in this forum, but there’s no doubt there are more who share their views but do not post them online.

I’ll ask you one last question: How can leaders in the public sector allow them to continue to openly spout anti-Semitism? In this forum, we have the privilege to hold people accountable, without fear of retribution, and to stand up for those who cannot do it themselves.

I know Jewish students who are afraid to go to class, and I don’t blame them. A grandmother confided in me that she’s afraid for her grandchildren’s safety on campus.

Let me read to you a family group text that was sent to me by a good friend the other day. This is from Bubi:

“Hi everyone—I am very concerned by the fact that CHAT was threatened with violence today—thankfully it was contained & didn’t develop into anything more serious but just should make us aware of what could happen!

“Terrible atrocities happen to Jewish people but there are so many who will not see or care about that—they will just see & care how Israel retaliates!

“I just want to send a message to our students—be careful & try to keep a low profile on campus for the next while—please be aware!

“I don’t want to scare anyone—just ask you to be smart & stay safe!” Love “your Bubi who loves you.”

I received many calls, emails, DMs from students, from parents but even from faculty members, who are afraid for their safety on campus. We have consistently heard from students at York University. They are fearful for their classmates who watched on social media as the people they study beside espouse vitriol.

In our meeting on Friday, post-secondary institutions gave us their word that students will feel safe on campus. Be assured, the government and I, as the minister, will hold them accountable. To those who celebrate terror, to those planning to bring this hate to our campuses, let it be known that you will be held to account.

It is without hesitation that I condemn Hamas and its massacre of Israeli civilians. There is never a justification for this kind of violence.

The Hamas attack on October 7 was defined to inflict maximum suffering on Israeli civilians. It was the realization of the worst violent fantasies Hamas could imagine. The goal was to administer as much pain as possible to the victims, to the victims’ family and friends and to Israel forever after. Thirteen hundred lives were lost; 150 people were taken hostage. Families were fractured. Children will grow up without their parents; parents will now grow old without their children. Some families were wiped out entirely.

But the suffering reverberates beyond those lives. In Canada and around the world there is growing unrest. People of all faiths and backgrounds are unsettled and feeling unsafe amidst rising anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. My heart is with all those who are suffering, all those who have been lost and all those who continue to suffer in the wake of the carnage Hamas wrought.

But we must remember: Hamas is an illegal terrorist group who rules Gaza with an iron fist. They do not represent all Palestinians. The truth is that Palestinian people deserve better. They deserve leadership that does not plunge them into war with atrocities they knew would trigger a political response.

In the days since the Hamas massacre, Israel has asserted its right to defend itself, and we join them in calling for hostages to be released, civilian life to be preserved and peace for all mankind.