I move that this House condemn the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of innocent Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors, and recognize the inalienable right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.

I move that the motion be amended by deleting the words “being carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas” and replacing them with “perpetrated by Hamas terrorists.”

Mr. Speaker, during this past week, many people have reached out to me. They’ve called, they’ve sent messages, and they’ve sent emails and asked me how I am doing. I said, like so many people in our Jewish community around the world and in Israel, we are really not okay. How can we be?

To be human is to be a storyteller. All the narratives we construct—the true ones, the untrue ones, and the ones we tell ourselves are true but are not—are acts of self-construction, prisms of understanding by which we build our own identity. We tell all sorts of tales to clean up our prickly pasts. We do it all the time, sometimes not even knowing it.

Today, I want to put a spotlight on a story that is absolutely true and that needs to be told now and in this place.

There are no words any human can say to describe the largest and most vicious attack on Jews since the Holocaust. There are no words. How could there be any other expression to describe the sadistic barbarism of the Hamas terrorists hunting down people, just because they were Jews, in their homes, at bus stops and at a music festival while at the same time, and in real time, happily broad-casting their rampage to exalted crowds in Gaza and around the world? What words could we come up with that convey the terror of Hamas throwing grenades into bomb shelters and burning people alive in front of their loved ones, slaughtering and dismembering parents before their children’s own eyes? Hamas terrorists rounded up Holocaust survivors. There is simply no depraved act that you could imagine that they did not do.

Isaac Herzog, president of the democratic State of Israel, told CNN and the world, if you can believe this, that Hamas terrorists who infiltrated Israel were carrying manuals with instructions on how to torture and kidnap those they found. The president noted that many of the hostages—over 200—are elderly or children. He said, “Who are these hostages? Babies, pregnant women, elderly people with dementia, even with caretakers, families, innocent civilians, from 36 nations—people were killed or abducted from 36 nations.”

During the onslaught on Israeli border communities, the terrorists killed over 1,300 people, most of them civilians, and, as I said, took almost 200 hostages.

There are simply no adequate words.

Mr. Speaker, we have legitimate agency and control over the decisions we make. We know, as civilized people, there is right and there is wrong—there is no world that Hamas’s deeds could find justification amongst civilized peoples. Our eyes are filled with tears, but in those tears, we have found moral clarity—moral clarity that Premier Ford spoke of with such emotion; I was standing right beside him, together with so many from our caucus, a week ago, when 15,000 grieving people attended at Mel Lastman Square, just a few days after the terrorist attack.

Thank you, Premier, for what you said that night and for your support of Israel.

We must see the group Hamas for who they really are. I’ll tell you who they are: unabashed, unapologetic, sick and megalomaniac terrorists.

We’re here in this chamber of democracy, and we must reject any moral equivalency. This is not a land dispute or competing aspirations for national sovereignty, a he-said-she-said dispute about conflicting dual narratives. This is a face of evil revealed, a violent ideology that would kill Jews for being Jews, that neither represents the Muslim faith or the national interest of the Palestinian people or any future of coexistence. Mr. Speaker, we have a big problem when we cannot call evil “evil”—of condemning targeted violence against innocents.

We also need to understand again that for Israel, when you are dealing with the devil, it is incredibly hard to act like an angel.

Of all the emotions I have experienced since the attack, the most surreal to me has always been shock, horror and anger, and sadness at the lives lost and of the injured.

My wife and I are proud parents of three accomplished children, and we, ourselves, have not found the words we need to comfort our own children for the acts that they have witnessed in their own generation.

We must never be afraid to teach our children the difference between right and wrong and to call out black and white when others just see shades of grey.

Mr. Speaker, the silence is deafening, and right now we cannot be silent. Israel and the Jews everywhere, especially in these days, understand the power of words. You see, words bolster nations, and they build bridges among communities we all call home. They encourage healing. Words matter because the truth matters. And yet, words can also be barriers and curses and weapons. We know that silence, the opposite of words, can be deafening and has the power to create uncertainty and chaos.

As I reflected this week in the aftermath of an unimaginable horror, I was shocked by the words I heard from people in our greater communities that, to me, made very little sense. They spoke of resistance and freedom fighters—words and phrases that sought to justify and approve the Hamas terrorism; unbelievable words that seemed to blame the democratic State of Israel for these horrific attacks; words that, for some, gave an excuse or an explanation to blame innocent children and babies, teenagers at a music festival, Holocaust survivors for their own murder, something that a rational person could never comprehend. There is no modern-day equivalent to any acts in our modern day that remotely comes close. And we waited, as the Jewish community waited, for those to stand up with us in solidarity, and to be honest, some did—our caucus did; our government did; and a few in this place also joined us—but not everyone did, and the silent absence of some left a void in our hearts. We witnessed hurtful statements from student federations on campuses, from unions who could not bring themselves to tell the truth—the truth that the terrorist acts had an intention to make Jews their victims.

Mr. Speaker, months ago and in the aftermath of the earthquake that ravaged Syria and Türkiye, Israel and the Jewish community stepped forward. I forged bonds personally—wonderful friendships that I consider a privilege—with our Turkish community.

There is, I believe, a common denominator, that we have to treat a person like we want to be treated ourselves.

Today, my words of truth might offend some, and yet at the same time, it’s important that we extend a hand of friendship, because it’s not too late. I remember the stories, not so many years ago, that many of you might remember, of the Jewish community standing in a circle after mosques in Ontario were threatened. The circle of unity and friendship reminded us what is truly important: the powers that bind one to another. It’s not too late.

Intergenerational trauma can never mask or justify the horrific torture and murder of civilians. What we have seen in our province recently is very disconcerting—slogans that we’ve seen on TV from blatant anti-Semites. “From the River to the Sea”—this means the destruction of Israel. This is completely unacceptable, and we will call them out. Again, they want to blame the Jewish community for no reason.

For anyone who is not sure—and I’ve said it in this place: Hate is toxic to our democracy.

We need to be clear on a few things. Do not equate Hamas with the Palestinian people. Unlike our enemies, who wish us ill, I am sad—our Jewish community is sad—when we see the loss of life in Gaza. The Palestinians themselves are held hostage by a terrorist regime, and the terrorist regime will not even let them leave. They’re standing at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt. They want to get out.

Many may not appreciate or know that thousands of Palestinians crossed into Israel, just before the conflict—daily. I’ve seen this for myself. If you travel to Eilat, Israel and you go to the Rabin border crossing, you’ll see hundreds and hundreds of Jordanians and Palestinians crossing in to work. They come in the morning, and they go home at night—and that was the same at the Gaza crossing, south of Sderot. How many knew that?

Tying these Hamas attacks with Palestinian resistance is an insult to the Palestinians who actually hate Hamas.

Israel is not, contrary to what people say, an apartheid state—this is the purposeful intention of Hamas, to tell you that, thinking that you will believe this. It’s not true. For Jews, sovereignty of the land of modern-day Israel goes back a millennium, and the Jews in Israel treasure their homeland.

But I want to tell you who else is in Israel. Our democratic State of Israel has over two million Israeli Arabs who call the land their home as well. They vote, own businesses, are free to be free, and are part of the miracle of Israel that belongs to them as well. For them, this is their country too.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll tell you about modern-day Israel. It’s a start-up nation. It’s incredible. For those who have been fortunate, like myself and many others in this House, to have travelled to Israel in recent years—it is actually unrecognizable from the minute you get off the plane. It’s a miracle. If you go to Jerusalem, you will see something absolutely amazing: the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the via dolorosa—side by side—and parishioners praying daily and peacefully.

In the wake of horrific darkness, we know there’s an opportunity to let the light in again.

I look at our Ontario. It’s special, and it’s unique. It’s a kaleidoscope, a collage of incredible and irreplaceable diversity, of secular and religious, of different faiths, of different creeds. The quilt of Ontario is ours. It is a microcosm of cultures living together. And there are inherent values we share in our Ontario—the values of our rights to live safely in our own homes and communities so we can take our kids to school and wake up our loved ones, we can go to work, we can shop, and we can pray. And we are grateful beyond measure for those who keep our communities safe each and every day.

What I have said and the Premier has said in this place—we will always have the backs of everyone who keeps Ontario safe.

I want to acknowledge the unbelievable support of our police and firefighters in the last few days. They have been so concerned for everyone’s welfare in Ontario—but specifically, the Jewish community.

Madame la Présidente, je voudrais remercier chaque personne et tous les premiers intervenants qui travaillent fort pour assurer la sécurité de notre province. Je prends mon rôle sérieusement. C’est un honneur d’assurer la sécurité de notre province.

Our quilt has bonds that have been tested before, and while those bonds—the fabric in the quilt—have been stretched, they never broke. Let’s remember that. As many of our clergy said this past Sabbath, we need to be able to get out of our comfort zone. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one needs help, everyone should run to help. What binds us is so much stronger than what separates us. We can never let anyone tear our quilt apart.

Madame la Présidente, la raison de leur service est pour faire une différence dans la vie des gens, lorsqu’ils ne s’y attendent pas, et parce que nous croyons en notre province et en notre avenir; because each of us has the power to make a difference in a person’s life every day, because we believe in our Ontario and in our future.

I will always be there for my Jewish community. I know who I am. I know how I stand and where I stand, and I am proud of this. But I’m also here for all of my Ontario. Every day, I will always try to do something for somebody in some group. My commitment to my province will never change. They will always be able to count on me, and I will tell you why: Every day, I try to learn something new. One day, we will all pass through the surly bonds of life and be part of the ages. The only thing we will leave behind is our accomplishments.

Each of us can walk down the street and bump into history. And sometimes we do not know when we will have a collision with history. Sometimes we are at a fork in our lives.

This moment, as we think about it, might not be our fate; this moment may be our destiny. May we find it together. Thank you, merci beaucoup, and meegwetch.

October 7 was a tragic day for Israel, for the Jewish people, for the entire peace-loving world. Each of us watched in horror as children, the elderly, and even Holocaust survivors were stolen, beaten and slaughtered at the hands of Hamas.

Madam Speaker, these attacks are not just another conflict on the other side of the world; the impact is being felt throughout the country, including Ontario.

The Ottawa family of Adi Vital-Kaploun, a 33-year-old Israeli Canadian, is reeling from her senseless murder simply because she was Jewish. By all accounts, Adi was a beautiful person with a warm soul. She was an amazing mother to two boys, a four-year-old and a four-month-old, who will not have a mother now because the terrorists went and killed her. She had her whole life ahead of her. It’s so tragic and so unfair.

Sadly, there are others. Six Canadians in Israel are now confirmed dead in the Hamas attack. Two Canadians are still missing, and families are worrying about their loved ones in Gaza.

We must condemn Hamas and Hamas’s heinous terror acts—acts of terror that have brought turmoil to the region, acts of terror that are using innocent Palestinians as human shields. Do you believe that, Madam Speaker? They’re using Palestinians as human shields to go attack Israel and kill Israelis. Disgusting.

There is no excuse, no justification for the horror we’ve seen. This is terrorism in its darkest form.

We must be clear: Israel has an absolute right to defend itself and its citizens. We must stand firm in our support for Israel and the Jewish people, both abroad and at home.

Here in Ontario and across Canada, our Jewish friends and neighbours face the constant threat of violence. It’s another painful reminder of the work left to do to stomp out the cancer of anti-Semitism once and for all. It’s why our government is investing over $25 million, through our Anti-Hate Security and Prevention Grant, to address the rise of hate against religious and minority groups—including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It’s why our government is investing $150,000 to support the new Toronto Holocaust Museum. And through our great Minister of Education, it’s why we have mandated Holocaust education in our schools.

We cannot hope for a better future if we forget the past, and we cannot hope for a better future if we lose sight of who we are and who we aspire to be.

No one in Ontario should ever be targeted because of their faith. No one in Ontario should ever be afraid to pray to their God.

So today I stand in this House and call on everyone in Ontario to remember who we are as a province—peaceful, tolerant and respectful.

Now, more than ever, Ontario’s Jewish community needs our support—and I always say we will always have their backs. They need to be reminded of the best of us. They need to be reminded that there’s far more that unites us than divides us. And what unites us is rejecting brutal acts of terror from Hamas and other terrorists around the world

As we stand firm in our support for Israel, we pray for the safety of all innocent people. Hamas’s actions and its unrelenting dedication to terror show no regard for human life—Israeli or Palestinian. Now, more than ever, we wish for lasting peace and freedom for everyone in the region, and that can only be achieved by defeating the terrorist group Hamas for the good of Israel and the Palestinian people, and for the good of all humanity.

May God bless the memory of those we’ve lost. May He bring home those who were stolen. And may God bless the people of Israel.

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.

The horrific terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas has evoked historical memories of anti-Semitic hatred. There is immense sorrow and fear being felt around the world. Nothing justifies the organized, targeted slaughter of civilians, and it must always be condemned.

Hamas does not accept the existence of Israel and employs violence as a means to achieve their end.

Israel has a right under international law to defend itself and, in the coming days, it will try to rescue the hostages and neutralize Hamas.

In Gaza, there are innocent civilians who are in harm’s way. The governments of Israel and other countries, including Canada, have a responsibility to uphold international law and to minimize innocent civilian casualties. Canada has called for unimpeded humanitarian access and a humanitarian corridor to civilians in Gaza, which would be a good step. For the good of the entire international community, the governments of Israel and other countries must keep in mind the need to retain prospects for peace in the long term.

Here at home, our social bonds and political sympathies may lie in different places, but we have an obligation to live together respectfully. Respect can begin with acknowledging the pain and anguish on all sides of this conflict. Perhaps it is in our own communities where many are grief-stricken, but relationships between different diaspora communities within the Canadian social fabric are not yet broken. Perhaps it is there that the seeds of future peace may find fertile ground. There is no place for hatred towards each other in Ontario.

Let’s work against division at home. Salaam. Shalom. Peace.

As we prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving just a few short days ago, we heard the horrible attacks that by the terrorist organization Hamas against the citizens of Israel. I mourn the loss of the Israeli Canadians and all those killed in this conflict.

I share the pain of residents from the diverse communities in Don Valley West in expressing my horror at the reprehensible attacks carried out by Hamas against the citizens of Israel, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of Israeli civilians, including babies, children and seniors.

I want to thank the Solicitor General and the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for their moving remarks and for sharing their personal stories this morning.

I stand with the Prime Minister and the government in clearly stating that Israel has a right to defend itself in accordance with international law and I add my voice to those calling for the immediate release of all hostages and demand that they be treated in accordance with international law. Their families are waiting for them and want them back home.

I know that myself and residents of Don Valley West are also deeply saddened to see the humanitarian crisis unfolding now in Gaza, especially the deaths of innocent women and children. That loss in Israel and Gaza is extremely disturbing, and I, along with many Ontarians, cry when thinking of the pain of the families and communities affected. The terrorist organization Hamas has the blood of innocent Israelis and Palestinians on their hands, and we cannot let their efforts to divide those in the Middle East divide good people around the world, including us here in our city and our province.

I add my prayers to those of many in our city, our province, our country and our world for a return to peace talks and to peace. At other times in history, in different regions of the world, we have thought that peace was unattainable, but indeed a peace process was built by demonstrating an alternative to violence. I hope the peoples of Israel and Gaza will see this peace soon.

Madam Speaker, I stand here with a very heavy heart. Every single one of us in this chamber is reeling in shock and dismay at what is transpiring at this moment in the Holy Land, which began early Saturday morning last week when the vicious terrorist group Hamas broke through the border fence from Gaza to Israel and massacred hundreds of civilians. They killed men, women and children, young and old, Jew and Bedouin Arab alike.

This was terrorism. This was cruelty, not only to strike civilians, but to strike Jewish civilians on Shabbat—an echo of countless violent moments throughout the history of the Jewish people.

Israel has a right to defend itself within the confines of international law, much like any other sovereign state. In the comfort of this House and the stability of Ontario, we can say that with ease. We are safe here, far away from marauding gunmen and exploding of rockets. Over there, it is war, and all war means is that thousands of people—Israelis, Palestinians, Canadians, Americans, United Nations personnel, Doctors Without Borders volunteers—will die.

What are we doing to stop the bloodshed? It was an Ontarian—a Torontonian—who came up with the UN’s peacekeeping initiative: the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson. That is who we should aspire to be, but all we can offer today is words. We could be debating sending funds to assist, medical personnel, material support to civilians and to the federal government as they try to get Canadians home.

I came to Queen’s Park to make the world a better place, so let’s all work to accomplish that. I stand against hate which divides, which only ever leads to suffering. I stand for peace. We must all stand for peace for the innocent civilians of Israel and Palestine, because as we give our speeches here, thousands of innocent men, women and children are dying, and that is a tragedy for all.

Last week, the terrorist group Hamas planned and conducted a terrorist attack of unspeakable brutality. They killed innocent civilians in cold blood with premeditated barbarism and hatred. These attacks must be condemned with absolute moral clarity. Their blatant disregard for the laws of armed conflict and international law and humanitarianism cannot be tolerated by civilized democracies. There can never be justification for killing innocent civilians.

The loss that the families and loved ones of these victims are enduring is nearly impossible to imagine. We can’t possibly understand your pain. Our sympathies are indeed insufficient.

Madam Speaker, we all need to stand with the people of Israel and defend their right to exist. There is no question that that is the obligation of any government, to protect its citizens, and that is what Israel must do. I can’t possibly imagine the anguish, the anger and the suffering brought about as a result of these Hamas terrorist attacks. We must do everything we can to denounce this terror and work together to protect all innocent civilians.

We all have a responsibility to contribute to the containment of these evils. We must resist those who wish to fan the flames of war and terror. There are those who wish to turn up the division, fear, anger, and to escalate it into revenge and retribution. This would be a mistake.

Innocent civilians need to be protected, both Israelis and Palestinians. Terrorist efforts cannot be permitted to destabilize the region, to escalate and broaden the conflict or spread fear or incite more hatred and division. Beware of those looking for an opportunity to do just that.

Madam Speaker, we stand together with our allies. We condemn these abhorrent attacks. We commit to protect all innocent civilians. We call for humanitarian relief wherever it is needed. We demand an immediate release of all hostages and commit to bring about an end to the violence and the bloodshed.

Madam Speaker, the British Prime Minister recently said, “Humanity, law, decency, respect for human life—that is what sets us apart from the mindless violence of the terrorist.” I couldn’t agree more.

Madam Speaker, it’s the responsibility of all of us to condemn in the strongest terms the barbaric attacks committed by the Hamas terrorists, and we must also do everything we can to protect innocent civilians and to challenge those who would fan the flames of fear, hatred and division, both here and abroad.

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.

I rise to support this motion and the House’s condemnation of the ongoing and reprehensible attacks being carried out against the people of Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas.

To my friends in the Palestinian community, I stand with you and your concern for those loved ones who are back in Gaza who are being used as human shields by these terrorists.

As of today, over 1,400 Israelis lie dead at the hands of Hamas. An additional 3,400 have been injured. Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7 resulted in the highest number of Jews killed in a single day since the Holocaust. Among those killed are six Canadians: 22-year-old Shir Georgy, who was killed while enjoying a music festival; 33-year-old Adi Vital-Kaploun, who has been described by her family as a beautiful woman who brought love and lightness to the people around her; 22-year-old Ben Mizrachi, described by his teachers as being a kind, wonderful and community-minded young man who had a positive influence on everyone around him; 33-year-old Alexandre Look, who was described as a hero wanting to protect the people he was with, by his father; 21-year-old Netta Epstein, who jumped on a grenade to save the life of his fiancée; and Tiferet Lapidot, a brilliant young woman who had just celebrated her 23rd birthday.

We will keep them in our prayers, and we will not let their names or their stories be forgotten.

Speaker, in 2019, I supported the passage of an Act to combat antisemitism, and I thank my colleague from Eglinton–Lawrence for putting forward that legislation with me. This act utilizes the working definition of anti-Semitism and the list of illustrated examples adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance plenary on May 26, 2016. Jewish Ontarians have been protected from discrimination and hate amounting to anti-Semitism under this act.

I remember, Speaker, the first time I got to go to a Righteous Among the Nations ceremony at the Jewish consulate here in Toronto. They were honouring a Dutch family, teachers who hid Jewish people in the Second World War. Their daughter was there to accept the award on behalf of her parents, who had passed away. I remember people asking me, “Why did you bring forward this anti-Semitism act? You don’t have a large Jewish community in your riding. You are not Jewish yourself,” and I can’t help but think of the words of the daughter of these brave Dutch people who hid Jews. She said, “You know, it’s interesting. We never talked with my parents about why they did what they did. They never talked about it with their friends, why they did what they did. They just did it because it was the right thing to do.” And we stand here today with this motion in front of us because it is the right thing to do.

Here today, I pledge once again to stand with Jewish Ontarians, many of whom are grieving the losses of friends and family in Israel, and condemn the heinous crimes Hamas has carried out against Israel and the anti-Semitic rhetoric of those who support Hamas’s frenzied evil.

I spoke to a Jewish friend last week. She told me, though tears, that they had come to her cousin’s school with knives. That happens here. We cannot allow that to happen under our watch. I just listened to the Minister of Colleges and Universities call out names, and have them recorded in this House, of people who stand for this kind of terror in this province. That is unacceptable. We cannot allow that to happen in our nation and in this province.

Canada is home to the third-largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and the majority of these Canadian Jews live in Ontario. Over the course of the last week, Jewish Ontarians have shown remarkable resilience in the face of various anti-Semitic threats directed towards Jewish schools, including hate-fuelled threats made to Jewish high school students at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto. There have also been blatant displays of support for terrorists in our province, as some demonstrators flew both Hamas and Taliban flags at a protest in Mississauga this past week.

By condemning Hamas, our government will make it clear to Ontarians, especially Jewish Ontarians, that we unequivocally support Israel, rebuke the actions of terrorists and stand against anti-Semitism. To that end, there are those who have branded Hamas as freedom fighters or revolutionaries. Freedom fighters do not enter kibbutz after kibbutz, opening fire indiscriminately on civilians. Freedom fighters do not intentionally target civilians at music festivals. Revolutionaries do not rape innocent mothers and daughters, and revolutionaries do not kill innocent babies and children too young to even comprehend the fervid hatred that is being exacted upon them. These are the actions of terrorists, and we must not allow moral equivalences to be made between terrorists who descend on music festivals full of innocent young people with the intent to rape and kill as many Jews as possible, as Hamas has done, and the IDF soldiers who have retaliated against Hamas combatants who used civilian lives as shields and whose terrorist base of operations was once located underneath a hospital.

To compound their misery, those in Gaza are facing a water crisis in addition to the violence of war. Yet, in shocking video released by Hamas themselves, Hamas soldiers can be seen digging up water pipes in Gaza, which were then re-lathed and machined into missiles to fire at Israel.

If there was even a shred of doubt left in the mind of those still defending the barbaric actions of Hamas, recent photos have shown Hamas soldiers blocking the evacuation of Gaza residents from the conflict zone. The only people twisted enough to trap the people they claim to represent in what is becoming an inhospitable stretch of rubble can be described only as terrorists, and their actions hurt both Israelis and Palestinians alike.

We cannot negotiate or come to a peaceful resolution with terrorists. War is ugly and must be avoided at all costs. However, when a sovereign state is faced with an existential terrorist threat, defensive measures must be taken.

If Hamas stopped fighting today and released the Israeli hostages they still hold, peace could return immediately. In contrast, if Israel stopped fighting, Hamas would continue to rape, murder and torture every Israeli until the state of Israel and every Jew within it was totally and violently destroyed. Every drop of blood spilled needlessly in Gaza, both Israeli and Palestinian, is on the hands of Hamas. It is Israel’s inalienable right as a legitimate and sovereign state to protect its people and its border.

Israel and Canada have long stood as partners on the world stage. Our friendship with the Israeli people is rooted in our shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It is the duty of our government to condemn Hamas’ attempts to erode these values and support Israel’s right to defend itself in accordance with international law and in Gaza.

While the situation in Gaza remains chaotic and shrouded by the fog of war, three things are clear:

—Hamas is a terrorist organization and must be condemned;

—anti-Semitism has no place in Ontario or anywhere; and

—I and we stand with the sovereign state of Israel and recognize its inalienable right to defend itself and its people against this horrific violence.

Madam Speaker, I will continue to pray for peace.

Je voudrais commencer par donner mes sympathies aux familles. Je pense que tous ici en Chambre ne peuvent pas réaliser l’horreur que ces familles vivent, comme c’est là—qu’ils soient palestiniens ou israéliens. Je pense que tout le monde souffre de la guerre. C’est inacceptable que le Hamas ait attaqué. Ce sont des terroristes, et il faut le reconnaître.

Nous, les Ontariens et les Ontariennes, avons l’ultime privilège de nous réveiller chaque jour dans le confort de nos maisons, avec nos familles en sécurité, sans jamais nous demander si nous allons revoir notre famille à la fin de la journée. Nous ne pouvons réellement pas comprendre ce qu’on prend pour acquis.

Le cycle de violence en Israël et en Palestine brise le coeur des communautés partout dans le monde, y compris dans les foyers des Ontariens et des Ontariennes. Toutes nos pensées sont avec nos voisins, nos amis et nos collègues qui ont de la famille ou des connexions dans la région. Toutes nos pensées vont aussi avec les victimes de l’attaque du Hamas le 7 octobre dernier contre des civils israéliens. Nous condamnons et avons toujours condamné les attaques terroristes qui sèment la détresse et font des victimes civiles, qui pensaient retrouver leurs familles à la fin de leur journée. Ces attaques ont brisé les coeurs de tous les Ontariens et les Canadiens.

La violence dont la communauté internationale est témoin depuis est inquiétante et se déroule à une vitesse alarmante. Des milliers de civils innocents, qui n’ont aucune responsabilité des décisions de la tranche politique, paient avec leur vie. La mort violente de milliers de civils, le règne de la peur et les milliers de blessés ne portent aucune gloire et doivent toujours être condamnés.

Les Canadiens juifs et les Canadiens palestiniens vivent une détresse psychologique inexplicable. Les événements qu’ils voient défiler chaque jour dans les nouvelles peuvent enclencher la peur, des inquiétudes profondes et un sentiment d’impuissance que nous partageons avec eux. Soyez certains que nous répondrons présents pour que ces citoyens canadiens reçoivent toute l’aide en santé psychologique qu’ils peuvent avoir pour qu’ils ne se sentent pas seuls dans ces moments d’une difficulté inexplicable.

Il est important que chacun d’entre nous se pose la question à savoir si nos actions sont alignées avec la paix et la cohésion sociale. Dans cette pensée, il est inconcevable de célébrer les attaques du Hamas. Chaque personne qui a célébré cette attaque est fautive d’avoir intensifié la violence. C’est franchement condamnable. Ces actions ont gravement blessé la communauté juive et ne sont pas justifiables. Nous devons être solidaires envers la communauté juive et condamner ces célébrations.

Nous avons aussi été témoins de messages racistes qui mettent tous les Palestiniens dans le même bateau que le Hamas pour justifier la violence sur les civils innocents, qui ne sont pas représentatifs de cette violence. Cela a aussi gravement blessé la communauté palestinienne et n’est pas justifiable. Nous condamnons aussi les messages de certains membres du Parlement israélien qui demandent une deuxième Nakba.

Je répète : il est important que chacun d’entre nous se pose la question à savoir comment nous alignons nos actions et nos paroles à appeler à la paix et à la cohésion sociale. Lorsqu’on célèbre les douleurs des autres, ce n’est pas ce qu’on fait. Il faut absolument mettre l’effort nécessaire, parfois un effort demandant, de parler par la paix. C’est de reconnaître l’humanité qui nous unit plutôt que nos différences, de reconnaître la souffrance que porte chaque communauté, pour crier pour la paix et non la haine.

Notre rôle comme députés dans une province où nous vivons dans la sécurité et le confort est parfois difficile à placer et à concevoir dans une telle situation. S’il y a une chose que je sais, c’est que nous avons la responsabilité de diffuser la paix.

La paix, c’est rapatrier les Israéliens-Canadiens pour leur sécurité.

C’est aussi faciliter un corridor humanitaire pour la bande de Gaza, demander la fin du siège total sur Gaza et demander au gouvernement fédéral de pousser pour cela dans ses compétences en matière de relations internationales.

C’est aussi rejoindre notre parti au fédéral lorsqu’il demande une solution diplomatique plutôt que militaire au conflit qui dure depuis des décennies. Je le joins aussi lorsqu’il demande que le Canada fasse tout en son pouvoir pour respecter nos valeurs canadiennes, qui sont la protection des civils, le respect du droit international, la mise en place d’un cessez-le-feu et la désescalade du conflit.

Notre rôle, encore une fois, comme député dans un pays qui représente la paix et la suprématie du droit : nous avons cette responsabilité de faciliter un processus de paix. Nous devons agir et utiliser notre voix pour la sécurité de tous dans la région, pour le respect des droits et libertés des Israéliens et des Palestiniens de façon égale, sans différenciation dans leurs droits.

Je suis un député du nord de l’Ontario, une région qui selon toute apparence est loin du conflit, mais une région qui représente très bien ce que c’est d’être Ontarien. Nous sommes une population de paix. Si vous allez dans le Nord, vous allez voir que le racisme et la haine n’ont pas leur place en Ontario. Les crimes de haine sur les synagogues et les mosquées n’ont pas leur place. Les rapports qui montrent une augmentation de ces crimes suite au conflit sont horribles.

Encore une fois, j’appelle tous à prendre un pas en arrière et de se demander si nos propres actions amènent à la paix. Clairement, des actes de racismes flagrants n’ont absolument pas leur place, ni en Ontario, ni au Canada, mais clairement nulle part ailleurs.

Nous sommes aussi une population de compassion. Dans ce cas, nous sommes tous ébranlés que les Ontariens juifs et les Ontariens musulmans se voient devoir augmenter la sécurité dans leurs lieux de culte et culture.

Lorsque nous voyons des nouvelles sur ces centres hébreux ou des synagogues rapportant des événements de vandalisme et de harcèlement dans leurs lieux de rassemblement, je suis choqué. Cela n’a pas sa place et n’aura jamais sa place dans notre province.

Lorsque nous voyons des nouvelles sur des mosquées et des centres culturels islamiques qui rapportent des événements de vandalisme et de harcèlement dans leurs lieux de rassemblement, je suis aussi choqué. Cela ne représente pas et ne représentera jamais les Ontariens et les Ontariennes. Ces actions naissent de mauvaises conceptions qui assimilent tous les individus à des actions condamnables. Encore une fois, tous les Israéliens ne sont pas leur gouvernement, tous les Palestiniens ne sont pas le Hamas, et tous les musulmans ne sont pas pro-terrorisme. Rappelons que tous les Palestiniens ne sont pas musulmans.

Ce conflit va au-delà de la religion. C’est un cycle de violence auquel il faut mettre fin. Ce conflit n’est pas une question de partisanerie. Ce n’est pas une question de langue ou d’identité.

Encore une fois, je reviens à ma pensée qui a initié mon intervention. Nous sommes l’une des populations les plus sécuritaires sur la planète. Nous avons la chance de ne pas remettre en question si nous allons rentrer à la maison. J’ai le privilège de ne pas pouvoir imaginer une journée où je ne peux pas parler à ma femme ou mes enfants. Alors j’exprime ma profonde compassion pour les Ontariens ici qui, même en habitant notre pays aussi sécuritaire, ne savent pas si des crimes haineux seront dirigés envers eux dans un endroit où ils exercent leur liberté religieuse. Ça me désole.

Il faut condamner les actes de violence. Chaque personne dans cette assemblée parlementaire doit réellement se demander si elle augmente la violence dans ses propos. Nous n’avons pas de place à l’erreur lorsqu’on parle de questions de vie ou de mort.

Comment peut-on s’assurer de ne pas augmenter la violence? C’est très difficile de faire ces choix. Il faut déjà éviter de rentrer dans les stéréotypes pour ne pas généraliser. Mais aussi, c’est en demandant le corridor humanitaire, en demandant la fin du siège de Gaza, où l’électricité, la nourriture et l’eau sont bloquées. C’est aussi demander une solution diplomatique et la fin de solutions militaires violentes. Nous demandons au gouvernement fédéral de faire son travail en ce sens dans son champ de compétences.

C’est aussi condamner tous les actes de violence et les actes terroristes du Hamas comme les attaques violentes envers les civils palestiniens.

C’est ce que nous allons continuer à faire et c’est ce que je demande à mes collègues de faire aussi.