Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Honourable senators, on October 7, the Hamas terrorist movement launched an extremely violent, barbaric attack on the territory of the State of Israel from the Gaza Strip. Sadly, this date is already going down in human history as the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, with more than 1,500 people having lost their lives and nearly 3,500 wounded.

When unequivocally speaking out against this barbaric and inhumane attack, our thoughts go out to the Israeli victims and their loved ones, the active members of the military and innocent civilians, including Israeli Canadians. As a result of this fanaticism, the region is now in a state of war and experiencing a humanitarian crisis.

Our thoughts also go out to the Palestinian civilians, nearly 2,500 of whom have lost their lives and more than 10,000 of whom have been wounded. The death toll already exceeds that of the six-week war in Gaza in 2014, another sad historic record. Trapped in the Gaza Strip, civilians are still trying to survive in the terrible conditions of a war zone, innocent victims of the mounting tensions caused by the Hamas terrorist attack.

These horrendous crimes cannot go unpunished. It will be very complicated to resolve this conflict, which has been going on for decades, and it is hard to remain hopeful that a peaceful solution will be found. However, we mustn’t give up hope. Violence will not solve the conflict between Israel and Palestine. As Albert Camus said, “Peace is the only battle worth waging.”

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I take this opportunity given to me today to urge the actors in this conflict to act in respect for international and humanitarian law, to abide by the Geneva Convention and to give priority to saving and protecting the lives of the innocent civilians. Turning to terrorism and religious extremism is and will always be wrong. In these critical moments, I urge for restraint and reflection, for dialogue and for cooler heads to prevail — restraint and reflection that must apply as well within our diverse country.

I also salute the work being done by the Canadian government and our public servants — notably those serving in diplomacy and emergency management — to help and protect Canadian citizens on the ground in Israel and in Gaza, while dealing with difficult situations out of their control.

Colleagues, I am taking a stand here for peace and human rights, both for Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

In my name, and in the name of all the members of the Independent Senators Group, I extend our deepest sympathies and support for the innocent victims of this conflict, and urge all involved to work toward peaceful and sustainable solutions for the benefit of both peoples, as well as for preventing further degeneration into a regional conflict. We need to stand together for peace.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, I rise today to speak briefly on behalf of all members of the Canadian Senators Group about the horrific attacks that occurred in Israel, and now the unfolding human catastrophe in Gaza. As global citizens, we are quite rightly horrified and heartbroken.

As parliamentarians, I think we must be clear-eyed, and we must urge our government to focus on easing the suffering of all those people by providing aid wherever and whenever it is needed. I think we must urge the government to exercise serious diplomatic influence in order to stop the potential spread of this horrible contagion of war.

Canada has a strong legacy of promoting peace in the world and defending human rights. When former Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957, he said:

Of all our dreams today there is none more important — or so hard to realise — than that of peace in the world. May we never lose our faith in it or our resolve to do everything that can be done to convert it one day into reality.

Colleagues, that is Canada’s role in the world, and its role — more importantly — now more than ever.

These are difficult times with the prospect of even darker days ahead. Hope is hard to find in the face of terror and horror, but may we always be driven by our faith that peace will always prevail.

Thank you.

Hon. Leo Housakos: Honourable senators, today, as Jewish people from across Canada and around the world are gathering here in Ottawa for an anti-Semitism conference, I feel compelled to talk about what that will mean as Israel increases its military action in Gaza. This conference was scheduled long before the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel that saw men, women and children of all ages murdered, raped and paraded through the streets as trophies; babies beheaded and set ablaze; and 200 Israelis taken and who remain hostage.

October 7 wasn’t an act of war or resistance. It was an act of cowardice and depravity. It was an act of terror and pathological Jew hatred, full stop.

The first and sole objective of Hamas is the destruction of the state of Israel and the Jewish people. That’s what they mean when they say, “From the river to the sea . . . .” It’s not a rallying cry for freedom and certainly not for peace. Hamas has no interest in peace. When we say that Israel has a right to defend itself and to defend its people, there can be no equivocation, especially in the coming days.

Of course, it is not easy to see images of civilians killed by Israeli rocket strikes. We can and should mourn the deaths of civilians in Gaza, as we mourn those in Israel.

However, we must be clear. Israel is acting in accordance with international law. It is engaging in a lawful, proportionate attack against a genocidal enemy force. While the human suffering of war is undeniable, we must remember that this war is not by choice for Israel. It is by necessity. Their very existence depends on it.

Israel’s military response against Hamas is not an act of retaliation, nor is it punitive. To describe it as such or to falsely accuse Israel of widespread atrocities, as at least one member of Parliament has done, is not only patently false and unfounded but an attempt to equate Israel with the cowardice of Hamas. Shame on anyone who does so, whether it be that MP, delegates at federal party conventions, members of provincial Parliament, heads of public service unions or Canadians marching shamefully in the streets in pro-Hamas rallies.

We’ve heard people at these rallies claiming that Hamas is not a terrorist group and that any violence they commit is justified in pursuit of a free Palestine. I don’t know how that can be characterized as anything other than hateful and anti-Semitic. Saying such things should be covered under our hate speech laws. If such laws don’t apply to the glorification of murdering babies and parading the bodies of dead women through the streets, to what do they apply?

If the October 7 attacks and the subsequent pro-Hamas rallies and anti-Israeli rhetoric being espoused by politicians and senior bureaucrats have shown us anything, it’s that — more than ever — we must recognize that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. We must face it and we must fight it.

Never again means never again.

Thank you.