Mr. Speaker, the Middle East crisis calls for a balanced approach. Terrorism in any form should be condemned. While timely, the trip to the Middle East by the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not produce many results.
Israel has a right to protect its citizens but the same rights also apply to Palestine. Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain said:
--no matter what the cause is, no matter how passionately people believe in a cause, nothing can justify killing thousands of people in cold blood in New York or anywhere else in the world.
We cannot justify through the Palestinian cause what happened in America. We must address the problems and the injustices in the Palestinian region. We must encourage the revival of peace talks and bolster support for the international coalition against terrorism.
The official opposition calls for a truce and for negotiations on both sides to end the unnecessary killing of civilians everywhere. All countries including Israel and the Palestinian authority have an obligation to their citizens to negotiate peace. Peace must prevail at this crucial time when the world is engaged in a war against terrorism.