Mr. Speaker, “A time comes when silence is betrayal...We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision”.
These words of Martin Luther King in the context of the Vietnam war surely apply to Canada's shameful silence today in the face of the spiralling death toll in Israel and in the occupied territories.
The targeting of civilians, whether by tanks and helicopters or by sniper and suicide bombings, constitutes an attack on basic human rights and must be unequivocally condemned. Or have we become utterly desensitized to the unending carnage of innocent civilians in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
Canada must find the courage to speak the truth: that we need a renewed commitment to peace, achievable only upon the immediate end to the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories. Peace will come only when Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a means whereby each can live safely and securely within their respective borders.
Canadians are watching. The world is watching. When will Canada make its voice heard?