Madam Speaker, over the past weeks, the world has witnessed the violence in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Canadians have written to my office and expressed their horror at seeing the Israeli army brutalizing Palestinians as they worshipped at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the forcible removal of Palestinians from Sheikh Jarrah.
These Canadians are also concerned about the report from Human Rights Watch, calling the violation of international human rights and forcible removal by Israel as apartheid. Canadians have always fought against apartheid. They want Canada to take a leadership role during this ceasefire to ensure that the 680,000 displaced Palestinians are given back their homes and land.
Canada values human rights and we must fight for human rights for all, not a select few.