Mr. Chair, nine days ago we woke up to the news of the brutal terrorist attack by Hamas on Israelis. Today we have learned that the fifth Canadian is among the victims of Hamas. Netta Epstein, who was just 21 years old, died while trying to protect his girlfriend by jumping on top of a grenade. He saved her life by sacrificing his own. May his memory and the memories of all those killed be a blessing.
Like many of us in this chamber, I have heard the pain and devastation felt by Jewish and Palestinian Canadians; people who are worried for their loved ones stuck in Gaza, where every day brings more destruction, death and despair; Canadians who are afraid for their family and friends in Israel and who wait for news about those taken hostage. They are trying to maintain hope when there are so many reasons for despair.
Jewish Canadians, descendants of Holocaust survivors, grew up listening to stories about their family members being dragged from their homes and killed. Today, they watch videos of young Jewish people at a music festive being massacred or taken hostage. They fear the promise of “never again” has been broken.
Canadians of Palestinian origin see their families trapped in Gaza, said to be the worst place on Earth. In war, children are always the ones who pay the price.
This is a time when we must speak clearly: We condemn Hamas. We condemn the brutal murders of whole families and the taking of hostages. Terrorism is abhorrent to all of us who love peace and strive for justice. We cannot allow the world to use this terrorism to justify the human catastrophe unfolding before our eyes in Gaza.
The United Nations has said that nearly half of Gaza's people have been forced to flee from their homes. Morgues are overflowing. Hospitals are running out of supplies like painkillers, leaving those injured to endure terrible suffering. Food and water are scarce. There is raw sewage in the streets. Canada cannot stand by while the people of Gaza are left to die.
It took the Prime Minister a full week to put out a statement about the suffering in Gaza. Surely we must recognize that the lives and suffering of Palestinians concern us equally.
I want to tell the story of Reem Sultan. She has spoken of her relatives in Gaza who have fled for their lives, moving from shelter to shelter. She said that there is no electricity and little water and food. Some have died and everyone is in fear. There is no way to help those fleeing for their lives. After ordering Palestinians to evacuate, Israel hit the remaining access roads to Egypt with air strikes. These are Reem Sultan's words. They need the supplies to come in. They need the border opened. They need the water, medicine and food to come in by trucks. They are in an open-air prison right now.
We are also witnessing a disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism in Canada. Jewish and Muslim parents are worried as threats make them wonder if they should send their children to school. Places of worship are targets requiring police protection. Palestinian and Muslim Canadians report ugly harassment and threats on the streets as they are blamed for crimes they did not commit. We have seen the devastating impact of Islamophobia in Canada before. We saw it yesterday in Chicago, with the killing of a six-year-old Muslim boy who was stabbed to death.
At this moment, I take courage from the life and work of Vivian Silver, an Israeli-Canadian peace activist from Winnipeg, who is currently believed to be among the hostages. Like so many in Israel and Palestine, Vivian has worked tirelessly for peace. She has done this work for decades, trying to build understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. She organized Friday afternoon meetings between members of the kibbutz where she lived and people who would gather in a field and speak with Palestinians in Gaza. She helped people living in Gaza to get access to cancer treatment. She is a mother and grandmother whose family misses her terribly.
Her son was recently interviewed about what he wants to see happen to free his mother. These are his words, “We need to stop the violence now. Vengeance is not a strategy.”
Her son describes the last moments he spoke to her. They sent text messages, because she was too afraid to speak and let the terrorists know where she was hiding. His last message to her was to let her know that he was with her, that she was not alone. If he can resist the call for revenge, surely we must demand the same of the Israeli government.
I also want to share Vivian's own words describing her life's work advocating for peace.
She stated:
I am driven by the intense desire for security and a life of mutual respect and freedom for both our peoples.
The thought of yet another war drives me mad. Like the last three, it will not solve the conflict. It will only bring more dead and wounded.
Vivian is not alone. Millions of Israelis and Palestinians all over the world desire peace. They want to live in safety and security. New Democrats have always been the ones to nurture the desire for peace, even when louder voices called for war. This is why we are calling on Canada to work with our international allies to end the bloodshed. We continue to call for an immediate release of all hostages, for the protection of all civilians, for an end to the siege and bombardment of Gaza, and for humanitarian aid to reach civilians urgently and without restriction.
International law must be upheld and respected. Make no mistake, collective punishment is a violation of this law. Canada must insist that all those who broke these laws are held accountable, even those nations we have called friends. Canada must call for a ceasefire to end the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza immediately. We cannot allow for the continuing dehumanization of an entire population. When we stop seeing each other as human, when we stop believing that each life has value, this is when the seeds of genocide take hold.
These are dark days, and the weeks ahead are likely to bring even more anguish, but we can never surrender to despair and never forget that we share a collective humanity and collective responsibility to protect all people from violence and terror.