Madam Speaker, even as the tyrants of Tehran are raining down missiles on all of Israel, even while millions of Israelis, including children, from the north to the south in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, are seeking shelter from the bombings and even while Canadian citizens are seeking shelter from the bombings in Israel, the NDP blames Israel.
It would be nice, for once, for Israel not to be blamed for being shot at. It would be nice, for a change, for Israel not to be labelled a villain for protecting itself. It would be nice if the House stopped living in a perverse inverted reality where Israel is framed as bad. It would be nice if Liberal members would stop saying one thing to one community and something completely different to another.
It would be nice if the House recognized that as a liberal democracy, Israel is on the front lines of protecting western values and our way of life. We should do all we can to help in this pursuit or, at the very least, not make it more difficult for them.
On October 7, 2023, the evil death cult Hamas invaded Israel without provocation. It attacked multiple communities, as well as the Nova music festival. It targeted and murdered 1,200 innocent Israelis and took 250 more hostage, which is a war crime to be sure.
Since that time, Israel has been drawn into a conflict it did not seek and it did not want. Shortly after those attacks, the Iranian-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, began raining down rockets on the people of northern Israel, over 11 months ago, forcing 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes.
These innocent Israelis were made refugees in their own land. I ask members to imagine if this happened in Canada. Imagine if tens of thousands of Canadians could not go back to their homes because of attacks like this by an invading force. How long would it take our government to respond? Would it be a day, a week, a month? Israel has waited patiently for almost a year.
Any sovereign nation has an obligation to protect its citizens, to protect its territory, to safeguard its security, and to defend itself and its citizens. Israel is no different. For this conflict to end, the aggressors, Hezbollah and Hamas, must immediately stop attacking Israel and lay down their weapons. Hezbollah is a terrorist group backed by the tyrants of Tehran.
The truth is, the Iranian regime, through its proxy, Hezbollah, is holding Lebanon hostage and deepening the suffering of its citizens. Canadian citizens have been warned for months to leave Lebanon immediately while commercial options exist. Conservatives reiterate that call and encourage Canadians to please get out now. As long as Hezbollah is raining terror down on Israel, as long as it is causing suffering among the people of Lebanon, it is not safe to be there. We call on the government to immediately provide a full and transparent update on the contingencies in place to evacuate Canadian citizens.
At home, since October 7, we have seen an unprecedented rise in anti-Semitism in Canada. B'nai Brith reports in its anti-Semitic incidents report that anti-Semitic incidents have increased by 109.1%. In 2022, there were 2,799 reported incidents, and in 2023, that number was 5,791, which is a staggering increase.
We see it in our streets. There are anti-Semitic mobs calling for death to Jews and death to Israel. Synagogues and schools have been shot at and vandalized. Jewish-owned businesses have been targeted, only because their owners are Jewish. Hospitals founded by Jewish communities have been targeted. The anti-Semitic Hamas death cult fan club has been going into Jewish neighbourhoods and demonstrating outside of seniors' homes. This madness must come to an end. It is just not the Canadian way.
What have the Liberals done to help? They have done nothing. In fact, they have made it far worse. When the conflict first began, they publicly scolded the IDF for ostensibly bombing a hospital in Gaza, when it did not do so.
The Liberals voted for and passed a motion in the House that punished our democratic ally Israel by blocking arms sales and rewarded Hamas by reinstating funding to UNRWA, even though its employees participated in the October 7 attacks. When that motion passed, they got up and gave themselves a standing ovation. They were proud of what they had done.
It should go without saying that Canadian tax dollars should not be funding terrorism. The Liberals voted for a one-sided, anti-Israel motion at the United Nations. Even after Iran launched a direct attack with hundreds of missiles and drones, they did not remove the arms ban. Just today, Iran attacked Israel once more, but will they remove the arms ban? No, of course they will not. They say that Israel has the right to defend itself, but then they deny Israel the means to defend itself. With friends like the Prime Minister, who needs enemies?
All of these actions taken together signal to the anti-Semitic mob that the government gives them the green light. UNRWA directly contributes to the radicalization of Gazans. It has been known for years that UNRWA school material promotes the hatred of Israel and Jews and the culture of violence that has poisoned the minds of young Gazans and made a lasting peace so much more difficult.
What was not expected is that employees of UNWRA, which is part of the United Nations, participated in the slaughter, killing and kidnappings on October 7. Canada gives tens of millions of hard-earned tax dollars to UNRWA each year. Knowing about the anti-Semitic school materials alone should have been enough to cut it off, yet we are still paying. Just last week, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon was killed. He was also the head of the UNRWA teachers' union. A high-ranking UNRWA official participated in the October 7 slaughter, yet we are still paying. UNRWA should not be receiving tax dollars from Canada.
Last November, I travelled to Israel with some of my colleagues. I had the opportunity to meet with family members of those who were murdered and those who were taken hostage on October 7. I had the opportunity to see Kibbutz Kfar Aza, one of the communities that was attacked. I saw the burnt up, shot up blackened homes, a sight indelibly and forever etched in my mind. I promised those families that I would bear witness to their plight. I am doing that here right now, so I say that ours is a promise to keep, to bear witness and to work until every hostage is home and every Jew, no matter where they live, work or go to school, once again feels safe.