One question often asked about the Holocaust was why the world didn’t do more to stop that untold horror from claiming six million lives.
I think we are all starting to realize the answer.
For nearly half a year, our boy king in Ottawa has been giving weapons to Israeli fascists who have slaughtered over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza so far.
Last week, however, the Liberal government not only endorsed an amended NDP motion on Palestinian statehood but also halted future arms sales to Israel.
Canada will also be resuming funding to the UN’s relief agency for Palestinians after pausing it over dubious claims that employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack.
It seems our politicians are finally starting to realize (far too late) that Israel has been using Hamas’s brutal attack as an excuse to annihilate Gaza and its people.
The ongoing assault has killed tens of thousands, and at least 35 per cent of buildings in Gaza have been either destroyed or damaged.
Palestinians who have not been bombed to death now face famine as Israel continues to block most aid trucks from entering Gaza by land.
Newborns are dying of hunger, and 1.1 million people, half the population, are experiencing catastrophic shortages of food.
Some of the aid is being blocked by a group of Israeli protesters, with one of them saying of Gazans, “They should only get the minimal calories required to survive … If they are starving to death, give the hostages back. Not a single loaf of bread should go there till our hostages are coming back.”
The Israeli government has both tolerated these protesters and indulged in hateful rhetoric itself.
When speaking on the fight against Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu invoked a biblical passage that called for the deaths of all Amalekites, an implicit call for genocide against Palestinians.
Israel’s defence minister said they were fighting “human animals” as he was announcing a “complete siege” of Gaza in October.
Israeli soldiers have been so bold as to post their war crimes and misconduct on social media, everything from mistreating POWs to stealing the underwear of Palestinian women.
Meanwhile, South Africa has launched a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide.
All this and more has made Canada and other countries begin to distance themselves from this rogue state, and should Netanyahu get his wish and invade Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, this will undoubtedly result in mass civilian casualties and further isolate Israel on the world stage.
So long as Israel has the backing of the United States, the assault on Gaza will likely continue, but there is no reason for Canada to be associated with such madness.
If our politicians are so concerned about anti-Semitism, perhaps letting a country commit a massacre in the name of Jewish people would only help stoke bigotry against innocent Jews.
And if the federal government insists on shedding crocodile tears over how it ethnically cleansed Indigenous people, it might not be a good idea to simultaneously support the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
Ottawa must consider supporting South Africa’s case, imposing sanctions on Israel and cutting diplomatic ties altogether because this isn’t just about what Israel stands for; it’s also about what Canada itself stands for.
