A year after Hamas — listed by the Canadian government as a terrorist entity — carried out the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust in Israel, the Trudeau government’s position on the ongoing conflict in the Mideast remains as muddled as ever.
There was a time, under the Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney Conservative governments, when Canada was a trusted friend and ally to our fellow democracy of Israel, which we see reflected in the moral clarity of Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives on the issue today.
Where we do not see it is in the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Liberals.
It would be unfair to say that, under them, Canada has become the enemy of Israel.
But it would be fair to say Canada’s position on the Mideast conflict has become a meaningless string of word salads and moral relativism where, in trying to be all things to all people, the federal government has satisfied no one.
The more serious problem — given that Canada is not a major player in the Mideast like the U.S. — is the corrosive effect it has had at home.
Here, hatred against Jews has been running rampant, fuelled by an orchestrated campaign by pro-Hamas organizers and protesters, even though it was Hamas that launched an unprovoked attack against Israel last Oct. 7, torturing, murdering and kidnapping more than 1,000 Israelis.
Blaming Jews in Canada for the response of the Israeli government and military in Gaza is classic anti-Semitism.
It is as morally repugnant as blaming Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in Canada for the terrorism of Hamas.
Those terrorist attacks have led to the horrible suffering of hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians, caught in the crossfire because of Israel invoking its right to self defence.
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To witness those events used to justify acts of hatred, intimidation and violence aimed at Jews in Canada ever since Oct. 7, with no signs of stopping, is a disgrace.
This should have been confronted by law enforcement, supported unequivocally by politicians at all levels of government, from the moment it began.
The failure to do so has left a moral stain on Canada, a terrible and permanent legacy of what has happened in our country over the last 12 months.