If one of the requirements for Liberal leadership contenders is that they exhibit an anti-Israeli bias, then Mark Carney and Frank Baylis have delivered.
In a tweet last week, Carney said U.S. President Donald Trump’s “proposed forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza is deeply disturbing. It would violate the rights of Palestinians and international law, and it would set back efforts to promote peace and security for all in the region.” Carney said he supports a two-state solution, and that Palestinian families should receive help rebuilding their homes and their lives.
And yet, not once — not once — did he mention the hostages. Not once did he show concern for the hostages still being held by Hamas, or offer support for their families, who have also endured 16 months of hell. Not once did he condemn the terrorists for the war crime of kidnapping civilians. Not once did he refer to October 7 and the barbarous acts committed on that day. Not once!
And Baylis was exactly the same. In a press conference on Monday, he chastised Canada for doing nothing in the face of the destruction and suffering in Gaza. He urged Canada to lead the way on human rights. He promised to rebuild hospitals, homes and schools in Gaza. He pledged to recognize Palestine as a state, which he characterized as a necessary first step toward peace in the region.
He mentioned nothing about the human rights of the 1,200 Israelis who were butchered by Hamas on October 7, nothing about the suffering of the hostages, nothing about how a first step toward peace in the region might be for Hamas to drop its genocidal intent to wipe Israel off the map.
Carney and Baylis are both in a political race, so their messages must be seen in a political context. Since they are both keen to burnish their pro-Palestinian credentials, it must be because they see more votes in it. How else to explain why they totally ignored the plight of the hostages or the catalyst for all this suffering?
Was it a deliberate omission? If so, it makes a mockery of their attempts to come across as caring and compassionate. It’s not altruistic to care for one side and ignore the suffering of the other.
Was it ignorance? If Carney and Baylis are ignorant of the events of October 7 or the hostages being held by Hamas, they have no right standing as Liberal leadership contenders. But how likely is it that they are ignorant?
Was it thoughtless? Perhaps. But if they were thoughtless, then these are not the men we need guiding our foreign policy, or teaching Canadians about the subtleties and nuances of the Middle East conflict.
If peace and a two-state solution is ever to become viable in the region, it will mean taking a good, hard look at both sides, not just concentrating on one side, as Carney and Baylis did. But their stance seems at odds with casual thoughtlessness. Carney’s tweet was quite long, and Baylis held a whole press conference.
Instead, their messages were very much in line with the present Liberal leader and many of his ministers.
Relations with Israel and the concerns of Jews following the horror of October 7 have been given short shrift by the federal government. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau can never find it within himself to just condemn antisemitism, for example — he must always make comparisons with other forms of hate.
Even as he marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz last month, the prime minister couldn’t help himself. “Holocaust denialism is on the rise, violent extremism is on the rise,” he said. “Hatred, not just against Jews, but against all different races and backgrounds, is on the rise in all of our democracies.”
OK, but not all races have seen the explosion of violence as Jews have — a 208 per cent increase in violent attacks against Jews in this country between 2022 and 2023, according to a report from B’nai Brith Canada.
Trudeau went on, “We have not yet responded forcefully enough, strongly enough.” Well, he was spot on with that message — Trudeau has most certainly not responded strongly enough to antisemitism.
Instead, Carney, Baylis and Trudeau have cast the Palestinians as victims, leaving plenty of oxygen for people to therefore demonize Israel, which then gives rise to the violence, vandalism and hate we see targeting so many Jews in Canada today.
It is unfortunate that both Carney and Baylis have seen fit to adhere to the repugnant orthodoxy in the Liberal party, which treats our ally Israel as a pariah and the hostages as political pawns to be discarded and forgotten in favour of appearing compassionate.
Would it really have hurt them to say, “Bring the hostages home”? Apparently, the political calculation for them was “yes.”
National Post