QUESTION PERIOD — Public Safety
Anti-Semitism
October 9, 2024
Senator Gold, it has been a full year now that we’ve seen pro-Hamas rallies organized by Samidoun across this country and in our streets — rallies that include chants calling for the eradication of Israel from the river to the sea, and even far worse than that. We’ve seen rallies where they’re saying, “Death to the Jewish people,” “Death to Israel” and even “Death to Canada.” During this period, your government has not had the intestinal fortitude or political leadership to condemn this and call it out.
Right across Canada, we’ve seen attacks. Jewish schools are being shot at and others are being evacuated after they’ve received threats, and Jewish seniors’ homes have been targeted here in Ottawa, with angry mobs shouting these awful things.
So, Senator Gold, I’ve given up on the Liberal government. However, will you, as Government Representative and as Senator Gold, stand up in this chamber and condemn these hatred exercises being conducted in our streets?
Thank you for your question, and for underlining the hateful expressions that indeed plague our streets. As the minister said, it’s obviously absolutely unacceptable to burn the Canadian flag and chant, “Death to Canada.” It’s also unacceptable to deny or celebrate the events of October 7 and to champion the acts of a terrorist group. That is the position of the government and I support it 100%.
As a member of the Jewish community who lives next door to the Consulate of Israel, I am altogether too aware of what is happening on our streets and the intimidation that takes place. The government has been consistently condemning that and will continue to do so.
Senator Gold, for years, we’ve been calling on your government to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, as a terrorist group. It has been years now that we have been calling on your government to list Samidoun as a terrorist organization. Your minister refuses to do that and refuses to condemn Samidoun. This is the same Minister of Foreign Affairs who was photographed smiling and holding hands with raging Jew-hater Mahmoud Abbas. She has banned Canadian exports of defensive weapons to Israel, and now she doesn’t have the courage to list Samidoun as a terrorist organization and condemn it for all the hatred they have been spewing in our streets.
I thought this chamber would escape some of the behaviour exhibited in the other place and by your leader on solemn occasions like Thursday night, turning an important event into a partisan attack. We don’t have rules in the Senate similar to those in the House of Commons. The decision to list Samidoun is under review. It will be a product and function of the advice of our Canadian Security Intelligence Service, who are continuously educating us. I appeal to your best sense, if you can muster it, on such a partisan issue.
