Honourable senators, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today, not as the Government Representative in the Senate but as a human being and as a Jew.

Let me begin by thanking all of you who have reached out to me over the last week and a half. Your support and understanding mean a great deal, more than you may realize.

Jews have been called the “People of the Book” because words matter. Words can comfort and words can heal, but sometimes words simply fail. This is such a time, at least for me.

What words can capture the horror that we witnessed a week ago on Saturday on the Jewish Sabbath? What words can heal the memory that is seared into the souls of Jews around the world of seeing children ripped from their parents’ arms and slaughtered before their eyes, of the systematic butchering and massacring of innocent people in the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust? Words fail me.

Along with millions of Jews around the world, I have family and friends in Israel. Some went to Israel straight from the concentration camps, others came to live in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. Some are serving on the front lines, others are living in the very communities that were invaded by Hamas. And, yes, colleagues, some are being held as hostages in Gaza as I stand here today.

Colleagues, dear friends, this is very personal for me. In the face of such brutality, such inhumanity, such horror, I wish I had the words to comfort all of those who are grieving and who are trembling and suffering in fear, but the words keep failing me, so I turn to my own tradition for guidance.

In Pirkei Avot, which is a rabbinic text written 18 centuries ago, it is stated that we should not offer comfort to someone while their dead still lies before them. So the best that I can do is to feel the pain and loss — and the fear and dread — that have been visited upon my people; to honour the memory of the dead; to mourn with their family, friends and communities; to hope for the speedy recovery of the injured; to work for the release of all those held hostage; to hope that the innocent victims trapped in Gaza, whatever their religion or nationality, are provided the humanitarian assistance they so desperately need; and to pray that all of them — their family, friends, and good neighbours, all the innocent people caught up in this brutal war — be spared any further sorrow.

Thank you.

Colleagues, while most of us were peacefully sleeping in our beds on Friday, October 6, the sirens in central and southern Israel began to blare out a warning of incoming rockets. This sound is not unusual for those who live in Israel, but as the sun began to rise that Saturday morning, what was about to transpire was far from ordinary and would shake the world.

As thousands of rockets screamed through the sky, bulldozers and bombs breached the fence separating Israel from Gaza, and armed Hamas terrorists streamed through the openings. The jihadists poured into the country by air, land and sea, with the clear and premeditated intent of carrying out unthinkable atrocities on men, women and children.

As the video evidence and eyewitness accounts would later show, Hamas entered 22 communities, opening fire on unprotected homes and indiscriminately killing women, children and the elderly in an unmitigated display of evil. In one community, over 40 babies were massacred, some of them beheaded. Video footage showed their bloody cribs standing as a silent testimony to the barbarism of the attackers. At a music festival, young people were sprayed with bullets and rocket propelled grenades, killing over 200 of them. When they fled and hid, their attackers hunted them for hours, summarily executing them in cold blood when and where they were discovered. Entire families were kidnapped, along with mothers, children, the elderly and even the disabled, to be held as hostages or simply executed later in cold blood. Women were assaulted, raped and then paraded around as trophies. In total, more than 1,300 civilians were slaughtered.

This, colleagues, is the true face of Hamas, an anti-Semitic, Islamic jihadist group dedicated to the annihilation of the Jewish people and destruction of the Jewish state. This is the work of evil and sadistic men without a conscience, who take pleasure in the most barbaric acts imaginable and then celebrate them.

But while I was horrified to see the bloody carnage left by the terrorists, I was stunned to later see a surge of pro-Palestinian demonstrations celebrating the massacre and cheering on the terrorists. In cities across Canada, they danced, marched and waved their flags as if this was some kind of victory for their cause. It was sickening.

There is nothing to be celebrated here, colleagues. This cruelty does not advance anything but an agenda of evil.

Today, I stand with Israel and its right to defend itself, and I encourage every senator and every Canadian to do the same.

Thank you, colleagues.

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak briefly on behalf of all members of the Canadian Senators Group about the horrific attacks that occurred in Israel, and now the unfolding human catastrophe in Gaza. As global citizens, we are quite rightly horrified and heartbroken.

As parliamentarians, I think we must be clear-eyed, and we must urge our government to focus on easing the suffering of all those people by providing aid wherever and whenever it is needed. I think we must urge the government to exercise serious diplomatic influence in order to stop the potential spread of this horrible contagion of war.

Canada has a strong legacy of promoting peace in the world and defending human rights. When former Canadian prime minister Lester B. Pearson accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957, he said:

Of all our dreams today there is none more important — or so hard to realise — than that of peace in the world. May we never lose our faith in it or our resolve to do everything that can be done to convert it one day into reality.

Colleagues, that is Canada’s role in the world, and its role — more importantly — now more than ever.

These are difficult times with the prospect of even darker days ahead. Hope is hard to find in the face of terror and horror, but may we always be driven by our faith that peace will always prevail.

Thank you.

Honourable senators, I want to add my voice to those of Senators Gold and Plett, as well as Senators Saint-Germain and Tannas in the wake of the atrocities in Israel.

First, to all those who have lost a family member or friend, especially our fellow Canadians, I offer my deepest condolences. To those without news of a loved one, please remain hopeful.

Next, I want to express our solidarity with Israel and its people. I also want to clearly condemn the unjustifiable acts committed by members of Hamas, a terrorist organization that doesn’t hesitate to kill, injure or kidnap innocent civilians, including children.

In my opinion, the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 are clear breaches of basic human rights and cannot be justified under international law, including the rules of war. In fact, they are barbarian acts that confirm that Hamas is a terrorist organization that must be neutralized.

Of course, Israel has the right to re-establish law and order within its borders. In fact, it has the duty to protect its citizens and visitors against any repetition of these outrageous acts.

The countries and organizations that supported Hamas will have to be held accountable for their complicity in the atrocities committed. For now, the minimum they can do is work diligently for the release of all hostages. I also invite Canada to exercise global leadership to help secure the release of all hostages.

Finally, I was deeply saddened to see groups in Canadian cities last week showing support for Hamas, considering their atrocities against civilians. Colleagues, our country is built on the rule of law and respect for the life and dignity of all, irrespective of their origin, belief, religion or opinion. These core values are part of our social contract as a country — let us reaffirm them loud and clear.

Hatred and acts of support for Hamas have no place in Canada. I invite all leaders and influencers, including political and religious ones, to reaffirm these values and to call for a lasting peace in the Middle East based on mutual respect and the two‑state solution.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Honourable senators, please join me in rising for a minute of silence to remember the victims of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Thank you, colleagues.