(Ottawa) Five Canadian MPs are in the Middle East to hear from Palestinians on how Canada can best promote peace and human rights in the region.
The organization “Canadian Muslim Vote” is financing the visit of Liberal and New Democratic MPs to the region for six days, alongside humanitarian organizations.
The delegation, which is currently in Jordan, will also visit the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel which has seen an upsurge in violence.
The MPs on this delegation are Salma Zahid and Shafqat Ali, from the Liberal Party of Canada, as well as Heather McPherson, Matthew Green and Lindsay Mathyssen, from the NDP.
Last November, Canadian Jewish organizations financed a visit to Israel by Liberal and Conservative MPs to learn about the impact of Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7.
Muslim groups are urging Ottawa to do more about violence in the West Bank, where extremist Jewish settlers who live in Israeli settlements that Canada deems illegal have taken up arms.
The United Nations says there has been an unprecedented increase in violence in the West Bank since Israel began bombing the Gaza Strip following Hamas attacks on October 7.