Torn between self-defense and illegal bombings, not all elected officials of the Liberal Party of Canada have the same reading of the military response that Israel is inflicting on the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
“We must make sure that this stops, this is not acceptable,” denounced Quebec MP Sameer Zuberi, referring to the thousands of civilians killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
In a long dialogue, at an emotional moment, with parliamentary journalists, Wednesday morning, the elected representative for Pierrefonds—Dollard, in Montreal, carefully avoided saying whether he wanted his government to request a cease-fire.
“I think we must clearly recognize that the bombs thrown by the Israeli army fall on innocent children, adults and elderly people,” he said. According to him, Canadians should be consulted on the issue.
Ontario Liberal MP Shafqat Ali was clearer: “A ceasefire must be demanded,” he told journalists. The elected official also declared that international law was not respected on both sides.
Right to defend oneself
Following the news of a strike on a hospital in Gaza, the details of which are still ambiguous at the time of writing, only the New Democratic Party (NDP) officially demands a ceasefire between the parties to the conflict between Hamas and Israel. A compilation of Duty shows that at least three Liberal elected officials had shown their support for this idea as of Tuesday.
Several deputies and ministers refused on Wednesday to comment clearly on this idea. The ceasefire proposal, however, is categorically rejected by some of those elected to the government.
“Israel was attacked by a terrorist group […] who has the desire to exterminate the country and exterminate the Jewish population everywhere. Israel has the right to defend itself, but by using international law,” said the member for Mount Royal, himself a Jew, Anthony Housefather.
His colleague Ben Carr, newly elected under the Liberal banner in Manitoba in 2023, is of the same opinion.
“The concern is that Hamas is still holding hostages that it took during the attack. Second, Israel has the right to defend itself, and that means resolving the structure of the Hamas regime. If we don’t take care of it, Hamas will rebuild itself. »
These apparent differences of opinion within the Liberal caucus on the ongoing conflict do not pose a problem for the government House leader, Karina Gould.
“We are a party with diverse opinions,” she said, before recalling that the official position of the Canadian government is to support Israel in its response to the imposing terrorist attack of October 7 which caused at least 1,400 dead in Israel, in addition to 199 hostages, according to the latest report.