1 week Ago By [email protected] (Ryan Tumilty)
OTTAWA — After a week where Israel’s prime minister took aim at Liberal Leader Mark Carney online, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre promised on Saturday he would be a steadfast ally of the Jewish people. Poilievre , speaking at a press conference, blamed the Liberals for a rise in hate crimes targeting the Jewish community. “The rampaging chaos that we see in our place, the targeting of synagogues and Jewish schools with hate, vandalism, violence, fire, bombings of synagogues, these things were unheard of,” he said in his Carleton riding.
“We’ve always had debates, disagreements with foreign issues in Canada. But those disagreements did not spill into violence in our streets.” Earlier this week, while at a Liberal rally, someone in the crowd yelled at the Liberal leader that there was a genocide in Gaza .
Carney replied “that is why we have an arms embargo.” Carney said he hadn’t heard the full comment from the person in the crowd and specifically did not hear the word genocide. He said it’s a matter of public record that Canada has an arms embargo in place.
“We do have restrictions since probably January of 2024 on arms exports, or permits for arms exports to Israel, with the sole exception of the Iron Dome,” Carney said. The Iron Dome is a defensive missile and rocket shield that protects Israeli cities. Even after Carney clarified his comments, he drew strong criticism on the social media site X from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Canada has always sided with civilization. So should Mr. Carney.
But instead of supporting Israel, a democracy that is fighting a just war with just means against the barbarians of Hamas, he attacks the one and only Jewish state,” the Israeli leader said on the social media site on Thursday afternoon. “Mr. Carney, backtrack your irresponsible statement!” Amnesty International, a U.
N. special committee and other human rights groups have concluded that Israel’s military action in Gaza constitutes a genocide. Israel disputes that characterization and argues its military action has been in response to Hamas’s attack on Oct.
7, 2023 that killed more than 1,200 people. The Canadian government has not used the phrase genocide to describe Israel’s actions. Canada has seen an increase in hate crimes over the last four years, with the number of police-reported incidents doubling over that time frame, according to Statistics Canada.
Synagogues and Jewish schools have been targeted with arson attacks and there have been regular protests outside some synagogues in Toronto and other cities. At his Saturday press conference, Poilievre promised to bring in tougher sentences for people who commit vandalism targeting the Jewish community. “The Jewish community feels understandably under siege as these hate marches and antisemitic outbursts have become an unfortunate part of Canadian life,” he said.
“We will bring in tougher laws, to target vandalism, hate marches that break laws and violent attacks based on ethnicity and religion.” At an announcement Thursday, Carney said he would address antisemitism and Islamophobia. He highlighted the case of the Temple Sinai synagogue in North York, which was vandalized several times last summer and spent $100,000 on security measures.
Temple Sinai in North York has installed $100,000 in safety measures, including bollards, a security checkpoint and live shooter drills after it became one of several targets in a spree of alleged hate crimes in Toronto. “Its signage has been repeatedly set on fire. Its congregants now have to pass through metal security bollards before they can even enter.
And its leaders have had to set up active shooter drills to prepare for the worst,” he said. Carney promised that his government would make it a criminal offence to intentionally obstruct access to any place of worship or to threaten people attending services. “If any Canadian can be threatened when simply exercising a fundamental freedom, then and all of our freedoms, all of our freedoms as Canadians are at risk,” he said.
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