Well this is new video into us this morning showing the Canadian delegation in Israel a group of five MPS are visiting a kabut north of Tel Aviv as part of a larger Canadian delegation today they listen to accounts of survivors from the October 7th attack by Hamas and are visiting a cemetery where
Some of the victims are buried Janice McGregor is in Ottawa this morning and Janice is tracking uh this delegation for us so Janice what what’s the reason behind these MP’s visit to Israel well they’re calling this a solidarity Mission saying that they understand why Israelis never want this
To happen again there are five MPS in total it is a a bipartisan group two of them are liberals Anthony housefather and Marco mencino and there are three conservatives on the trip uh Melissa lanman Michelle rample Garner and Marty morance uh this is a larger delegation
About 60 uh from Canada in total there are Representatives also from the Toronto Jewish Federation and the United Jewish appeal I you know all part of organizing this opportunity uh to speak directly with Israelis on the ground uh the MPS are taking meetings over the next couple days to get a better idea
Not only what happened uh when Hamas attacked on October 7th but also what Israel is doing uh in response uh to that um they were meeting uh with uh families of the hostages um adding their voices uh to those demanding their immediate release uh here is Anthony housea he was interviewed by our
Colleagues on the ground earlier after speaking with some of the survivors of the attack it was really moving it really made it very personal it made me understand what it was like to live in a safe room wondering if you were going to be alive for the very next minute or if
Your loved ones are going to be killed from moment to moment for over 24 hours it’s it it explains a lot about the Israeli perception why the entire political class in Israel from the left to the right all believes they need to get rid of Hamas and here is conservative Michelle
Rmle Garner with her impressions of the trip so far I think the the humanity of the situation for me RIT large underscores the enormity of the Hamas attack um the countless lives that it has impacted and the need for the uh for the global Community to to condemn those
Attacks and to ensure that they’re um that there’s some way forward that doesn’t involve that type of violence I’ll show you a social media post here from Marco mcino another liberal from Toronto he was very much focused on how to stop anti-Semitism and hate he said on this trip and also how
To restore a path uh to peace uh the MP say that they want to make sure Israelis understand that Canadians are allies that they have been reminding them of the overall approach of the Canadian government which of course includes a track record of casting votes on the
Side of Israel at the un uh House Father also said he wanted to be reassuring them that they had the support of prime minister Justin Trudeau and and Janice this trip does come as the Prime Minister he’s doubling down on calls for Israel to avoid Civ civilian casualties
That is in Gaza and those comments those earlier comments though they did draw some criticism from Israel put this into context for us yeah and I I have to note this trip was organized before that controversy uh last week uh when Trudeau provoked a a direct criticism from Israeli uh prime minister Benjamin
Netanyahu trudo maintains that Israel has a right to defend itself but he was also expressing concern about how the operation in Gaza has been taking innocent lives reporters tried to clarify this uh with him I was one of them uh on the the trip uh in in San Francisco last Friday take a
Listen the concerns that the UN is highlighting about the humanitarian C catastrophe that is going to strike millions of people uh in the coming days and weeks that already affecting so many is of deep concern to us and that’s certainly what I expressed to uh to Benny gance and uh continue to express
In all my conversations I noticed though you’re not using the expression maximum restraint sorry maximum restraint you see him leaning right into it there holding the line uh Not Afraid uh to say those words again turto said there are a lot of things that are extremely worrisome people around the world and
Canadians are are thinking uh you know when they when they see this footage that they don’t entirely understand uh what’s happening and that when he speaks to the Israeli government as he did again last week uh he asks for everything to be done to protect civilians because the loss of
Women and and children in this it’s not only heartbreaking it also he said impedes Israel’s ability to come to a long-term stable two-state solution with the Palestinians
A Canadian delegation including five Members of Parliament — two Liberals and three Conservatives — has arrived in Jerusalem for a quietly planned visit meant to show solidarity with Israel.
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