Statement on the Anniversary of the October 7th Attacks and the Beginning of the Genocide in Gaza

NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Heather McPherson made the following statement on behalf of New Democrats:

It has been three years since the horrific Hamas attack on civilians - an egregious violation of international law in which 1200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage.

It has been three years of collective punishment of the civilian population of Gaza in Israel’s genocide that has killed and wounded hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Every day Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank are harassed, targeted, murdered, wounded, and displaced. Palestinian children are traumatized. There are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere else in the world.

It has been three years of overwhelming grief, grief shared by New Democrats, by Canadians, and by people around the world. These three years have been enormously painful for impacted communities, and ongoing threats of hate continue to cause fear across Canada.

In these three years many of us have developed a profound sense of anger and disappointment at governments like ours that have refused to act to end genocide. New Democrats condemn the inaction of governments as the rules-based international order is shattered, as hate rises, as arms flow, and as justice is denied.

Our governments, including Canada’s, have betrayed humanity.

On this solemn day, New Democrats recommit ourselves to demanding concrete action for peace and justice: sanctions, an arms embargo, trade restrictions, and real support for human rights, international law and Canada’s legal obligations.

New Democrats will continue to fight hate, whether antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate, anti-Palestinian racism, or other forms of discrimination. We will stand up for international law, human rights, and Canada’s legal obligations. We will fight for the right for children to live without war. We will fight for the humanity and dignity of all people. And we will continue to grieve those who deserved to live and thrive in peace.