What
is happening now to Palestinians is no different than what happened to Jews in
1930s Nazi Germany. Back then the West
turned a blind eye to Germany's criminal violence, today they are doing the
same with Israel.
By Fareed Khan
“Far
too many Palestinians have been killed.”
These
were the words of American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in comments
he made to the media on November 11th about Israeli attacks against
Palestinians in Gaza.
At
what point did we reach the stage of “far too many” deaths? What is the red line in terms of human misery
and suffering where a politician comes out and uses these words? Because if we have reached the point of “far
too many” this presumes that there is a Palestinian death toll that is
acceptable to political leaders.
Blinken’s
statement and similar statements by other Western leaders demonstrates that they
have shed their humanity and finally revealed to the world their deep seated
anti-Palestinian prejudice. Their
ambivalence and apathetic response to the slaughter in Gaza since October 7th
is allowing Israel to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide
against a people, who one can accurately say, are the most persecuted people in
the world today. The words that Blinken
used imply that there is a death toll that is “just right”, which is a perverse
concept to imagine.
His
words make one think about what Jews faced in the 1930s when violent
antisemitism was on the rise in Nazi Germany and across Europe. Because what the world is witnessing with
regard to Palestinians today is no different than the ambivalence and apathy
that Western leaders showed to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany seeking safe harbour
in Western countries. The political
leaders of that era also expressed some level of sympathy for the oppression European
Jewry was experiencing, but in the end they refused to do what was needed to
protect them from what was to come. What
is happening now to Palestinians is no different than what happened to Jews
then, and we are seeing the result of the West turning a blind eye to Israel’s
criminal violence against Palestinians.
Canada’s
leaders are no strangers when it comes to operating without a moral compass,
where humanity is put aside, and where acts of genocide are ignored. This is how Canada operated in its treatment
of Indigenous people in this country since before Confederation, and they are
demonstrating the same attitude towards the Indigenous people of historic
Palestine. It proves that Canada’s
political establishment has still not shed its white privileged and racist mindset,
or learned lessons from its racist and genocidal history.
Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau and his government, and Official Opposition leader
Pierre Poilievre, and his party, have shown that they care little about what
Palestinians are living through right now, or the oppression they have lived
under for decades under Israel’s Apartheid regime. As the Palestinian death toll has continued
climb over the past five weeks, millions of people around the world have been
demonstrating in the streets demanding that their governments call for a
ceasefire, and do whatever is necessary to prevent further Palestinians
deaths. In Canada tens of thousands have
marched in the streets to protest, and recent polls have shown that 71% of Canadians
want our leaders to call for a ceasefire.
But neither Justin Trudeau, his cabinet nor anyone in the Official
Opposition is listening to what Canadians want.
The total disregard being shown by Canada’s political elites to the wishes
of Canadians on an issue of fundamental justice and humanity will be the
enduring legacy of these men.
The
commitment of Canadians to this cause is evident over the past five weekends as
thousands of people have been taking to the streets in massive demonstrations
in cities and towns across the country in support of Palestinians and demanding
the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire. Every day for more than a month Trudeau,
Poilievre and their MPs have been witnessing the inhumanity and depravity of
war on a scale that is even worse than what we have seen in Russia’s war in
Ukraine. And we should take note that while the Ukrainians
are able to defend themselves and have been receiving massive amounts of
military aid from the West, the Palestinians, with neither army, navy nor air force, are barely receiving
desperately needed humanitarian aid to help the sick and injured.
For
over a month now, since the Hamas attacks which killed more than 1200 Israel civilians (also a war crime and crime against humanity),
the Israeli government’s goal to “destroy Hamas” has resulted in more
than 12,200 civilian dead and more than 30,000 injured, who have nowhere to
go to treat their injuries because Israel has bombed every medical
facility in Gaza and deprived them of the resources they urgently need
to help the wounded. Despite claims by
the Israeli military that they not targetting civilians the horrific results
say otherwise, and they are evidence of war crimes and a genocide in progress.
The
one sickening fact that is galvanizing people around the world to come out against Israel
is the number of Palestinian children that have been killed – 4,237 as of November 10th – more than three times
the number of Israelis that were killed on October 7th. The rising death toll of Palestinian children
is the straw that has broken the camel’s back, and the anger of people horrified by images of dead Palestinian children is being played out in huge
demonstrations across Canada, and around the world, with people demanding that
their political leaders serve the cause of humanity. But not all of the politicians are heeding the demands of their voters, and political leaders should remember that those who ignore the voices in the
streets will be remembered for their inhumanity and their cowardice.
As
Israel’s military assault on Gaza turns it into a post-apocalyptic wasteland,
and the Palestinian death toll increases on average by 348 victims per day,
Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poiliever, and other Canadian politicians had better
consider what they want the history books to say about them. Because at this moment it looks like they
will say that these politicians were complicit in genocide and war crimes, and refused to do
what was moral for a people who have been oppressed, persecuted and brutalized
for more than 70 years. They had better
wake up to the reality and urgency of the situation and find the humanity which they seem to have lost. Because the blood of the innocent covers their hands and their souls, and Canadians will not forget the way they have acted in a time of moral crisis.
Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.
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