At the time of this writing (second week of November) there is still an active terror attack unfolding against the Israeli people by Hamas. The original on Oct. 7 remains in progress. That’s because they still have over 200 hostages, many of them minors and seniors, that were first kidnapped on that day.
The Oct. 7 attack was one of the most despicable terrorist attacks in living memory. Hamas has rightly been compared to ISIS. But the heinous actions of Hamas on that day are also reminiscent of the horrors of the Rwandan genocide, in terms of the desecration of human bodies and the rampant disregard for innocent human life that was displayed.
The severity of that day must be understood to in turn fully appreciate why Israel has determined that they must act decisively against Hamas to ensure that no such event ever happens again.
Yet as Israel embarks on finishing this war that Hamas started, there is a shocking attempt to forget the very recent history of what happened on that day last month when Hamas broke what was in effect a longstanding ceasefire. What’s more shocking is that there are also attempts here in North America to rationalize and even support what Hamas did.
The first weekend after the hostage takings, people took to the streets for what they claimed were pro-Palestinian rallies. But the turnout was poor and they were widely condemned. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, among others, rightly denounced the rally in advance as a pro-Hamas rally. There seemed to be widespread agreement that participating in such an event was unseemly.
A lot has changed in the short time since then. Israel has increased the intensity of its operations and bombing campaigns against Hamas in Gaza have begun, resulting in the death of civilians, including children. In response to these developments, thousands of people are taking to the streets of Canadian cities to voice their support for Palestine and to call for a ceasefire.
But what’s concerning is that among these large rallies there are practically no slogans or signs denouncing Hamas and hardly any calls for the hostages to be released. And what’s beyond concerning—alarming, disturbing—is that we now have people rationalizing the Oct. 7 attacks. There are people engaging in denialism around the attacks and, in some cases, even calling for such attacks to happen on Canadian soil. Things are getting out of hand.
The other week at a rally in Vancouver, one of the speakers was approving of the Oct. 7 attacks and called for copycat ones to happen in Canada. “The October 7 offensive of the Palestinian resistance set off sirens. They are a wake up call to revolutionaries in this country,” the as-yet unnamed man said.
Before he spoke, his partner called the attacks “amazing” and “brilliant.” She was identified as Natalie Knight, an English instructor at Langara College. She’s been placed on leave by her employer, but has since released a statement standing by her remarks and arguing it is a matter of freedom of expression.
A week earlier, on Oct. 22, a group of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, formerly Ryerson) students issued a statement saying they “support all forms of Palestinian resistance and efforts towards liberation.” That is clearly support for Hamas and the Oct. 7 attack. The letter included no calls to release the hostages and no condemnation of Hamas’s violence.
People were rightly outraged and conversations began about blacklisting these students from being able to article and work at major law firms.
Then, just the other day, a similar open letter went live. This one was signed by hundreds of lawyers and others in the legal community from across the country. They were rallying to support the TMU students and anyone else who was receiving blowback for their statements.
“We reject the notion that it is antisemitic, hateful, or illegitimate to contextualize the October 7th, 2023 attack,” the letter states. What context is there to add to the slaughters that unfolded that day?
There is no rationalizing what Hamas did. People in Canada are doing it, though. They’re doing it in the online realm. And in our streets. And in the halls of academia.
These people have completely lost their moral compass.
