Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced funding for Palestinian women who have survived sexual violence, drawing an immediate rebuke from a senior Israeli official.
Ms. Joly pledged $1 million for women from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip whom her office described as “survivors of sexual violence, no matter the circumstance.” It is unclear which groups will receive the funding announced for women in each region.
“Allegations on sexual and gender-based violence against them must be investigated and Palestinian women must be supported,” she wrote in a March 12 statement on the social media platform X.
Ms. Joly’s office would not say whether Canada believes Israeli forces are perpetrating sexual violence on women in Gaza, nor if the funding pertains to domestic abuse in the Palestinian territories.
The minister’s social media comment drew criticism within minutes from Israel’s envoy for combatting anti-Semitism.
Michal Cotler−Wunsh wrote on X that the funding is “supporting blood libel inversion of fact [and] law,” which she said will fuel “rising antisemitism” in Canada.
A day earlier, Ms. Joly pledged the same amount, $1 million, to support Israeli women and survivors who fell victim to sexual violence committed by the terrorist group Hamas since its invasion of Israel last October. Her comment on the X platform also included an offer to support RCMP investigations into sexual violence.
This funding came three months after a group of women who hold political office in Canada called on Ottawa to provide this type of support. Israeli women’s organizations have criticized their global peers for being slow to acknowledge sexual violence by Hamas. Canada’s envoy for combatting anti-Semitism has blamed the delay on anti-Jewish sentiment.
Ms. Joly has been travelling in the Middle East region since last week, visiting Israel, Jerusalem, and the West Bank from March 10 to March 13.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
