Trudeau Condemns Escalating Hate in Canada Surrounding Israel-Hamas Conflict

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 4, 2023. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the rise in hate connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict has left Canadians “scared in our own streets,“ a situation he describes as ”not acceptable.”

The prime minister’s remarks come on the heels of the attempted arsons at a synagogue and a nearby Jewish community centre in Montreal on Nov. 7.

“We’re seeing right now a rise in anti-semitism that is terrifying,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters on Nov. 8.

“Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues, horrific threats of violence, targeting Jewish businesses, targeting Jewish daycares with hate: this needs to stop.”

Mr. Trudeau also said the “rise of Islamophobia” being seen in Canada and elsewhere is “unacceptable.” He called on political leaders to “do everything we can” to bring people back together amid the social tensions.

“We need to make sure that Canadians are doing what we do best, which is listening to our neighbours, [and] understanding and acknowledging our neighbours’ pain,” he said.

“If Canada can’t figure this out, tell me what corner of the world is going to figure this out?” he asked, adding that the country has long been a model of coexistence.

The Liberal government has been trying to straddle the fine line between supporting Israel’s right to self-defence against the actions of listed terrorist entity Hamas, and protecting Palestinian civilians impacted by Israel’s military operation.

Canada has been under increasing pressure to call for a ceasefire as the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have retaliated following the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

Mr. Trudeau has not called for a ceasefire per se, but he pleaded emotionally for a humanitarian pause on Nov. 8. “Canadians are hurting and crying out that it needs to stop,” he said. The G7 has also called for such a pause in a joint declaration.

The prime minister said a pause would allow the hostages taken by Hamas to be released and facilitate the evacuation of foreign nationals. Global Affairs Canada (GAC) says two Canadians are missing since the Hamas attack, while six others have been killed.

Arab media has reported that Hamas was ready to release 12 hostages with foreign nationalities but was unable to do so due to IDF operations.

But the Israeli position is that no leeway can be provided to Hamas until the hostages are released.

“There'll be no cease-fire, general cease-fire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News earlier this week.

Despite the lack of pause or ceasefire, the first Canadians were able to evacuate the Gaza Strip on Nov. 7.

Global Affairs Canada says that 75 Canadians, permanent residents, and family members crossed into Egypt from the Rafah border point and that more departures were being planned for Nov. 8.

Reuters contributed to this report.