NDP MP and Foreign Affairs Critic Alexandre Boulerice issued the following statement:

For two years, Canadians have grieved the horrific Hamas attack of October 7th 2023 and the horrors perpetrated on the people of Gaza by Israel every day since.

For two years, Canadians have watched with despair the inaction of the international community and of our own government in the face of genocide. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and wounded in Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza. Famine. Forced starvation.

Ethnic cleansing. Bombing. Targeting killing of journalists, aid workers, medics. Every law broken. There are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere else in the world. This is a betrayal of humanity.

October 7 2023 was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. We mourn with the Jewish community in Canada who continue to grieve the loss of their loved ones, and hope for the return of the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

The two years since have brought extreme pain and horror to the Palestinian people who have already suffered from decades of brutal occupation. And these two years have seen a terrible increase in anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia throughout Canada.

731 days of grief and genocide, and we are no closer to peace or justice. For two years, New Democrats have urged the Canadian government to act to end this genocide and return the remaining hostages. As Netanyahu’s vicious government destroys Gaza and moves to annex the West Bank, as they unjustly imprison and kill thousands of Palestinians, and as they violate every international law, the Liberals can only issue bland statements of concern. And while Canada has finally recognized the State of Palestine, the Liberals refuse to end Canadian complicity in genocide.

We see other brave governments taking concrete action – with arms embargos, sanctions, ending trade, expelling ambassadors. Canada can and must do the same. Sanctions now. Arms embargo now. End trade now. Uphold international law and Canada’s legal obligations now.

Today, New Democrats grieve with the Palestinian community, the Jewish community, the Muslim and Arab communities, and with all Canadians who yearn for peace and justice.