Pierre Poilievre： Canadian response to the Israel–Hamas conflict
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
125.456665
Summary
Learn English with Justin Trudeau. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a statement on the attack on a Jewish concert in Canada, October 7, 2019, and calls for Canada to do more to help the victims of the attack and their families.
Transcript
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October 7th, Hamas carried out the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
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They deliberately targeted innocent mothers, babies, grandparents, party-goers, peace activists,
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and countless others who had no connection whatsoever, even to military life.
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These were innocent civilians living their lives until they suddenly came to an end.
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The attacks unleashed a carnage that is almost unprecedented in human history.
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In fact, what was special about these attacks is the delight and the triumphal pride and exhibitionism
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All of that reminds us that Hamas is not a militant organization.
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Hamas is a sadistic, criminal, terrorist death cult, and it must be defeated.
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Indeed, Israel does have the right to defend itself in accordance with international law
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and it has the right to respond just as Canadians would respond
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if an attack of this type were carried out against our people or on our soil.
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There will be and there can be no negotiating with Hamas.
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Hamas can only be destroyed, just like President Obama destroyed and assassinated Osama bin Laden.
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There was no negotiating with bin Laden and there can be no negotiating with Hamas.
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And this attack was also an attack on Canadians.
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Both murdered when Hamas opened fire on a music festival.
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Adi Vital Kaplun of Ottawa was murdered in her kibbutz.
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And Ned Epstein was murdered as he attempted to defend his girlfriend against a grenade.
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Canadian citizens missing are believed to be held hostage among the 199 by Hamas
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who hold their people, their own people, under siege in their gruesome grip,
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imposing maximum terror on everyone in their path of destruction.
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Tiferet Lapidot, daughter of Canadian citizens.
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And Canada can and must do more to achieve their liberation.
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And we pray for their fate and their safe return.
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Meanwhile, a million Gazans are reportedly displaced.
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Many more are suffering or have lost their lives.
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Let it be said that the suffering of the Palestinian people is a tragedy.
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Every innocent human life, Palestinian or Israeli,
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All of us must do everything in our power to preserve this precious life
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and minimize the suffering of innocent civilians.
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Hamas not only seeks the maximum suffering of the Israeli people,
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it seeks the maximum suffering of Palestinians as well.
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Hamas has controlled Gaza ever since Israel departed from the Gaza Strip roughly a decade and a half ago.
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And it has worked diligently to preserve Palestinian suffering
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and prevent any opportunity for an easing of tensions or a future of peace.
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And we know why Hamas felt the need to act with such drastic cruelty at this time.
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Hamas, of course, is guided by its terror sponsor, the dictatorship in Tehran,
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which had been growing in its concern for Israel's signature of the Abraham Accords,
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with the UAE, with Bahrain, an agreement with Sudan,
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and even the possibility of normalization with Saudi Arabia.
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This kind of peace between Muslims and Jews, between Israelis and Arabs would be a nightmare
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for both Hamas and for the dictatorship in Iran,
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who seek to perpetuate the conflict and the divisions as a source of power.
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They need to perpetuate the hatred in order to justify their dictatorships.
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And that's why they felt the need to interrupt any path towards peace.
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We all believe in a peaceful future that includes an independent Palestinian state,
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And we believe that Israelis and Palestinians and other Arab countries need to discuss that peace.
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And we understand that stability and security for the Israeli people is necessary for that to happen.
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There are concrete actions that Canada can take towards these goals.
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And I will list some of them, though they are not exhaustive.
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And I expect that my members will be raising more of them later tonight in the Take Note debate.
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First, Canada must criminalize the IRGC, the terrorist arm of the Iranian government.
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There is no doubt that these attacks carried out on October 7th
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had a degree of sophistication and coordination to them that would not have been possible
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And that actor, of course, was the dictatorship in Tehran.
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That same regime uses the IRGC as one of the most sophisticated and far-reaching terrorist groups in the world.
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It coordinates between Tehran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.
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It is unthinkable that the IRGC can operate legally in Canada.
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Some of the people attached to the highest levels of the IRGC live in Canada today.
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Their very presence terrorizing peaceful Canadians of Iranian descent
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who desperately want to kick these terrorists out of our country.
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And this organization must be a criminal entity in Canada.
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Second, we call for Hamas to immediately release all hostages.
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Third, we want a complete review of all aid programs to make sure that not one penny goes to terrorism.
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Fourth, we need to protect places of worship of all different backgrounds.
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We know that synagogues, potentially mosques, and other places of worship,
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we already know that these places have been targeted in the past in Canada.
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Prior to this recent incident, we know that Muslims have been the victims of hateful and murderous attacks
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We know that synagogues are now facing attacks by anti-Semites.
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We know that churches have in the past been burnt down.
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All of this to say that we need to protect all of our places of worship.
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We need to debureaucratize and simplify the federal programs that provide some security infrastructure
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at places of worship so that every single Canadian, regardless of their belief,
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the lives of innocent Palestinians and Israelis are of equal value.
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And to that end, we believe it is urgently important to minimize the suffering
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and protect the lives of Palestinians who had no part in these attacks.
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And that includes by supporting safe zones for civilians in Gaza,
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by backing a humanitarian corridor for food, water, and medical supplies.
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It means that we should support the evacuation of foreign nationals through Egypt.
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And it means that we must do a comprehensive review of all of the aid we are sending to Gaza
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to make sure that it actually reaches the Palestinian people
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Mr. Speaker, years ago when a terrorist attack happened in the United States of America,
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one commentator said that, almost trying to absolve the attack,
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said that we needed to look at the root causes of terrorism.
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Well, the root cause of terrorism is the terrorist,
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which I said at the time to the great horror of my critics.
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Some of them said that the statement was too simplistic to be true.
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Others said that the statement was so obvious that it needn't be said at all.
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And it is perfectly the summary of the liberal democratic worldview.
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Our view is that each individual is responsible for their own actions.
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The root cause of terrorism, therefore, is not Islam or Christianity or Judaism or any religion.
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It is the individuals who carry out the terrorism.
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And this is important because it means that when we see vile actions carried out
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by people purporting to act on behalf of a religion,
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we do not blame all of their supposed co-religionists.
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We do not blame Muslims for the actions of Hamas.
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We do not target our fellow Canadians because of something that has happened on the other side of the world.
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Here in Canada, we judge people on their own merits, their own deeds and their own words.
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That is why the great Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier said when he was asked what is our nationality,
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he did not list an ethnicity or a religion or any other superficial demarcation.
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We had, obviously, Indigenous people, Scots, Irish and many people from all around the world in our country.
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And, therefore, we could not define ourselves on any of those lines.
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So, he said, Canada is free and freedom is its nationality.
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And so, let us then set out to protect the freedom of all Canadians and to stand for the values of freedom all around the world.
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Let us support our Jewish and Muslim friends here in this country as they watch with horror and with sadness at what is happening to loved ones on the other side of the world.
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We must stand with them now and always because, after all, we are Canadians.