Photo: This is a still of a shocking video of Hamas parading German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk who was kidnapped from a music festival. Her mother has reported that she is in critical condition but alive. She was one of an estimated 150 people kidnapped by Hamas and at least 1,300 murdered on October 7, 2023.
This is a special edition of Listen Up. I did not intend to write this month. I am taking a break and am currently out of the country. But sometimes, when heinous events occur, and one has a platform, no matter how small it may be in the grand scheme of things, one has a responsibility to speak up. To me, this is one of those times.
I would like to think that all civilized people would be shocked and very angry at the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel in recent days. Sadly, some people are not. Some people are celebrating and even more sadly and alarming, some of these demonstrations are taking place on Canadian soil.
As both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have said, celebrating raw terrorism has no place in Canada. Those that do so, in my view, should be ashamed of themselves. This is not free speech. These are hate crimes and should be prosecuted. Period.
Of course, I am aware of the tremendous friction over many decades between the State of Israel and Palestine. I am also aware that these issues are complicated and people on both sides have deep feelings about what is right.
But what happened in Israel this past week is beyond the pale. This was nothing short of a group of terrorists loyal to the Palestinian cause creating unprovoked havoc on innocent people. Children were beheaded, young women were raped and paraded nearly naked through the streets. Over a thousand people were slaughtered. Many others were wounded, and some were taken hostage.
How can any decent human being say that this is okay or justified? What happened in Israel this past week was a pogrom of anti-Semitic terrorism of holocaustic proportions, pure and simple. There is absolutely no justification for it.
There is no room for a “Yeah but” here. There are no buts. The Palestinian government should condemn it. All governments and politicians should condemn it and people in general, should condemn it.
There is no outcome here that can be resolved through peaceful negotiations. Golda Meir, a legendary former Prime Minister of Israel once put it this way. “You cannot negotiate peace with someone who has come to kill you.”
There is a chance perhaps, however diminished at the moment, that diplomatic efforts can eventually lead to a peaceful agreement between Israel and Palestine. But the cost for this to Palestinians must be the total denouncement and eradication of Hamas and other terrorist organizations like it and the recognition of Israel. There can be no compromise on that point.
Hamas is an antisemitic terrorist organization, with neo-Nazi tendencies and a confessed goal of erasing Jews. The only way to deal with people like that is to destroy them. There is simply nothing good that can be said about them.
In addressing the terror in Israel, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, said “We confront the reality of war.” That short statement carries a chilling message and to me, a much broader one than Israel alone.
I believe the current situation in Israel brings us closer to a much bigger conflict. Certainly, there will be a war there now and Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorism. I question, however, if Hamas would have risked this attack without believing that the Western world has been weakened in recent years in relation to the global balance of power and consequently, will do little other than wring their hands and say, “How awful”.
There is also some pretty concerning intelligence indicating that Iranian security officials helped plan last week’s attack by Hamas on Israel and gave the green light for the assault to senior members of Hamas at a meeting in Beirut earlier in the week. Iran is an ally of Russia. Russia is an ally of China and North Korea and the United States, the largest power in the Western alliance, is in political chaos.
China has long coveted Taiwan and believes it may now have a window to get away with it because Russia is largely getting away with its unprovoked war on Ukraine. Iran has a long history of wanting to wipe Israel off the map. North Korea wants to take over South Korea and they also have eyes on Japan.
All of these countries have territorial and in some cases ethnic ambitions which bind them together. They see an opportunity, with weakening Western alliances to achieve their ambitions. Not one of these countries will likely support Israel or their right to defend themselves against Hamas terrorists.
In my view, the populist movement in many Western countries, including the United States and Canada, which brings with it a tendency toward isolationism is, at least in part, a factor in the belief of some countries that the Western alliance is losing much of its effectiveness, and radical change to the global balance of power is now possible.
Although there are now different players and different alliances, in many ways the level of toxicity in the world today is comparable to the global toxicity that preceded World War II. Add to that an increase in the resurgence of antisemitism brought about by Hamas terrorists in Israel and the similarities are nothing less than frightening.
There was a time when Canada was a huge player on the international scene. Former Prime Ministers Lester Pearson and Brian Mulroney played huge diplomatic roles in areas of global tension as did other Canadians, which significantly enhanced our global reputation. Not so much anymore. As Canada’s former Ambassador to the United Nations has said, now when international affairs are discussed, Canada is at the kid’s table.
How I wish we had more Pearsons and Mulroneys today, not just in Canada but in other countries as well, people who have the ability and the stature to find and execute tough and effective diplomatic solutions that otherwise could end in global conflict. I cannot think of a time in recent decades when it was more badly needed than it is needed today. Our current Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, cannot achieve this alone.
A few days ago, we were in Normandy, France, and spent some time at the Canadian War cemetery near Juno Beach. It was a daunting and emotional experience to see thousands of these graves, meticulously maintained by a grateful French nation, honouring Canadian soldiers most of them under the age of 25 who gave their lives to protect the freedom of generations to come, not only on foreign soil but in Canada as well.
It was while I was there that this all came together for me. So many men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice so future generations would continue to enjoy and cherish the important freedoms that we have, not just for the past eighty years but for all time to come. I could not help but wonder how they would feel if they knew we are on the brink of unthinkable global conflict again. Would they wonder if their ultimate sacrifice was worthwhile?
We simply cannot let this happen again. What has happened in Israel is just adding one more can of fuel to the fire. Eventually, it will get out of control. We cannot just stand by and let that happen. Not in Israel, not in Ukraine, not in Taiwan, or anywhere else for that matter.
This is no time for complacency, for sticking our heads in the sand and saying this will never happen here. In my view, it is past time we WOKE UP and recognized what is really going on around us and prepare to do something about it.
Before it’s too late.
Hugh Mackenzie
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