Israel-Palestine conflict: 'Impossible' for Trudeau not to condemn Hamas' attack

Following the attacks by Hamas on Israeli citizens this weekend, many world leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, strongly reprimanded what happened.

“Canada unequivocally condemns these terrible attacks in the strongest possible terms and reaffirms its support for Israel’s right to defend itself, in accordance with international law,” Trudeau said, in part, in his statement.

While the Prime Minister stressed that Canada's support for the Israeli people is "steadfast," some online felt that world leaders were being hypocritical in their support for Israel, which occupies the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, compared to Ukraine, which is currently battling against Russian occupation.

One expert says that Canada can’t afford to be neutral or unsupportive of Israel in the face of the recent attacks, where the death toll has topped 1,600 at the time of this publication including more than 800 Palestinians, despite its ongoing human rights violations toward the Palestinian people.

Constanza Musu, an associate professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa, says “there’s no option” for any government in Canada, whether Liberal, NDP or Conservative, not to condemn the actions of Hamas.

“It is not possible for a government to indicate an organization as a terrorist organization, then this organization carries out a terrorist attack and we say nothing,” she tells Yahoo Canada in an interview. “It’s politically unsustainable and inhumane.”

When it comes to the comparison of Canada’s reaction to Ukraine and the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian Territories, Musu says the framing is different.

“The issue is who’s seen as the invader, and who’s seen as the one defending itself,” she says.

“There’s an old standing thing that one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter. However, in any conflict there are targets that are accepted and there are targets that aren’t accepted. The deliberate targeting of citizens is not allowed. It’s considered an act of terror.”

This summer, Canada, Australia and the U.K. jointly expressed their concerns over Israel's approval of settlement units in the occupied West Bank, a move considered illegal under international law. They all called on Israel to reverse its decisions.

Musu says the settler-backed violence against Palestinian villagers or the fact that there’s an ongoing occupation, and the attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians, are conversations on different planes.

“It’s impossible for the Canadian government not to say something about this very specific action, the same way it does also criticize those episodes (of settler violence),” she says.

Canada's stance on Ukraine vs. Palestine

In February 2022, Trudeau released a statement condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“These unprovoked actions are a clear further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They are also in violation of Russia’s obligations under international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” it read. “Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected and the Ukrainian people must be free to determine their own future.”

According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, of 42 international donors, Canada ranks seventh in worldwide military, humanitarian and financial commitment to Ukraine. Ottawa's latest pledge to Ukraine came last month, when it pledged $650 million over three years to supply 50 armoured vehicles, including armoured medical evacuation vehicles.