Mélanie Joly must not give the impression that a fringe minority of settlers are in any way equivalent to a genocidal terrorist organization
On Feb. 1, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order sanctioning four Israeli settlers for their involvement in violence against civilians in the West Bank. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, hinted that Canada may follow suit by enacting sanctions against extremist settlers, and later added that her government may also sanction senior members of Hamas.
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We should not tolerate settler violence — their actions are criminal and inflammatory. However, any suggestion that the two are similar, that settlers can somehow be equated with senior Hamas terrorists, sets up a dangerous moral equivalency, whether that’s originating from the government, or those reading into government actions.
Incidents of settler violence must be investigated, and those who have committed these acts should be arrested and tried by Israel’s criminal justice system. Extremist settlers are a fringe minority who are unorganized and acting outside the law. What they are not is Hamas.
Hamas is not a small fringe. It is a major terrorist organization, with thousands of fighters and the capacity to launch major attacks against civilians. Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, was founded on its commitment to destroy Israel and remove all the Jews from the river to the sea. As we saw on Oct. 7, Hamas’s priority is to create terror on a massive scale.
Western governments are not keen to ensure this differentiation is made clear because it helps them further the narrative that they are being “tough on both sides.” They cannot, in good conscience, equate Hamas, a genuine terrorist organization, with the State of Israel, a democratic ally of Canada and the United States. But it’s no secret that the Biden and Trudeau governments need to court votes from the Muslim community and groups that are opposed to the Jewish state. So, by allowing this false equivalency to go unchallenged, they can show those groups they’re being “tough on the Israelis.”
Settler violence should absolutely be stopped. But it should be treated for what it is — criminality on the part of a fringe minority. Allowing a tiny number of extremist settlers to be equated to a terrorist organization that’s responsible for the deaths of the most Jews in a single day since the Holocaust both reduces Hamas to the level of petty criminals and exaggerates settler violence to match the level of organized terrorism.
It is either a cynical political ploy or a fundamental misunderstanding of the situation in the Middle East. Our governments must do better.
National Post
Shimon Koffler Fogel is president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
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Shimon Koffler Fogel: Don't equate extremist Israeli settlers with Hamas
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08.02.2024
Mélanie Joly must not give the impression that a fringe minority of settlers are in any way equivalent to a genocidal terrorist organization
On Feb. 1, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order sanctioning four Israeli settlers for their involvement in violence against civilians in the West Bank. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, hinted that Canada may follow suit by enacting sanctions against extremist settlers, and later added that her government may also sanction senior members of Hamas.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
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We should not tolerate settler violence — their actions are criminal and inflammatory. However, any suggestion that the two are similar, that settlers can somehow be equated with senior Hamas........
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