Canada’s minister of foreign affairs condemned the murders of the three Israeli teenagers and of the Palestinian teen in an interview with The CJN at his regional office in Toronto today.
John Baird also spoke out against Hamas’ rocket barrage against Israeli citizens.
“[The killing of the three Israeli teenagers] is an incredibly provocative act. It’s reprehensible. Someone said to me that this must be just awful for the three sets of parents. I said it’s awful for every Israeli parent and every Jewish parent,” he said.
“I think it’s reprehensible as well about the very tragic murder of the Palestinian boy.”
Baird also criticized what he sees as the drawing of equivalencies between the actions of Israel and Hamas.
“I saw that the Liberal [Foreign Affairs critic Marc Garneau] put out a statement saying both sides should de-escalate the situation [the official Liberal statement can be read here http://www.liberal.ca/newsroom/news-release/liberal-statement-situation-israel-gaza/],” he said.
“On the one side, you have an international terrorist group, Hamas, targeting civilians, and on the other side you have the government trying to stop them…you just can’t compare the two…it’s not just that Israel has the right to self-defence, but it has a responsibility to protect its people. That’s one of the most fundamental responsibilities of government.”
Baird stressed that his government supports Israel’s actions to “make this stop.”
