What Trudeau’s senior Parliamentary Secretary thinks of Hezbollah?
Posted by: Jonathan D. Halevi January 2, 2016
Canada’s Liberal government, lead by Jean Chrétien, designated in December 2002 Hizballah (a.k.a. Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance) as a terrorist organization.
The decision which appeared on Canada Gazette on December 13, 2002 amended the declared list of terrorist organization by replacing the name of “Hizballah External Security Organization” with “Hizballah”:
“The Regulations remove the name of one entity, “Hizballah External Security Organization” (the “HESO”) in the schedule to the United Nations Suppression of Terrorism Regulations and replace it by the name “Hizballah” (the organisation as a whole). This change has been made on the basis of the close connection between the organisation as a whole and the HESO, and the recent statement by Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, encouraging suicide bombings. There are reasonable grounds to believe the Hizballah organisation as a whole is involved in or associated with terrorist activities.
The Ministry of Public Safety provides an updated information background on Hezbollah:
“One of the most technically capable terrorist groups in the world, Hizballah is a radical Shia group ideologically inspired by the Iranian revolution.
“Its goals are the liberation of Jerusalem, the destruction of Israel, and, ultimately, the establishment of a revolutionary Shia Islamic state in Lebanon, modelled after Iran.
“Formed in 1982 in response to Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, Hizballah carried out some of the most infamous terror attacks of the Lebanese civil war, such as the suicide bombings of the barracks of United States Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, as well as the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
“While all other Lebanese militias disarmed at the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990, Hizballah continued to fight, waging a guerilla war against Israeli troops stationed in southern Lebanon.
“Following Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, Hizballah attacks against Israeli forces continued, concentrated on the disputed Shebaa Farms area. In 2006, Hizballah provoked Israel’s invasion of Lebanon by kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight others.”
During the war in summer 2006 between Israel and Hezbollah, which as aforesaid was included 4 years earlier in Canada’s black list of terrorist organizations, Then Liberal MP, Omar Alghabra, and today the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Consular Affairs), called on the Conservative federal government to espouse a “neutral” approach towards the conflict and to call for an immediate ceasefire followed by bringing all sides, implicitly including Hezbollah, to the negotiating table.
The following is an excerpt of Omar Alghabra’s statement during the debate in Parliament on August 1, 2006:
“…What I’m hearing from the Conservatives today is quite interesting. They’re mischaracterizing the conflict right now as if it’s between Hezbollah and Israel, as if they have picked an empty corner on this planet and started bombing each other, neglecting the hundreds and thousands of civilians who are killed, maimed, or displaced.
“The government claims to have the moral courage to condemn targeting civilians. Well, the opposition parties have agreed with them in condemning the acts of Hezbollah that target civilians. But we also have the moral courage to condemn any acts of violence committed by Israel against civilians, and we expect the government, which claims to have moral courage, to speak up on behalf of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
“Mr. Van Loan has said he knows what is right and what is wrong when he sees it. They talk about how sympathetic they are to the civilians who are being killed and displaced, but they’re reluctant to call for a ceasefire. What does that mean? They’re condoning the ongoing conflict. They’re condoning the ongoing violence, and that is reprehensible and regrettable.
“Canadians expect their government not to be neutral, as you said, Mr. Van Loan, but to be fair and to condemn violence against civilians by all parties. The best way to do it is by calling for an immediate ceasefire, not talk about it as an abstraction. It’s not an abstraction to the civilians, including Canadians who are caught up in the crossfire over there. It’s not a philosophical debate; it’s a real tragedy, where Canadians and other civilians are being subjected to ongoing violence on both sides, in Israel and in Lebanon, and also we can’t forget the Palestinian territories.
“We must have the moral courage to ask for a ceasefire immediately and then bring all the sides to which you’re referring to the negotiating table.
“We can set the conditions that are needed to make a sustainable ceasefire. But for anybody who has an ounce of heart, you cannot watch the civilian devastation and destruction and say you’re reluctant to ask for a ceasefire right now. I don’t care how much difference that call can make; it is imperative to send a message, a signal, that Canada unconditionally always stands on the side of the protection of civilians on all sides.
“We want to condemn the acts of Hezbollah that target civilians–we’ll all agree with you–but we also must protect the civilians in Lebanon and in the Palestinian territories by standing up for their rights and human rights. I don’t know how anybody can hide behind human rights and international law by saying let the fire continue.
“So I call upon the government…and this is the Conservative Party, by the way, that is raising funds on the back of this tragedy, that is raising funds on the back of a tragedy that civilians on all sides are suffering from. Nobody is benefiting from this except the Conservatives who want to raise money from it. I urge the government to reconsider and call for an immediate ceasefire and work with all responsible parties. We’re not just the friend of Israel, we’re not just the friend of Lebanon; we’re the friend of peace and prosperity and human rights.”
Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Brigades should not be designated as terrorist organizations
On September 17, 2004, Omar Alghabra, then (2004-5) the President of the Canadian Arab Federation, slammed the “biased reporting” approach espoused by CanWest. As a glaring example to the “biased approach” the statement noted that CanWest described al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a “terrorist” organization.
“CanWest, one of the largest media conglomerates in Canada, is failing its responsibility towards all Canadians, not just Arabs and Muslims,” said Omar Alghabra, CAF president. “The media has moral and ethical obligations to report the facts when it comes to news reporting, not the opinions of their editors.”
Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade (AAMB) was designated in 2003 by Canada as a terrorist organization and its status was reaffirmed in November 2014.
According to Public Safety Canada, “The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade (AAMB) emerged at the outset of the 2000 Palestinian al-Aqsa intifada and consists of loose cells of Palestinian militants loyal to, but not under the direct control of, the secular-nationalist Fatah party. The AAMB attacks Israeli military targets and Israeli settlers, aiming to expel Israeli presence from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian state there. The AAMB has conducted armed, suicide and rocket attacks to achieve its objectives.”
The “social” network of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad is legitimate and should be financially supported by Canadians
Two years earlier, the Canadian Arab Federation called on the federal government not to designate Hezbollah, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad as terrorist organizations. The following are excerpts of the CAF’s press release in this regard issued on December 9, 2012:
“The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) called on the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Solicitor General to proceed with extreme caution on the matter of adding to the Canadian list of terrorist organizations.
“In letters to Bill Graham and Wayne Easter, CAF urged the ministers to assess genuine and credible security concerns, rather than political motivations, before adding organizations to the list.
“CAF explained that it views Hezbollah as a legitimate Lebanese political party, in that it has representation in the country’s parliament and an extensive network of badly needed social service programs.
“CAF implored the ministers not to succumb to political pressure, and to use only the rule of law and substantiated evidence in determining the status of Hezbollah in Canada.
“With respect to the recent addition of Hamas and Islamic Jehad [Jihad] to the list of terrorist organizations, CAF indicated that these two organizations were borne out of 35 years of violent occupation of Palestine.
“The listing of these organizations does not recognize the reality of the occupation and the context within which the violence is taking place,” the letters said. “The Canadian government as such has censured one form of violence while remaining silent on another – hardly an even-handed approach.”
“CAF also pointed out that the listings will severely curb legitimate fundraising for charitable and humanitarian causes, and might affect the remittances from Palestinian Canadians that many families in the impoverished West Bank and Gaza have come to depend on.
“Provisions need to be made to avoid worsening the already appalling humanitarian situation in Palestine by the application of the terrorist label to these two organizations”, CAF stated.
http://en.cijnews.com/?p=18189 
