Liberals do damage control after 'thank-you' message from Hamas terror leader

A late-night tweet from Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canada considers Hamas to be terrorists

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Liberals MPs spent Wednesday evening doing damage control in the wake of news reports about a politically embarrassing video of a Palestinian terror leader thanking Canada for supporting a ceasefire in Gaza.

A late-night tweet from Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly repeated previous claims that Canada considers Hamas to be terrorists, and condemned the Oct. 7 terror attacks that saw cadres of well-equipped fighters emerge from Palestine to kidnap, rape and murder innocent Israeli men, women and children.

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“Our statement was clear: for a ceasefire to be sustainable, Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms,” the statement read.

“They have no future in Gaza.”

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The statement continued, condemning the Oct. 7 attacks, and asserting that Hamas do not “represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.”

Fellow Liberal MP Ya’ara Saks posted a similar sentiment, essentially a point-form summary of Joly’s statement.

A video statement released earlier this week by senior Hamas leader Dr. Ghazi Hamad thanked Canada for their controversial support of a non-binding United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire in war-torn Gaza — referring to a joint statement issued by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alongside his Australian and New Zealand counterparts calling for a “sustainable ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.

“We want to see this pause resumed and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire,” read the joint statement.

“This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms.”

Previous statements by Hamad suggest he’s not interested in peace, telling Lebanese TV in October that the goal of Hamas was to eliminate Israel, and that the Oct. 7 atrocities committed by his group would be committed “again and again”

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Other commentators weren’t as forgiving to the government.

Replying directly to Sak’s tweet, Deputy Conservative Party Leader Melissa Lantsman accused her fellow MP of standing by while her government irresponsibly advocated for an unconditional ceasefire.

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“You’re backpedaling after a barbaric terrorist group thanked you for your support because a Hamas endorsement is a political problem for you,” Lantsmen wrote.

“For Canadians — it’s not a political problem, it’s a moral failure on display. Aligning Canada with Hamas & not the Palestinian people was a choice.”

Lantsman called out Saks for waiting until after this week’s humiliating thumbs-up from Hamas.

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“What an appalling, humiliating comment on Canadian foreign policy,” wrote former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on social media.

“This genocidal, jew-hating terrorist thanks Canada for voting to protect the interests of Hamas terrorism.”

Senior Macdonald-Laurier Institute fellow Kaveh Shahrooz told the National Post he suspects Hamas spotted a fracture in the West’s resolve and are trying to exploit it.

“When Hamas thanks you in their communications, you know you’re standing with the villains,” he said.

“The PM probably thinks that his UN vote was in favour of peace, but it was, in fact, in favour of a unilateral concession to the thugs and criminals that carried out the October 7th attack and that have kept Gazans in chains for many years.

“The Liberals’ foreign policy is incoherent and morally rudderless, and it shows.”

National Post

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