Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday initially refused to sentence slogans celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist assault on Israel as hate speech – till she watched a video of the vile chants.
Freeland, a member of Canada’s Liberal Social gathering, plead ignorance when requested by a reporter if chants of “lengthy dwell October seventh” and “October seventh proves we’re nearly free” – each bellowed by anti-Israel protesters throughout a weekend demonstration in Ottawa – represent hate speech.
“I wasn’t in Ottawa over the weekend,” Freeland mentioned throughout a press convention in Montreal. “And I’m not conscious of these particular stories.”
“And so it could be simply flawed of me to touch upon one thing that I’m not particularly conscious of.”
Video footage of the Saturday demonstration exhibits tons of of protesters waving Palestinian flags close to Ottawa’s Centre Block parliamentary constructing.
Along with the pro-Hamas mantras Freeland was requested about, the obvious chief of the protest is heard chanting a number of different antisemitic slogans right into a bullhorn, together with, “From the river to the ocean” and “lengthy dwell the intifada.”
However Freeland, who additionally heads Canada’s Ministry of Finance, modified her tune after seeing clips of the demonstration.
“Having seen video from this weekend, I can solely categorical shock and disgust on the antisemitism and glorification of terrorism that occurred on Parliament Hill,” she wrote on X early Monday night.
“This hate speech has no place in Canada. None.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the protest on Sunday, calling it “hateful intimidation.”
“There’s a distinction between peaceable protest and hateful intimidation,” Trudeau wrote on X.
“It’s unconscionable to glorify the antisemitic violence and homicide perpetrated by Hamas on October seventh,” he added. “This rhetoric has no place in Canada. None.”
A number of Canadians have been among the many 1,200 killed by Hamas terrorists through the Oct. 7 assault on the Jewish state.
