QS calls on government to release emergency aid for Gaza

Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press MP Ruba Ghazal does not believe that the “sensitive” nature of the conflict should prevent the government from Quebec to draw on its emergency fund to help civilians in Gaza.

Faced with the rise in violence, but also in helplessness, Québec solidaire (QS) is asking the Minister of International Relations, Martine Biron, to release emergency funds to help the Palestinians stuck in Gaza. In addition to sending her a letter, Mercier's solidarity MP, Ruba Ghazal, had a brief meeting with the minister, in which she reiterated her wish to see Quebec loosen the purse strings.

“Quebec has already done it for Lebanon, Haiti, Ukraine, Morocco,” recalled Ms. Ghazal. It would be the least we can do when we see the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding. »

She says she is inundated with calls and messages from citizens of all origins who feel helpless in the face of the crisis. “People feel challenged, they ask if they can do something, if there is a petition,” said the MP of Palestinian origin. I find it important that in the National Assembly and in Quebec, we hear the voice of Quebecers who want the government that represents them to respond to this call for help. »

More specifically, Ms. Ghazal asked the minister to help the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip through the emergency aid component of the Quebec International Development Program. “This aid program exists. These are not astronomical sums, but in addition to giving concrete [humanitarian] aid, [it would also be] a symbolic action. »

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A PQ MP taken to task on X

Ruba Ghazal is not the only one calling for humanitarian aid for Gaza. His Parti Québécois (PQ) colleague Pascal Paradis spoke publicly on .

This did not please the Advisory Center on Jewish and Israeli Relations (CIJA), which accused him of lying and asked him to retract. “In his position, the MP lies when he says that Israel deliberately targets civilian populations and seems to suggest a negotiation with Hamas, a terrorist group that has just committed the largest massacre of Jews since 1945. We “We invite you to correct its position urgently,” declared Eta Yudin, vice-president of CIJA for Quebec.

For his part, the deputy of Québec solidaire Haroun Bouazzi wanted to express his solidarity with towards Pascal Paradis, retorting on

A “sensitive” subject

Ms. Ghazal, who also expressed her solidarity with Mr. Paradis, recognizes that we should not seek to “choose one side or the other, but rather choose the side of peace.”

She does not believe that the “sensitive” nature of the subject should prevent the Quebec government from dipping into its emergency fund to help civilians in Gaza, more than a million of whom are now internally displaced.

“Before us, we don't just have Palestinians who have been caught in a historic conflict for 75 years, we are faced with children, with human beings, with innocent Palestinian civilians who have to leave their homes,” she said. . Humanitarian aid is arriving in trickles. There is no reason not to respond to the humanitarian appeal. »

In the office of the Minister of International Relations, we said they were taking the time to analyze the request. Along with the Minister responsible for Social Services, Lionel Carmant, Martine Biron will also make an announcement Friday morning about a support plan for Haiti.