Angry and tearful, solidarity MP Haroun Bouazzi protested against the CAQ’s refusal to support a motion calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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“Every person must demand a ceasefire, and that is Quebec. This is not what the CAQ decided yesterday. “It’s a disgrace,” he said, his voice shaking and his face streaked with tears, during a press conference in Parliament on Thursday morning.
“There are children who are being unplugged even in their incubators because there is no electricity, and this government is telling us it is unable to support a ceasefire?” It’s a disgrace, it is Disgrace before our eyes,” he added.
Mr. Bouazzi also recalled that the United Nations had called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire on October 31, and he said he was stunned that the CAQ had not followed this step.
Failed peace call
On Wednesday, opposition parties planned to adopt a motion proposed by Québec Solidaire that called for an “immediate ceasefire by all parties in the conflict in Israel and Palestine.”
The text also called on the National Assembly to “renew its call for respect for international law by all parties.”
However, the CAQ was not entirely satisfied with the wording of the motion and concluded that a “ceasefire” was too temporary a solution that did not address the problem at its root. They would therefore have preferred if the text had spoken of a “peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict,” Prime Minister Legault’s office told the QMI agency on Wednesday.
However, this change would have “distorted the proposal,” according to Québec Solidaire, which therefore refused to amend its proposal in this direction. Consequently, the CAQ did not give its consent in the chamber and the motion could not be passed.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Bouazzi had already posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) denouncing the CAQ’s decision.
“The beginnings of a genocide are taking place before our eyes and the CAQ rejects a motion calling for a ceasefire and respect for international law. The government is in line with Netanyahu’s actions, where a child was murdered every 15 minutes for 24 days. Quebec deserves better,” he wrote.
“Why is the government unable to join our call for peace?” PQ MP Pascal Paradis said in a separate press conference on Thursday morning.
More details to follow…