Written by: Aidan Jonah

Justin Trudeau has “unequivocally condemned” and “unreservedly condemned” Iran for missile strikes that didn’t kill a single Israeli civilian. But Canada’s prime minister hasn’t once “condemned”, let alone “unreservedly condemned”, Israel’s ongoing holocaust in Gaza.

As it bombs Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen, Syria and the West Bank, Trudeau denounced an Iranian response to Israel’s aggression that reportedly didn’t directly kill any civilians. “We unreservedly condemn Iran’s ballistic missile attack against Israel. It is further destabilizing action by this terrorist regime in the region, putting civilians at risk and running the risk of a wider war,” Trudeau told the press. In an earlier post on X the PM noted, “Canada unequivocally condemns Iran’s reckless attack against Israel. It puts innocent civilians at risk. We fully support Israel’s right to defend itself against this attack. And, we repeat our call for de-escalation across the region, for the safety of all civilians.”

Even though Israel killed 100 Lebanese and Palestinians on the day Iran attacked Israel, their deaths didn’t rate a mention from Trudeau. Plus, Ottawa ignored an Israeli crime that partly precipitated Iran’s missile attack. Two months ago, Israel assassinated a Hamas leader and ceasefire negotiator Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Ottawa also remained silent in April when Israel murdered 16 in strikes on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Damascus even though the adjacent Canadian embassy’s windows were destroyed.

In fact, the Trudeau government stayed mum while Israel bombed Syria hundreds of times in recent years. But Trudeau “unequivocally condemned” Iran’s subsequent response to the attack on the diplomatic compound. “Canada unequivocally condemns Iran’s airborne attacks against Israel”, Trudeau stated. “We stand with Israel. After supporting Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack, the Iranian regime’s latest actions will further destabilize the region and make lasting peace more difficult.”

Ottawa is certainly consistent. It ignores Israel’s criminal escalation while harshly condemning Iran’s restrained responses.

Another factor explaining Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel was that country’s bombing and invasion of Lebanon. A week ago, Israel leveled six large apartment buildings in a suburb of Beirut with 80 bunker buster bombs to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In response to this act of terror that left hundreds dead and injured, Trudeau posted, “Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed. He was the leader of a terrorist organization that attacked and killed innocent civilians, causing immense suffering across the region.”

Two days later Trudeau spoke with Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Afterwards he posted, “the people of Lebanon deserve to live in peace and security, free from conflict and from Hezbollah’s Iran-backed terrorism.” Again, no mention of Israel’s US and Canadian backed terror. In the previous week, Israel had killed 1,000 Lebanese, including 100 children.

Trudeau is emboldening Israel’s fanatic leaders calling to “crush, crush, crush” Iran. “What we did to Lebanon must also be done to Iran,” blared National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “No political arrangements, no diplomacy – crush, crush, crush”. For his part, Knesset member Avigdor Lieberman demanded Israel “Bomb all the oil, gas and nuclear facilities, and destroy the refineries and dams.” Taking a slightly different tack, former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett described Iran’s missile attack as “a historic moment”. “Israel has now its greatest opportunity in 50 years, to change the face of the Middle East. We must act ‘now’ to destroy Iran's nuclear program, its central energy facilities, and to fatally cripple this terrorist regime.”

Israeli governments have long tried to blame Iran, to turn attention away from their occupation and brutal treatment of Palestine and Palestinians. This time Netanyahu and his extreme right, Jewish-supremacist government is gleefully celebrating how it has gotten genocidal Western governments to finally agree “it is all about Iran”.

But the truth is, Israel’s attack on Gaza remains a holocaust and no amount of rampaging across the region to provoke Iran changes that. Canada should have long ago blocked arms sales, revoked the status of IDF-supporting charities, charged Canadians fighting for Israel, suspended bilateral military ties, etc. Instead, Trudeau continues to openly support the monsters in Tel Aviv.

Yves Engler is the author of 13 books. His latest book, available now, is "Canada's Long Fight Against Democracy”.

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