While bullets tear through Jewish schools in Montreal and students hide their kippahs on Canadian campuses, the Liberal government decided the real priority was to hand statehood to the Palestinians. Prime Minister Mark Carney formally recognized the State of Palestine on September 21, calling it a step toward preserving peace and promising it was conditional on reforms, demilitarization and elections in 2026 in which Hamas would play no part. To the Jewish community it was a slap in the face. The timing alone was obscene. At the very moment Jews are under attack in their own neighborhoods, the government chose to reward the very ideology behind those attacks.
The history could not be clearer. In the last Palestinian legislative election in 2006, Hamas won 44 percent of the vote and captured 74 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. The result crushed Fatah and gave Hamas control of Gaza. That election was not followed by moderation but by division, rockets, kidnappings and war. Nearly twenty years later, nothing has changed. Polls today show that if elections were held Hamas would win again. In head-to-head polling, Hamas leader Izz al-Din al-Haddad would defeat Mahmoud Abbas by more than 20 points. In another survey Hamas’s political wing was favored by 51 percent compared to just 32 percent for Fatah. One Palestinian voter said, “Hamas fights, Fatah only talks.” Another said, “If there was a vote tomorrow I would give it to Hamas again because they resist.” This is the reality Carney pretends can be erased with a line in a speech. The Palestinians already chose Hamas at the ballot box, and all evidence shows they would do so again.
Israel’s reaction was swift and furious. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the recognition rewards terror and undermines Israel’s security. Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir called it a gift to Hamas. Israel’s ambassador in Ottawa said it emboldens extremists who destroy peace rather than build it. To Jerusalem the message is simple. Canada has broken ranks and chosen to appease those who still celebrate the October 7 massacre as a victory. The so-called conditions attached to recognition are unenforceable and meaningless, especially when every poll points to Hamas dominance in any election.
At home Jewish Canadians see the consequences of this appeasement every day. In 2023 there were 5,791 antisemitic incidents reported in Canada, the highest number ever, a 109 percent increase over the year before. Violent incidents rose by more than 200 percent. Toronto saw a 93 percent rise, Vancouver 62 percent. Montreal’s Jewish community has been terrorized with shootings at schools, bullet holes in the walls of United Talmud Torah and Yeshivah Gedolah, synagogues defaced with graffiti, Jewish businesses vandalized and families threatened. On campuses Jewish students are harassed, mocked, and told to go back to Europe. One student said it was humiliating. Another admitted that homes and institutions that once felt safe no longer are.
The streets are no safer. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have filled Canadian cities with chants of from the river to the sea and calls for Intifada. Protesters glorify Hamas and wave placards openly praising terror. In Montreal downtown rallies have snarled traffic while anti-Jewish rhetoric boomed through loudspeakers. In Toronto businesses have been targeted. In Vancouver synagogues were desecrated. The line between protest and hate rally has vanished, and the Liberals have chosen this moment to grant legitimacy to a Palestinian state dominated by Hamas.
Carney’s supporters claim recognition preserves the two state solution. But peace is not preserved by ignoring the lesson of 2006. Peace is not preserved by pretending polls that show Hamas winning again do not exist. Peace is not preserved by elevating Mahmoud Abbas, whose approval rating has collapsed below 20 percent, when the Palestinian people themselves say they want Hamas. The Liberals have ignored history, ignored reality and ignored the fears of their own Jewish citizens. They have chosen international optics over domestic responsibility. They have chosen appeasement over principle.
The Jewish community is left asking why. Why recognize a Palestinian state when the last election put Hamas in charge. Why recognize a state when polls show Hamas would win again today. Why elevate the Palestinian Authority while Jewish children in Montreal are now afraid to go to school because their classrooms have already been shot at. Why reward a movement that glorifies murder while Jewish students on Canadian campuses are told to hide who they are. The answer is clear. This government has chosen politics over morality and weakness over truth. Canada was once a country Israel could count on. That is no longer true. This recognition will be remembered not as a courageous stand for peace but as a reckless betrayal of the Jewish people and a dangerous gift to Hamas.
