Ontario NDP calls for retraction of Hamilton MPP's statement on Israel-Gaza war
CTV
The leader of Ontario’s NDP is calling on one of its own members to retract a statement on the Israel-Gaza war, which she says was not approved by the caucus.
The leader of Ontario’s NDP is calling on one of its own members to retract a statement on the Israel-Gaza war, which she says was not approved by the caucus.
In a post and accompanying statement to X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday afternoon, Hamilton Centre MPP Sarah Jama addressed the intensifying violence in the Middle East saying, “I'm reflecting on my role as a politician who is participating in this settler colonial system, and I ask that all politicians do the same.”
“I call for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation. We must look to the solution to this endless cycle of death and destruction: end all occupation of Palestinian land and end apartheid,” the two-paragraph statement reads in part.
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said Jama’s comments were not in line, nor approved by, the party and that she has asked the Hamilton Centre representative to take back her remarks.
“The terrorist attacks by Hamas on thousands of innocent Israeli civilians are unjustifiable and must be condemned unequivocally,” Stiles wrote in a statement issued by the party to CTV News Toronto Tuesday evening.
“We call for an immediate ceasefire and de-escalation to prevent further bloodshed in Israel and Gaza, and for a political solution to bring lasting peace to the region.”
Both the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) condemned Jama’s remarks and called for her removal from the Ontario NDP caucus.
