Editor’s Note: In response to today’s post of an interview with the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Iddo Moed, Canadaland journalists Cherise Seucharan and Noor Azrieh present the following analysis. This provides a critical response to points and arguments which they believe lacked context, were unsupported by facts, or were false.
Against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and a year since the Hamas attacks on October 7th, the Israeli ambassador to Canada sat down for an interview, offering a perspective that echoed the official line of the Israeli government. This analysis aims to critically examine the conversation.
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What Brown Said: “Let’s talk about the protests here in Canada. Ostensibly, these began as anti-war protests, ceasefire protests, peace protests. What we hear now, at just about every demonstration or march, are calls for Palestine to be Arab, from water to water, or calls for Jews to go back to Europe, or chants that Israel will soon be gone. So this has become, to a wide degree, an eliminationist movement.”
Response: This suggests the protests have taken a turn from focusing on peace, to focusing on the elimination of Israel and/or the removal of Jews. While it is true that calls for the removal of Jews from the region have been documented at public demonstrations, there is no evidence to suggest this is the focus of the wider movement or representative of participants’ views.
Further, some of the core organizers of pro-Palestine demonstrations have notably been found to have no association with these calls. For example, the injunction ruling on the University of Toronto encampment makes clear that there wasn’t a connection between movement organizers and calls for violence or anti-semitic action: “Although there have clearly been instances of antisemitic hate speech outside of the encampment, there is no evidence that the named respondents or encampment occupants are associated with any of those instances.”
The phrase, “from water to water, Palestine will be Arab”, is also not necessarily eliminationist. Elliott Colla, a professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, wrote, “It is true that a state of Palestine would entail the end of Israel as a Jewish ethnic-national state. But as many Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals (and others) have noted: replacing Israel with a Palestinian state need not result in genocide or the ethnic cleansing of Jews. Proponents of the one-state solution, for instance, have thought a lot about such a future and have developed various scenarios for securing a vibrant Jewish presence alongside a vibrant Palestinian one in various versions of a future Palestine, from a bi-national, secular polity to a federation.”
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What Moed Said: “What we are seeing here right now is a sort of a reaction to, uh, you know, a campaign of misinformation and disinformation of Israel being called racist and supremacist and all this and colonialist, which is, of course, abhorrent.”
Response: Disinformation and misinformation campaigns have been omnipresent throughout this war. Government officials and researchers have said the problem is larger than anything seen before.
According to materials seen by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “Russia has renewed its disinformation efforts in recent weeks, publishing a number of falsified reports about the war between Israel and Hamas.”
Russia, China, and Iran have allegedly conducted such campaigns.
Haaretz also alleged a branch of the Israeli state hired a private firm that conducted an operation intending to “promote content that is pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim content, as well as disinformation about antisemitism on American campuses.”
“The federal government says it has raised concerns directly with Israel over allegations of a “co-ordinated” and “Islamophobic” misinformation campaign that targeted Canadians online,” according to the Toronto Star. Israel rejected the claim.
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What Moed Said: Regarding the people in Canada protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza: “And I understand that. Of course we would like it to stop as well. No more killings, no more, destruction. But the point is that we can’t really stop unless we get our hostages back, and Hamas is no longer a threat to us or Hezbollah or Iran.”
Response : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected multiple offers for hostage release and ceasefire, except one ceasefire which lasted for four days on Nov. 22, 2023.
On June 4, 2024, Netanyahu rejected another hostage-ceasefire deal which Israel proposed the week earlier. A Times of Israel article reads, “The main point of contention in previous rounds has been Israel’s insistence on being able to resume the fighting after hostages are released and Hamas’s refusal to free those it abducted unless Israel commits up front to a permanent ceasefire.” Other Israeli media suggest that PM Netanyahu and his government are avoiding ceasefire talks that would return hostages.
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What Moed Said: “I think that when people are asked questions, you know, they are asked specific questions in specific contexts–that it can be genocide… All we’ve heard it before. These are claims that are based on information and disinformation that’s been spread out by Hamas itself. The Ministry of Health, so-called, is a Hamas organization. So when they give out numbers, you never know how much of them are terrorists.”
Response: The number of Hamas fighters that have been killed, out of the overall death toll in Gaza, is debated on both sides. In February 2024 the BBC reported that the IDF’s numbers have been called into question through examination of demographic data from Gaza, which shows a large proportion of women and children killed. “So with the figures suggesting less than 30% of those killed were men – some of whom are likely to be over fighting age – experts have raised questions about how Israel arrived at its claim of killing 10,000 fighters.”
Further, the World Health Organization has backed Gaza’s Ministry of Health numbers indicating the total death toll.
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What Moed Said: “We will not deny that civilians are dying, families are dying, babies are dying, livelihoods are being destroyed. We know that. But at the same time, those same people will live side by side with us forever because they are our neighbors.”
Response: In a September 2nd news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined his post-war strategy, which, according to an Al Jazeera explainer, involves keeping the area north of a military axis through the Netzarim Corridor under Gaza City in a state of destruction. The plan would prevent reconstruction efforts and prohibit displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes. Al Jazeera said Netanyahu’s presentation appeared to ignore the occupied West Bank entirely, showing it fully annexed into Israel on the map he referenced during the briefing.
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What Moed Said: “When it comes to encampments in universities, and it’s about disallowing Jewish students from entering campuses.”
Response: While we could not find verified reports of Jewish students being barred from entering campuses, there have been incidents in which pro-Palestine protesters have blocked access to classrooms associated with engineering, education and other topics “perceived to be connected to Israel.”
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What Moed Said: “We know that the city of Tulkarem, of Jenin, of Nablus, are centers for terrorist organizations that have been shooting mortars into Israel. I don’t think that anybody reports that, anybody knows about that?”
Response: There have been no reports about mortar or rocket attacks originating from the cities of Tulkarem, Jenin, Nablus, or any of the West Bank, though it is possible that Moed is privy to information that has not been available to the public. There were failed attempts to fire rockets into Israel from Jenin in 2023.
However, Israel has maintained settlements in the West Bank, which has been deemed illegal and a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention by many countries, including Canada. According to Al-Jazeera, “Activists and experts believe that Israel is playing up the threat of what it calls “terrorism” to justify the increasing violence, which leads to mass displacement and the expansion of illegal settlements.”
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What Moed said: “Nobody thinks about them shooting directly into Israeli villages. Nobody would know about that shooting into a girl’s sleeping room.”
Response: While there does not appear to be any reports of a West Bank terrorist shooting into a girl’s room, this may be a reference to a 2016 incident in which a 13-year-old girl who was asleep was stabbed to death in her bedroom by a Palestinian.
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What Moed Said: “You have to remember that on the West Bank there is no real authority. There is no government, there is no real policing. There is no real serious security enforcement agency that does anything. And so we have to do it.”
Response: The governance of the West Bank is a complex shared responsibility between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, due to Israel’s settlements there. According to the US Department of State’s summary of Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into three areas: “The Palestinian Authority has formal responsibility for security in Area A, but Israeli security forces frequently conducted security operations there. The Palestinian Authority maintains administrative control, and Israel maintains security control of Area B in the West Bank. Israel retains full security control of Area C and has designated most Area C land as either closed military zones or settlement zoning areas.”
However, the division of control remains a contentious issue between the two governments.
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What Moed Said: In speaking of the argument that Israeli government policy caused Palestinians to turn against Israel: “You have to think twice when you look at their schoolbooks, somebody your age, when he was went to to kindergarten, what he did was walk over an Israeli flag and on his whatever holiday that he had a costume, he would take a rifle and say, I’m going to be a shaheed. And every mother would tell him, I wish you were a shaheed, and I will sacrifice you. And this is the environment where they grow in.”
Response: This story is unsubstantiated and suggests that Palestinians glorify martyrdom, which is a discriminatory trope. Further, some Palestinian experts interpret the word “shaheed” as “witness,” not “martyr.”
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What Moed Said: In answer to the question of why Israel won’t let people in Gaza into Egypt in order to get security clearance for a Canadian visa: “You’ll have to check your data. Because with the Ministry of Immigration here, they’ll tell you that a few hundred already left.”
Response: A recent Canadaland episode on Canada’s plan to issue 5000 visas to Gazans, reported that data from the Canadian government and expert lawyers show that Israel has not let a single person leave Gaza through the program that was set up in January 2024.
According to a spokesperson at Global Affairs Canada, “Israel has agreed to Canada’s request to facilitate the exit of extended family members in Gaza as part of their expanding humanitarian efforts.” The most recent reports reflect that has not yet happened.
Moed might have been referring to the several hundred people who left through “facilitation” or bribes, but this is not Canada’s official process.
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What Moed Said: “And if you ask about the Lebanese government, I would ask you where there has been Canada or the Lebanese government or the United Nations for 20 something years about implementing Security Council Resolution one 701 and 1559, which call for the retreat of all these militias, Hezbollah, and the disarming of this whole this whole perimeter or this whole strip of land to the northern part of the border for ten kilometers, where were the calls for cease fire when Hezbollah killed 12 children. Where were the calls for a cease fire when Hezbollah, on October the 8th voluntarily decided to attack Israel out of their own will? There was no provocation. There was nothing there. We have actually retreated into the international border line many years ago, as acknowledged by the United Nations, but there is no mention of that.”
Response: The U.N. secretary-general has reported violations of resolution 1701 by both sides. The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon FAQ page, said “Any unauthorized crossing of the Blue Line by land or by air from any side constitutes a violation of Security Council resolution 1701.”
Israel first invaded Lebanon during its civil war in 1978 and again in 1982, maintaining an occupation in southern Lebanon until 2000, when it announced its withdrawal. To mark this withdrawal, the United Nations established the “Blue Line,” a border demarcation intended to confirm that Israeli forces had fully left Lebanese territory. However, while the UN certified the withdrawal, Lebanon disputed the Blue Line, arguing that the Shebaa Farms area was part of its own territory, not the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel continues to occupy. An Al Jazeera article explains, “there are two separate issues here that lead to the current dispute: the first is that Israel occupies the Golan Heights and treats it as its own territory in violation of international law, and the second is that there was already a pre-existing disagreement between Syria and Lebanon over the border, prior to the Israeli occupation.”
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What Moed Said: Responding to a question about what Israel is doing to help or allow Lebanese-Canadians to leave the country: “What would you expect me to tell you? There is nothing that Israel does at the moment to inhibit anybody from leaving the country.”
Response: Lebanese people are being prevented from leaving the country, via the border crossing: “Israel carried out another series of punishing airstrikes Friday, hitting suburban Beirut and cutting off the main border crossing between Lebanon and Syria for tens of thousands of people fleeing the Israeli bombardment of the Hezbollah militant group,” reads an AP article. Also, The Guardian reports that “their bombing has resulted in a suspension of many flights out of the country”.
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What Moed Said: On the various instances of people protesting Israel, including one incident of a rally outside an Ottawa JCC: “We have to understand who these people are. Where do they come from? Why are they there? What is their motivation? This is not pro-Palestinian. The fact that they are carrying the flags, they are actually out there to change something very fundamental and significant in Canada and in Western society.”
Response: The rally at a JCC in Ottawa was not held to change a fundamental aspect of Western society, but according to Independent Jewish Voices, was against a presentation that promoted Sar-El Canada, a volunteer program that directly supports the Israeli military.
The idea that there is a covert attempt to reshape Western society by Arab and/or Muslim activists, is an Islamophobic trope.
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What Moed Said: “You have to understand one thing, Israel is fighting a war right now on the people on the West Bank. 60 to 70% of them support Hamas.”
Response: A Times of Israel article cites a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) between May 26 and June 1, which found that 41% of residents in the West Bank said they support Hamas. More recent polling conducted by the PCPSR indicated support for Hamas “stands at 37% in the West Bank (compared to 41% three months ago).”
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What Moed Said: “On the Palestinian side, there are no people, no real leaders who will say, we want to live in peace with Israel.”
Response: At a UN general address in late September 2024, The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas said “We want a solution that will protect both countries, the State of Palestine and the State of Israel, so that they can coexist in peace, stability and security.”
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What Moed Said: “And our response is that we cannot cease fire while Hezbollah is continuing to fight rockets and missiles into Israel without discrimination into civilian populated areas.”
Response: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had agreed to a 21-day ceasefire before his assassination by Israel, said Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib.
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib added, “Mr. Nabih Berri consulted with Hezbollah and we informed the Americans and the French what happened. And they told us that Mr. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu also agreed on the statement that was issued by both presidents [Biden and Macron.]”
Israel then pulled out of the ceasefire agreement and subsequently continued its military campaign in Lebanon.
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What Moed Said: “We have a war to fight against this organization that has been there, that has been building up for years, for tens of years, for one purpose and one purpose only to be able to deter Israel from attacking Iran.”
Response: Israel occupied southern Lebanon and went as far as West Beirut, where the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) was based. After an agreement, the PLO left for Tunisia but Israel’s military continued to occupy Lebanon. Israel supported local proxies in the civil war, including contributing to the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hezbollah formed to repel the invasion and was able to force the Israeli army to withdraw. Hezbollah and Israel have continuously exchanged fire since the group’s inception.
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What Moed Said: “Hezbollah is not a member of the United Nations. Hezbollah will not go to court. There is no policeman that come to Hezbollah to tell them, listen, there is an agreement, stop firing.:
Response: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has the power to issue arrest warrants against members of Hezbollah. And, there has been an attempt at a ceasefire that could stop the firing, which Israel refused.
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What Moed Said: “It’s as if Israel started October, the seventh war, as if Israel decided to go into Gaza and to do whatever it does.”
Response: This statement undermines the gravity of the Israeli government’s actions as a response to the October 7th attacks by Hamas. The International Criminal Court prosecutors say there are “reasonable grounds” that Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant committed war crimes by systematically depriving civilians in Gaza of “objects indispensable to human survival” including food, water, medicine, and energy.”
The International Court of Justice said it is “plausible” that Israel has committed acts of genocide.
We must be clear about this.
