Will Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally keep his word? | Israel-Palestine conflict

Today, Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish feels like a forgotten man.

From his home in Toronto, he has seen with a tiring mix of frustration, grief and rage that Israel has briefly pierced the ongoing persecution of Palestinians occupied in Palestine, once again after a pleasant awareness of Western political and media elites after the outbreak of violence.

And he has waited for these pleasing Western political and media elites – once recognized by Palestinian-Canadian physicians, teachers, humanitarians and, above all, with flattering fathers, awards and honors – to heed their demands to stop Israel’s malicious designs. heal the serious wounds of Palestine.

But few are returning their calls.

Television hosts and newspaper writers have once abandoned Dr. Abuelaish about how he turned the Israeli army into a message of hope and reconciliation when he killed his three daughters and nephew in the 2009 invasion of Gaza. .

Canadian and foreign politicians once named him “Martin Luther King of the Middle East” and put bubbles on Dr. Abuelaish’s chest to lift the bridges built on understanding and friendship in recognition of his work in overcoming hatred.

However, he has tried, in vain, to hear the cacophonous terror of Israel in occupied Palestine and the well-known terror of 11 days in a row.

On May 11, Dr. Abuelaish issued a press release addressed to “world government leaders and people around the world,” in part: “We cannot accept silence in the face of atrocities against unarmed civilians … It is time to end the bloodshed; it is time to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. yes “.

No one answered.

Earlier, Dr. Abuelaish turned to the editors of The Globe and Mail and The Guardian for the publication of his statement that the world must be “deaf and silent” to Israel’s historic injustices to Palestinian prisoners.

Again, no one responded.

“They don’t want to join me in telling the truth,” Dr. Abuelaish told me in an interview. “It’s sad and painful because in times of injustice, silence is injustice. But I will never give up. ”

Dr. Abuelaish remains faithful to his tireless nature and enduring sense of dignity and humanity.

Born in the Jabalia refugee camp north of the besieged Gaza Strip, Dr. Abuelaish is better aware of the dire, often deadly, costs that Palestinian generations have had to bear, the effects of Israeli apartheid.

Dr. Abuelaish also knows, of course, better than most, that the children of occupied Palestine have paid the deepest and most indelible price they have paid for Israel’s long, savage, and systemic repression.

That is why, in 2014, Israel’s malicious invasion of Gaza killed 551 Palestinian children and wounded another 3,436 innocent people — many of them permanently — Dr. Abuelaish decided to do something to pay tribute to the memory of his dead. disbanded daughters, Bessan, Mayar, Aya and nephew, Noor.

While working alone, Dr. Abuelaish enlisted the cooperation of Canadian unions, nurses, doctors, hospitals and politicians, including the then Ontario Prime Minister and Minister of Health, to organize Heal100Kids, a humanitarian initiative to provide special medical care to 100 mutilated and traumatized children in Canada. and treatment.

Many Canadians, Dr. Abuelaish, offered their willingness to open their homes and wallets, welcoming and caring for affected Palestinian children, driven by loyalty to mistrust, despair, resignation of faith, love of hate, and peace over war. Canada.

Apparently shocked and excited among the Canadians, there was then the leader of the opposition Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau, and he publicly expressed his full support for Dr. Abuelaish’s plan on his official Twitter account.

In a tweet on August 3, 2014, Trudeau encouraged Canadians to defend Heal100Kids. “Please add your name to help Palestinian children receive medical treatment in Canada,” Trudeau said he wrote to his legion of followers.

Two days later, Trudeau wrote another tweet, this time “applauding” Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins and the provincial provincial government for their “commitment to support the # Heal100Kids initiative.”

At the time, part of Trudeau’s acceptance of the rhetoric given to Heal100Kids was undoubtedly calculated in relation to the shameful refusal of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to meet with Dr. Abuelaish to consolidate his credentials and the denial of visas to broken Palestinian children and their families. come to Canada.

The former theater teacher is skilled at playing the role of a father and a kind and friendly leader.

It turns out that Trudeau was just as cynical as the cynical support of Heal100Kids.

In an opinion piece published on May 22, 2018, Dr. Abuelaish challenged Prime Minister Trudeau to keep his word and mobilize the resources and powers of his office to Palestinian children in desperate need to extend a Canadian hand.

“It’s time to say yes, Prime Minister Trudeau. It is time to help alleviate the pain and suffering of 100 Palestinian children. It’s time, if I can, to walk around talking and make the words you wrote a few years ago come true. It’s time to dump her and move on. It’s time to do something and touch. It is necessary to measure kindness and dignity in the midst of all ugly human massacres. There is a time, ”wrote Dr. Abuelaish.

Trudeau’s response: three years of silence and inactivity.

Like most Palestinians, Dr. Abuelaish is a patient man. His patience is exhausted. Today, he understands that the Prime Minister’s support for Heal100Kids is as fleeting as a smokescreen.

“It was just words. It’s a big lie, ”Dr. Abuelaish told me.

In fact, it is.

To try to understand the reason for the Prime Minister’s horrible face, earlier this week I contacted Trudeau’s press secretary, Alex Wellstead, to request an interview to discuss Dr. Abuelaish and Heal100Kids.

This was Wellstead’s enlightening and enlightening response: “I don’t know about this initiative. Can you share more information and where this intersects with the federal government … “

Simply put: Wellstead and, by extension, the Prime Minister, have forgotten Dr. Abuelaish and Heal100Kids.

Later, Trudeau’s press secretary declined to comment. “Have a good day,” he wrote in an email.

I can think of no more graphic accusations against this prime minister and his government than the predicted amnesia about the three-time Herculean efforts of the Nobel Peace Prize nominee to help Palestinian children recover from trauma – in mind, body and spirit. war.

Trudeau and company want to forget about it, but the numbers are staggering.

More than 60 Palestinian children and children they were killed and a hundred days ago they were seriously wounded and orphaned before a ceasefire was declared. On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the massacre as “if there is hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza.”

Despite the sad sadness of Dr. Abuelaish, the international community stresses that Israel must be forced to end its illegal and weakening occupation of Palestine.

Prime Minister Trudeau should also agree to revive the Heal100Kids initiative as a sign of Canada’s goodwill and common humanity with the Palestinians persecuted by Canada.

“Mr. Trudeau can finally put his words back into action and say: We are ready to revive this initiative and heal the children who need to be healed,” Dr. Abuelaish said. “It’s his moral responsibility.”

The question remains: will Justin Trudeau remember acting this time?

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the attitude of the Al Jazeera editorial.