Do you feel that tense atmosphere, that electricity in the air and that ambient anxiety that envelops us? Disastrous news piles up and weighs heavily on our morale.
Many of us were demoralized by the massacres that began on October 7 by Hamas and continue today in Gaza with the bombings.
This war has had the effect of dividing our society, fueling hatred towards each other and alienating us from each other. There are pro-Israelis and pro-Palestinians, and it has become imperative to choose sides without deviating from them. As if acknowledging everyone’s suffering and reactions is tantamount to betraying them.
Prime Minister Trudeau had to call for reassurance so that a first voice would rise and remind us of the obvious: our loyalty, our loyalty, our brotherhood should be primarily directed to our fellow citizens. Our role, each of us, is to protect and support each other. Our role is to use our differences as strength instead of seeing each other as enemies.
When I see synagogues attacked, Jewish schools attacked with gunfire, my heart breaks for my Quebec and my Canada. When I listen to the speeches of Charkaoui and Dr Sabbah, I no longer recognize our company.
When one of us is insulted, assaulted, intimidated, we should all feel that insult, that attack, that intimidation. It doesn’t matter what religion the victim is or how their heart is inclined.
How could we forget this? How could we import this conflict and all its complexity here at home? How have we collectively failed to remember that we are lucky to be citizens of a country of peace and brotherhood?
More than ever, we need calming leaders who bring us back to reality and remind us of who we really are: a people of pacifists who abhor strife and division.
