Countries traditionally aligned with Israel are warning its right-wing government against contemplating a displacement of people who live in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli officials repeatedly suggest Canada could take in Palestinians.
This week, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said his country should “encourage migration” of Palestinians from Gaza and re-establish Israeli settlements there, echoing similar comments from National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned remarks from both politicians as “inflammatory and irresponsible.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called them “unacceptable” commentswhile the German foreign ministry rejected them “in the strongest terms,” with a spokesman saying they were unhelpful for peace.
Last month, members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party reportedly discussed countries willing to accept Palestinians in Gaza as refugees.
The report by the Israel Hayom newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying a member of the Knesset had pointed to Canada, mentioning its new program offering limited visas to relatives of Canadian citizens who are seeking passage out of Gaza.
The report has not been independently verified by The Canadian Press.
A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Canada will not condone the mass displacement of Palestinians.
“In response to the situation in Gaza, our priority is to reunite families in a way that does not hinder their ability to return to Gaza, when circumstances allow,” Miller’s press secretary Bahoz Dara Aziz said in a statement Wednesday.
In a social-media post last week, Miller said that he has never discussed the transfer of Gazans out of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory.
“It’s obscene that I’d have to say this, but at no time have I discussed with any member of the Israeli government the so-called ‘voluntary transfer’ of Gazans out of Gaza,” Miller posted online on Dec. 29.
“Anyone pretending otherwise is full of it.”
Miller’s office says he has had no contact with Israel’s government at all.
Next week, Canada is expected to launch a temporary immigration program for the extended family members of Canadians who are trapped in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The program would offer three-year visas to up to 1,000 Palestinians whose family members are willing to support them while they are in Canada.
“Vulnerable people are looking for safe haven and to be reunited with their loved ones in Canada, while also having aspirations of one day returning to Gaza,” Dara Aziz said in the statement.
“This program not only allows for this but was constructed with this in mind.”
Palestinian Canadian Shaymaa Ziara has been pleading with the federal government to help her father, siblings and pregnant sister-in-law out of the Gaza Strip since the conflict began in October.
In November, one of her brothers was killed when their neighbour’s house was bombed.
Even now, the prospect of leaving Gaza without knowing if they will be able to return is a difficult one for her family, she said in an interview.
“If given the choice between staying on the land right now or saving their lives, I want to save their life while preserving their rights to go back to their land and be able to rebuild their home,” said Ziara, who lives in Markham, Ont.
Her grandmother was among 700,000 Palestinians who were displaced during the Israel-Palestinian war in 1948, and was forced to leave her home in Jaffa, north of the Gaza Strip.
“She never got to go home to her house in Jaffa,” Ziara said. “I don’t want the same thing to happen for my family.”
During the first month of the latest Israel-Hamas war, an Israeli government ministry drafted a proposal to transfer all 2.3 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip into Egypt and have them resettled into other countries.
The memo specifically noted that Canada’s “lenient” immigration practices could make the country a target for resettlement. Israeli officials have confirmed the document’s veracity but said the proposal is not government policy.
In November, Ram Ben Barak, former deputy director of intelligence agency Mossad, told Israeli television in November that for Palestinians, “it’s better to be a refugee in Canada” than to live in Gaza.
University of Ottawa professor Thomas Juneau said the recent statements by Smotrich and Ben Gvir amount to “openly advocating for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”
In a joint statement with Australia and New Zealand on Dec. 12, the federal government called for a pause in hostilities in Gaza and progress toward a sustainable ceasefire.
In the statement, Canada opposed “the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the re-occupation of Gaza, any reduction in territory and any use of siege or blockade.”
Later that month, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Paula Gaviria Betancur, warned that Israel appears to be seeking to permanently alter the composition of Gaza’s population.
“As evacuation orders and military operations continue to expand and civilians are subjected to relentless attacks on a daily basis, the only logical conclusion is that Israel’s military operation in Gaza aims to deport the majority of the civilian population en masse,” Gaviria Betancur wrote in a Dec. 22 statement.
Israel’s government spokesman Eylon Levy responded by saying that his country asked Palestinians to move to a humanitarian zone within the Gaza Strip, from which Hamas then launched rockets.
“We want civilians to be protected in areas where Hamas is not already using them as human shields,” Levy said on social media on Dec. 26.
“The only people encouraging the mass displacement of Gazans are those who falsely label most of them ‘refugees’ and indulge their dreams of relocating into Israel through violent struggle, instead of living in peace alongside us.”
The war began after Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
The Israeli military has bombarded Gaza almost constantly since then, through air strikes and a large-scale ground operation. Authorities in the territory say the war has killed 22,300 Palestinians.
The Palestinian ambassador to Canada, Mona Abuamara, has repeatedly said that her people fear Israel wants to evacuate the Gaza Strip and take it over.
“You are seeing these ministers who come out and talk about wiping out cities (or) throwing a nuclear bomb on the Palestinian people,” Abuamara, who represents the Palestinian General Delegation to Canada, said in an interview last month.
In November, Netanyahu suspended his heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, after he said in an interview that dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was an option.
In March, Smotrich called for the West Bank village of Huwara to be “erased” following violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians.
“Israel wants to — and you hear it every day — to send all the Gazans out. That’s a solution that they think would bring the calm that they want,” Abuamara said, adding that she believes many Israelis disagree with what their country’s government is doing.
“The Palestinian people don’t want to leave their land.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2024.
Vancouver Canucks winger Dakota Joshua has announced he’ll miss the start of training camp following surgery for testicular cancer.
Joshua said in a statement posted to social media by the team Tuesday that he felt a lump on one of his testicles this summer and later had surgery to successfully remove the tumour.
The 28-year-old from Dearborn, Mich., said he plans on returning to play “as soon as possible” and is “working hard every day” to rejoin his teammates.
Joshua said the last several weeks have been “extremely challenging” and encouraged men to get checked regularly for testicular cancer.
The six-foot-three, 206-pound forward had a career-high 18 goals and 14 assists in 63 games for the Canucks last season and signed a new four-year, US$13-million deal with Vancouver at the end of June.
The Canucks are set to open their training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – Coach John Herdman isn’t putting too much stock in the fact that Toronto FC, since losing 4-0 in Columbus on July 6, has posted a better league record than the defending MLS champion.
Toronto, which beat visiting Austin 2-1 on Saturday, has won four of six league outings (4-2-0) since that setback at Lower.com Field while the Crew are 3-2-2.
“I don’t put any credence (in that),” said Herdman. “I just look at their squad and I salivate.”
Its easy to see why.
Columbus provided a league-high five players to the MLS all-star game on its home field in July in defenders Rudy Camacho and Steven Moreira, midfielder/captain Darlington Nagbe and forwards Cucho Hernandez and Diego Rossi.
Herdman sees layers of talent behind those all-stars.
“You see the way that they’re able to almost carbon-copy players. One comes in, another goes out … and they feel like they have a very similar profile. So to be able to take (Christian) Ramirez out and then bring (Canadian forward Jacen) Russell-Rowe in as a power forward, you look and go ‘Whoa, that’s good to have.'”
Federico Bernardeschi was Toronto’s lone all-star.
Columbus (14-5-8) comes to BMO Field on Wednesday in third place in the Eastern Conference, five places and 14 points ahead of Toronto (11-15-3). A playoff position already clinched, the Crew are hoping to leapfrog Cincinnati into second spot.
Coach Wilfried Nancy is looking forward to matching wits against Herdman.
“John is going to cook (up) something,” the Frenchman said with a belly laugh. “I know John. When we played a game in (the) pre-season, it wasn’t a pre-season game. It was a real game. But this is John. That’s why I like him, because he’s intense all the time.”
“They’re going to try to go all-in. They’re going to try to press us, they’re going to try to match us,” he added. “They know exactly the way we want to play so we’ll have to be clever and creative also.”
Herdman, meanwhile, says TFC will have to play error-free football.
While the Crew have failed to score in their last two outings (a 4-0 loss to visiting Seattle and 0-0 draw at rival FC Cincinnati), Toronto is hurting in its backline.
Nicksoen Gomis and Henry Wingo both left the Austin game early with hamstring injuries with Herdman estimating that Gomis will be out three to four weeks and Wingo 10-12 days. Veteran Kevin Long missed the Austin game after tweaking his hamstring in training and will undergo a fitness test ahead of the game.
Shane O’Neill, meanwhile, is suspended for yellow-card accumulation.
“A tricky situation,” said Herdman.
The Crew are a formidable opponent.
Columbus is tied with Real Salt Lake for fifth in the league in averaging 1.93 goals a game. Only Inter Miami (2.32), Portland Timbers (2.00), Los Angeles Galaxy (1.97) and Colorado Rapids (1.96) score more.
And Columbus boasts the league’s stingiest defence, conceding 1.04 goals a game. In contrast, the Toronto defence is tied for 22nd at 1.76 goals a game.
Toronto has conceded 51 goals, 23 more than Columbus, which has collected more points (7-3-4, 25 points) on the road in league play this season than Toronto has at home (7-7-0, 21 points).
Columbus’ roster also includes Canadian wingback Mo Farsi, who scored in the July win over Toronto.
The Columbus game is the first of four in an 11-day stretch that will see TFC club visit Colorado on Saturday, Vancouver on Sept. 25 in the Canadian Championship final and Chicago on Sept. 28. Toronto will then close out the regular season at home to the New York Red Bulls on Oct. 2 and Inter Miami on Oct. 5.
If the playoffs were to start tomorrow, Toronto would face ninth-place D.C. United in a wild-card matchup with the winner advancing to take on the East’s top seed — currently Miami — in the best-of-three first round.
Herdman would like a different scenario, with his eyes set on overtaking seventh-place Charlotte, which has two points and a game in hand over Toronto. The seventh-place side takes on No. 2 — currently Cincinnati — in the first round.
“We’re looking up, not down at the moment,” said Herdman. “It’s a good motivation for the lads to see that next level on the table. And it has been raised. If we’re able to get to that point, it means you’re not headed down to Miami in the heat, which is a tough place to go.”
“We’ll take whatever comes,” he added. “But the critical part is to get into these playoffs. That’s the key mission at the moment.”
Toronto has not made the post-season since 2020 when, after finishing second overall in the Supporters’ Shield standings, it was upset by Nashville after extra time at the first hurdle.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins placed Tua Tagovailoa on injured reserve Tuesday after the quarterback was diagnosed with his third concussion in two years.
Tagovailoa will be sidelined for at least four games. He will be eligible to return in Week 8 when the Dolphins host Arizona, but has to complete a series of tests and assessments required by the NFL’s concussion protocol before he can return to the field.
Tagovailoa was hurt last Thursday night when he collided with Buffalo defensive back Damar Hamlin. He ran for a first down and then initiated the contact by lowering his shoulder into Hamlin instead of sliding.
Players from both teams immediately motioned that Tagovailoa was hurt, and as he lay on the turf the quarterback exhibited some signs typically associated with a traumatic brain injury. He remained down on the field for a couple of minutes, got to his feet and walked to the sideline. The Dolphins diagnosed him with a concussion a few minutes later.
Coach Mike McDaniel has since cautioned against speculation on the quarterback’s future, stressing that he’s more focused on Tagovailoa getting healthy than what this latest concussion means for the team or for his career. Tagovailoa this week began the process of consulting neurologists about his health amid reports that he has no plans to retire.
Others around the NFL have offered their opinions on Tagovailoa’s future, including Raiders coach Antonio Pierce, who suggested he should retire.
“As far as Tua’s career is concerned, I think it’s an utmost priority of mine for Tua to speak on Tua’s career,” McDaniel said Monday. “Reports are reports. As far as I’m concerned, I’m just worried about the human being and where that’s at day to day. I’ll let Tua be the champion of his own career.”
McDaniel said Tagovailoa was at the team’s practice facility on Monday, greeting teammates and working with trainers.
“He’s doing good, man. Talked to him, he’s in good spirits,” receiver Jaylen Waddle said Monday. “(He’s) got the team in good spirits and everybody praying for him and hoping (for his) health.”
Head injuries have become a familiar, scary occurrence throughout Tagovailoa’s career.
In a September 2022 game against the Bills, he took a hit from linebacker Matt Milano, which caused him to slam to the ground. He appeared disoriented afterward and stumbled as he tried to get to his feet. He was cleared to return to that game and later said it was a back injury that caused the stumble. He was not diagnosed with a concussion.
Four days later, he got hit again during a Thursday night game at Cincinnati in which he was briefly knocked unconscious and was taken off the field on a stretcher. As he lay on the turf, his fingers appeared to display the “fencing response,” an involuntary motion typically associated with a brain injury. That time, he was placed in the concussion protocol.
The NFL and the players’ union made changes to the concussion protocol after those two incidents with Tagovailoa. Players who have problems with balance or stability are now prohibited from returning to a game.
Tagovailoa briefly considered retirement, but instead returned and studied ways to better protect himself on the field, including taking jiu-jitsu classes ahead of the 2023 season.
Tagovailoa has said he spoke to numerous neurologists who told him they did not believe he would be more susceptible to head injuries than any other player moving forward, nor would he be at a higher risk for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head. He was also diagnosed with a concussion while in college at Alabama.
With Tagovailoa sidelined, the Dolphins will go with backup Skylar Thompson when play at Seattle on Sunday. Miami also signed Tyler Huntley off the Ravens’ practice squad.
