Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland on Monday initially refused to condemn slogans celebrating the Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel as hate speech – until she watched a video of the vile chants.
Freeland, a member of Canada’s Liberal Party, plead ignorance when asked by a reporter if chants of “long live October 7th” and “October 7th proves we’re almost free” – both bellowed by anti-Israel protesters during a weekend demonstration in Ottawa – constitute hate speech.
“I wasn’t in Ottawa over the weekend,” Freeland said during a press conference in Montreal. “And I’m not aware of those specific reports.”
“And so it would be just wrong of me to comment on something that I am not specifically aware of.”
Video footage of the Saturday demonstration shows hundreds of protesters waving Palestinian flags near Ottawa’s Centre Block parliamentary building.
In addition to the pro-Hamas mantras Freeland was asked about, the apparent leader of the protest is heard chanting several other antisemitic slogans into a bullhorn, including, “From the river to the sea” and “long live the intifada.”
But Freeland, who also heads Canada’s Ministry of Finance, changed her tune after seeing clips of the demonstration.
“Having seen video from this weekend, I can only express shock and disgust at the antisemitism and glorification of terrorism that occurred on Parliament Hill,” she wrote on X early Monday evening.
“This hate speech has no place in Canada. None.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the protest on Sunday, calling it “hateful intimidation.”
“There is a difference between peaceful protest and hateful intimidation,” Trudeau wrote on X.
“It is unconscionable to glorify the antisemitic violence and murder perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th,” he added. “This rhetoric has no place in Canada. None.”
Several Canadians were among the 1,200 killed by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state.