Tuesday, December 23, 2025
ADVT 
National

Eby deplores 'most hateful' speech praising Hamas attack, as UBC protest camp begins

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 29 Apr, 2024 03:21 PM
  • Eby deplores 'most hateful' speech praising Hamas attack, as UBC protest camp begins

Charlotte Kates of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network told the rally outside the Vancouver Art Gallery on Friday that the attack was "heroic and brave." 

Eby said the comments about the attack, that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were "the most hateful" he could imagine.

"Celebrating the murder, the rape of innocent people attending a music festival, it's awful," Eby said at an unrelated news conference on Monday. 

"It's reprehensible, and it shouldn't take place in British Columbia. There is clearly an element of some individuals using an international tragedy to promote hate that's completely unacceptable."

Kates and Samidoun did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Eby also remarked on an encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters that began at the University of B.C. on Monday. 

Similar camps have appeared on campuses across the United States, as well as at McGill University in Montreal and the University of Ottawa.

At McGill, activists have set up dozens of tents. The university said Monday morning it had seen video evidence of some protesters using "unequivocally antisemitic language and intimidating behaviour" during the protest.

The UBC camp included about 20 tents on MacInnes Field by noon Monday.

Eby said a university campus, while a protected space for free speech, should foster a safe space for students of all backgrounds, especially for Jewish students during a time they feel "particularly alone on campuses and need additional support to feel safe."

"I have no reason to doubt that the leadership, both student and administration, at UBC will find that balance between ensuring students are safe and making sure that atmosphere of free exchange of ideas can continue to take place on campus."

In a series of messages posted on social media platform X, UBC protest organizers have asked supporters to bring tents and sandbags, as well as food, water, first aid and generators.

Naisha Khan, a spokeswoman for the protest camp, said tents started going up at 5 a.m. Monday, with attendees from UBC, Simon Fraser University and Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

Khan said they wouldn't leave until UBC supported the Palestinian right to "resistance," and the right of return to what is now Israel.

In a written response, UBC spokesman Matthew Ramsey said the school is monitoring the situation and keeping in contact with the RCMP.

Protests must "be taken with respect for others and within the boundaries of university policy and the law," he said.

"We also remind everyone that hate and intolerance have no place at UBC," Ramsey said. "The university must be a place of reasoned debate where conflicting views can peacefully coexist."

Before Eby, the Vancouver Art Gallery rally had drawn condemnation from Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, who called it a "celebration of terrorism and antisemitism."

Sim said in a post on X on Sunday that people who "spew this vile hatred" were not welcome in the city.

Liberal member for Vancouver Granville Taleeb Noormohamed said on X that "glorifying Oct. 7 is unacceptable" and "does nothing to promote peace," while B.C. Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon called the speech a "celebration of the heinous murder of Jews."

MORE National ARTICLES

Police in Vancouver probe 'mysterious' fentanyl poisoning

Police in Vancouver probe 'mysterious' fentanyl poisoning
Police in Vancouver say they're investigating how a man mysteriously fell ill from fentanyl poisoning following a brief encounter with a stranger last week. They say in a statement that investigators are focused on how the 56-year-old man, who does not use drugs, was exposed to the powerful opioid, and whether the incident involved a criminal offence.  

Police in Vancouver probe 'mysterious' fentanyl poisoning

BC Gov to launch a pilot to support the restaurant industry

BC Gov to launch a pilot to support the restaurant industry
The B-C government says it's launching a pilot project to support the restaurant industry.  The province says it’s putting 380-thousand dollars into a two-year pilot project to help with recruiting and retaining more workers.  

BC Gov to launch a pilot to support the restaurant industry

Shots fired in Burnaby

Shots fired in Burnaby
Mounties in Burnaby say they're investigating reports of shots being fired on a busy street in the city on Thursday. Police say they located a truck riddled with bullet holes when they arrived, but there were no injuries reported following the shooting.

Shots fired in Burnaby

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?
Kay Matthews doesn't mince words when asked about the state of businesses fighting to survive in downtown cores across Ontario. The experiences in Ontario's cities are echoed across Canada, as downtowns grapple with high vacancy rates, the post-pandemic work culture and the prospect that crowds of office workers may never return in full.  

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away
The end of the fall legislative session comes less than a year away from B.C.'s expected election, and about three months before the New Democrat government's tabling of its February budget. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy signalled this week it will post a multibillion-dollar deficit and projects economic growth below one per cent.

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial
The B.C. Supreme Court first-degree murder trial of Ibrahim Ali fell silent for two full minutes as Crown attorney Daniel Porte neared the end of his closing arguments. Porte was illustrating how long it would have taken Ali to strangle the 13-year-old girl he's accused of killing in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago, saying Ali would have had to apply "consistent and sustained" pressure.  

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial