Free, Free Gaza From Hamas

"[Applicants' stories of misfortune in Gaza while] heartbreaking [left me unable to issue the orders they sought to force the processing of their visa applications]."

"While this was possible in December 2023 when the Policy was issued, the Rafah crossing was closed on May7, 2024, and remains closed to this day."

"Therefore, the Applicant -- through no fault of his own or of IRCC [Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada] -- has not obtained or sent his biometrics."

"I am satisfied the Applicant has a legitimate expectation to his application being dealt with in a timely manner. However, this expectation only arises when the Applicant meets all the conditions of the Policy and provides biometric information [which he is unable to do]."

"The root cause of the Applicant's failure to provide his biometric data is of course the changed operational context, namely the closure of the Rafah crossing which made obtaining and submitting biometrics impossible."

"[All cases denied]." 

Justice Henry S. Brown, Federal Court of Canada 

 

"Canada's behaviour throughout its rollout of its own policy has been utterly cruel."

"Canada has no serious intention of providing safe refuge to Palestinians. This is why we sought justice from the court."

"The Federal Court has given the government a pass to do nothing while Palestinian visa applicants in the Gaza Strip face death and starvation."

Hana Marku, lawyer representing visa applicants

Palestinian terrorists move towards the border fence with Israel from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 7.    Said Khatib/AFP/Getty Images

 

Ottawa had announced a "temporary public policy to facilitate temporary residency visas for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza", which had taken effect on January 9, 2024. It was similar to the move taken by the Canadian government in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, to enable Ukrainian fleeing for safety to enter Canada temporarily, and to Afghans whose flight from the Taliban return to power, and the aftermath of an earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria, leading to people fleeing for temporary safety abroad. 

 

Neither Ukrainians, nor Afghans have been anything but grateful to Canada for that respite from terror. Palestinians, on the other hand, have brought terror with them to Canada. While seeking temporary respite from conditions of war brought upon them by the very government they voted into office, a government comprised of fascist Islamists whose ultimate purpose was not responsible governance on behalf of the welfare of those they represented, but to succeed in destroying the Jewish state next to which the Gaza Strip stood.

 

Palestinians look for survivors in the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli airstrike in Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. (Hassan Eslaiah/The Associated Press)

 

In wars, full-scale hostilities, it is inevitable that civilian populations bear some of the brunt of the battles taking place in the conflict that surrounds them. Israelis, long accustomed to never-ending conflict courtesy of their neighbours, have developed primary safety processes with a 'safe room' available throughout the country, either in homes or in buildings to which civilians in danger can turn. In Gaza, the only safe areas for returned fire are in countless tunnels underground which civilians are not permitted to enter, serving as havens for terrorist operatives, offering the lives of civilians in their stead. 

 

To Hamas, as well as other Palestinian and non-Palestinian Islamist terrorist groups, 'collateral damage' in the guise of dead and wounded civilians are a boon to their victimhood public relations apparatus; the larger the numbers, particularly of children and women, the more impact it has on the Western audiences who are encouraged to overlook the fact that Israel never initiates conflict, but reacts to the conflict forced upon it. And Palestinians and their Islamist cohorts in Canada make the most of that advantage in comparative collateral numbers.

 

A large group of protesters could be seen, around 1 p.m. Tuesday, near the corner of Mackay Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard. (Aatefeh Padidar/CBC)

 

Jewish Canadians bear the consequences in Palestinian-led pro-Hamas campaigns that march through the streets of Canadian cities to elicit sympathy for the 'victims' of the 'occupation'. An occupation so-named resulting from a state being forced to monitor and prevent as many violent incursions and attempts to murder Israeli citizens as possible from an indefatigable enemy intent on its destruction. While it is Israelis who are the victims of never-ending Palestinian assaults, the Palestinians' victimhood ploy is popular in liberal, left-wing, DEI-worshipping Critical Race Theory-invested social environments throughout the West.

 

Canadian Immigration law seeks ostensibly to protect Canadians from the entry of those hostile to Western democratic justice, values and heritage. Travel visas sought by Palestinians in Gaza have on occasion failed to meet the demands of the applicants, which has led the applicants to make an effort to force officials to satisfy them, regardless of the fact that the situation has the background of a region torn asunder in war. The very same civilians in Gaza who overwhelmingly support terrorism and hatred for Jews are anxious to escape the atrocious conditions and the fallout of war brought to them by their leaders.

 

Protesters stand in front of the TIFF entrance sign during the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 6, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan

 

At present out of a Gaza policy of 5,000 visas, 4,200 applications are still  unprocessed where the government exempted applicants from proving financial stability, requiring they leave Canada when their authorized stay elapsed. A handful of applicants, dissatisfied with the dismal pace of their visa applications, decided to take the government to court regarding the three-stage process that begins with a relative in Canada completing forms, submitting documentary proof of identification and once deemed eligible the names of applicants are forwarded to Israeli and Egyptian governments to permit access to the Rafah border crossing.

 

There biometric information is gathered at a collection facility, including fingerprinting and photographs. It is this final stage where the holdup occurs, since the Rafah crossing was closed by Israel, in an active combat zone. The cases involved were denied simply because the applicants failed to meet the threshold for a court order forcing the government of Canada to act since that required all elements of a process to be completed prior to unreasonable delay's determination.

 

A loss for the applicants, but a small victory for Canadian Jews whose compassion has its limits.  

 

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at the Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Sept. 7, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey