Only two days after Hamas’ genocidal October 7, 2023 massacres, Douglas Roche, a former senator and member of parliament (MP), proclaimed that – despite Hamas’ own statements making clear that the group sought to destroy Israel – that only an end to Israel’s non-existent “occupation” of Gaza would end the conflict.

Tragically, it seems that even over the course of a year, Roche has failed to expand his knowledge about the Middle East. But that has not stopped him from writing about it.

In a November 25 opinion column in The Hill Times entitled: “U.S. vetos UN Security Council resolution for immediate, unconditional ceasefire in Gaza,” Roche matter-of-factly stated that “the mounting deaths of innocent people in Gaza…have reached genocidal proportions.”

It may surprise Roche to learn that not only did Hamas, not Israel, start the war a year ago, but in its adamant refusal to accept a ceasefire, the terrorist group has deliberately continued the war.

And while it is undeniable that innocent civilians have indeed tragically been killed in this conflict, it is equally undeniable that Israel has taken more extensive steps to minimize civilian casualties than virtually any other military in modern history, leading to a historically low proportion of civilian deaths.

Genocide is not determined by a total death toll – particularly given that tens of thousands of Hamas fighters are thought to be among the dead – but an attempt to eradicate an entire people. By literally no objective metric has Israel sought to do that.

However, for Roche, deaths in war, seemingly regardless of the context, background or even the culprit, makes it “genocidal.” By that nonsensical logic, the Allies in World War Two, by bombing Nazi Germany, were committing genocide, given that large numbers of German civilians died.

Accusing Israel of genocide is not only profoundly ignorant; it is incredibly reckless and indeed dangerous, as it helps to provide rhetorical cover for Jew-haters in Canada and beyond to justify their merciless attacks on innocent Jews, the frequency of which increase whenever there is a war between Israel and Hamas.

Not content to display his ignorance on the Middle East, Roche made the astounding claim that “the Biden administration was repudiated in key battlegrounds in the recent U.S. election because it has failed to protect Gaza.”

Roche appeared unfamiliar with minor details such as that in the recent election, the Democratic Party lost ground compared to 2020 in virtually every state, that the Hamas-Israel war scored extremely low on voters’ minds, and that the victor, Donald Trump, is stridently and vocally pro-Israel. Donald Trump won every single ‘battleground’ state, not because of the Hamas-Israel war, but because voters were concerned with issues related to immigration, the economy, inflation, and more.

Roche’s commentary complained bitterly that the United States, by vetoing a recent United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, is stymying efforts at peace.

Once again, Roche ignored – or was perhaps unaware – that Hamas, not Israel, has repeatedly refused to accept a ceasefire which would see it release the Israeli hostages it holds. As the United States ambassador to the UN noted, Hamas has rejected “deal after deal after deal,” and that by forcing Israel to surrender to the Islamic terrorist group, “this resolution would have sent a dangerous message to Hamas: there is no need to come back to the negotiating table.”

While it may be convenient (and perhaps for some, emotionally satisfying) to blame Israel and the United States for the woes of the Palestinians, Roche’s pontifications are simply inconsistent with reality. Not only did Hamas choose to start the war, but it can end the war at a moment’s notice by freeing the Israeli hostages and laying down its weapons.

Despite Roche’s professed concern for the Palestinians, his frustrations are ridiculously misdirected at Israel, when they should be squarely at Hamas and its enablers around the world.