Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 16, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba TOP NEWS A3 THURSDAY JANUARY 16, 2025 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM Province to appoint lead prosecutor for hate crimes THE Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and the National Council of Canadian Muslims have welcomed Manitoba’s plan to combat hate-motivated crimes by appointing a special lead prosecutor and providing more training for Crown attorneys. “Antisemitism and all forms of hate have no place in our society, and we welcome any initiative that strengthens the tools available to combat and pros- ecute them,” said federation spokes- man Adam Levy. Nusaiba Al-Azem, director of legal affairs for the National Council of Can- adian Muslims, called it an important step. “This, in fact, is a change that we’ve advocated for at the federal govern- ment and across the country for some time — more training, a more system- atic response,” she said. Justice Minister Matt Wiebe an- nounced the initiative Wednesday amid a rise in reported hate crimes across Canada. In Winnipeg, a recent spate of antisemitic graffiti in Charleswood resulted in mischief charges being laid against a 19-year-old man. Premier Wab Kinew described it as an “act of hatred.” The Manitoba Prosecution Service al- ready has a hate-crime working group. The announcement means a Crown at- torney will be assigned to co-ordinate its work, Wiebe said. Hate crimes prosecutions can be complex, so the province plans to pro- vide Crown attorneys with additional specialized training to enhance their expertise and support the prosecution of hate crimes, he said. “We’re building on the resources and expertise within our prosecution servi- ces,” the minister said. His plan came as news to Manitoba prosecutors who say they’re “stretched to the max” as it is. “We support increased focus on this complex work,” Manitoba Association of Crown Attorneys president Chris- tian Vanderhooft said Wednesday. “Un- fortunately, (the association) found out about this new role when the govern- ment announced it this morning,” he said by email. “Placing new responsibilities on a designated Crown attorney, at a time when prosecutors are stretched to the max, is concerning to our members,” Vanderhooft said. “We hope the government will step up with additional resources to allow us to effectively do this critical work.” A number of Crown attorneys from across Manitoba voluntarily partici- pate in the working group, in addition to their regular duties, he said. Progressive Conservative Justice Critic Wayne Balcaen, a former police chief in Brandon, asked: “What is the minister doing with the need for more Crown prosecutors, other than giving them more work and a title?” Appointing a lead prosecutor and providing specialized training may help prosecutors “better navigate the complexities and uniqueness of hate crime cases, ensuring they are han- dled with the sensitivity and precision needed,” said Levy, who believes re- cent incidents influenced the govern- ment’s announcement. “The recent string of antisemitic graffiti in Charleswood and the charge of (mischief) rather than a hate crime highlights the challenges of prosecut- ing hate-motivated acts under current legal frameworks,” Levy said. On Tuesday, Winnipeg police an- nounced the accused had been arrested Sunday and charged with 26 counts of mischief under $5,000 for incidents that happened between Sept. 28 and Dec. 31. Winnipeg police said mischief char- ges were laid after consultation with the Crown determined the graffiti didn’t fit the Criminal Code definition of a hate crime. Proving that hate is a motivating fac- tor behind a crime can be difficult, said Kenneth Grad, an assistant professor of law at the University of Manitoba. Had the graffiti targeted a place of worship, it could be considered a hate crime, or if the Crown could prove the graffiti was motivated by hate based on the race, nationality, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability or sexual orientation of the victim, that could result in a tougher sentence, he said. The province’s plan to direct more attention and training toward prosecut- ing hate-motivated crimes may help, he said. “It could have an effect that makes the prosecution of crimes a little bit easier or at least help obtain, perhaps, more convictions,” he said. “It could help just having people with more ex- pertise dealing with these types of of- fences.” In Winnipeg, there were 178 po- lice-reported hate crimes from 2017 to 2022. In 2022, there were 3,576 hate-motiv- ated crime incidents across Canada. “Hate crimes are not just offences against individuals,” Levy said Wed- nesday. “They impact entire commun- ities and undermine the values that we, as Canadians, cherish.” — with files from Erik Pindera carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca CAROL SANDERS Truce would take effect Sunday, pending Israeli government approval Gaza ceasefire raises hope for reprieve J ERUSALEM — After more than a year of painstaking negotiations, Israel and Hamas agreed Wednes- day to a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip that, if implemented, would see nearly three dozen Israeli hostages reunited with their families and give hungry and displaced Palestinians a reprieve from months of violence. Israel’s government still needs to for- mally approve the deal, in a vote offi- cials say will take place Thursday mor- ning. But the agreement could mark a first step toward ending a 15-month war that has destroyed Gaza and divid- ed Israelis. The truce, mediated by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, would begin on Sun- day and cover an initial period of 42 days. “This is one of the toughest negotia- tions I’ve ever experienced,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday from the White House. “And I’m deeply satis- fied this day has come … for the sake of the people of Israel and the families waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.” Under the first six-week phase of what mediators hope will evolve into a three-stage peace process, 33 of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza — mainly women, children, the elder- ly and wounded — will be released from Hamas captivity in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli de- tention, in a carefully choreographed sequence that will involve humanitar- ian groups and co-ordination between Hamas, Egypt and Israel. Among the 33 captives slated for re- lease are Americans Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, said a senior ad- ministration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House. Dekel-Chen was wounded in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and Siegel, 64, will be freed be- cause of his age. A third U.S. citizen, Edan Alexander, was abducted near Gaza while serving in the Israeli mil- itary and won’t be released until the second phase of the ceasefire. Hamas will release five female Is- raeli soldiers in the first phase. The re- mains of at least four more Americans are also still in Gaza. “We are commit- ted to getting the remains out,” the of- ficial said. Israel will withdraw troops from some parts of Gaza and allow a surge of humanitarian aid into the enclave, where 90 per cent of the population, or 1.9 million people, are displaced in squalid conditions with little food, water or shelter from the cold. During the first phase, aid entering Gaza is supposed to reach more than 500 trucks per day, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Wed- nesday — a more than sixfold increase over the average number in December. But even once the bombs stop falling, steep challenges will remain in getting lifesaving aid to civilians who need it, including abiding lawlessness in Gaza, destroyed roads and onerous Israeli inspection processes for cargoes en- tering the territory, aid workers say. “This is a moment of hope and oppor- tunity, but we should be under no illu- sions how tough it will still be to get support to survivors,” U.N. Under-Sec- retary-General for Humanitarian Af- fairs Tom Fletcher said in a statement. “The stakes could not be higher.” Israeli forces will remain in a buffer zone along Gaza’s borders, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said in a news conference in Doha, where negotiators spent the last few days hammering out the deal. Af- ter a week, if the truce holds, Palestin- ian civilians sheltering in southern and central Gaza will be allowed to return to the north, which in recent months has been decimated by intense Israeli bombardment and clashes with Hamas militants. Since October, Israeli forces have be- sieged the northernmost part of Gaza, blocking most aid and forcing thou- sands of residents to evacuate. Israel divided the enclave into a north and south with a line of fortified check- points known as the Netzarim Corridor just outside Gaza City, only occasional- ly allowing humanitarians to cross into northern areas. Negotiations for Phase 2 of the deal — during which the remaining living hostages would be released and Israel would withdraw completely from Gaza — are supposed to begin in the coming weeks. During Phase 3, Hamas would return the bodies of hostages who were killed and the reconstruction of Gaza would begin. The deal has offered hope in a con- flict that has taken an immense human toll: Israeli attacks have killed more than 46,700 people in Gaza and injured more than 110,200, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and com- batants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack, in- cluding more than 300 soldiers. It says 405 soldiers have been killed in its mil- itary operation in Gaza. Israeli officials have emphasized that so far, the truce is a temporary pause. The thorniest questions — including who will govern and secure Gaza — re- main unresolved, and negotiations over these and other issues are expected to begin later in the process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement after the announcement insisting some details still needed to be worked out. Late Wednesday, the parties were still arguing over high-profile prisoners to be released under the deal, according to an official familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonym- ity to discuss sensitive talks. Netanyahu’s cabinet and members of his coalition government must vote Thursday to approve the deal. His far- right allies in government, including both Finance Minister Bezalel Smo- trich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, slammed the agree- ment as a bad deal that spares Hamas and threatened to withdraw from Net- anyahu’s government. Still, the prime minister is widely expected to have enough votes to push the deal through, and Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to dismiss possible legal challenges to the deal. Leaders from mediating countries appeared to dismiss the proceedings in Israel as formalities. Qatar’s Moham- med, Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi each declared victory after months of negotiations that repeatedly saw negotiators and intelligence chiefs huddle in Middle Eastern capitals, only to return home empty-handed. The mediators have temporarily reconciled the opposed positions of Is- rael and Hamas. Israel wanted to con- tinue the fighting after a pause and hostage-for-prisoner exchange, while Hamas insisted on a permanent end to the war before it would surrender any captives. But pressure on both parties pushed them to close the gap. Netanyahu was under fire from hostage families and those who lost loved ones in the war. He was also in potential legal peril abroad, after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant accusing him of war crimes and crimes against hu- manity. In Gaza, Hamas was severely weak- ened after Israel killed its top lead- ers and kneecapped regional allies. Residents grew angry as they struggled to survive the punishing campaign Is- rael launched in response to the Hamas attacks. The deal largely aligns with the phased approach Biden proposed in May: An initial truce and hostage re- lease is intended to lead to “sustainable calm,” according to a joint statement by Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. Those three countries are meant to serve as guar- antors of the deal. Mohammed said a monitoring body would be established in Cairo. Biden and president-elect Donald Trump each claimed credit for a dip- lomatic achievement closed through rare foreign policy collaboration be- tween the outgoing and incoming ad- ministrations. As Biden officials car- ried out the formal diplomacy, Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, met with Netanyahu over the weekend to pressure the Israeli prime minister to agree to a deal before Trump’s inauguration. Biden said “this deal was developed and negotiated under my administra- tion” but that his officials had been speaking “as one team” with their soon- to-be successors in recent days. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya hailed the deal as a triumph for the militant group: “Today we prove that the occu- pation will never defeat our people and their resistance,” he said in a statement. Hospitals in Israel are preparing to receive hostages who may be malnour- ished, injured or ill — and will certainly be traumatized, Israeli media reported. In Tel Aviv, where thousands have gathered for months each Saturday to protest the government’s failure to bring the hostages home sooner, crowds beat drums and chanted. “I hope it will not just be a ceasefire but a stop to the war,” said Benjamin Terem, 65, from Tel Aviv. “We cannot stay in this situation.” — The Washington Post CLAIRE PARKER, KAREN DEYOUNG, GERRY SHIH, HAZEM BALOUSHA AND HEBA FAROUK MAHFOUZ OHAD ZWIGENBERG / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Relatives and friends of people killed and abducted by Hamas and taken into Gaza react to the ceasefire announcement as they take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv Wednesday. ;