Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said she has removed MPP Sarah Jama (Hamilton Centre) from caucus effective immediately because she belitted Israel. “Some of Ms. Jama’s actions have contributed to unsafe work environments for staff,” said Stiles in a Monday statement. “As such, with the support of our Ontario NDP MPPs, I have been left with no option but to remove Ms. Jama from our Caucus.”.Jama said on October 10 Israel’s treatment of Palestine amounts to apartheid. READ MORE: UPDATED: Ontario NDP MPP says Israel committing apartheid against Palestinians“We are seeing this definition of apartheid in real time through the continued violation of human rights in Gaza through the use of white phosphorus chemicals; the withholding of access to food, fuel, electricity and water; and the destruction of the only exit from Gaza that isn’t controlled by the State of Israel — the Rafah border,” she said..Especially with this context in mind, she said the news coming out of Israel and Palestine is problematic. For 75 years, she said violence and retaliation rooted in settler colonialism “have taken the lives of far too many innocent people.” Jama said on October 11 she heard many opinions about her tweet about Israel. READ MORE: Ontario NDP MPP apologizes for accusing Israel of apartheid“I hear them — and above all, I understand the pain that many Jewish and Israeli Canadians, including my own constituents, must be feeling,” she said. “I apologize.”.In the Ontario NDP caucus, Stiles said there is room for viewpoint diversity. But that is based on foundational principles of trust and working together as a team. Jama and her reached an agreement to keep her in the NDP caucus, which included working together in good faith with no surprises. Its caucus and staff made significant efforts to support her during this time. Since then, she said she “has undertaken a number of unilateral actions that have undermined our collective work and broken the trust of her colleagues.” Stiles and the NDP will vote against the Ontario Progressive Conservatives’ motion to sanction Jama. She concluded by saying they “do not believe the government should use its majority to strip a member of their right to speak and vote.” “This is an extreme step that will disenfranchise the voters of Hamilton Centre,” she said.CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn said Jama's removal was upsetting. "This is a deeply troubling & massively dangerous move — @SarahJama is a necessary & strongly supported voice — what my party the @OntarioNDP must understand is that 1st this move doesn't change that support — and 2nd they just handed the right a gift," said Hahn.
