The Ontario MPP booted from caucus over Gaza comments

Plus, the war's impact on the West Bank and Toronto's investor-owned condos [The Star] First Up [By Manuela Vega] By Manuela Vega Good morning. Here’s the latest on increasing violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, Sarah Jama’s ouster from the NDP and investors in Toronto’s condo market. DON’T MISS Marco Chown Oved/The Star israel-hamas war [This activist in the West Bank says he was brutally abused by Israeli settlers]( The world’s attention has been fixed on the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza, where Israeli bombardments have killed more than 5,000 Palestinians, but there has also been a reported increase in the violent harassment of Palestinian villagers, Marco Chown Oved reports. Mohammad Matar says the vicious treatment in recent days is unlike anything he’s ever seen before. The activist who documents conflicts near illegal Israeli settlements [shares his horrific story of racist abuse at the hands of Israeli settlers and the Israeli military](. - More: Settlers deny the incident happened, while the Israel Defence Forces has launched an investigation. - Context: More than 100 official Israeli settlements in the West Bank and another 100 unofficial outposts have been built on land that has never been formally ceded to Israel. The settlements have been expanded under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. - By the numbers: The UN says the week following Hamas’ attack on Israel was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since record keeping began in 2005. At least 91 Palestinians have been killed there. The UN says 545 people have been forcibly evicted from 13 Palestinian herding/Bedouin communities “amid intensified settler violence.” - Watch for: Will Israel invade Gaza? If so, when? [As two more hostages are freed, here are the factors at play](. John Rennison/The Spectator ontario politics [Sarah Jama has been ejected from NDP caucus over Israel-Hamas comments]( Two weeks after Sarah Jama released a statement on the Israel-Hamas war — which called for a ceasefire, focused on the plight of Palestinians under occupation and did not condemn the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel — Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles ejected the rookie from the party caucus. While Jama had refused to retract her statement, she later apologized to the Jewish community and added she unequivocally condemns terrorism by Hamas. The MP was also censured Monday, meaning she cannot speak in the legislature unless she retracts and removes her statement and apologizes in the house, Rob Ferguson reports. [Here’s how it all unfolded and what Jama had to say](. - Go deeper: The attack on Jama comes amidst deepening government repression. [Black feminists write in defence of Jama and Palestinian human rights](. - Martin Regg Cohn’s take: [Jama has deprived herself — and her constituents — of a voice in the legislature](. - Another angle: The NDP kicked out one of its only hopeful members. [Millennial voters are tired of Ontario’s left-leaning parties](. - Meanwhile in Ottawa: Mélanie Joly is dodging calls for ceasefire, including from nearly two dozen Liberal caucus members. [Here’s what she wants to do instead](. Richard Lautens/The Star real estate [More than half of Toronto condos built in recent years were investor-owned]( From 2016 to 2021, investors scooped up 56.7 per cent of the tens of thousands of condos built in the city, new Statistics Canada data shows. Before 2016, the majority of condo builds were owned by non-investors, Andy Takagi reports. StatCan defined investors as homeowners with more than one residential property that they did not use as their primary place of residence. [Here’s a breakdown of the data and how we got here](. - Meanwhile: How can Ottawa help tackle the housing crisis? [The housing minister is calling for more foreign workers and factory-built homes](. - On the home front: Doug Ford’s government is scrapping changes to municipal boundaries after the Greenbelt scandal. [Here’s how politicians and environmentalists are reacting](. WHAT ELSE Deepfake video. Hate-spewing tweets: [How a China-linked campaign took aim at Justin Trudeau and Pierre Poilievre](. TMU law students are facing backlash after an [open letter declared “unequivocal support” for Palestinians](. [Canadian firms are being accused of “doing the bidding” of Hong Kong]( in blocking pension fund access. When war fever seizes the world, [restrain your rhetoric](. Ontario elementary school education workers have [voted in favour of a four-year contract deal](. It’s not just “Quebec bashing.” [There’s a surprising opposition to Quebec’s tuition hike for out-of-province students](. Toronto’s “traffic agents” may help cars move, [but there’s a more effective way to ease congestion](. The much-delayed Crosstown LRT [isn’t the only fix on Eglinton Avenue to stump the city](. How Taylor Swift came to wear a [Chiefs sweatshirt from Toronto’s Ellie Mae Vintage](. Farewell, staid royal coat-dresses; [Kate is a power suit devotee now](. ICYMI Toronto Star File Photo [These vehicles are being stolen in Toronto. Here’s what car owners can do about it.]( CLOSE-UP Richard Lautens/The Star BLOOR-YONGE: Hundreds of anti-war, anti-genocide protesters blocked the street during the morning rush Monday. Jewish organizations and individuals from across Toronto protested outside the Israeli consulate, condemning Israel’s violence against civilians in Gaza. They demanded the Canadian government immediately call for a ceasefire and halt all military assistance and arms sales to Israel. Before we go, Star columnist Rosie DiManno’s name was misspelled in the Saturday edition of First Up. We apologize for any confusion. Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at [firstup@thestar.ca](mailto:firstup@thestar.ca?source=newsletter&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=emailutm_email=6C53B63A8E3FAD70AD4EF13004527437&utm_campaign=frst_202403). I’ll see you back here tomorrow. If you're not enjoying these emails, please tell us how we can make them better by emailing newsletterfeedback@thestar.ca. Or, if you'd prefer, you can unsubscribe from this newsletter by clicking the first link below. 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