Tag: b’nai brith

The tolerant NDP

Libby Davies voices her opinion on Israel:

This drew strong condemnation from Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

and from Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae,

“The comments of Ms. Davies are more than just a ‘serious mistake,’ as the Leader of the NDP now maintains. To deny the State of Israel’s right to exist and to propose an international campaign of boycotts, divestments and sanctions against a legitimate member of the world community for over sixty years is to reveal a level of hostility and ignorance that is truly breathtaking.

“These are not the off-the-cuff ramblings of any ill-informed or biased person. Ms. Davies is the Deputy Leader of a political party that aspires to reflect and represent the views of Canada on the international stage. In this role, fully cognizant of her responsibilities, she stated that Israel has been occupying territories since 1948, the year of its independence. The logical implication of these comments is that Israel has no right to exist.

“She called this ‘the longest occupation in the world.’ That is simply untrue, and reflects a complete disregard for the facts.

“This is a position that is more than just ‘unacceptable.’ This rhetoric is responsible for more than ‘confusion,’ and an ‘inadvertent error,” as Ms. Davies now suggests.

“The appropriate decision, given her stature and responsibilities with the NDP, is for Mr. Layton to ask for her resignation as Deputy Leader and for Ms. Davies to issue an apology to all Canadians. Nothing short of that will do.”

The referenced “Helen Thomas moment”:

In related NDP tolerance news, NDP MP calls a Catholic denomination “creepy”,

UPDATE: B’nai Brith unsurprisingly calls for Davies to be sacked.

“B’nai Brith Canada is calling on NDP leader Jack Layton to take action against Libby Davies for her outrageous remarks against the Jewish State, and by extension the Jewish people,” said Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada. “The fact that Davies made her comments at an anti-Israel rally held in front of a Jewish-owned business speaks volumes to the fact that anti-Israel agitators in Canada are blurring the lines between criticism of Israeli policies and antisemitism.

“Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Party foreign affairs critic Bob Rae have justifiably called for the resignation of Ms. Davies. NDP leader Jack Layton has gone on the record today stating that her remarks are not the policy of his party – if that is the case, then Mr. Layton should take the next step and relieve Davies of her leadership positions in the party.”

Canadian Federation of Students wisely rejects Israel boycott

Yesterday, B’nai Brith emailed me their press release concerning a Ryerson Student Union motion to be tabled at the Annual congress of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS). CFS is a student organization that collectively represents many student governments at Universities across Canada. Critics say that it is largely an incubator for NDP and radical left-wing activists. Here is the release:

TORONTO, November 20, 2007 � B’nai Brith Canada has voiced its strong opposition to an anti-Israel motion calling for “boycott, divestment and sanctions” that is expected to be introduced by Ryerson University students at tomorrow’s meeting of the Canadian Federation of Students.

“The very flawed notion that Israel is an apartheid state is an assault on history and truth,” said Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada. “The fact that this motion is proceeding in the name of the Ryerson Students’ Union when it was neither put to a vote, nor backed by the student body, is a further affront to due process in order to advance a vehemently anti-Israel agenda.

“We urge the Federation to categorically reject this motion on the grounds that it lacks the most basic of democratic underpinnings and more importantly to signal that it will not allow its forum to be hijacked by those who seek to demonize and delegitimize the democratic State of Israel.”

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Late last night, the Canadian Federation of Students voted to reject consideration of the motion. This comes as welcome news. The motion to reject consideration of the anti-Israel motion was endorsed by two-thirds of the voting plenary.

In September of this year, I wrote about the rejection of my Alma Mater of similarly absurd calls to boycott Israel proposed by the Britain’s University and College Union.