Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism...

[blake 3:17]

This parliamentary coalition has been put together to conflate criticism of Israel's policies with racism. It's a friggin nitemare...

Some responses:


* Please circulate widely*

Monday, November 8, 2010

Dear friends and allies,

As you may know, the Canadian Government is hosting a meeting of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism
in Ottawa this week from November 7th-9th. It is widely expected that the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA)
will use this opportunity to present the findings of their recent inquiry into anti-Semitism in Canada.

To coincide with these meetings, the Toronto-based Palestine Freedom of Expression Campaign has released our own report –

“The CPCCA’s Hidden Message: Silencing Criticism of Israeli Apartheid - A Critical Report on the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition
to Combat Antisemitism”.

The full report is available onlinehttp://tinyurl.com/PFEXreport (http://tinyurl.com/PFEXreport)
As our report shows, this critical analysis of the CPCCA is widely shared. See, for example, two statements below:

KHALED MOUAMMAR - Toronto
Mouammar is the President of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF). “The Canadian Arab Federation supports any initiative genuinely aimed at ending anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism. It has become clear that the CPCCA’s goals have far more to do with creating a political climate in which criticism of Israeli policies that violate Palestinian rights and international law will be treated as anti-Semitic hate speech. CAF expressed these concerns in a submission to the CPCCA, but we were not even invited to testify.”

ALAN SEARS - Toronto
Sears is a Jewish Canadian who is a professor at Ryerson University and a member of Faculty for Palestine. “I am deeply concerned that the CPCCA is aiming to redefine anti-semitism, shifting the focus from protecting the human rights of Jewish people to suppressing debate about Israeli policies and Palestinian rights. CPCCA’s mandate was biased from the beginning and it invited very little testimony from those who did not agree with their perspective. Faculty for Palestine is deeply disturbed by the CPCCA’s threat to academic freedom and freedom of dissent in this country.”

To ensure our critical analysis is available to parliamentarians, PFEX mailed a copy of the report to all Members of Parliament last week.

In that mailing we included two other important documents (also available on our website and attached here):

* "Palestinian civil society condemns repression in Canada against Palestine solidarity campaigns and
humanitarian efforts" (May 26, 2010) - a statement by the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)

* "Le message caché du CPCCA: Faire taire la critique de l'apartheid Israélien" - French translation of the
report's Executive Summary
TAKE ACTION TODAY!

i. Read the report and attached statement from the Palestinian BNC, and share widely.

ii. Write to your MP. Remind them to read the report and ask them to support it. Encourage others to contact their MPs.

For more information on Palestine Freedom of Expression campaign:
http://www.freeexpressionpalestine.org/
To contact us, send an e-mail to:
[email protected]


and


http://rabble.ca/print/news/2010/11/cpcca-should-be-reconfigured-combat-racism-against-all-peoples


There are more, but others may contribute.

[blake 3:17]

Harper on Israel: Is the Prime Minister mentally sound? (http://www.revleft.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/archive/2010/11/11/harper-on-israel-is-the-prime-minister-mentally-sound.aspx)



By Murray Dobbin (http://www.revleft.com/vancouversun/members/Murray-Dobbin/default.aspx) 10 Nov 2010 Vancouver Sun Community of Interest (http://www.revleft.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/default.aspx)


Watching and listening to Stephen Harper’s bizarre and unnerving speech about anti-Semitism and Israel raises the question as to whether or not the man is mentally fit to be prime minister.
In effect, Harper has taken the position of being Israel’s defender no matter what – in other words, this commitment comes before his duty as prime minister, before his duty to represent Canada’s interests abroad, before his role of elected representative. Harper is a defender of Israel no matter the consequences for Canada. He stated: (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-pledges-relentless-stand-against-anti-semitism/article1789752/)
“[As] long as I am Prime Minister, whether it is at the United Nations, the Francophonie, or anywhere else, Canada will take that stand whatever the cost. I say this, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows us, and the ideology of the anti-Israeli mob tell us all too well if we listen to it, that those who threaten the existence of the Jewish people are a threat to all of us.”
His dedication to that country supersedes his commitment to his own. That would be disturbing enough if Harper were merely a private citizen. But as prime minister it is beyond the pale and it isn’t much of a stretch to suggest it borders on the betrayal of Canada and certainly Canadian interests. For what does it mean that Harper will defend Israel no matter the consequences for Canada?
Harper referred in his speech to “the anti-Israeli mob.” I have to presume here that he is referring to all the Arab and Muslim countries which regularly criticize Israel at the UN. But, of course, not only them. UN resolutions criticizing Israel are regularly supported by virtually every country with the exception of Israel, the US and – sometimes – El Salvador. Is the whole of the UN membership part of the “mob”?
Harper’s disturbing performance sends a clear message: Canada is prepared to sacrifice relations with all other countries if it has to defend Israel. Coming off the rejection of Canada for a Security Council seat, Harper deems determined to islate himself even more, and Canada along with him.
Harper’s speech was given to the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism an international pro-Zionist group whose sole task is to redefine anti-Semitism to mean virtually any criticism of Israel. It claims members from 40 countries and is holding its second conference – the first was held last year in London, England. The Canadian contingent is called the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA).
It is unofficial but had members from the four major Canadian federal parties until the Bloc members quit the organization (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/harper-pledges-relentless-stand-against-anti-semitism/article1789752/)last spring citing the “the inequality of opinions presented before the Coalition,” and “the refusal of the Steering Committee to hear groups with opposing viewpoints.”
Harper expressed the position of the organization perfectly – a position designed to counteract the global effort to de-legitimize the Israeli apartheid state. He said:
“Harnessing disparate anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-Western ideologies, it targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel…We must be relentless in exposing this new anti-Semitism for what it is.”
This declaration of the “new anti-Semitism” is pure hogwash and everyone stating it or using it to attack critics of Israel knows it. For one thing, thousands of North American and European Jews regularly attack Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank. Of course, Zionists refer to these humanitarians as “Jew-hating Jews,” a clever bit of racist spin but far from the mark.
Israel’s flunkies have to come up with something to attack because the evidence is clear – actual incidents of anti-Semitism have been on the decline for years. Something had to be done to make it look otherwise. Harper claims anti-Semites, instead of actually targeting Jews here, attack them by criticizing Israel. The pretzel-like twisting of that argument is obvious. We are being asked to believe that thousands upon thousands of Canadian human rights activists are closet anti-Semites and have to limit their anti-Semitism to attacking Israel.
Like most of Israel’s hard-line supporters, Harper claims that no one is saying Israel can’t be criticized: “Israel, like any country, may be subjected to fair criticism,”
But in fact Harper is saying Israel cannot be criticized. He has had ample opportunity to make “fair criticism” but virtually never does. (The single instance I am aware of was a very mild rebuke over continued construction of Israeli settlements on the West Bank.) He has never mentioned the brutal assault on Gaza which killed over 1200 civilians, called the wanton destruction of Lebanon “a measured response” and backs Israel in all of its patently phony “commitments” to negotiating peace while deliberately taking positions that no Palestinian leader could possibly agree to.
The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism was originally going to issue a report last March (http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2009/11/19/Antisemitism/). Then it was May. It was been delayed several more times and was supposed to be released at the meetings being held this week. It still hasn’t surfaced. On the organization’s web site (http://tinyurl.com/y96srsh) it still says “…we will be presenting a report of its findings in the late spring of 2010.” The group seems to have been inactive for sometime.
It was expected to call on the government to formally criminalize criticism of Israel. But perhaps its authors are beginning to realize that a document calling for the criminalization of free speech might not be the brightest idea they have ever come up with. Making a speech about the “new anti-Semitism” is one thing. Having it in a report, on permanent display for the whole world to see, is another. Personally, I hope they publish it. It might just be the last thing they do.







Source: http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/communityofinterest/archive/2010/11/11/harper-on-israel-is-the-prime-minister-mentally-sound.aspx

[freepalestine]

thanks for posting,ive read other related articles on canada govt recently

[blake 3:17]

We're Israel's best friend! Luckily we also have a very strong Palestine solidarity and anti-Zionist movement. The ruling Conservative Party is ever increasingly pro-Zionist with the Liberals coming in second place. Our social democratic party is officially neutral on the question -- the NDP's active base is fairly criticial of Israel, while the leadership opts for a basically Zionist two state solution.

Journalists seen as being too pro-Palestinian have been losing their jobs. Rick Salutin, an anti-Zionist Jew, has been replaced by Irshad Manji, a pro-Zionist Muslim, at the Globe and Mail. Wonders never cease...

[Die Rote Fahne]

The goal should be combating bigotry in general.