Posted on November 25, 2010 by rehmat1|
What Ben Obama could not achieve by giving billions of dollars in aid to the Zionist entity – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper achieved by parroting the term anti-Semitism for criticism of Israel.For his blind support of Israel and criticism of the Islamic Republic – Stephen Harper has been hailed as the modern day Patriarch Abraham by Israel-based ‘Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies’ in its publication ‘Perspectives. “Our biblical patriarch Abraham pleaded with G-d to rescind the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, arguing that the virtues of just a few righteous people could suffice to save that world,” wrote Professor Efraim Inbar (Bar-Ilan University) and David Weinberg, director Begin-Sadat Centre.
Stephen Harper received Israel’s biblical praise for his recent pledge to continue to be a vocal supporter of Israel even if it cost Canada internation honours like a seat at the UN Security Council. Harper made that pledge at Ottawa Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism. The conference was attended by politicians from several dozen countries.
The anti-Zionist Jewish group of academic and freedom of speech activists, Independent Jewish Voices of Canada has criticized the conference claiming that Harper government has given $451,000 to the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA) to advance repression against free speech that criticizes Israeli war crimes or Zionist ideology. Watch video at the end of this post.
Professor Harry Shannon (McMaster University, Ontario), member of Independent Jewish Voices, wrote an article (published in rabble.ca, November 8, 2010), slamming CPCCA for using anti-Semitism to silence criticism of Israel:
I am reminded of the story about Moishe, a Jew, and Mary, a Christian, who went to hear a stand-up comic. The comic told many racist jokes, about the Irish, blacks, south Asians, Muslims, Arabs, aboriginals and so on – only Jews were untouched. As they left, Mary turned to Moishe and said: “You guys got off lightly.” To her surprise, Moishe replied “I’m highly offended.” “But there was nothing anti-Semitic,” said Mary. “Exactly”, replied Moishe. “You see how we’re always singled out.”
Cotler and Kenney spent their political energy and capital condemning the Durban conferences. In doing this, they missed a golden opportunity to show how they think such meetings should work, and deal with all forms of racism and discrimination. But even though a CBC survey earlier this year showed that Muslims and aboriginals, not Jews, are seen as those most likely to face discrimination in Canada, the CPCCA focuses narrowly on anti-Semitism.
The real reason why Cotler and others condemned the Durban conference and promoted the notion of the “new anti-Semitism” is perhaps found in the full version of paragraph 63 of ‘general issues’ in the conference report: “We are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people under foreign occupation. We recognize the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent State and we recognize the right to security for all States in the region, including Israel, and call upon all States to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion.”
Could it be that self-determination and full human rights for Palestinians are anathema? One-sidedly, Cotler wants them for the Jewish people, but does not mention them for Palestinians. This is not the mark of a true champion of human rights, for whom such rights are indivisible and applicable to all, regardless of ethnicity or race.
At the core of Cotler’s “new anti-Semitism” is his nonsensical conflation of criticism of Israel’s actions with anti-Semitism. The CPCCA enterprise appears to be aimed largely at providing cover for the Israeli government’s appalling treatment of Palestinians. There is a substantial difference between anti-Semitism and speaking out on Israeli policies and practices. The former is hatred of Jews simply for who they are; the latter is based on opposition to what the Israeli state does.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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