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Oct. 20, 2006
Ignatieff's words rile
Liberal candidate alleges Israeli war crimes.
KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR
Liberal leadership frontrunner Michael Ignatieff caused outrage
in the Jewish community last week by suggesting that Israel committed
war crimes during the conflict in Lebanon over the summer.
Speaking on a French language television program in Quebec, Ignatieff
suggested Israel had committed a "war crime" because of
an Israel Air Forces strike on the town of Qana, south Lebanon,
in July. Twenty-eight civilians died during an attack on Hezbollah
militia.
Previously, Ignatieff had told media outlets in English Canada that
he had "not lost any sleep" over the incident. His latest
remarks immediately prompted a barrage of criticism, including from
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who suggested that not only was Ignatieff
himself "anti-Israel," but so were most of his fellow
leadership contenders.
That allegation was swiftly denied by Ignatieff's fellow leadership
candiates, including Bob Rae.
"The Prime Minister's comments are just a big smear,"
said Rae, in an interview with the Independent. "He's
attempting to smear the Liberal party and the Liberal candidates.
A real prime minister would be trying to be a stateman and this
man is just being mean-spirited, divisive and small-minded. I think
it's a disgraceful tactic that he's using."
Harper declined a request from the Independent for an interview.
Abbotsford Conservative MP Ed Fast, who appeared as the prime minister's
emissary at a rally for Israel in Vancouver over the summer, said
it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the matter. However,
Howard Jampolsky, who is running for nomination as a Conservative
candidate in Richmond, said he had been approached by many people
in the riding who had expressed interest in the Conservative party
as a result of Liberal positioning over Israel.
Jampolsky said that for Ignatieff to believe that the bombing in
Qana was a war crime is "absolutely inappropriate. This is
a Liberal politician who's trying to have it both ways, I think.
To English Canada, he's not losing sleep, but in Quebec, it's a
war crime?"
"From a community perspective, Michael Ignatieff's comments
were regrettable and clearly upsetting to us," said Michael
Elterman, chair of Canada-Israel Committee, Pacific Region, "because
as the frontrunner, we expect that, as an individual who is both
intelligent and someone who understands the impact of his words,
he would have been more careful, and it's hard not to see this as
being opportunistic, given the audience that he was in front of.
"I think that if the leader of the party holds these views
and this becomes the official position of the party, then clearly
we will see [a withdrawal of support for the Liberals] happen. But
that would be a regrettable thing, because we would then be creating
a vacuum in the Liberal party for people who are the enemies of
Israel to take up a position and be opposition."
"I'd say that there's definitely room for the Liberal party
to have a more focused message on Israel," noted Adam Korbin,
a longtime Liberal party member and political activist. "I
think the comments of some MPs in the party during the war have
contributed to a feeling amongst many people in the Jewish community
that the party did not have a unified message and that there are
elements in the Liberal party that may not be sympathetic to Israel."
Korbin said that, as a Liberal, "one of the hardest things
was to accept that Stephen Harper's position [on Israel] was head
and shoulders above any of the Liberal candidates. Often international
relations get mired in language, and I think Harper's language has
been very clear and simple. I think that's what people have come
to respect."
"I think [the Middle East] has always been an emotional area,
which is why I think you have to deal with it with such a sense
of balance and prudence and thoughtfulness," said Rae, "and
frankly, I'm just not sure we're seeing that at the moment. This
issue is too important to be turned into some kind of a partisan
circus."
Of Ignatieff's remarks, he added: "You don't make snap judgments
about issues of war and peace on a talk show. These are very serious
questions that need to be reflected on by Canadians."
Ignatieff's comments also lost him the support of Toronto MP Susan
Kadis and sparked the departure from the Liberal party of Ariel
Cotler, wife of prominent Jewish Liberal MP Irwin Cotler. Earlier
this summer, high-profile party members Heather Reisman and Gerald
Schwartz left the Liberals in protest of the party's lukewarm support
for Israel.
Vancouver political consultant Jonathan Ross said that, nonetheless,
it was too soon to suggest that support for the Liberal party among
Jews was on the wane. "There are many people within the community
that are continuing to support Michael Ignatieff in spite of his
comments about war crimes," said Ross.
Among those is Ignatieff supporter Mindi Cofman, who described Ignatieff
as "a true friend of Israel. He has spent more time in Israel
than the vast majority of Canadian Jews. He understands the conflict
and the dynamics of the situation."
Ignatieff, added Cofman, "has a connection to the state of
Israel and is absolutely a proponent of its right to exist and to
exist in safety and security. He also has the right to question
its actions."
Ignatieff, who claimed to have based his remarks on reports by Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch and Israel human rights group
B'Tselem, was not available personally for comment to press time.
Last weekend, he announced that he would be travelling to Israel
next month on a visit organized by the Canada-Israel Committee.
Over the summer, Liberal foreign affairs critic Borys Wrzesnewskyj
was forced to resign his post after advocating for direct negotiation
with Hezbollah. This was followed by the suggestion from Thomas
Hubert, a member of Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy's
campaign team, that Israel was "the most vile nation in human
history."
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