A May 31 event planned for Parliament Hill in Ottawa promises to be a who’s who of anti-Israel activism.
Three members of the Canadian Parliament—Alexandre Boulerice, Elizabeth May and Mario Beaulieu—will host “Embracing Responsibility: Canada’s responsibility towards Palestine under international law.” The announcement refers to the “chilling” effect of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
“We are disappointed that, yet again, individuals known to have promoted antisemitism are invited to participate in events on Canada’s Parliament Hill,” Shimon Koffler Fogel, president and CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada, told JNS.
“We reiterate our calls for members of Parliament to undertake careful vetting prior to issuing invitations to ensure that individuals that have histories of promoting hate are not given a platform at the heart of our democracy,” Fogel added.
Karen Rodman, who supports BDS and who has called Israel “apartheid,” will moderate a discussion with six speakers, including Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, who has compared Israelis to Nazis, and Michael Lynk, who formerly held that U.N. role, and who has a history of anti-Israel statements.
The four other speakers include those who have lobbied against the IHRA working definition, pushed for Israel to be investigated in The Hague, supported former UK Labour head Jeremy Corbyn and called Israel “a colonial project from the very beginning.”
