The New Democratic Party (NDP) is joining the other two major Canadian parties in declaring that Anti-Zionism is Anti-Semitism.
Read the story in the Asper papers.
Hanna
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March 24, 2009
The Mable Elmore controversy over Zionism is truly embarrassing
By Charlie Smith
This is one of those mornings when I feel sick and disgusted and embarrassed to be a working journalist in B.C.
It relates to the ridiculous controversy that has erupted over comments that Vancouver-Kensington NDP candidate Mable Elmore made to an on-line publication called Seven Oaks in 2004.
Elmore, a critic of Israel’s actions in the Middle East (which have often been condemned by the United Nations), said it was difficult to generate opposition to the war in Iraq because of vocal Zionists in the workplace.
B.C reporters hammer provincial NDP leader Carole James on party candidate Mable Elmore's 2004 comments.
The war in Iraq was illegal. Elmore was correct in trying to prevent Canadian kids from getting killed and wounded in this illegal war. And I have no doubt that she probably encountered opposition from vocal Zionists in her workplace.
I’m not going to apologize for saying this.
Elmore, however, was forced to apologize because NDP Leader Carole James—whom I’m tempted to describe as a dimwit—didn’t understand that the term “Zionist” describes someone who supports the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the Middle East.
“The comments were clearly unacceptable and they were offensive and she has issued an apology,” James told reporters.
The Zionist movement was created in the late 19th century by journalist Theodor Herzl to encourage the migration of people to the land now known as Israel. The term is used regularly in the Israeli media.
Herzl's idea probably prevented some of his fellow Jews from being killed by the Nazis.
Yet we’ve come to a state in B.C. in which a politician can’t utter the word “Zionist” in conversation because this has somehow become offensive. I bet they’re guffawing at us in Tel Aviv.
James demonstrated a similar level of idiocy in 2005 when she condemned another very capable NDP candidate, Rollie Keith, for suggesting that former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic’s war-crime trial was a farce.
Many people agreed with Keith’s remarks, including Michael Mandel, a law professor at Osgoode Hall.
Keith was forced to step down because James kowtowed to gutter journalism.
Our local reporters and columnists also egged Elmore into apologizing, and then James chimed in with her condemnation of her newest candidate.
Some B.C. journalists who've dealt with this story have probably never read a book about the history of the Middle East, but they knew that jumping all over Elmore would please the bosses at Canwest Global Communications Corp.
It smacked of sycophancy to me. That’s why I feel sick and disgusted and embarrassed to be a working journalist in B.C. this morning.
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Georgia Strait Comments:
Charlie Smith. You are one of a handful of working journalists in BC who has consistently demonstrated your unshakable integrity. You are well-read (hopefully in both senses of the word) and fearless about taking on controversial subject matter.
People may think that I'm being sycophantic here but I know damn well that you'd be just as willing to call me an idiot if I deserved it. Sure, it might sting but it would be my wake up call to smarten up. Good critical analysis is the mark of a good journalist.
And that's why you should never feel embarrassed.
Submitted by Lisa Barrett on Tue, 2009-03-24 09:35.
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Mable Elmore's comments were not anti-semitic, but I wonder about Carol James and the NDP after all this fooferaw. Is every Jew a Zionist? No. Are all Zionists Jews? No. But it seems James has conflated being Jewish with being a Zionist, something that comes closer to bigotry than Elmore's statement.
You're a great journalist Charlie, and I agree with you that your colleagues are an embarrassment to the profession. Instead of engaging in a serious enquiry, they do sound like they're dancing for the boss.
Submitted by Colleen Fuller on Tue, 2009-03-24 10:52.
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Are you blaming Carole James, or the media? I think the media has more to do with this than James, though I think you are right to call her out on this.
Submitted by ezekiel bones on Tue, 2009-03-24 11:41.
The NDP will make a great government alright. Perhaps James will force a different candidate in if this keeps up.
Submitted by thecossack on Tue, 2009-03-24 12:01.
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Thanks Charlie for your courage.
Where is the difference between the NDP and the Conservative parties, when both make the biased and false claim that anti Zionism is anti Semitism?
In fact, the opposite is true - “Zionism and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin; they both believe that Jews do NOT belong to their respective homelands because they are a ‘different race or nationality’, they are ‘superior’ or ‘inferior’ and they belong somewhere else.” See my recent article about Jason Kenney’s outrageous statements and actions.
It is about time to call for a new Canadian party that cares about the Canadian working class, and cares about human rights, freedom, justice and democracy all over the world. Maybe we should call it the Integrity Party.
Hanna Kawas
Submitted by Hanna Kawas on Tue, 2009-03-24 12:20.
