NDP leadership race: Great opportunity to influence party policy on Middle East

December 12, 2011

Thomas E. Woodley, President, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

9880 Clark St., Suite 225, Montreal, QC H3L 2R3

 

Dear Mr. Woodley,

 

Thank you for your letter of November 12th requesting my position on issues of importance to Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME).

 

To begin, I would like to highlight my complete agreement with the three values on which you indicate that CJPME bases its policies:

 

1) As a practitioner in the field, I am entirely committed to international law and to the rule of law more broadly.

 

2) I believe equal expectations of all parties to conflicts is an element of basic fairness, noting that equity sometimes requires support for a leveling of the playing field before equal expectations can be imposed and fulfilled.

 

3) Especially in situations such as the conflict in the Middle East where ongoing violence has continually interrupted the peace process, a firm commitment to non-violent negotiation is a minimum requirement for progress.

 

I am very pleased to share these values with your organization and know that they give us a firm foundation from which to work together for peace.

 

In response to the questions you have asked, I would like to begin by saying that there is reason for hope. As you noted, I have some experience and expertise in international law and international relations. I have seen patient and persistent commitment to the process pay dividends for everyone concerned.

 

Over the course of my campaign for leadership of the New Democratic Party, I have spoken often of my approach to bringing people together and I believe that it has very strong applicability to this situation. If parties can come to the table with respect, listening attentively to what is said, and search for solutions based in the common ground that exists rather than focusing on what divides them, then they can and will make progress.

 

For this approach to work, there must be a trusted and secure environment for dialogue. International law provides that environment. Regrettably, in the Middle East, the principles of international law are violated daily. This must end in order to create the space for successful dialogue. I am firmly committed to ensuring that the context for peace is established, so that the parties can move forward together. I believe Canada can and should play that role.

 

As I believe you are aware, colonization and colonialism are circumstances with which I have considerable familiarity. Suffering and subjugation is a condition that I cannot wish upon any people, but it is an inevitable result of colonialism. Therefore, I believe we must oppose such action everywhere it occurs. Settlements have been established in the West Bank contrary to international law. There have been United Nations resolutions condemning these and yet, it appears that they continue. Illegal colonization is contrary to constructive dialogue and will not help bring about a lasting peace.

 

The blockade of Gaza exacerbates economic and humanitarian conditions that must be overcome in order to create the conditions for constructive dialogue. As long as people are unable to build their own economies and fully exercise their rights of self-determination, the establishment of expectations regarding governance is impeded and the possibility of nation-to-nation dialogue is constrained. Clearly, the broader implications of the blockade with regard to meeting basic medical and alimentary needs must also be addressed to alleviate the pressing humanitarian challenges that exist.

 

More broadly, I would like to say that I have fought for many years to defend the rights of all peoples to self-determination and self-government. This is the way to defeat colonialism and the way to promote both human rights and economic progress. Those are the conditions under which peace can bloom.

 

My own history is as a member of a colonized people who are fighting our way out from that circumstance. I note that we are doing this through peaceful means at all times. Respect for the rule of law is a condition that must be self-imposed if it is to be expected of others.

 

The three values that CJPME and I share, when applied to the situation of Palestinians and Israelis. provide the conditions for progress. I wish you well in these efforts and offer my full support to helping all parties find the way to peace and justice in the Middle East.

as the NDP gets used to becoming the loyal opposition, the NDP deputy leader and designated coach for its unseasoned rookie MPs is Thomas Mulcair, a thoughtful, reasonable progressive who refuses to join the pile-on against Israel.

I had the privilege of hearing Mulcair address the Ottawa Conference on Combating Antisemitism last fall. Amid a tsunami of speeches, Mulcair’s stood out. It was short, elegant, eloquent and effective. Although I will only quote from a CBC blog description because the conference was under Chatham House Rule, Mulcair impressed me in three ways.

First, he struck me as someone who believes in democracy and the rule of law, refusing to sacrifice core ideals to follow one trend or another. Second, he was embarrassed, as a member of the McGill community, having graduated from McGill Law School, that McGill hosts Israeli Apartheid Week. His indignation reflected an awareness that those who claim to be “only” anti-Zionist are usually antisemitic, too, as well as a deep commitment to preserving universities as safe, open, tolerant places for thinking students.

Third, he described an ugly moment in an anti-Israel demonstration when protesters wanted to attack a Jewish-owned business. This move reflected what he called the “any Jew will do” mob mentality of picking on all Jews because of a disagreement with some Israeli policy – demonstrating the underlying antisemitism perverting so much of the anti-Israel movement.

A year earlier, when a local synagogue was defaced with swastikas in his riding, Mulcair again stood tall. He declared the act of hatred “particularly disgusting in the case of a congregation that includes several Holocaust survivors.” He quoted Martin Luther King’s teaching that “he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really co-operating with it.”

And in that spirit, when his NDP colleague and fellow deputy leader Libby Davies supported the anti-Israel boycott movement, Mulcair confronted her swiftly and directly. Davies is a long-time critic of Israel who mocks Canada’s “so-called friendship with Israel.” She has no problem speaking at a rally whose chants call for another intifadah or being photographed at that rally in front of a poster making the false comparison between Israel and South African apartheid.

“No member of our caucus, whatever other title they have, is allowed to invent their own policy,” Mulcair proclaimed when Davies endorsed boycotts. “We take decisions together, parties formulate policies together, and to say that you’re personally in favour of boycott, divestment and sanctions for the only democracy in the Middle East is, as far as I’m concerned, grossly unacceptable.”

I have no idea where Mulcair stands regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Israel’s ultimate borders, and I don’t care. We need a broad pro-Israel coalition that fights blatant antisemitism and the antisemitism masquerading as “only” anti-Zionism.

We need a broad pro-Israel coalition uniting people from left to right who defend Israel’s right to exist and fight the demonization of Israel and Zionism. We need a broad pro-Israel coalition standing for core democratic rights and the understanding that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, the only stable country following rule of law, the only steady source of civil liberties for Arabs and Jews, and the Mideast’s only true friend to Canada.

Palestine can illustrate the capacity of a politician to take a principled position and also the ability for grassroots activism to force politicians to act.