Monday, February 22, 2016

Oh, Canada! Canada overwhelmingly condemns BDS

By a vote of 229-51, Canada's Parliament passed an historic motion condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel.  Both Liberals and Conservatives supported the measure and called on the Canadian government to "condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad." The motion also noted Canada and Israel’s “long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations.”

From CIJ News:

On February 18, during the debate on the motion urging the House to reject BDS, Michael Levitt, Liberal candidate for the riding of York Centre, pointed out that “BDS is about intolerance. It’s a broader movement to demonize and delegitimize Israel, and to collectively punish all Israelis by holding Israel alone responsible for the Arab-Israeli conflict”.

“Whereas anti-Semites have long targeted Jews throughout the world as the root of all society’s ills, this new form of anti-Semitism targets Israel as the Jew among the nations, singling out the Jewish State as the root of all ills in the world”, he continued.

Levitt also called attention to the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Anti-Semitism, passed by the previous Conservative government in 2010, which recognized anti-Semitism as a pernicious evil and a global threat against the Jewish people, the State of Israel and free, democratic countries everywhere. Levitt said the Protocol is instructive in identifying anti-Semitism that is pervasive within the BDS movement. “Denying the Jewish people the right to self-determination, for example, by claiming that the existence of Israel is a racist endeavour – that is anti-Semitism. Applying double standards by requiring of Israel behaviour not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation – that is anti-Semitism. Using the symbols or images of classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis – that is anti-Semitism. Drawing comparison of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis – that is anti-Semitism. Holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the government of Israel – that is anti-Semitism.” 

Expecting a "Even when we lose, we win" statement from Team BDS any minute now.

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