Commentary

The Banning of Hezbollah in Canada

On December 11, the Canadian government used its Anti-Terrorism Act to totally ban the activities of the Lebanese group Hezbollah in Canada. The decision came just one week after the launching of a lawsuit by B'nai Brith against the Canadian government, the purpose of which was to force the government's hand on why it had not banned the organization. B'nai Brith and several Zionist organizations, as well as the Canadian Alliance had been calling for the banning for the past year. The ban allows all assets of the group to be frozen and seized. It also makes it illegal for anyone in Canada to be a member of or aid the organization in any way, with up to ten years in prison if convicted.

Up to December 11th's total ban, the government had allowed fundraising for Hezbollah's non-military wings, whose activities include reconstruction efforts in Lebanon, particularly the southern regions which remained the hardest hit following the Israeli invasion in 1982 and the subsequent years of occupation, as well as a myriad of other social and political programs. Hezbollah is also a legitimate political party in Lebanon, with eight representatives in parliament. In reversing its prior acknowledgment of the legitimacy of Hezbollah's non-military wing and announcing a total ban, the Canadian government cited a November speech by the leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in which he called the suicide bombings being carried out by Palestinians a legitimate form of resistance against Zionism.

It is well known that Hezbollah has organized against Israeli aggression for more than two decades by various means, including acts of terrorism against Israeli civilians. For its part, the Israeli state is also no stranger to committing acts of terrorism, going back to the days of its founding - the actions of the Stern Gang and the Irgun in raiding and seizing Palestinian homes and land are well documented. Israel has carried out the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza; it has illegally established dozens of settlements in the occupied territories; and now it is using its army to defend its gains through an unprecedented reign of terror against the Palestinians in which hundreds of unarmed civilians have been killed.

There is a double standard operating here. Canadians are being forbidden from giving money to Hezbollah while hundreds of millions of dollars continue to be raised in Canada for Israel without any accounting of where that money goes. How much of it has bought the guns and mortars with which the Israeli Defence Forces have murdered hundreds of Palestinians in only the last few months? This past July, the world was shocked at Ariel Sharon's expressed glee when an Israeli bomb hit its target in Gaza and killed 15 civilians, including nine children. If a ban can be implemented on the basis of opinions expressing support for terrorism, as in the case of Nasrallah, then why not the same measure against Israel's legions of fund-raisers in Canada? Are these donations to Israel not also supporting terrorism?