Editorial
Harper’s Blatant Support for Israeli
Apartheid
In words reminiscent of the attempts by
anti-Semites to prevent Jewish immigration to Canada in the years before,
during and after the Second World War, Alan Baker, the Israeli ambassador to
Canada, in a show of blatant and inappropriate interference in the internal
affairs of Canada, stated last week that the growing numbers of Muslims coming
to Canada are threatening Canadian values and institutions. In particular, Mr.
Baker cited the demonstrations by Muslim students and “others” against himself
and other spokespersons for the Israeli state as being in violation of freedom
of speech. He also referred to the growing political influence of Muslim
Canadians as a threat to Canada’s traditional support for the state of Israel.
Mr. Baker did not elaborate on his
“solution” to the problem, but there is a limited range of options if one goes
down the path being advocated by the Israeli ambassador. The first would be to
violate the freedom of speech of the Muslims and “others” who oppose Israel by
banning demonstrations in opposition to Israel. Various supporters of Israel
have indeed proposed such bans over the past few years and a number of
universities have actually taken such measures.
However, banning anti-Israel
demonstrations would not address Mr. Baker’s more fundamental lament about the
growing political influence of Muslims in Canada. Those concerns can only be
addressed in two ways – limit Muslim immigration to Canada and/or limit the
political rights of Muslim Canadians once they are here. Mr. Baker wisely did
not vocalize those positions, but his words clearly imply support for such
measures. In other words, Mr. Baker would like Canada to adopt the anti-Muslim
measures that have been implemented in Israel for the past 60 years. These can
be summed up as: prevention of Arab immigration to Israel and encouraging Arab
citizens of Israel to leave, as well as restrictions on the political, civil
and human rights of Muslims both inside the borders of
Israel and within the Occupied Territories. Many commentators, including former
U.S. president Jimmy Carter, have labelled such measures “apartheid”.
Spokespersons for the Liberals, NDP and
Bloc Quebecois all condemned Ambassador Baker’s remarks as unwarranted and
unacceptable. However, Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke in defence of the
Israeli ambassador at a function celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of the
establishment of the Israeli state. Harper stated: “Those who threaten Israel
also threaten Canada…because they hate Israel, just as they hate the Jewish
people.” He went on to reassure those present that Canada’s support for Israel
was unshakable.
Like the Israeli ambassador, Harper did
not elaborate on what he proposes to do about those who “threaten Israel and
Canada”, but again the options are limited and, in many cases, already being
implemented. Ethnic profiling of Arabs and other Muslims by the police and
intelligence agencies has become institutionalized. The RCMP and CSIS have sent
false information on Canadian citizens to the U.S., Syria, Egypt and other
countries with the intent of having those Canadians subjected to detention and
torture.
The Canadian state, like the Israeli
state, has a long history of implementing apartheid policies. In fact, the
policies of the South African racist regime, which became known as apartheid,
were based partially on the Canadian system of reserves for First Nations
people as well as on the racist treatment of Black people in the southern
United States. During both world wars, the Canadian state singled out citizens
of particular ethnic backgrounds (Ukrainians, Germans and Japanese, in
particular) for special treatment, including incarceration and confiscation of
their property.
Is Harper suggesting that Canada should
employ similar measures once again to ensure that opposition to the racist
apartheid policies of Israel is suppressed in Canada? That is certainly the
door that is opened if prime ministers and ambassadors are allowed to muse
unopposed about the “dangers” posed to Canada and Canadian institutions by
those opposing the racist policies of a foreign state.