Will Canada ever "criminalise" criticism of Israel?

Friends,

Speaking at the recent Interparliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism, Prime Minister Harper claimed that criticizing Israel is the “new form of Anti-Semitism”. This is ridiculous, of course.

But some supporters of Human Rights for Palestinians are worried that if Harper has his way, he would actually make it a crime to criticize Israel. This would effectively silence dissent.

He might want to, but it won’t happen. Why not?

Simple. There are too many Jews, in Canada and elsewhere, who are starting to criticize Israel. Can you imagine Canada putting Avi Lewis, or Gerald Kaplan, or Mordechai Briemberg, or Andrew Cohen or Norman Finckelstein, or Gideon Levy on trial for “anti-Semitism”? How about any of the dozens of other prominent Jews who have become increasingly critical of Israel? What a spectacle that would be!!

Here are 4 references for those who are interested in some of the debate among Jews in Canada and elsewhere.

1. In “Canada-Israel: The other special relationship”, reporter Avi Lewis (son of Stephen Lewis) interviews players in both the Pro Israel and Pro Palestinian camps. Interestingly, there are prominent Jews on both sides.  His excellent short video critically examines how the Canadian government has evolved from being an “honest broker” in the Middle East to “giving up any pretence of neutrality”. By the way, Lewis’s video includes a short clip about the anti-Semitism (real anti-Semitism) he faced as a young Jew growing up in Scarborough in the ‘70’s. This does not stop him from being critical of Israel, however. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ2MY58RunM

2. In “A Mideast reading list for Tories willing to learn”, Globe and Mail Columnist Gerald Caplan suggests that the overly ideological tories need to do their homework.  Quoting Avraham Burg’s thought-provoking book, The Holocaust is Over: We Must Rise from its Ashes, Caplan notes that Burg (a former speaker of the Israeli Knesset) accuses his fellow Israelis of deliberately exploiting the Holocaust as an excuse to treat Palestinians deplorably. “Present-day Israel and its ways contribute to the rise in hatred of Jews.” In Burg’s hard words: “Jews and Israelis have become thugs.” According to Caplan, the Harper government needs to hear Mr. Burg’s idealistic perspective as he calls for universal solidarity, a theme with a long and glorious tradition in Jewish history. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/a-mideast-reading-list-for-tories-willing-to-learn/article1688215/

3. In a recent column “Saving the Canadian Jewish Congress”, in the Ottawa Citizen, Andrew Cohen also reminds us about Canada’s recent history of anti-Semitism. (His father was admitted to McGill under a “quota” system, for example, in which the number of Jews admitted to the university was strictly limited.) Cohen argues that there is a role in Canada for an organization like the CJC to defend the rights of Jews in Canada. However, he criticizes a move which is afoot to amalgamate CJC into a larger umbrella organization “The Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy”.  This development would tend to subordinate the defense of Jews in Canada – a legitimate activity - to the defense of Israel – a quite different proposition. Not all Canadian Jews agree with this proposal. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Saving+Canadian+Jewish+Congress/3903473/story.html

4. The debate among Jews is also heating up in the United States. In a recent op-ed in the New York Times, Roger Cohen a frequent columnist and also a Jew) attacks the notion that somehow those who criticize Israel are not “real” Jews.  A visit to Israel is a real eye-opener for some idealistic American Jews. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/opinion/10iht-edcohen.html?emc=eta1

Of course Israel should not be exposed to unfair criticism. But legitimate criticism continues and continues to grow. It cannot be criminalised and cannot be stopped.