Nope, no hidden agendas here!
Rae target of anti-Semitism
Dec. 7, 2006. 09:53 PM
JOAN BRYDEN
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Bob Rae was the target of anti-Semitic attacks during the Liberal leadership contest, motivated at least in part by the fact that his wife is Jewish.
Sources close to Rae say that his wife, Arlene Perly Rae, was approached during last weekend's convention by a delegate who didn't realize she was the candidate's wife. The delegate told her not to vote for Rae "because his wife is Jewish."
Perly Rae stonily informed the delegate that she was the wife in question. The delegate beat a hasty retreat.
The incident might have been shrugged off if it had been an isolated event. But Rae team insiders contend it was part of a larger pattern of anti-Semitic smears on Rae, who finished third.
A flyer was circulated electronically among convention delegates denouncing Rae for having once delivered a speech to the Jewish National Fund, a group the flyer said was complicit in "war crimes and ethnic cleansing."
"Rae's wife is a vice-president of the CJC (Canadian Jewish Congress), a lobby group which supports Israeli apartheid," said the flyer in bold letters superimposed over a close-up of Rae's face.
"Bob Rae supports Israeli apartheid. Don't elect a leader who supports apartheid."
The Canadian Jewish Congress has condemned the flyer and blamed Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation for circulating it. The federation has, in turn, accused the CJC of making "a pitiful attempt to discredit" it and has denied producing or distributing the flyer.
Nevertheless, in a release Thursday, the federation supported the content of the flyer.
"CAF believes that Canadians have the right to know the factual information provided" in the flyer, the federation said.
It went on to say that the Jewish National Fund manages all state lands in Israel and allows only Jews to live on such land, a ``practice that amounts to ethnic cleansing," and added that ``Canadians have the right to know who supports the JNF in Canada."
The flyer was produced and e-mailed to all MPs by Ron Saba, editor of an obscure magazine called Montreal Planet. But The Canadian Press has obtained an email from Mouammar, in which he forwarded the flyer to others. Several days before Saturday's leadership vote, it wound up being posted on a website operated by an immigrant advocacy group.
Mouammar wrote on that website that the flyer had "nothing to do with Bob Rae's and his wife's religion and ethnicity but has a lot to do with their political views."
"It is well-known that Bob Rae himself is hostile to Palestinians and Arabs," Mouammar wrote.
He added that "his wife's leadership position in the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) should be a matter of concern to everyone" and went on to condemn the CJC as "an ardent supporter of Israel, lam basts (sic) anyone who dares to criticize Israel and resorts to undermining human rights and civil liberties to protect Israel's war crimes."
Ed Morgan, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called on the Liberal party Thursday to denounce the flyer.
While it's legitimate to criticize a candidate's position on the Middle East, Morgan said there can be only one purpose in raising the fact that Rae's wife is a member of the Congress's board: "It's strictly to say that his wife is a Jew."
But the flyer wasn't the only example of anti-Semitic attacks on Rae.
On another website, operated by a Montreal-based pro-Palestinian group, Liberals were urged about a week before the leadership vote: ``Do not vote for Bob Rae, we're not looking or another Zionist PM."
The group recommended that delegates vote for Gerard Kennedy, the fourth-place contender whose dramatic decision to throw his support to Stephane Dion after the second ballot clinched the victory for Dion. It said that "voting for Bob Rae is a vote for the daily massacre in Palestine (and) . . . for a new Zionist PM in Canada."
Rae could not be reached for comment Thursday but insiders say he was aghast and hurt by the attacks.
The smears have raised broader questions about the role that blocs of ethnic delegates played at the convention in securing a stunning, come-from-behind victory for Dion.
On the opening day of the leadership convention, the Muslim Canadian Congress blasted "self-styled leaders from the Muslim community" for suggesting they could direct Muslim delegates to vote en masse for the candidate of their choice.
"Muslim delegates at the convention are not a herd of cattle for sale to the highest bidder," Muslim Canadian Congress vice-president Salma Siddiqui said in a release.
Siddiqui, a supporter of frontrunner Michael Ignatieff, accused Mohamed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, of trying to bargain with leadership candidates on behalf of some 200 to 300 Muslim delegates.
Heading into the convention, the CIC had interviewed the top contenders and ranked Dion and Kennedy as the "most desirable potential winners," based on their track records and stands on ``vital national and international issues." Rae was next while Ignatieff ranked as the least desirable of the top four.
Elmasry said Thursday that Siddiqui's charges were "nonsense" and "an insult" to Muslim delegates, implying that they had "no brain of their own."
He said the CIC held a breakfast meeting with the top four candidates last Saturday morning, just before voting on the second ballot began, to give them all an equal chance to impress Muslim delegates. He said the council was trying to engage and educate Muslim delegates, not herd them.
Elmasry added that he assured Rae that his wife's religion "is not an issue for us."
But Tarek Fatah, a Rae supporter and member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said appeals to "tribalism" went well beyond the Muslim delegates. He said Kennedy, despite his claim to represent party renewal, was the candidate who benefited most from the support of Muslim, Sikh, Ukrainian and Tamil blocs, who moved en masse to Dion after the second ballot.
"This is a step back," Fatah said in an interview, adding that Kennedy has "taken us back to the '30s and '40s" when Catholics and Protestants voted in blocs.
"It's tainting the political system where policies aren't being discussed but race, ethnicity and religion (are pivotal)."
Toronto MP Navdeep Bains, who is credited with moving 237 Sikh delegates from Kennedy to Dion, said Fatah's complaints are simply ``sour grapes."
"Like anyone else, as a member of Parliament and as a member of the community, you try to exert as much influence as you possibly can," he said in an interview.
"That's what it really boils down to, the ability to exert influence and try to convince people about the right decision. But ultimately, the delegates made up their own minds."
Bains said the group of delegates he influenced were not only Sikhs but from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
Kennedy could not be reached for comment.
Rae target of anti-Semitism
Dec. 7, 2006. 09:53 PM
JOAN BRYDEN
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — Bob Rae was the target of anti-Semitic attacks during the Liberal leadership contest, motivated at least in part by the fact that his wife is Jewish.
Sources close to Rae say that his wife, Arlene Perly Rae, was approached during last weekend's convention by a delegate who didn't realize she was the candidate's wife. The delegate told her not to vote for Rae "because his wife is Jewish."
Perly Rae stonily informed the delegate that she was the wife in question. The delegate beat a hasty retreat.
The incident might have been shrugged off if it had been an isolated event. But Rae team insiders contend it was part of a larger pattern of anti-Semitic smears on Rae, who finished third.
A flyer was circulated electronically among convention delegates denouncing Rae for having once delivered a speech to the Jewish National Fund, a group the flyer said was complicit in "war crimes and ethnic cleansing."
"Rae's wife is a vice-president of the CJC (Canadian Jewish Congress), a lobby group which supports Israeli apartheid," said the flyer in bold letters superimposed over a close-up of Rae's face.
"Bob Rae supports Israeli apartheid. Don't elect a leader who supports apartheid."
The Canadian Jewish Congress has condemned the flyer and blamed Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation for circulating it. The federation has, in turn, accused the CJC of making "a pitiful attempt to discredit" it and has denied producing or distributing the flyer.
Nevertheless, in a release Thursday, the federation supported the content of the flyer.
"CAF believes that Canadians have the right to know the factual information provided" in the flyer, the federation said.
It went on to say that the Jewish National Fund manages all state lands in Israel and allows only Jews to live on such land, a ``practice that amounts to ethnic cleansing," and added that ``Canadians have the right to know who supports the JNF in Canada."
The flyer was produced and e-mailed to all MPs by Ron Saba, editor of an obscure magazine called Montreal Planet. But The Canadian Press has obtained an email from Mouammar, in which he forwarded the flyer to others. Several days before Saturday's leadership vote, it wound up being posted on a website operated by an immigrant advocacy group.
Mouammar wrote on that website that the flyer had "nothing to do with Bob Rae's and his wife's religion and ethnicity but has a lot to do with their political views."
"It is well-known that Bob Rae himself is hostile to Palestinians and Arabs," Mouammar wrote.
He added that "his wife's leadership position in the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) should be a matter of concern to everyone" and went on to condemn the CJC as "an ardent supporter of Israel, lam basts (sic) anyone who dares to criticize Israel and resorts to undermining human rights and civil liberties to protect Israel's war crimes."
Ed Morgan, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called on the Liberal party Thursday to denounce the flyer.
While it's legitimate to criticize a candidate's position on the Middle East, Morgan said there can be only one purpose in raising the fact that Rae's wife is a member of the Congress's board: "It's strictly to say that his wife is a Jew."
But the flyer wasn't the only example of anti-Semitic attacks on Rae.
On another website, operated by a Montreal-based pro-Palestinian group, Liberals were urged about a week before the leadership vote: ``Do not vote for Bob Rae, we're not looking or another Zionist PM."
The group recommended that delegates vote for Gerard Kennedy, the fourth-place contender whose dramatic decision to throw his support to Stephane Dion after the second ballot clinched the victory for Dion. It said that "voting for Bob Rae is a vote for the daily massacre in Palestine (and) . . . for a new Zionist PM in Canada."
Rae could not be reached for comment Thursday but insiders say he was aghast and hurt by the attacks.
The smears have raised broader questions about the role that blocs of ethnic delegates played at the convention in securing a stunning, come-from-behind victory for Dion.
On the opening day of the leadership convention, the Muslim Canadian Congress blasted "self-styled leaders from the Muslim community" for suggesting they could direct Muslim delegates to vote en masse for the candidate of their choice.
"Muslim delegates at the convention are not a herd of cattle for sale to the highest bidder," Muslim Canadian Congress vice-president Salma Siddiqui said in a release.
Siddiqui, a supporter of frontrunner Michael Ignatieff, accused Mohamed Elmasry, head of the Canadian Islamic Congress, of trying to bargain with leadership candidates on behalf of some 200 to 300 Muslim delegates.
Heading into the convention, the CIC had interviewed the top contenders and ranked Dion and Kennedy as the "most desirable potential winners," based on their track records and stands on ``vital national and international issues." Rae was next while Ignatieff ranked as the least desirable of the top four.
Elmasry said Thursday that Siddiqui's charges were "nonsense" and "an insult" to Muslim delegates, implying that they had "no brain of their own."
He said the CIC held a breakfast meeting with the top four candidates last Saturday morning, just before voting on the second ballot began, to give them all an equal chance to impress Muslim delegates. He said the council was trying to engage and educate Muslim delegates, not herd them.
Elmasry added that he assured Rae that his wife's religion "is not an issue for us."
But Tarek Fatah, a Rae supporter and member of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said appeals to "tribalism" went well beyond the Muslim delegates. He said Kennedy, despite his claim to represent party renewal, was the candidate who benefited most from the support of Muslim, Sikh, Ukrainian and Tamil blocs, who moved en masse to Dion after the second ballot.
"This is a step back," Fatah said in an interview, adding that Kennedy has "taken us back to the '30s and '40s" when Catholics and Protestants voted in blocs.
"It's tainting the political system where policies aren't being discussed but race, ethnicity and religion (are pivotal)."
Toronto MP Navdeep Bains, who is credited with moving 237 Sikh delegates from Kennedy to Dion, said Fatah's complaints are simply ``sour grapes."
"Like anyone else, as a member of Parliament and as a member of the community, you try to exert as much influence as you possibly can," he said in an interview.
"That's what it really boils down to, the ability to exert influence and try to convince people about the right decision. But ultimately, the delegates made up their own minds."
Bains said the group of delegates he influenced were not only Sikhs but from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
Kennedy could not be reached for comment.
