On Monday night in Vancouver, organizers of the celebrations commemorating the massacre of over 1,200 Israeli men, women and children
shouted “We are Hamas” and “We are Hezbollah!” over loudspeakers.
Activists like
Charlotte Kates of Samidoun, an NGO whose leaders openly support both Hamas and Hezbollah, were
completely open about their specific celebration of the terror attack by organizing their demonstration for Oct. 7, rather than the anniversary of the Israeli campaign’s launch on Oct. 28.
The party is neck-deep in diaspora politics, and it will only get worse in the post-Trudeau era
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Two things are not exactly a secret in the Liberal government.
For one, they have a hard time publicly identifying and outlawing terrorist or terrorist-supporting organizations. They only listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as such
in June, five years after the United States. They have yet to sanction, let alone outlaw, the terror-supporting group Samidoun.
It was Samidoun that helped organize this week’s demonstration in Vancouver where
chants of “Death to Canada, death to the United States, death to Israel” were heard, and where protesters tried, but
failed, to light a Canadian flag on fire.
As for the second point, the Liberal Party’s post-Trudeau era is being openly discussed, and Joly is a
prime candidate among his likely successors. Who else would still be energetically drawn to the Liberal banner in a future leadership race? Grassroots Liberals? There are fewer of them every month.
The most motivated voices might just be the hordes of university students, activists and foreign agents who have filled the streets chanting for death and revolution.
The Liberal Party reformed its internal voting rules during the 2013 leadership race so that anyone aged 14 and over with a Canadian address and a pulse could participate in nomination races and leadership elections. It’s a great policy when energetic young voters eager for change are seeking a new standard-bearer. This is what helped vault Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the party’s leadership in 2013, before going on to win the election in 2015.
Unfortunately, a large chunk of those 2015 Liberal voters are going to be voting for Poilievre and the Conservatives next year. Even worse for the Liberals, a large plurality of the youngest cohort of voters will be voting the same way.
If it goes as it is projected, the Liberals will be burned to a husk after the next election.
It is best to put nothing past Trudeau, but it is unlikely he will try and stay on as Liberal leader should he lose in catastrophic fashion. Expect the door to be left open to every ambitious cabinet minister and outsider who wants to try and take the reins.
Joly will probably be among them, which is why even she is aware that offending the Hamas and Hezbollah crowd is an unwise choice.
Certainly, not every pro-Palestianian person in Canada supports terrorism, and this is an important point that must be made. There are plenty of normal, honest people who believe in the creation of a Palestinian state without sliding into support for terrorism, both in Canada and in Israel.
Unfortunately, they are not as energetic and determined as their more bloodthirsty counterparts.
Condemning Hamas and Hezbollah, or anything that comes off as too pro-Israel, will alienate a vast swathe of the progressive movement. If you are on the left in 2024, you have to break bread with people who effectively support terrorism, laundered as part of a liberation movement. Especially if you have ambitions beyond being a card-carrying party member. Much of the NDP understands this well, and the Liberals are close behind.
For over a decade, the Liberals have made their bed for diaspora politics, and they’ve been sleeping with its practitioners since 2015.
Getting away from it risks the wrath of a jilted lover.