Articles and books are written about it, TV shows are dedicated to it -- I'm talking about the Jewish lobby. And usually, when it is mentioned, so too are the pejoratives. Powerful. Secretive. Insidious.
In other words, it's the age-old Jewish conspiracy.
Mainstream media outlets are not exempt from this phenomenon -- whether it is Radio-Canada's public affairs show Une Heure Sur Terre or the New York Times.
But what people should really focus on is the so-called pro-Palestinian lobby, a lobby that is, when one looks closely, more anti-Israel than pro-Palestine. And one that promotes values that are the polar opposite of Canada's.
Let's take a look at a few groups (for a deeper look, I suggest my book A Quebec Jew, From Bloc Québécois MP to Jewish Activist.)
The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) is the cornerstone of the pro-Palestinian lobby in Canada and its main leader is Khaled Mouammar.
CAF received a lot of attention when its January 16th, 2009 Daily Bulletin, containing links to videos praising organizations such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, was forwarded to all MPs by Bloc Québécois MP Maria Mourani. She was subsequently forced by her leader to apologize to the House for her actions. Think about it: a Canadian organization sending pro-terrorist links to our elected officials!
Khaled Mouammar is so obsessed with Israel that, following the horrific massacre by lone gunman Anders Breivik in Norway in July 2011, he circulated an e-mail accusing Israel of being behind the tragedy.
Palestine House is one of the most important member organizations of the Canadian Arab Federation.
Palestine House supports the complete return of all Palestinian refugees to Israel, which is contrary to the idea of a two-state solution: two-states for two peoples -- one Palestinian and the other Jewish. The "return" of all Palestinian refugees to Israel would de facto dismantle the democratic Jewish state, resulting in the creation of two Palestinian states and the destruction of the world's only Jewish polity.
It is not only in foreign affairs that Palestine House is extreme. On March 30th, 2009, Palestine House hosted Dr. Ekrema Sabri as the keynote for its 'Land Day' event. Sabri, the former Mufti of Jerusalem, delivered a lecture in 2005 criticizing the West for treating men who force their wives to have sex, as rapists.
I would be angry at myself if I did not mention, if only in passing, the Canadian Islamic Congress, whose founding president Mohamed Elmasry once condoned attacks against any Israeli adult, and its current president Wahida Valiante, who has written that Judaism has "institutionalized racism."
These comments are certainly not mainstream in Canada, nor should they be.
The organization, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, which sees itself as a kind of 'new kid on the Parliamentary block,' has, despite its name, a funny conception of justice.
Indeed, this organization -- which constantly lobbies MPs with writing campaigns and meetings without even being registered with the Lobbying Commissioner -- is obsessed with Israel.
When the so-called "Arab Spring" occurred, Egypt violently shifted from a Mubarak dictatorship to a military regime with the Islamists taking control of its Parliament. Libya suffered from a civil war that was stopped by a NATO intervention, while horrible massacres of civilians continue to take place in Syria.
The religiously fanatical Iranian government continues to repress its population and illegally pursue nuclear weapons and Hezbollah is now the de facto master of Lebanon. Women's rights continue to lag in the region, and yet on the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East website, about three quarters of their communiqués are about one and only country: Israel, the Middle East's only democracy.
I can't help but think about what star New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote:
"Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vile. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanction -- out of all proportion to any other party in the Middle East -- is anti-Semitic, and not saying so is dishonest."
Canada has no real pro-Palestinian lobby comparable to the American Task Force on Palestine in the U.S., a group that, while forcefully pro-Palestinian, stays away from all the toxic and inflammatory rhetoric of Israeli apartheid, of boycotts against Israel, and Israel as a colonial state.
Canada has an anti-Israel lobby. One that too often crosses the line between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism (i.e. the negation of the Jewish people's right of self-determination.)
I have had enough of this black-or-white attitude.This is not a zero-sum game. One can be both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel.
One can support the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East and support the Palestinians' legitimate national aspirations.
One can be both a Zionist and pro-Palestinian. In fact, that is exactly what I am: a pro-Palestinian Zionist.
Follow Richard Marceau on Twitter: www.twitter.com/richardmarceau
Stuart Schoffman: A Jewish Athens, Not Sparta: Liberal Zionists Speak Out
Rabbi Michael Lerner: On Zionism, Healing, and Israel's 60th Anniversary
Eric Margolis: The Land of Liberty Says No to Palestine
So, perhaps an interesting debate would be to go to the root of the debate and try and outline what gives anyone the right to "land" or country? Is it simply who was there first? That will get very complicated and open up a whole lot of questions about people living here in canada. Or is there a statute of limitations? If the history of the world is any indication the only simple answer is that land is not ever owned it is won and held. To me is seems the only reality that can be proven by history. Anything other then that is pure theory or politics. Everything else is just ideology and wishful thinking. If anyone can give me a logical idea that makes more sense I would love to hear it.
Neither side believes in peace at any cost, so the peace terms on those zero-sum issues are critical to achieving a lasting, durable peace. One's opinion on the "generosity" of previous peace deals that were on the table can be used to put you on the spectrum of "pro-Palestinian" vs. "pro-Israeli."
Explain to me how these issues I mention are not zero sum?
And I say so as a Zionist who supports an independent Palestinian state sharing Jerusalem with Israel.
In other words, it's the age-old Jewish conspiracy."
Actually, it's the Israeli lobby, and a little newer than that.
Being not especially pleased with some aspects of the current incarnation of the nation of Israel is not the same as hating all the Jews all the time just because they are Jews.
No matter how much the Israeli lobby would like to convince you otherwise.
No. One cannot. Israel, by which I mean actual Israel and not the 'democratic Jewish state' fairyland liberal Zionists imagine it to be, is the Palestinians' enemy. The above statement makes as much sense as saying one can be both pro-US and pro-Al Qaeda.
I don't ignore that at all, I just realize what this formula means. A state that is democratic only for its Jewish citizens, but not for millions of Palestinians who are completely ruled by the Israeli state apparatus without having any say in it.
That Israel is 'democratic' does not lessen, but strengthen the case for condemnation. Unlike a dictatorship in which the masses are arguably not responsible for the actions of their despotic leaders, Israel's colonizing, land-grabbing, oppressive governments are regularly voted for by the majority of the Israeli population.
Israeli voters have time and again shown that the large majority of them supports settlements, annexation, occupation and oppression. Why should one not hold them responsible for this?
The right of return means the end of Israel, and another Jewish Holocaust...........
And tell me this: what about the 750,000 Jews disenfranchised, persecuted, robbed, and thrown out of Arab countries??? Can they return, their safety ensured???
People always forget them......
Really nice line ...funny thing is it's the last line of an article that's one sided in favor of Israel while anti-arab.
nice try though
Israel being at the receiving end of critism, which at times is unfair, is today an outcome of its vile treatment of the Palestinians. What is Marceau doing about it, other than declaring himself a pro Palestinian Zionist? Words and only words.
If peace is ever to break out, unlikely as it looks, between Israelis and Palestinians, it will have to be worked out among themselves. How does Marceau answer a Palestinians wish to return to his home of 2000 years, from which he was ethnically cleansed 64 years ago? If a Jew can reclaim his home after 2000 years, how can the same right be denied to a Palestinian after 64 years?
People like Marceau need to start making their voices heard in Tel Aviv. Israel has adopted a dangerous path, which will lead to its demise. Read the good old CIA's assessment, which gives Israel a maximum of 20 years before it collapses.
Lebanon has laws preventing Palestinian refugees from repairing their houses, working, going to University, traveling and becoming Lebanese citizens. And, as if all these blatant human right violations did not satisfy their deep hatred for these helpless refugees, the Lebanese army bombed a refugee camp, Nahr al bared in 2007, totally destroying it and requiring the evacuation of all its residents to other Palestinian camps. Reconstruction was slowed by the world's total indifference to the plight of these 27,000 displaced innocents. The first families came back in April 2011. To this day, the majority of the Nahr al Bared residents are still displaced. Lebanon never allowed them to live on Lebanese territory, even temporarily.
Was Lebanon "at the receiving end of criticism for their vile treatment of the Palestinians"? Of course not. The conclusion is clear: the "pro-Palestinian" voices do not truly care about Palestinians, they only care about the destruction of Israel.
You talk about Nahr al bared.... you forget Sabra and chittila.