UK FESTIVAL OF BIGOTRY…NOT GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN…ROBIN SHEPHERD

Posted By on March 2nd, 2010

“Israeli Apartheid Week”: Festival of bigotry kicks off across the globe but it’s not going according to plan
http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/israeli-apartheid-week-festival-of-bigotry-kicks-off-across-the-globe-but-its-not-going-according-to-plan/#more-2237
This week saw the start of the annual festival of bigotry known as “Israeli Apartheid Week” (IAW). In the UK, universities from the London School of Economics, University College London (alma mater of the would be Detroit panty bomber) to Oxford join forces with places of “learning” in more than 40 cities across the world. The aim is to deligitimise Israel with a view to the Jewish state’s eventual destruction.

But it is not all going according to plan. In Canada, there are signs that the organisers may already have run into some embarrassing problems. As the National Post reports in a scathing editorial which rightly describes the event as “an odious and bigoted annual ritual” a motion denouncing Israeli Apartheid Week has been unanimously passed (even leftist members of parliament supported it) in the Ontario provincial parliament. This is a serious blow since Canada has been one of the worst offenders in the Western world in terms of anti-Israeli bigotry and has traditionally been at the forefront of IAW campaigning.

While it is still early days, what is going on in Canada should serve as an inspiration to those opposed to anti-Israeli extremism worldwide. Careful and consistent campaigning in favour of reason and decency over Israel can pay off, leaving the opposing camp looking isolated and obsessive.

Ontario MPP (member of the provincial parliament) Peter Shurman tabled the motion and as the National Post put it:

“[His] motion is part of a larger move toward support of Israel among Canadian politicians. In May, Dalton McGuinty will take part in a trade mission to Israel — an unprecedented move for an Ontario premier since the 2000 Intifada broke out.

“Last week, Conservative MP Tim Uppal announced that he would soon introduce a motion [in Canada’s national parliament] declaring “that this House considers itself to be a friend of the State of Israel; that this House is concerned about expressions of anti-Semitism under the guise of ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’; and that this House explicitly condemns any action in Canada as well as internationally that would equate the State of Israel with the rejected and racist policy of apartheid.” On Monday, Michael Ignatieff declared that Israeli Apartheid Week “should be condemned unequivocally and absolutely.” Even Jack Layton [leader of the left-wing New Democratic Party] has kept a tight lid on the anti-Zionists in his party. As a result, anti-Israel activists –including not only the IAW crowd, but also those who campaigned against last year’s Israeli-themed Toronto Film Festival– have been shunned, or even denounced, by politicians.”

This is surely the way to go. Perhaps those who are interested could write to their own parliamentarians and their equivalents suggesting they follow Canada’s lead…

To read the National Post article referred to, click here:

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=2629574&p=1

For information on IAW events around the world, click here:

http://apartheidweek.org/

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