pro-Palestinian candidates?
No doubt all the Canadian political parties are watching how the Canadian Arabs and Muslims and their friends respond to the repeated attempt to keep pro-Palestinian activists out of the Federal Liberal Party nomination process. Their reaction will indicate whether this community is a force to be reckoned with or if it can be ignored. There are a number of examples of this campaign against pro-Palestinian activists and their supporters over the past several years.
In 2003, Carolyn Parrish the Liberal M.P. for Mississauga-Erindale was targeted for defeat by pro-Israeli groups. There was a brutal nomination contest between Parrish and Steve Mahoney. Mr. Mahoney was also an M.P. in Mississauga whose riding, after redistribution, overlapped with Ms. Parrish's. He chose to run against his fellow sitting Liberal M.P. instead of running in Mississauga-Streetsville riding which also was part of his old constituency and had no incumbent running. Mahoney received strong support from pro-Israeli elements in the nomination battle.
Parrish narrowly won the nomination after a bitter battle and went on to win the riding by a wide margin in the 2004 General Election. Parrish who was outspoken in her opposition to the Iraq war and Israel's treatment of the Palestinians was eventually kicked out of the Liberal Party caucus after she was quoted in the Globe and Mail criticizing Liberal leader Paul Martin and his PMO staff
Elias Hazineh, a Christian Palestinian, who worked in Ms. Parrish's constituency office and served as President of the Missisauga-Erindale Liberal Riding Association decided to run for the now open riding. Hazineh, however, was barred from running by the Liberal Party because of his outspoken criticisms of Israel's treatment of his fellow Palestinians.
With Hazineh blocked, Omar Alghabra, President of the Canadian Arab Federation ran for the nomination with Hazineh's support. Despite having strong community and professional credentials Alghabra was strongly opposed by the Liberal Party establishment. He was not expected to win the nomination race to replace Carolyn Parrish and perhaps for that very reason was at least allowed to run. Since the Party had previously barred Elias Hazineh they could not appear to be blatantly anti-Arab and anti-Muslim and deny Alghabra the right to run.
The Liberal Party did their best to discourage Alghabra. The Party Establishment favoured Charles Sousa, a Bank Vice President and a personal friend of Liberal Leader Paul Martin. Thanks to the support Alghabra received from the large Arab and Muslim community in the riding he won the nomination contest and then easily won the riding in the 2006 Federal Election.
In the election Mr. Alghabra was attacked by Zionists and anti-Muslim elements. He was falsely accused of saying he supported turning Canada into an Islamic State. Fortunately the Toronto Star newspaper exposed the false allegations made against him and helped counter the anti-Muslim smear campaign.
Other candidates who have expressed pro-Palestinian views have been apparently blocked from running as Liberal candidates. Dr. Farid Ayad, a Palestinian, was strongly discouraged from running in the Mississauga-Streetsville riding held by Pakistani Muslim Wajid Khan. Khan was originally elected as a Liberal but then crossed the floor to join the Conservatives. Dr. Ayad eventually withdrew from the race It was clear that he was not welcome in the Liberal Party. He is a dentist with a long history of community activism and involvement with the large Arab and Muslim community in Mississauga.
Grace Batchoun, a Palestinian activist with Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, sought a Liberal nomination in Ahuntsic riding in Montreal held by the Bloc Québécois. Eleni Bakopanos a Liberal had been defeated in the January 23, 2006 federal election. Batchoun’s supporters sent more than 600 e-mails to Liberal Leader Dion urging the Party to accept her as a candidate. However, Dion and the Liberal Party made it clear it was not interested in Batchoun running in that riding. Mr. Dion apparently preferred the previous defeated Liberal candidate Bakopanos who had supported him in his bid for the Liberal Party Leadership. Batchoun despite having very strong support from the community was discouraged from running and eventually dropped out of the race.
It is perhaps because of the fact that Carolyn Parrish and Omar Alghabra won their nominations and their elections that the supporters of Israel in the Liberal Party are now trying to block pro-Palestinian, pro-Arab and Muslim supporters from even running for nominations.
This is what has happened to Ed Corrigan in the riding of London-Fanshawe. Mr. Corrigan a former London City Councillor, a Certified Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration, a long time Liberal Party activist and former president of a federal Liberal riding association was barred from running for a Liberal nomination. He was also known for his strong support for the Palestinians and opposition to the Iraq war through his academic writings and political activism.
The Liberal Party Green Light Committee "red lighted" him over his supposed lack of support for an important Party principles and lack of support for Liberal leader Stephane Dion. The principle was not identified but it clearly referred to supporting Israel. The fact that nearly 2,000 Arabs and Muslims signed up in London-Fanshawe meant that Mr. Corrigan could win the nomination since he had strong support in the Arab and Muslim community.
The other complaint raised against Mr. Corrigan was that he circulated a letter expressing concern about Mr. Dion's participation in a celebration of Israel's founding. The letter explained to Mr. Dion that the founding of Israel resulted in the dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and posed a number of questions about the human rights of the Palestinians. Indeed, such questions are very much in keeping with values that the Liberal Party claims to defend, e.g., non-discrimination, anti-racism, human rights and respecting International law etc.
The letter, dated May 14th, 2007, requested a meeting with Dion to discuss how the organizations could work with him in support of these issues of human rights and international law. It was signed by the Canadian Arab Federation and the Canadian Islamic Congress and 37 other organizations including five Jewish groups and requested a meeting with Mr Dion. As of September 14, 2007 a meeting has not yet been scheduled in spite of a number of follow-up calls to Dion’s office.
If the distribution of a letter signed by the Canadian Arab Federation and the Canadian Islamic Congress and many other Canadian Arab and Muslim organizations, including five progressive Jewish groups, are grounds for excluding candidates from running for the Liberal Party this is an attack on all Arabs and Muslims in Canada. It is also an attack on free debate and democracy within the Liberal Party.
If Mr. Corrigan had little or no chance to win the nomination the Liberal Party would have likely let him run for the nomination. London-Fanshawe has a large Arab and Muslim population and is a very multi-cultural riding. Ab Chahbar another Muslim Arab candidate was also running for the nomination in London-Fanshawe. He also was not "green lighted" and after a long delay he took the hint and dropped out of the race. In the end the nearly 2,000 Arabs and Muslims who had taken out memberships in the riding had none of their preferred candidates running for the nomination.
The three women who were "green lighted" in London-Fanshawe had little or no involvement with the Arab and Muslim community. The women also had little or no demonstrated knowledge of the communities concerns but they alone were left running for the federal Liberal nomination where nearly 90 percent of the voting members were Arabs and Muslims. One of the women candidates, Sandy White, a social worker and former City Councillor did have good relations with the Arab and Muslim community. However, the Liberal Party establishment did not want her to win either. She was considered "divisive" no doubt because of her good relations with the Arab and Muslim community.
In the end only 15% of the Liberal riding members in London Fanshawe voted and the Party establishment candidate, Jackie Gauthier, a radio announcer with no political experience, won the nomination. It remains to be seen if the Liberals can win the riding which has a large Arab and Muslim population from the incumbent NDP Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen.
But even a candidate that is hand picked by the leader will not necessarily have an easy ride if he is deemed to be anti-Israel. This is the case with Jocelyn Coulon, a political scientist and former journalist who was selected by Mr. Dion to run in the October 2007 by-election in Outremont. Soon after his candidacy was announced in July, B'nai Brith Canada asked the Liberal Leader to remove Coulon because of his past stance on Israel.
Ms Coulon's analysis of Hamas's rise to power in the Palestinian Territories is what concerns B'Nai Brith Canada. In a February 2006 opinion piece, Ms. Coulon wrote that Hamas isn't just simply a “terrorist organization“, but a social and political movement that won the Palestinian elections because of its commitment to fight corruption and help people, and the international community should not isolate it. In late August, Coulon retracted his previous position on Hamas at a meeting with Jewish community representatives.
The NDP at least has been open to letting Muslim, Arab and Palestinians candidates run. Jim Kafieh, a Christian Palestinian and past President of the Canadian Arab Federation, has ran twice for the Ontario provincial NDP. Monia Mazigh, the wife of abductee Maher Arar, ran for the federal NDP in Ottawa in 2006 on a pro-human rights anti-security certificate platform. Mohamed Boudjenane, the Executive Director of the Canadian Arab Federation, is running for the provincial NDP in Etobicoke North. In this riding, currently held by a provincial Liberal, all three major parties are running Muslims.
Here is what Elias Hazineh, President of the Mississauga Erindale Federal Liberal Riding Association had to say about the rejection of Ed Corrigan and the other candidates in a letter to Liberal leader Dion."His [Corrigan's] "sin" apparently is his defence of the rights of the Palestinian people. My understanding is that this has been a common practice in the Liberal Party lately.
Aside from Mr. Corrigan, Doctor Farid Ayad from Mississauga and Ms. Grace Batchoun of Montreal were also denied the opportunity to run for the Liberal Party despite their qualifications.
The problem here is much bigger than simply the nomination of one person, the implication goes far beyond the rejection of Mr. Corrigan's, Dr. Ayad's and Grace Batchoun's nominations. Many loyal Liberal supporters in the Canadian Arab/Muslim communities are bound to draw the only logical conclusion from this sad episode; that pro Palestinian candidates are not welcome and need not apply."
There are several Arabs running for Liberal nominations in the Ottawa region which also has a large Arab community. It will remains to be seen how the Liberal Party treats these individuals and if the Liberal Party is open to Arabs and Muslims and their concerns over human rights and social justice or if it will continue to pursue an anti-democratic and discriminatory approach when it comes to Arab and Muslim candidates and candidates who are sympathetic the plight of the Palestinians.If the Liberal Party is not supportive of the legitimate concerns of the Arab and Muslim community in Canada and human rights and international law, then there is no reason for the growing Arab and Muslim community to vote Liberal and every reason for them not to vote Liberal.
About the writer:
Linda Belanger is a writer and activist from Ottawa. She is currently the editor of the Canada Palestine Support Network-Ottawa website, LINK.
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