March 8, 2023
Ms Marit Stiles
Leader of the Official Opposition
M.P.P – Davenport
Room 465, Main Legislative Building,
Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1A5
Dear Ms Stiles:
The Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation is a registered Canadian charity. Our mandate generally doesn't include wading into partisan politics, or commenting on the merits of political parties or candidates running for office.
Today, we make an exception, in the case of one of your candidates, Sarah Jama.
As stated in the March 6, 2023 letter from B'nai Brith Canada, (https://www.bnaibrith.ca/nomination-of-radical-anti-israel-advocate-not-a-good-look-for-ontarios-ndp/ ) which we fully support, your party's candidate is more than just a harsh critic of the State of Israel. She calls for its destruction and supports the "Boycott Divestment and Sanctions" movement designed to make the people of Israel -- 45% of the worldwide Jewish population -- poor, weak, and vulnerable to terrorist enemies seeking nothing less than their annihilation.
You probably know all too well the NDP's sorry history of antisemitic candidates, but let me remind you:
At the federal level, Sidney Coles and Dan Osborne resigned their candidacies in 2021 following nationwide reporting of their antisemitic remarks.
In January 2022, the Ontario NDP cancelled the candidacy of former Ajax mayor Steve Parish following revelations of his admiration for Nazi naval officer Hans Langdorff.
In November 2022, sitting Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden was forced to apologize after claiming that "the single greatest origin of violence in the Middle East is unquestionably the state of Israel" and that, "I have asked many questions of Jewish neighbours here about how much longer we should put up with this."
It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to discern a pattern. These are not problems from the distant past. This is the story of the NDP from the last two years!
There's an old saying that hate starts with the Jews but doesn't end with the Jews. We don't like this saying because antisemitism is evil of itself, not just because it leads to other hatreds. And it looks like your candidate has other targets.
Our organization supports the equality rights of all under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Ontario Human Rights Code, and otherwise does not get involved in discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity which are irrelevant to our mandate. But we can't help thinking that a major political party which fields a candidate who says these things is not contributing to a positive political environment. Historical experience indicates that poisoned political environments are inevitably bad for the Jews.
We hope you will consider doing the right thing and withdrawing your party's support for Sarah Jama's candidacy. Enabling this individual to take a seat in the Ontario Legislature would be a travesty.
Sincerely,
Andria Spindel,
Executive Director
Cc Michael Mostyn, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada
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