September 12, 2022
Mr Jagmeet Singh, Leader New Democratic Party of Canada
Dear Mr. Singh;
Your recent announcement of clearly antisemitic policies has Canadian Jewry very concerned. In fact, shock and awe might better describe the response of the Canadian Antisemitism Education Foundation and many in the Jewish community of Canada, and across most Western democracies.
Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, governs by the rule of law and is the only Middle Eastern country where minorities of all backgrounds have equal rights and protections. The NDP seem to have adopted the biases, lies and heretical antisemitism that characterises much of the alt-left, and alienates and threatens Jewish safety in the liberal democracy that is Canada.
Each of your policy statements can be easily shown to reflect lies and distortions. One only has to read history to understand how the use of lies and propaganda led to pogroms, terror and mass murder of Jews, and now we see the adoption of policies in which Israel, the Jewish nation, is being threatened by the same lies and distortions that have plagued the Jewish people for centuries.
Take a critical look at the deception your policies fuel.
The NGOs whose statements vilify Israel and falsely accuse her of apartheid have been shown to be antisemitic and terror supporting. There has never been a policy of apartheid in Israel and there is no exclusion of Arabs nor any other people from any aspect of public life in Israel. How can you adopt a policy so easily disproven? Quoting the United Nations is truly a sign of the ignorance and bias of the NDP for that institution has singled out Israel for every repudiation since its founding and ignored the real tyrants and torturers such as Iran, North Korea, China, Venezuela, to name a few.
The unintended death of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is hardly cause for a referral to the International Criminal Court. If it was a bullet from an IDF gun, it was a total accident and there is nothing at all to incriminate one for an accident. Do you know how many journalists have been killed in areas of conflict worldwide, and if not, why not, and why have you never spoken of any of these many incidents? Why have you singled out only Israel which is not denying the accident? Do you see the leader of the Palestinian Authority declaring his role in the murder of dozens of Israelis, murders for which he has rewarded his terrorists with a lifetime salary? Is it that the NDP now supports the pay-for-slay policy of the PA ie kill a Jew and get paid?? The ICC is itself biased as has been shown several times. Why do they not investigate the warfare that Syrian president Assad waged against his own people? Why do you not call for an investigation of the murder of innocent Arabs by the PA which has a law declaring that any recognition or negotiation with Israel is cause for the death penalty? Is this how peace is to be achieved?
There is currently no plan for Israel to annex any land and the fact is there is also no country called Palestine, and only lands under PA control can even be referred to as “Palestinian territory.” If you believe there is “occupied Palestinian territory”, then please outline its boundaries, the year in which it was declared occupied and the law that supports this fallacious claim. What we do have as provable is that under the Oslo Accords, the PA has authority over Area A of the Disputed Territories, shares Area B and has no claim at all to Area C. This was negotiated!
There is no legal area called the “West Bank” nor is there a legal city called “East Jerusalem”. The neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah is legally on land owned by Jews in the neighborhood of Shimon Hatzadik, now called by an Arabic name by its mostly Arab residents who, over 20 years ago, acknowledged they were illegal squatters. The true owners have been determined to be Jews, and the “tenants” must pay rent or move. Is it the NDP view that in Canada, tenants may squat, stay forever and never pay rent to legal owners? If that is your view, then please make it public so all Canadians may consider if they would support such nonsense.
The government of Israel, like the government of Canada, has the right to assign usage to its owned lands. That part of the area squatted on by Arabs in what they call Masafter Yatta is intended for Israel’s military is unquestionably the right of Israel to decide. You cannot decide that Jews are illegal settlers and then ignore illegal settlements by Arabs—that is raw indisputable racist antisemitism. You want two laws for two people, not just two states, is that correct?
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency has been shown for years to use textbooks that negate any idea of peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs. They produce maps and history without any mention of Israel, thus ensuring that Arab children have an inferior education, bias and prejudice against all Jews, and an unwillingness to ever negotiate peace. On top of that and much more egregious, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas train children to kill! This is child abuse which the NDP seems to ignore, demonstrating it cares little for the real welfare of Arab children. The children being abused are Arabs as they are indoctrinated to kill. We have sent you, and every Member of Parliament in Canada, evidence of the training of child terrorists within summer camps run for Arab children—how do you account for ignoring the recent documentary footage proving this point? UNRWA should cease to exist as soon as possible since it has both swindled our country and other Western nations out of billions of dollars and refused to settle any so-called refugees. It is pure nonsense that the definition of a Palestinian Arab refugee is not a recognizable definition of refugee at all but a charade of huge proportions, claiming that even people who have never lived in or even visited Israel, are refugees. Utter nonsense.
There is nothing undemocratic about Israel’s nation state law. If you believe that, we assume you do not hold the view that Quebec has the right to protect its language and cultural status within Canada. Why would French Canadians have the rights you do not wish the Jewish nation to have, to preserve its ethno-cultural character? It is the case in Israel that all rights are afforded to all citizens, but it is also true that Judaism is the prevailing, dominant culture, and Hebrew the dominant language. Israel is the nation State of the Jewish People. Do you deny this? However, one would have to be blind not have noted that all public facilities in Israel also display Arabic signage, and Arabic is a protected second language, taught in schools, used by the government and afforded protections. What say you about Minority rights in Quebec?
The six NGOs that were shown to be terror supporting have been listed as banned, and what country would not ban the terrorists in their midst? Canada could do more to ensure these same entities are banned here, starting with Samidoun, a terrorist entity that is supported openly by students at several universities. Why does the NDP want to support NGOs whose missions are destructive not constructive towards peace? Do you also support the IRGC, the PFLP and other murderous entities? Canadians would like to know.
The blockade in Gaza has proven to save lives, both Jewish and Arab, and to remove it endangers both. When did you last speak to the President of Egypt about their blockade of Gaza? Egypt is as worried if not more worried, than Israel about the rate of terrorism, importation of weapons, torture of innocents and the danger to its citizens if the Islamists in charge of Gaza can import more weapons. At this point in history, it is Israel that shows more care and concern for Gazan citizens than Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PA or any of the terror sponsoring countries such as Iran and Qatar. Does the NDP really care so little for the safety and survival of Jews that it would arm all the terrorists?
The only children held in custody by Israel are those engaged in terrorist activities. I believe that Canada has provision to try young adults in adult court if their alleged crimes warrant it. If an Arab young person kills a Jew, should they not be tried in adult court? Who decides and is that not the responsibility of the legal professionals in Israel as in Canada? Have you considered the rights of Arab children when you ignore their being used and abused by Hamas and the PA who put guns in their hands and hatred in their heads, and train them to kill innocent Israelis? Is this how you assume responsibility for the care of Arab children?
While you proclaim support for Palestinian Arab rights, how about Jewish human rights at the UN where they are abused profusely through the continuous distortion and contortion of the UN Human Rights Council which is composed of some of the worst anti-human rights, antisemitic, genocidal country representatives of this world? The UN is most certainly not a bastion of human rights and social justice, in the true meaning of these words. What has the UN done to sanction Iran, Syria, Lebanon, China and other totalitarian states for their horrific crimes against humanity and general lack of civil rights for their own citizens? The NDP appears to be on record as having done and said exactly ZERO about any tyrannical regime.
Define illegal settlements, and then explain the existence of all the illegal Arab settlements, now grabbing land in Area C, which is legally Israeli land. Also, explain all the illegal structures that have been thrown up without permits by Arab squatters, and often left vacant but serve to demonize the public perception of Israel, agitate against Jewish rights, encourage continual conflict, misrepresent legal ownership and suggest that the Arabs are “victims” when in fact they are the perpetrators of the ongoing disputes and never ending terrorism against civilians.
The last item on your abhorrent, biased, bigoted antisemitic screed is both laughable and terrifying. You would like to disarm Israel so that those who would wipe her off the map would be successful. You would prefer that Jews were not equipped to defend themselves but could be held as defenseless as they were during WWII, and during every pogrom and massacre throughout history when the Jews were unable to stand tall, fight and preserve lives. You are suggesting that only the Jews be defenseless while Palestinian militants take aim at buses, pizza shops, markets, religious shrines and even synagogues, where they have in the past slaughtered innocents—women, children, elderly people, unarmed civilians, even Israeli Arabs, tourists and others who seek simply to live in peace.
The enemy of human rights for Palestinian Arabs are clearly their own leaders, Islamist terrorists who do not believe in human rights, who deplore the idea of peaceful co-existence, who are arming children, rewarding and incentivizing terrorism, who are teaching hatred, and who lie daily about every aspect of Israeli society and would rid the world of Jews, just as their Nazi predecessors attempted to do.
Mr. Singh, your recent policy announcement is never going to be successful. It is a tale as old as the Torah—the NDP policy proposals demonstrate hatred of Jews, and exemplify everything despicable about pretentious social justice warriors,--you blame the Jews! You can pretend your list of policies is about Israel, but it isn’t difficult to see that you have singled out Israel, a democratic peace-loving country that has rebuilt the ancient homeland of the Jewish people, and you would destroy it. You don’t care about the well-being of Arabs in Israel or the disputed territories, or in fact in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria—you only care about your double standard-vilifying and lying about Israel.
You are not going to succeed in the destruction of Israel, nor will you destroy Zionism in the hearts of Canadian Jewry.
Sincerely,
Andria Spindel, Executive Director
cc. All Members of Parliament