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NDP’S Mideast Policy is Morally Bankrupt As it has done so often in the past, the NDP has once again abandoned its principles at the first sight of controversy. More concerned about negative coverage in the mainstream media, than standing up for Palestinian human rights and self-determination, the NDP has back-pedalled on its earlier criticism of Israel’s brutal occupation. In the space of one week, NDP leader Alexa McDonough has gone from condemning Israeli “state terrorism,” and hinting at the possibility of sanctions, to apologizing for what she called “a regrettable public perception” that the NDP is anti-Israel. Instead of denouncing in unequivocal terms Israel’s illegal occupation, and its well-documented use of torture and collective punishment, its deliberate targeting of civilians, journalists, ambulance drivers, and international peace monitors, not to mention the mounting evidence of a wholesale massacre in Jenin, McDonough simply described Israel’s recent actions as “counter-productive.” More afraid of vacuous and knee-jerk allegations of “bias” and “anti-Semitism” by Canada’s pro-Israel lobby, than it is committed to supporting the right of an oppressed people to resist foreign occupation and military rule, the NDP has shamefully caved in to pressure and stripped MP Svend Robinson of his Middle East portfolio. Robinson has always been ridiculed in the Canadian press for expressing strong social justice views, and for putting his principles (valid or not) ahead of popularity. It is no surprise, therefore, that one of the few MP’s with any integrity is now demoted by his own, ostensibly “social democratic” party. Manitoba’s own Gary Doer, Bill Blaikie, and Judy Wasylycia-Leis took less time to publicly distance themselves from Robinson than it takes to say “irrelevant careerist hack.” More concerned about maintaining electoral “respectability” (however self-delusional), than following through on its own rhetoric of social justice, the NDP has once again demonstrated its complete moral bankruptcy. In waffling back and forth, and trying to offend neither oppressor nor oppressed, the NDP has once again demonstrated why so many leftists, activists, environmentalists, workers, and ordinary, honest Canadians have either abandoned the party, or vote for it –– while holding back the bile –– as a “lesser of evils.” Lost in all this nonsense is the fact that Palestinians continue to be slaughtered by Israel, which boasts the world’s fourth strongest military. The media rightly documents and condemns suicide attacks on Israeli civilians, but often ignores the fact that four times as many Palestinians, mostly civilians, have also been killed since September 2000. Israel is using its own brand of state terror to maintain an illegal, 35-year occupation of Palestinian land. Ariel Sharon is under indictment for war crimes by a Belgian court. On April 10, the European Union voted in favour of a resolution calling for suspension of trade and other links with Israel. The United Nations has re-affirmed (every year since 1967) the need for Israel to comply with international law and withdraw from the Occupied Territories. Every major human rights group in the world is shocked and horrified by Israel’s recent attacks on Palestinian towns and infrastructure. Even a growing number of Israeli soldiers have begun to refuse service outside the “Green Line,” insisting that the occupation only exacerbates terrorist attacks, and has nothing to do with defence of Israel. Whether the NDP wishes to acknowledge such facts is irrelevant. If the NDP wishes to keep pretending that it is Canada’s party of social justice, fine. Nobody else is under any illusions.
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