Let’s start with what it doesn’t mean.
It doesn’t mean sending erroneous, inflammatory and divisive flyers into Jewish neighbourhoods as a partisan wedge. Stephen Harper should be ashamed to have his image on these Conservative brochures. It tarnishes the office of the Prime Minister.
Nor does it mean hurling drive-by accusations of anti-Semitism, as one senior Conservative spokesperson did Wednesday on national television. It’s beyond the pale to falsely charge political opponents of anti-Semitism as a tactic for vote-getting. The Liberal targeted by that attack, former Mississauga-Erindale MP and current Liberal candidate Omar Alghabra, has dedicated himself to fighting all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism. His commitment to the cause of peace in the Middle East is deep and ongoing.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel certainly doesn’t mean resorting to lies to smear your political opponents. Irwin Cotler put it best when he stood up on a point of privilege in the House of Commons to denounce the flyers being sent to voters his riding.
What standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel does mean is changing Canadian law to ensure Hezbollah and Hamas were designated as terrorist organizations, as the Liberal government did in 2002.
What it does mean is condemning anti-Semitism vociferously as the former Liberal government did at the Durban I conference, and staying on at the conference to witness the atrocious statements made there at the request of the Israeli government.
What it means is standing by Israel, as the Liberal Party has, since 1948.
“My party will never claim to be the only genuine defenders of Israel in Canadians politics,” Michael Ignatieff said in a speech to the Canadian Jewish Congress, “Because I don’t want my party to be alone in the defence of Israel. I want all parties to be genuine defenders of Israel.”
