Who Changed Canadian Policy?

By Hillel Fendel, IsraelNN.com

The Canadian government is seeking to ensure that it does not support racist, terrorist or hate groups – and has already stripped the Canadian Arab Federation of a $447,000 grant.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, appears to be heading the drive against anti-Semitism and other forms of racism. He has specifically targeted the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) for criticism over the past year and more, and has also had harsh words for the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC).

Kenney has described the above groups as having “no real constituency. They have an e-mail account. They have a fax machine. And they have a blowhard who’s willing to get on television and say the most audacious things that attract media attention. We, as a government, should not give them additional credibility.”

Kenney and the CAF have been verbally battling each other for two years, beginning in March 2007 when Kenney called the CAF a “racist organization.” A year later, an aide to Kenney said the CAF was “not an anti-racist organization, but an anti-Semitic one.”

The CAF continued to raise Kenney’s ire by calling Israel “racist,” and for criticizing the Canadian government for saying Israel’s anti-terrorist war in Gaza was a “measured response” and pulling out of the Durban II conference.

Kenney, for his part, angered the CAF, when he said this past January, “It is shocking to think that flags of banned terrorist organizations such as Hizbullah are being flown in the streets of Canadian cities. The ideals these terrorist organizations preach are abhorrent to the fundamental values of the Canadian people and of all civilized peoples: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

In addition, in response to CAF press releases during Israel’s recent Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Kenney’s press aide said, “There is no need for you [CAF] to send me your press releases. I am not interested in reading them. Thank you for your cooperation… Actually, on second thought, keep writing me. Your e-mails are hilarious.”

Things came to a head last month when the president of CAF, Khaled Mouammar, called Minister Kenney a “professional whore” for his denunciation of Hamas and Hezbollah. This was followed by the removal of the grant to CAF, which will take effect next year.

Kenney has been accused of making this decision because of the insult that had been leveled at him, but he denies it. “If that misunderstanding exists, I absolutely regret it,” he responded.

“I didn’t create the misunderstanding… I regret that, because to some extent I think it has diverted attention away from the real issue, which has nothing to do with name calling whatsoever. Thank G-d we don’t live in a country where people with political authority can be vindictive in that way. I think that would be really ridiculous.”

In a speech at the University of Toronto last week, Kenney said that the “de-legitimization” of Israel is “both a cause and a consequence of the new anti-Semitism,” hiding behind a pose of multiculturalism.

He noted “the disturbing comfort of a small minority in Canadian academia with this odious new anti-Semitism [that is] packaged up as anti-Zionism.”

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke out against anti-Semitism in his country at a Chabad-Lubavitch event earlier this month.

“Anti-Semitism is a pernicious evil that must be exposed [and] repudiated whenever and wherever it appears. Fueled by lies and paranoia we have learned from history, it is an evil so profound, indeed as we saw in Mumbai, that it is ultimately a threat to us all.

“Under our government, Canada will remain an unyielding defender of Jewish religious freedom, a forceful opponent of anti-Semitism in all of its forms and a staunch supporter of a secure and democratic state of Israel,” he told the applauding audience.