Saturday, April 22, 2017

Ms. Andrea Horwath, Leader, Ontario NDP
Queens Park
Toronto, ON  

Subject: Resolution 9-11 "Justice for Palestinians. Boycott Apartheid Israel."

URGENT MESSAGE

Dear Ms. Horwath,

You have participated at quite a number of Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center educational events including, our Rosh Hashanah receptions and our official launch of our Tour for Humanity program. As you may recall, the Tour for Humanity was especially created to counter antisemitism specifically through a thorough understanding of the Holocaust. The Holocaust, as you might recall from our conversation, began with a systematic process of marginalization of the Jewish people including the boycott of their businesses, their professions, their cultural and religious practices and more. 

This is why I am outraged about Resolution 9-11 – referred to as "Justice for Palestinians. Boycott Apartheid Israel." This false and defamatory resolution is included in your party's Convention Guide and Resolutions handbook at this weekend's convention in Toronto. In your introductory letter you state that - "at this year's convention – we are planning for the future. The future of our party, and the future of our Province." Let me tell you Ms. Horwath that a future for your party that involves antisemitism – Jew hatred – and the marginalization of the Jewish people is not a future for any legitimate organization. If passed, you would be building a future on hate.

Before this resolution is considered by the convention, there are a number of facts concerning the 9-11 resolution that you should be aware of:

1. The accusation that Israel practices "apartheid" is slanderous and defamatory. According to Freedom House (www.freedomhouse.org), Israel is the only free and democratic nation in the Middle East. Unlike the Arab nations which surround it, which practice gender-apartheid; are ruled by tyrants and dictators; do not have freedom of expression, religion, rights and democracy, free movement, etc. and are slaughtering their own citizens (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, etc) - Israel is an island of freedom in a sea of hate and intolerance. While not without challenges, Israel has a thriving Muslim population that is woven into the mosaic of the country in medicine, academics, law, policing, military, education and more. 
2. The usage in the resolution of the words - "Zionist state" – is terminology used by terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah in addition to Arab states which refuse to recognize Israel's existence. In the context of usage of your resolution, it is derogatory if not racist in and of itself. It is further a denial of the existence of the State of Israel – which your party would subscribe to should this resolution proceed.
3. The resolution cites an ex-UN official among other anti-Israel pro-BDS supporters. The official's most recent report which charged Israel with "Apartheid" was immediately discredited and pulled from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia website by the UN Secretary General himself. So far fetched and illegitimate were the accusations that there was global condemnation from allied nations. 
4. Economic, cultural and academic antisemitism are forms of discrimination and have been defined as such by Canada (the Ottawa Protocol on Combating Anti-Semitism, 2011) and including the European Union, the British Government, the US State Department and the International Alliance for Holocaust Remembrance (Chaired recently by Canada). It should be noted here that the UN Secretary General himself – Antonio Guterres – recently condemned discrimination of this nature against the Jewish people and Israel. 
5. If passed, this antisemitic and shameful resolution will negatively impact your party given that a number of jurisdictions, both at home and abroad have unequivocally denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In Canada, at the federal level, the House of Commons passed a motion formally condemning the BDS movement receiving multi-party support and calling on the Canadian government to "condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups, or individuals to promote the BDS movement. 
6. At the provincial level, as you are aware, it is outlined in the Discriminatory Business Practices Act, the province of Ontario has legislation in place to prevent discriminatory business activity. Refusal to engage in business on the grounds of "race, creed, colour, nationality, ancestry, place of origin, sex or geographical location of personal employed in or engaging in business" is strictly prohibited in Ontario. It would be illegal, in other words, for your party to legitimately function under law in Ontario by boycotting the Jewish people – which comprise all of these attributes and more. It is worthwhile educating oneself that this law predates the BDS movement and originates with the "Arab Boycott" of Israel.
7. In the fall of 2016 – the Ontario Legislature passed an anti-BDS motion to "stand firmly against any position or movement that promotes or encourages any form of hatred, hostility, prejudice, racism and intolerance in any way" and "reject the differential treatment of Israel, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement."
8. Existing US State legislation may disallow ONDP from conducting business affairs in States that have passed anti-BDS legislation into law. These States will not contract with any other entity that participates in the BDS campaign. For your information, States you may not be able to have business dealings with or mutual relations with include New York, New Hersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, California, Florida and as many as 25 States in total. 
9. In the interest of National Security, Israel has recently created a black list of banned BDS activists from entering the country. By supporting the BDS campaign, your party, its leadership in particular, my not be granted admittance into Israel. 
10. The resolution is further erroneous for its charge that Canada restore aid to the Palestinians. In fact, Canada recently restored aid including $25 million that will flow through UNRWA to the Palestinian community. I can also tell you that through meeting with the new Canadian Ambassador to Israel and our mission and security training services, Canada is indeed expending resources, time and energy in aiding the Palestinians. 

Ms. Horwath, I can only hope this horrible resolution will not hit the floor of the convention or ever. Still, I have laid out ten valuable insights that hopefully give you pause about the transgression your party is about to make now or in the future. It is equally important to ponder and inquire why resolution 9-11 does not contain condemnation of Palestinian incitement to hate and violence against Jewish Israelis? Why is the question of Hamas – a declared terror organization – not addressed? And most importantly, how can peace be achieved without a peace partner – the Palestinians having rejected countless offers and solutions over the last two decades?  

Unfortunately, the ONDP – your party – is being used not for the pursuit of justice, but for war against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We have seen this time and time again throughout our history – that boycotting of Jews and Jewish communities is the hallmark of antisemitism. In fact, Adolf Hitler's first action was to placard the streets of Berlin with the message - "Do not buy from the Jews".  Would your party do the same should this resolution pass?

Israel is a dynamic country which is striving to co-exist with everyone. I would invite you to visit and learn more about the country, its challenges and its social fabric. In the meantime, it would be a terrible mistake for the Ontario New Democratic Party to pass judgement on Israel and support antisemitism. I look forward to discussing this matter further with you.  

Sincerely,                                  

Avi BenloloPresident & CEO
Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies
abenlolo@fswc.ca   416-864-9735 x25

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Segments from ONTARIO NDP RESOLUTION 9-11:

Justice for Palestinians, Boycott Apartheid Israel

WHEREAS there can be no lasting peace in Palestine/Israel, or the surrounding region, without social justice;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the ONDP support the international campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the ONDP actively campaign for the Right of Return for all refugees, an end to the Israeli settlements and Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, a halt to the armed aggression, the bulldozing of homes, the destruction of olive groves and farms, the assassination of political leaders and activists by the Zionist state, and demand the removal of the Apartheid wall across the West Bank...