Toronto (November 5, 2019) – Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center (FSWC) has reached out to senior policymakers in the federal NDP to demand they cut any ties to a BDS organization that denies the Holocaust.

Last weekend, the Canada Palestine Association posted on its Facebook page that Jews – who they refer to as ‘Zionists’ – “did NOT suffer the Holocaust, in reality they collaborated with the Nazis.” The post cites as “evidence” a 1978 book from Lebanon by Faris Yahya Glubb, who was involved with the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

During last month’s election campaign, it appears the NDP was the only political party to comply with a request made by the Canada Palestine Association to complete a memo outlining positions on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The memo apparently submitted by the NDP included harsh condemnation of Israel and indicated support for both BDS and UN Resolution 194, which calls on Israel to offer citizenship to millions of Palestinians born in neighbouring countries. When FSWC contacted the NDP about the memo, the party acknowledged the memo contained errors and did not accurately reflect party policy. Officially, the NDP says it has no position on BDS.

In today’s letter to the NDP, FSWC wrote, “We hope you will agree that any group which denies the Holocaust or accuses Jews of masterminding the Holocaust is a hate group that should be entirely rejected by our political parties. As such, we ask the NDP to cut any ties that may exist with the Canada Palestine Association. We also hope that this incident may shine a light for party leaders on the hate that lurks beneath BDS, and that the party will commit itself fully to the fight against rising antisemitism.”