On June 5, Libby Davies, deputy NDP leader attended an anti-Israel rally in Vancouver and was interviewed about the conflict.
How many things does she get wrong?
When did the occupation begin, 1948 or 1967? Oh 1948, says she, it is the longest occupation in the world. Since Israel was founded in 1948 in a defensive War of Independence against Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in which her enemies had promised genocide, we can only conclude that Ms Davies views the very existence of Israel as illegitimate. This is the position of such enlightened bodies as Hamas, Hizbullah and others. Let's entertain another option, that she is entirely uneducated about the most basic features of the conflict and simply assumed that Israel must have been occupying the land for the longer of the two times. I have two words to say IGNORANCE and PREJUDICE. If she didn't know but only guessed, the fact that she guessed 1948 is because she is prejudiced. Neither of these options look very good on Ms Davies or the NDP (which is too bad since I twice stood as an NDP candidate).
Let's see, is Palestine "occupied"? There is a lot of good international law that would say that the territories are disputed since there is no internationally recognized sovereign (they were British mandate territories and Israel is the closest thing to a legal successor to the mandate....what is clear is they never belonged to any other legal sovereign) from whom they were captured. The other point is that no one considered them "occupied territories" when Jordan and Egypt occupied them from 1948-1967. Why is that?
She also calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions. The last time I checked the NDP policy book that was not policy. The deputy leader should not be advocating (especially from a position of ignorance and prejudice) a position at odds with party policy.
I think she should be sacked. If the deputy leader had freelanced on any other major policy, she would be sacked. Unfortunately, I fear that Jack Layton will not sack her for this. Why not? Maybe because it is just about Jews (so who cares)? Maybe it is a trial balloon?
What do you think?
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Give Libby points for honesty. She said what others only think. The problem *is* the occupation, and Israel IS the occupation. QED....
ReplyDeleteI agree...look I generally like Libby Davies. I think she has stood up for a lot of what is right and good in her political career...I just find it distressing that she can put all that in jeopardy with such slipshod comments (and thoughts)....the fixation by some on the left with Israel is truly distressing and not helpful to those of us who think a principled left politics needs considerably more nuance and needs to stop parroting the Hamas position (as many do)...the reality is that attacks on innocent Jews in Israel began in the Ottoman period, continued under the Mandate, continued from Jordanian occupied Judea and Samaria during the 50s, and so on and so forth...this is a history that is often forgotten but is essential in order to appreciate some of the reality of the conflict
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