A briar patch for Plante: antisemitism
Ensemble Montreal may be about to set a trap for Valérie Plante by insisting the city agree to a definition of antisemitism that excludes any criticism whatsoever of Israel’s policies and actions as a political state. Plante could be put in a position where she would be damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t agree.
What I dislike seeing is someone like Lionel Perez using this issue for political showboating. Antisemitism is serious and indications show it’s on the rise in North America and elsewhere. Its effects are nefarious and it’s disrespectful to the seriousness and risk of the situation if people with power use it as a cheap leverage ploy.
Ephraim 15:26 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
Sorry, but they are right. If you want to talk about antisemitism here in Montreal…. than talk about it here in Montreal… and kept out of the politics of other countries. We don’t need to be in the politics of other countries, be it Israel, Kashmir, the Ukraine, Lebanon, Northern Ireland or Moldovia… etc. I hold very little esteem for politicians who make comments about other countries without actually understanding them at all, not on the surface and not on the underlying issues. Heck, most of the time they don’t even know the history. Like the Americans not understanding that Iran holds animosity against them because of their involvement in bring the Shah to power or the Chileans with Pinochet.
This is city government, leave the International stuff to the national government… just shut up and deal with the problems we have in the city.
Kate 15:30 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
Then the mayor should neither agree nor disagree, and say that such a definition is outside the scope of municipal government. But Ephraim, my point is that Perez has calculated that no matter how Plante reacts, he can make her look bad in the eyes of some voters, which has been his only tactic since he became Ensemble’s interim leader. That his technique ends up making Ensemble look cranky and small‑minded doesn’t seem to have occurred to him.
Raymond Lutz 19:05 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
eh, the trick worked against Jeremy Corbyn, let’s try it here against Valérie Plante! We “slaughtered” Jeremy Corbyn, says Israel lobbyist
Ephraim 19:34 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
Kate… the mayor just needs to say that it’s outside her scope as mayor. But she also needs to tell her members to shut up and keep their personal politics to themselves. But to be honest, members of the party have already opened up their mouths about the subject on their own facebook pages. They know SFA about the subject…. but it makes them sound antisemitic, because they hold double standards.
I’m trying to remember the name of the study, but basically they have shown that people just straight out lie about their antisemitism and that in spite of Jews being such a small percentage of the population that this hatred runs deep in many different tropes. And that a different standard is really in place.
Kate 22:30 on 2020-01-21 Permalink
Raymond Lutz, exactly. Exactly!
Chris 10:02 on 2020-01-22 Permalink
Ephraim, if she says it’s outside municipal scope and doesn’t agree to the definition, she’ll be branded an anti-Semite for sure.
But also, municipalities often pass motions outside their own scope. ex: Calgary passed a motion condemning Quebec’s Law 21. What if, analogously, Montreal wanted to condemn Israel’s ‘Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law’ (5763) as racist? Perhaps agreeing to some dubious definition of “anti-Semitism” would have a chilling effect.
Michael Black 22:46 on 2020-01-27 Permalink
Anti-semitism is a real thing. One word: Auschwitz. Liberated on this day 75 years ago. A great day, except diminished by the actual Holocaust. The other day in the paper Jack Jebwab wrote of tye courage of the survivors.
Somewhere along the way things became highly divisive. I don’t know if that was always the case, buried by not hearing from individuals, or something amplified by the internet.
To see things only as binary makes for great knock down fights. But it mostly leaves out the in between, and lots of people. It avoids solutions because the grey area isn’t heard, , isn’t folded into the outcome along with the two binary sides.
This may not be a good thing, but it’s hardly an inter-party squabble. To see it that way is to ignore anti-semitism. I wouod argue that some of the anti-Israel side is anti-Semitic, along the lines of when Israel was launched and the Arabs vowed to drive the Israelis into the sea. When people take sides, they can get carried away, and the cause isn’t just by people who think Israel is a bully.
Of course it’s okay to criticize Isreal, but make sure it is about criticism and not about Jewish people in general.
But this is an ongoing them. The country wouldn’t have collapsed if the Conservatives won the last election. The infrastructure limits how far a ruling party can waver something. But by demonizing the Conservatives the middle area gets lost.
Marie-Josée Parent wasn’t forced out in an interparty squabble. To see it in that binary fashion is to ignore the cousins, who are concerned about pretendians.
Not everything is class warfare. Too often groups are left out in decision making, but decisions aren’t always made to “get rid of the riff-raff”.
I’m sure it goes on. But lots of things come along which aren’t about toppling “the other side”.
The loudest voices are the two binaries, and identifying with either side just reinforces all that.