Anti-Semitism allegations end political career
The federal Liberals departed from tradition in Saint-Leonard-Saint-Michel by choosing a candidate who was not Italian-Canadian, but their choice, onetime imam Hassan Guillet, has already been sacked by the party for alleged antisemitic remarks made on social media.
That riding has something of a jinx on it. It was held by Alfonso Gagliano from 1988-2002, when he was named in the Gomery report on the sponsorship scandal, then by Massimo Pacetti from 2002 to 2015, but he was dismissed after accusations of harassment. The most recent representative, Nicola Di Iorio, elected in 2015, announced he was quitting politics at the end of 2018, then showed up again, wavered on whether he was really quitting, and finally left in January. The riding has been vacant since then.
qatzelok 08:07 on 2019-09-01 Permalink
It’s hard to believe that the Liberal’s originally chose a candidate who wasn’t 100% pro-Israel in the first place. Now, the Conservatives appear to be winning the “pro-Israel” race.
Raymond Lutz 10:46 on 2019-09-01 Permalink
From the Global News article: “The [B’nai Brith Canada] organization said it has uncovered several since-deleted social media posts made under Guillet’s name, including one in 2016 that referenced Zionists controlling U.S. politics, an anti-Semitic trope, and another made in 2017 that praised the release of an Islamist cleric jailed in Israel for inciting violence.”
wow, c’est du solide! Critiquer l’influence Israélienne sur les politiques domestiques est également ce qui a déclenché des accusations diffamantes d’anti-sémitisme contre Ilhan Omar… Pourtant elle a raison. https://www.thenation.com/article/ady-barkan-aipac-ilhan-omar/
Kate 11:40 on 2019-09-01 Permalink
During an election a party has to control how things look more than anything. Even if we can agree that criticizing Israeli government policy is not equivalent to antisemitism, that’s neither here nor there for the optics of an election campaign. Anyone whose views can be called down in that way has to be out.
Raymond Lutz 15:18 on 2019-09-01 Permalink
Maybe if people fought against any social organization, structure, set of interactions that articulates solely on _how things look_ rather than obediently complying to their aberrant premise, we wouldn’t be dans la merde jusqu’aux yeux. This is not antisemitism and shouldn’t end a political career (neither speeding tickets). Crimethink? Yes, and here’s your directions for room 101.
qatzelok 18:29 on 2019-09-01 Permalink
The article mentions the “trope” that is Zionist control of our politics and media, in the same color ink as it mentions that a candidate was dismissed for not being pro-Zionist enough.
Mainstream media is money-seeking, not truth-seeking. Same with mainstream politics.
Ian 19:26 on 2019-09-02 Permalink
Zionist control of media is Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Pro-Israel sympathies in media that may be interpreted as supporting Zionism as a larger editorial slant are a very different thing. What you are saying, qatzi, is getting dangerously close to simply being anti-Jewish.
These are subtle, yet extremely important distinctions.