The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism

In February, Bernie Farber CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, and 10 other Canadian parliamentarians attended the London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism.

From Farber's Feb 25 article at CJC :

"Of all the strategies and tactics reviewed, one stood out for broader emulation. It was the development of all-party enquiries into the state of anti-Semitism in individual countries. Such a committee establishes a clear focus and accountabilities, a specific timeline for co-ordinated action by government ministries, agencies and law enforcement groups and a political check against any attempts at appeasement.

It ensures that the fight against anti-Semitism becomes validated by all parties, and avoids anti-Semitism serving as a wedge issue among politicians. It puts the onus for leadership of the battle on non-Jews who have the most credibility in pushing this agenda within civil society. "

And voilà! : The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism is born. (h/t Dr. Dawg)

The coalition will conduct a national inquiry into antisemitism in Canada.
Today’s announcement is intended to signal that in this country, legislators of all parties are deeply concerned about what seems to be a rising international tide of renewed antisemitism, on a scale not seen in my lifetime.

There will be hearings. There will be witnesses. You can make a submission by July 31.

The FAQs page assures us this is not an attempt to muzzle criticism of Israel.

Yet even as Farber noted in his column "the rise of new forms of anti-Semitism" such as "the linkage of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism", he informs us, apparently without irony or noticing the significance himself (italics mine):

"The U.K. Community Security Trust (CST), which co-hosted the London conference, has developed one of the leading evidentiary methodologies for tracking and understanding anti-Semitic incidents. Last week, it noted that a decrease in anti-Semitic incidents in 2008 (for the second year running) was totally overshadowed by an unprecedented rise during and after the Gaza operations."

Odd coincidence, that.

You know, if some of you guys would knock off conflating criticism of Israel's carnage in Gaza with anti-Semitism yourselves, like this recent nonsense concocted by Farber to punish Zerbisias, Jason Kenney's success in barring George Galloway from entering Canada, and Steve going all Godwin on us last year :

Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, Harper says

Mike Souza, Canwest News May 09 2008

Some of the criticism brewing in Canada against the state of Israel, including from some members of Parliament, is similar to the attitude of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned yesterday.

"I guess my fear is what I see happening in some circles is (an) anti-Israeli sentiment, really just as a thinly disguised veil for good old-fashioned anti-Semitism, which I think is completely unacceptable," Harper said in an interview with CJAD radio.

... it would go some distance towards striking a blow against the actual anti-Semitism that really does need combating.

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Critics of Israel's policies know anti-Semitism exists and we support legitimate attempts to combat it.

What we do not support is the weasely conflation of anti-Semitism/anti-Zionism/criticism of Israel by Israel's defenders in the underhanded attempt to muzzle any criticism of the policies of the State of Israel by calling all of it, in Steve's happy phrase, "good old-fashioned anti-Semitism".

Unfortunately I fear that whatever McCarthyite machinations are being brewed up in this parliamentary committee of Farber and Kenney's will only serve to further blur that line.
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