Today's Gazette
Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, Harper says
MIKE DE SOUZA, Canwest News Service
Published: Friday, May 09Some 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.
"We learned in the Second World War that those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well, and the same holds today."
Harper, who was to deliver a speech in Toronto marking the 60th anniversary of Israel in the evening, blamed some of his rivals in opposition for encouraging anti-Semitism in the midst of the conflict between the Jewish state and Hezbollah in the summer of 2006 in Lebanon. At the time, Harper was criticized in some circles for being pro-Israel when he defended controversial military strikes in Beirut.
"Canada, under this government, is never going to cater to that kind of opinion," Harper said.
"I am disturbed that there are some elements in our political system, there are even some members of Parliament ... that were willing to cater to that kind of opinion."
