Green party rift over Israeli-Palestinian conflict grows as MPs break from leader
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has exposed a fault line in the Green party, threatening political unity as lawmakers break from their leader and rank-and-file members clash with a party spokesman.
The dust-up kicked off after Green MP Jenica Atwin directly challenged Leader Annamie Paul's position on the crisis. In a Twitter post last month, she said a statement from Paul calling for de-escalation and a return to dialogue was "totally inadequate."
"I stand with Palestine and condemn the unthinkable airstrikes in Gaza. End Apartheid!" Atwin wrote on May 11.
The tweet followed one a day earlier by Green MP Paul Manly, who said that the removal of Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah "is ethnic cleansing."
Noah Zatzman, a senior adviser to Paul, expressed solidarity with Israel in a May 14 social media post that accused many politicians, including unspecified Green MPs, of discrimination and antisemitism.
"We will work to defeat you and bring in progressive climate champions who are antifa and pro LGBT and pro indigenous sovereignty and Zionists!!!!!" he said in the post, which he told The Canadian Press was meant as a response to the Green MPs as well as the broader issue.
The internal rift has only widened in the week and a half since a tenuous ceasefire was reached in the 11-day war that killed more than 250 people, mostly Palestinians.
The fallout includes online accusations from prominent Green party members, such as 2020 leadership runner-up Dimitri Lascaris, who says Zatzman has defamed him, Atwin and Manly by accusing them of antisemitism.
Playing out in full public view rather than party backrooms, the feud has highlighted a sinkhole on the Green road to more socially progressive ground under Paul, who has sought to steer the party away from earlier efforts to highlight its fiscal conservatism.
Paul has attempted to remain above the fray, saying party debate is healthy but that increasing reports of antisemitism in Canada must be confronted.
"There are differences of opinion that come up naturally within parties. And certainly Israel and Palestine is one that has demonstrated the differences of opinion," she told reporters Monday in response to questions about whether there is antisemitism in her party.
"As only the second Jewish person to lead a federal party with seats, I will say that antisemitism has no place in politics," Paul said, adding that she is "very troubled" by its recent resurgence. (The first was David Lewis, who led the federal NDP in the 1970s.)
Reports of antisemitic incidents have shot up across Canada over the past month, according to three Jewish advocacy groups whose hate hotlines have been flooded with calls in a spike the organizations link to the latest Mideast crisis.
Atwin declined requests for comment, but Manly rejected the notion that policy criticism amounts to cultural hostility.
"Using accusations of antisemitism to shut down legitimate criticism of human rights abuses is both offensive and dangerous. It dilutes the weight of the word," Manly said in an interview.
He also cited an article on his website titled, "Criticizing Human Rights Abuses Is Not Anti-Semitism," written by his chief of staff and longtime friend Ilan Goldenblatt, a former Israeli soldier.
Greens, who pride themselves on the independence of MPs in caucus that is not whipped, are not the only party to feel the centre of political gravity shift on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Internal tensions over the issue nagged New Democrats in the run-up to April's policy convention, but Leader Jagmeet Singh's call on the federal government to halt arms sales to Israel last month drew little blowback from the base.
"These are long festering issues and Annamie is attempting really to clean it up … and smooth things over," Zatzman said in an interview.
He pointed out that Manly was one of multiple would-be nominees rejected by the NDP under former leader Thomas Mulcair ahead of the 2015 election for previous comments on Israel.
The escalating tensions over the past month have bubbled over into a barrage of antisemitic harassment against Paul as well as himself, Zatzman said.
"When they're saying things like 'apartheid' and 'ethnic cleansing,' I think they knew how I would react."
Lascaris, a Montreal-based lawyer, said Paul has been "very, very evasive" about her views on the Israeli-Palestinian quandary.
"It's come-to-Jesus time, and she needs to say very clearly where she stands on this issue: Does she stand with the victims of an apartheid state? Or does she stand with an apartheid state?" he asked in an interview, citing reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Lascaris, who described himself as atheist, later said the Christian reference was unintentional and a "poor choice of words."
Paul's more traditional stance stems in part from a "political calculus," Lascaris said.
Zatzman also said that "we're making a bet" by going "mainstream" to appeal to voters comfortable with Canada's long-standing support of Israel.
Lascaris, along with a few dozen commenters on the Green Party of Canada Supporters Facebook page, has called for Zatzman's removal. Lascaris had been mulling an election run in a Montreal riding until last month's fracas, he said.
But Zatzman stands by his concern that the line between criticism of Israeli actions and antisemitism has been crossed.
He pointed to posts, including one that mentions the private Jewish high school he attended in Toronto and his past connections to Hillel -- a Jewish campus organization -- and Birthright Israel, which offers young Jews, mostly from the United States and Canada, a free 10-day trip to the country as a way to forge a personal connection.
Hamish Telford, an associate professor of political science at the University of the Fraser Valley, said that in trying to straddle a "fairly neutral Canadian position" in favour of a two-state solution, Paul may have set the stage for even sharper divisions in her party.
"All parties are trying to navigate these sorts of electoral dynamics when they are considering this issue," he said, noting the NDP has taken the strongest pro-Palestinian position.
Paul's faith adds another layer of sensitivity to the conversation, he said.
"It's going to be difficult for her to strike that balance, as well as for people who disagree with her to strike the right balance in the right tone in these conversations."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2021.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Local Spotlight
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Investigating the tale of Winnipeg's long-running mystery bookstore
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
'Love has no boundaries': Sask. couple in their 90s and 80s get married
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
Video shows gaggle of geese stopping traffic on Highway 1 near Vancouver
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.