By Michael Regenstreif
I’ve always found Parliament Hill and its buildings to be an inspiring place. Not because of the politics that play out there, but because of the democratic ideals Parliament represents.
One of the most inspiring sights on Parliament Hill is the Peace Tower. Built in the 1920s as a memorial to Canada’s fallen soldiers in the First World War, the Peace Tower looms high over Parliament Hill and, until the 1970s, was the tallest structure in Ottawa.
When I see the Peace Tower, whether up close on a visit to Parliament Hill or just catching a fleeting, distant glimpse from the 417, I am reminded of how privileged we are, as Canadians, to be living in a free and democratic country. Canada – however flawed our democracy may be – is one of the world’s most democratic countries.
Aside from its great height, one of the most instantly recognizable features of the Peace Tower is the clock with its four faces looking to the north, south, east and west.
The clock was a gift from the government of the United Kingdom in honour of the 60th anniversary of Confederation in 1927.
In the centre of the Peace Tower clock’s face is a geometric figure consisting of a series of triangles made of molded glass that make up a 12-pointed starlike design. And within that 12-pointed star-like figure, the dominant six points look like the six-pointed Star of David, a symbol of the Jewish people for the past 2,000 years.
Although the Star of David does appear to be within the clock face design, I doubt the designer had any kind of a Jewish message in mind more than 80 years ago.
I also don’t think Le Droit editorial cartoonist Guy Badeaux – who draws under the name ‘Bado’ – had any kind of a Jewish message in mind when he drew his September 20 cartoon marking the opening of the fall Parliamentary session. The cartoon is dominated by a traffic sign in front of Parliament Hill indicating a slippery road ahead.
As you can read in a news report on page 2, a controversy has erupted over whether the cartoon, which we show in the report, is antisemitic.
Officials of B’nai Brith Canada say that it is, that it represents the idea that Jews control the Canadian government, and that the cartoon will be used by anti-Jewish and Islamist websites to spread antisemitism.
According to Badeaux, the cartoon had nothing to do with Jews; that’s just how he draws a simplified version of the clock face design.
The Canadian Jewish Congress and the Quebec Jewish Congress are standing behind Badeaux, who, they say, has been a good friend to the Jewish community over the years. Badeaux recently participated in a panel discussion of cartoonists organized by the Quebec Jewish Congress in Montreal.
It’s all quite the tempest in a teapot. There are battles to be fought against antisemitism, but the Le Droit cartoon does not seem to be one of them. Without any evidence to suggest any antisemitic intent on Badeaux’s part, I would agree with the Canadian Jewish Congress position that we should accept his explanation and put this issue in the forget-about-it file.
B’nai Brith Canada, though, wouldn’t let go of the issue.
“The cartoon’s message is clear to those who understand the history of antisemitic imagery,” said B’nai Brith Canada CEO Frank Dimant in the September 30 issue of B’nai Brith’s Jewish Tribune newspaper.
Ironically, the page in the Tribune with Dimant’s comments was dominated by a large advertisement for a film called Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story. The graphic in the ad is a baseball whose seam stitching pattern is of Stars of David. Every stitch is another Star of David.
So, just who is it that controls baseball?
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