By Michael Regenstreif
For two-and-a-half years, since the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) was established, a number of anti-Israel groups have screamed, hollered and rolled out petitions claiming the goal of the CPCCA (and of the Harper government) is to “criminalize criticism of the State of Israel.” Among the loudest of these groups has been Independent Jewish Voices (IJV).
The CPCCA Inquiry Panel released its report last month. The report endorses the definition of antisemitism developed by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, which includes discussion of how some manifestations of anti-Zionism and some criticisms of the State of Israel do cross the line into antisemitism. Nowhere does the CPCCA report suggest that criticism of the State of Israel be criminalized.
In fact, the report rejects the very idea that legitimate criticism of the State of Israel is at all antisemitic.
“Criticism of Israel is not, by definition, antisemitic. Israel is accountable, just like any other state, for its acts in accordance with its obligations under international regimes dealing with human rights and international humanitarian law,” says the report without any ambiguity.
But, despite the report being unequivocal about criticism of Israel, anti-Israel groups like IJV keep repeating the same old mantra about criminalizing criticism of Israel.
A group called Faculty for Palestine published an op-ed in the National Post (July 21) and on the IJV website that said the report called “on the federal government to adopt a definition of antisemitism that would criminalize criticism of the State of Israel.” (Some of the Faculty for Palestine op-ed co-authors are also active in IJV.)
Even when criticism of the State of Israel can be seen to rise to the level of, or be motivated by, antisemitism, the report does not call for criminalization of antisemitism, per se. It says that criminal acts themselves – attacks on Jewish persons or buildings, etc. – can be seen as antisemitic when that is the motivation.
In other words, there is no suggestion in the CPCCA report that criticism of the State of Israel be criminalized.
