Are we there yet? How criticism of Israel became a hate crime

The attached essay, first published at Neumann’s Blog in 2015, is about then Foreign Minister in Big Steve’s government, Little John Baird, first declared war on the BDS movement’s campaign to isolate the state of Israel for its policies of apartheid, land theft, and ethnic cleansing. PM Fluffy’s government took the next step in 2019, adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which condemns virtually any criticism of Israel’s conduct vis-a-vis the Palestinians as antisemitic, and therefore a hate crime. That solves the mystery behind the supposed epidemic of Jew Hate in Canada, and in fact in the world at large. When the PM and Defense Minister of the state of Israel announced their intent to commit genocide, and then proceeded to do exactly that for the next year and a half, it is not surprising that criticism of Israel has ramped up. ____ Sunday, January 18, 2015 It’s official; support for BDS is now “anti-Semitism” in Canada John Baird made news today when he was seen running from a barrage of shoes and eggs directed his way when he had the chutzpah to show his face in Ramallah. The Palestinians, due no doubt to the troubling impact their religion has on their thought process, see Baird as an Israeli stooge.After giving the Palestinians a stern lecture on the importance of the rule of law etc, he decamped to Jerusalem, where he signed six “memoranda of understanding” with Avigdor Lieberman, his Israeli counterpart. The cumulative effect of the memoranda is to totally hand off Canadian foreign policy in the Middle East to Israel. Canadian foreign policy hasn’t been independent for some time, but today’s signings make it official.Included in the memoranda is this gem, governing “public diplomacy cooperation.” That means Canada will not only blindly support Israel behind the scenes; we are now committed to make sure we are seen to be doing so in public!Here’s the bit that equates BDS with anti-Semitism;Deeply concerned by efforts to single out the State of Israel for criticism and isolate the State of Israel internationally including calls for a boycott of the State of Israel, for the divestment of investments, and for sanctions to be imposed on Israel, Recognizing that the selective targeting of Israel reflects the new face of anti‑Semitism, We’re there, folks! Look for the Harper gang to push through something in the next anti-terror bill that incorporates this development, and criticism of Israel will be a crime in Canada.