Barbara Kay controversy

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A view looking down on the August 6, 2006 demonstration in Montreal.
A view looking down on the August 6, 2006 demonstration in Montreal.

Barbara Kay controversy refers to the attention given to Canadian columinst Barbary Kay and her outspoken pro-Israel activism. Writing for the Canadian neoconservative national broadsheet the National Post, Kay expressed, in a series of three articles, beginning with a column entitled "The Rise of Quebecistan," on August 9, 2006, her concern at the involvement of Quebec politicians in a demonstration in support of Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict that took place on August 6, 2006, in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Kay wrote: "'The Rise of Quebecistan,' has become a focus for great controversy in Quebec. In the past week, I have been interviewed by numerous radio stations, both French and English, and declared an enemy of the people, in so many words, in no less than three newspapers, including in a Post column... ." [1]

Kay claimed that both her, and what she described as her "criticism" of the anti-Israel demonstration, were attacked by elements of the French Quebec media and politicians—some of whom support the separation of the province of Quebec from Canada—was seemingly because her criticisms were expressed in the English language; and not French.[2]

Contents

[edit] Allegations of anti-Israeli sentiment

Hezbollah flag. Hezbolah is classified as a terrorist group by the government of Canada.
Image:IFIS Sinister.png Image:IFIS Two-sided.png Hezbollah flag. Hezbolah is classified as a terrorist group by the government of Canada.

Following Hezbollah's attack inside Israel on July 12, 2006, where eight Israel Defence Force border guards were killed and two border guards were taken hostage, that sparked the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, there was subsequently a rally organized in Montreal to support Lebanon and its civilian population caught in the crossfire. On August 6, 2006, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader André Boisclair, Bloc Québécois (BQ) leader Gilles Duceppe, Québec solidaire (QS) spokesperson Amir Khadir and Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament (MP) Denis Coderre participated in a rally described by Kay as: "...a virulently anti-Israel rally, and scattered amongst the crowd were a number of Hezbollah flags and placards." Kay wrote of the four politicians that participated in the rally:

All four, along with prominent Quebec union leaders, signed a manifesto that did not condemn Hezbollah's aggression, then endorsed and willingly undertook a dominant role in a march at which Hezbollah flags were in evidence, along with placards, reading "Juifs assassins," [translation: Jewish assassins], (not "Israelis" -- Jews), "Nous sommes tous Hezbollah," [translation: We are all Hezbollah], "Longue vie a Nasrallah," [translation: Long life to Nasrallah], "Vive le Hezbollah," [translation: Long live Hezbollah]. The separatist Pierre Falardeau was photographed brandishing a fleur-de-lys in one hand, a Hezbollah flag in the other. Graffiti on a building read: "God f--- the Jews." A Jewish prayer shawl was torn to pieces.[3]

This was not representative of the demonstration, which stressed the need for peaceful co-existence and respect for the human rights of Lebanon's civilian population.

Kay noted that these Quebec politicians participated in the rally despite Hezbollah being an organization officially classified as a terrorist group by the Canadian government. Although organizers of the rally billed it as a rally for "justice and peace," Kay countered that: "The organizing committee for the 'peace' rally deliberately excluded a Jewish presence. That was in itself an anti-Semitic act and a warning to any politician, whose business it is to remain neutral in affairs of this kind, to stay away." [4] The rally also didn't call for "peace" but a cease fire or hudna. Kay asked: "If these signs had read: 'We are all KKK,' 'Long life to Osama Bin Laden,' 'We are all Nazis,' 'Women are pigs,' would these same leaders have turned the blind eye they did at the time? Hezbollah's mission is to eradicate Jews—not just Israelis—from the earth." [5] And Kay noted the alarming significance of the political involvement: "It is true that similar marches have taken place in other cities. The difference is that politicians in Toronto and elsewhere in Canada do not march at the head of these hatefests." [6]

Kay commented on the motivations of the politicians, noting:

Their cultural and historical sympathy for Arab countries from the francophonie -- Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon -- joined with reflexive anti-Americanism and a fat streak of anti-Semitism that has marbled the intellectual discourse of Quebec throughout its history, has made Quebec the most anti-Israel of the provinces, and therefore the most vulnerable to tolerance for Islamist terrorist sympathizers. [7]

Kay, taking a discriminatory and racist view towards Arabs [8], speculated that these left wing politicians may also have been cynically seeking votes from Lebanese-Canadians and so-called "Canadians of convenience":

These politicians are playing a dangerous game. They have no political support from Jews (who are all federalists), so have nothing to lose in courting anti-Israel Arab groups. There are at least 50,000 Lebanese-Canadians in the Montreal area. We can expect those numbers to swell as Hezbollah-supporting residents of southern Lebanon cash in on their Canadian citizenship and flee to the safety of Quebec. Under the circumstances, it may be politically convenient for some left-wing Quebec politicians to stoke fires of enthusiasm for Hezbollah -- an organization officially classified as a terrorist group by the Canadian government. Yet it would be disastrous for the future of the province.[9]

[edit] Kay's detractors

The French Quebec politicians defended their participation in the impugned rally. Gilles Duceppe stated that he was there in the interest of Israel and Lebanese civilian populations alike and André Boisclair said the Hezbollah flag had no place in Quebec. A press release from Duceppe's Bloc Québécois pointed out the presence of Jews at the rally and noted that Duceppe's presence was conditional on no pro-Hezbollah demonstrators and no anti-Israel slogans.[10]

The French Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society lodged a complaint regarding Kay's piece to the Quebec Press Council. Kay was criticized by La Presse French Canadian editorialist and "federalist" André Pratte[11] and The Gazette "sovereigntist"-columnist and French Canadian Josée Legault,[12] as well as La Presse French Canadian journalist Vincent Marissal.[13] The Montreal French-language daily La Presse, on August 7, 2006, (p. A4), falsely contended: “Aucun drapeau du mouvement chiite controversé n’était visible durant la marche." (Translation: "No flag of the controversial Shia movement was visible during the march"). The French-Canadian premier of the province of Quebec Jean Charest called the expression "Quebecistan" "une grossièreté" (something rude, crude, a "vulgarity"). French Canadian activist Gilles Rhéaume hysterically announced his intention to lodge a complaint to the police for hate speech. William Tetley, a McGill University professor and past Robert Bourassa provincial cabinet minister, wrote a letter to The National Post where he stated that, as an anglophone, he viewed Quebec society as holding a long-standing tolerance toward Jews by falsely asserting, indicating either mendacity or ignorance, that, at a time when his own English-language McGill University imposed quotas on Jews, the French-language Université de Montréal welcomed Jews. Tetley knew, or ought to have known, that Jews were subject, at the French-speaking Université de Montréal, to crude antisemitism.[14] As a past alderman of the Town of Mount-Royal, Tetley disingenuously evoked the existence of Jewish quotas in the English-speaking Mount-Royal, which, he falsely claimed was not the case for neighbouring French-speaking Outremont, where physical and verbal attacks against the Hassidic Jewish community is common.[citation needed] Not surprisingly, Tetley supported the opinion that the rally was legitimate.

[edit] Kays's supporters

Reacting to the controversy, National Post Comment Pages Editor Jonathan Kay declared that his newspaper had no reason to offer apologies. In a statement to La Presse, he asserted that "[t]here is no doubt that Quebec has an antisemitic past." Barbara Kay was also defended by Howard Galganov and Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal president Beryl Wajsman[15] and Ottawa Citizen French Canadian journalist Brigitte Pellerin.[16]

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Barbara Kay, "Quebecers in denial: Counterpoint," National Post, August 17, 2006, http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060817QuebecersindenialCounterpoint.html
  2. ^ Barbara Kay, "Say what you want (as long as it's in French)," National Post, November 22, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20061122saywhatyouwant.html
  3. ^ Barbara Kay,"Quebecers in denial: Counterpoint," National Post, August 17, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060817QuebecersindenialCounterpoint.html
  4. ^ Ibid. http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060817QuebecersindenialCounterpoint.html
  5. ^ Barbara Kay, "Quebecers in denial: Counterpoint," National Post, August 17, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060817QuebecersindenialCounterpoint.html
  6. ^ Barbara Kay, "Quebecers in denial: Counterpoint," National Post, August 17, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060817QuebecersindenialCounterpoint.html
  7. ^ Barbara Kay, "The rise of Quebecistan," National Post, August 9, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060809theriseofquebecistan.html
  8. ^ Commentary by Hassan El Akhras
  9. ^ Barbara Kay, "The rise of Quebecistan," National Post, August 9, 2006 http://www.barbarakay.ca/archive/20060809theriseofquebecistan.html
  10. ^ "J’estime avoir agi dans l'intérêt des populations civiles victimes du conflit, qu'elles soient israëliennes ou libanaises" by the Bloc Québécois, official press release, August 16, 2006, retrieved September 24, 2006
  11. ^ "The myth of ’Quebecistan’" by André Pratte, The National Post, August 16, 2006, retrieved September 20, 2006
  12. ^ "Francophones unjustly labelled intolerant" by Josée Legault, The Gazette, August 18, 2006, retrieved September 20, 2006
  13. ^ "L’incontinence" by Vincent Marissal, La Presse, August 18, 2006, retrieved September 20, 2006
  14. ^ "Documents on the Nôtre-Dame Hospital Internes’ Strike (1934)," http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/docs/jews/index.htm
  15. ^ "They doth protest too much" by Beryl Wajsman, Canadian Free Press, August 21, 2006, retrieved September 20, 2006
  16. ^ Brigitte Pellerin, The Ottawa Citizen, August 24, 2006,
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