Dear editor:
Who provided the “Enemies of Israel” blacklist read out by Joyce Bate-man, Harper’s Conservative candidate in Winnipeg South Centre? It angered the Asper Jewish Community Centre all-candidates-forum audience hosted by B’ani Brith, which was appalled by its bad taste? Was it Bateman, her team, or the Conservative Campaign Committee or even the PMO?
The meeting moderator, Dan Lett writing in the Winnipeg Free Press, wrote afterward: “It is hard in retrospect to escape the feeling the “Enemies of Israel” blacklist Bateman was reading had a McCarthyesque blush to it. The names were read quickly and without any information establishing the veracity of the charges against the individuals named. It was a truly creepy moment.... This was not an impetuous act; it was part of a carefully scripted strategy to use Israel as a wedge issue to capture majority support from Canadian Jews.”
The list of “names from the Liberal campaign – volunteers, paid staff workers and candidates alike, among them a decorated general – who had been identified by the Tories as “enemies of Israel;” included people Bateman could hardly have known, strongly suggesting the list was provided to her.
Was the criteria for being included on a countywide list of “Enemies of Israel” belief that Israeli attacks on Gaza are unjustified and the continuing occupation of Palestinian lands by Jewish settlements is unjust?
All Conservative candidates need to be asked: “Have you received the ‘Enemies of Israel’ list? Do you agree with whoever compiled the list or with the audience in Winnipeg South who cried “Shame!”?
Yours truly,
Joe Hueglin
Member 29th Parliament
Niagara Falls, Ont.
