Nobody ends up looking very good in the latest round of public statements on the Canadian decision to ban Hezbollah. The Lebanese ambassador Raymond Baaklini accused Canada of bowing to pressure from a "Zionist party" that controls 90% of our media and indicated that Canadians in the Middle East would be advised not to advertise their nationality on t-shirts. His remarks made him look a fool and didn't win him or his government any friends here.
On the other hand I always cringe when Bill Graham, our Foreign Affairs Minister, purses his lips and brings his plus-sized head closer to the microphone to represent Canada. His prissy manner reminds me of a small-town librarian about to defend Judy Garland against rude remarks he overheard at the curling rink. He is a man born to lecture others about their intolerance and, sure enough, he announced he found Ambassador Baaklini's remarks to be anti-semitic and not to be tolerated.
At this point behold Izzy Asper who leapt toward the camera and trumped Mr Graham's outrage by stating he found Baaklini's words "sickening". The bilious supremo of the National Post denied that his CanWest corporation, the country's largest newspaper chain, was the omnipotent "Zionist party" in question and demanded that the Ambassador be sent packing for his impertinence.
Instead of acting like a busload of virgins who have been dropped off at the strip club instead of the flower show, I wish Graham and Asper had reacted with a little more dignity. In place of hymns to our tolerance followed by threats to the man who made disagreeable statements, they might have made some simple assertions of fact.
Asper could have said "It's true that I'm a powerful shaper of opinion in this country, commanding the public stance of many media outlets and, as a generous donor to the Liberal party, I have access to the ear of the government. It's also true I am a Zionist and proud of it. On the other hand neither I, nor anyone else, has the clout that Mr Baaklini attributes to me. Here are the names of the newspapers and networks that have consistently been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. Note that Canada's largest-circulation paper and the omnipresent voice of the publicly-funded CBC have demonstrably never been pro-Zionist. Next time you speak, have the facts and you won't be an embarrassment to Lebanon."
Graham might have said, "The Ambassador gives Zionist pressure too much credit. He should be aware that many senior civil servants and Ontario Liberal MPs are not friends of Israel, which is why the Canadian government was so slow to react to the danger from Islamic fundamentalism. He should go home and tell his countrymen that it is the actions of Muslim extremists and their irresponsible spokesmen that have turned our sympathies away from the lamentable plight of Palestinians."
Zionism is not a dirty word; it is a badge that can be worn with honour in Canada. Its opponents should know, however, that linking it to a vast conspiracy is not a tactic that will work in this country and its supporters should know that it is more effectively defended with fact than demands to suppress speech.
Posted by at January 11, 2003 11:54 AM