More anti-Semitism in Liblogs.ca

What should be done about anti-Semitism in the Liberal Party?

Jason Cherniak’s approach is to ask everyone to focus solely on a pro-Israel statement made by that party’s leader, Michael Ignatieff, and to ignore any Liberal voices to the contrary. I’m glad Cherniak is trying to rebut various anti-Semites within his party, such as James Curran. But I don’t think Cherniak’s going to get far merely by arguing with anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activists. By the time someone is actually supporting the Hamas terrorist group, it’s a safe bet that a few words in an Internet chat isn’t going to turn them around.

Warren Kinsella has a similar approach. Like Cherniak, he senses that his party is being infected by anti-Semites who would not have been welcome there under Jean Chretien’s leadership. What’s his advice? Kinsella asks the bigots within his party to be quiet, lest they cause a media stir. His blog entry is really quite incredible: he points to a Canada-Israel Committee news release a couple of years ago criticizing a Liberal anti-Semite, and calls the news release “unhelpful”. I suppose if your primary objective is partisan success, then the CIC news release was unhelpful. If, instead, your goal is the removal of intolerant people from the public square, the CIC news release was very helpful indeed.

To be clear, being opposed to an Israeli policy isn’t anti-Semitic – but being supportive of Hamas, an officially anti-Semitic terrorist organization, is anti-Semitic. And comments, like Curran’s, that attack a supporter of Israel because his great-grandfather was allegedly Jewish, and thus that supporter is disloyal to his own country, is despicable. That’s not a policy disagreement – that’s Jew-hatred. It’s a little bit weird to see it in Canada, and spouted by someone as “normal” looking as Curran. But Cherniak and Kinsella and other Liberals will have to make a choice: how far can anti-Semites go before being turfed from the party? How about before they’re merely turfed from Liblogs.ca? Will the Liberal Party exercise some discipline and political hygiene? Or will the media and voters have to do it for them?

(By the way, as I’ve argued countless times before, this is one of the main benefits of freedom of speech when it comes to haters: the haters reveal themselves, so they can be marginalized in society. I wouldn’t want to live in a country where Curran couldn’t questions Jews’ national loyalty, or where Curran couldn’t take Hamas’s side in a war. I want Curran to expose himself, who he really is, so others than react accordingly. No government involvement necessary – just the good judgment of others.)

I say again: Israel shouldn’t be a wedge issue, where pro-Israel Canadians vote Conservative, and anti-Israel Canadians vote Liberal. And, to his credit, Ignatieff has taken a more pro-Israel tone this time than he did in 2006, when he accused Israel of war crimes.

I glanced again at Liblogs.ca, the aggregator of Liberal blog sites, and I came across this wonder by a blogger named “Foot to the Fire”. I can’t find his real name, but he appears to be a Liberal from Calgary. His spelling is at a grade school level. But his aesthetic problems pale next to his vituperation against Stephen Harper, for being a tool of the “Zionists” – and that Harper has taken his view in return for Jewish money. Here’s the link, and here are a few excerpts (I've put asterisks in here and there where the swearing is particularly vile, and put a few words in bold):

Never out of a bottom to mine for slime in his quest for the 'crown', Stephen Harper adds his own parasitic brand of venom to insure a horrible war stays horrible.
With a hot source of funding froma...pro zionist movements here in Canada, Harper buffers the ol' slush fund income with a word, "on behalf of Canadians everywhere", in support of Israel as that country cluster f*cks/bombs Gaza.
Well heres a F*CK YOU, for you Stephen Harper!
I'm from the 'negotiated settlement' community and those of us with brains not stuffed up our *sses all know a negotiated settlement is the only way things will be resolved. Here's a boner for you to, you fat *ss moron, Steve; Israeli's know it too.
One of these days, Isreale supporters in this country will come to understand that Harper represents and is surrounded by, fundamentalist rascists; use him if you must but...watch your backs.

There’s really not a lot to say in response. Get a spell check would be my first piece of advice, but I’d probably leave it at that. If I were a mother, I’d probably tell this blogger to wash his mouth out with soap and water, just for his sheer filthiness. But once those aesthetic comments were made, I’d be left with the realization that the Liberal Party of Canada, and Liblogs.ca, is home to anti-Semitic nuts, who think Harper is being “used” by parasitic Jews, who buy Harper’s obedience through a “slush fund”.

Don’t the Liberals remember their candidate Lesley Hughes, and the enormous embarrassment she caused them?

Look: a small part of me loves this. The raw partisan within me is rejoicing at seeing the embarrassing degeneration of the Liberal Party. But it’s just a small part of me. Canada needs a healthy Liberal Party that exercises proper political hygiene towards its membership. It’s one thing to hurl a volley of dirty words at Stephen Harper – that’s childish, but it’s partisan politics I suppose. But it’s another thing to imply that Harper’s support for Israel is part of a conspiracy of parasitic Jews stuffing Harper’s pockets with money.

I want Stephen Harper to win the next election. But I am not such a partisan that I like to see the once-great Liberal Party infected with this kind of base racism.