Dangerous Self-Serving Invocation of Holocaust Remembrance to Cover Up Crimes Against Palestinians
- Louis Lang -
On November 25, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
named Irwin Cotler Canada's "Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust
Remembrance and Combatting Anti-Semitism." The announcement
from the Prime Minister's Office stated: "With a longstanding record of
leadership in the fight against racism, anti-Semitism, and hate, and
extensive experience in human rights and justice including in cases
related to mass atrocities, Mr. Cotler will lead the Government of
Canada's delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
(IHRA)."
Canadians cannot accept the statement from the PMO
as it is full of contradictions and not based on facts. The pretentious
claims of fighting against hate and intolerance, and defending human
rights are being used by the Canadian government to cover up the fact
that its main priority has been and continues to be the defence of
Israeli Zionism. As far as Mr. Cotler is concerned, the claims of his
"extensive experience in human rights and justice" does not stand up to
scrutiny either.
Far from fighting racism and anti-Semitism,
Trudeau's appointment of Cotler serves to further promote his
activities internationally advocating for the "new anti-Semitism"
movement which seeks to label criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. As
one of the main backers of the Canadian government's labelling of the
Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement for Palestinian human rights
as anti-Semitic, Cotler has also shown his disregard for human rights.
As head of Canada's delegation to the IHRA, Cotler
has the government's approval to pursue the campaign to implement the
IHRA redefinition of anti-Semitism. The IHRA already has a long track
record of suppressing the voices of Palestinian human rights supporters
around the world and seeks to extend the definition to silence more
voices.
The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is as follows:
"Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews,
which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical
manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or
non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community
institutions and religious facilities."
Two of the activities that the IHRA alleges to be
anti-Semitic behaviour are:
"Claiming that the existence of a State of Israel
is a racist endeavour," and
"Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli
policy to that of the Nazis."
Cotler attempts to justify the need for this new
definition by claiming that a new form of anti-Semitism exists. In a
2010 item for the National Post, Cotler stated:
"In a word, classical anti-Semitism is the
discrimination against, denial of, or assault upon the rights of Jews
to live as equal members of whatever society they inhabit. The new
anti-Semitism involves the discrimination against, denial of, or
assault upon the right of the Jewish people to live as an equal member
of the family of nations, with Israel as the targeted collective Jew
among nations."[1]
On November 30, Trudeau said that Cotler "will
support advocacy and outreach efforts with Canadians, civil society and
academia to advance the implementation of this definition across the
country and its adoption internationally."
This entire argument is self-serving and dishonest
because Zionism, which is a state ideology, is being attributed to
Jewish people as a whole. It is doubly dishonest because these
so-called defenders of the right to self-determination do not have a
word to say about the ongoing violation of the human rights of the
Palestinian people other than to label their just struggle as terrorism.
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) is documenting
examples in several countries where the IHRA definition has been used
-- or attempts have been made -- to cancel events or silence Palestine
solidarity movements.[2]
As Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human
Rights, Cotler has further exposed himself as an apologist for
imperialist violations of the sovereignty of nations in the quest for
world domination. Under the guise of defending human rights and the
Chairmanship of Cotler, the Wallenberg Centre is actively promoting the
imperialist doctrine of "responsibility to protect" (R2P), which is
being used to justify regime change and foreign interference against
any country which does not submit to imperialist dictate.
In an article co-authored by Cotler, published by
the New York Times on February 28, 2011, titled
"Libya and the Responsibility to Protect," he says:
"The situation in Libya is a test case for the
Security Council and its implementation of the [R2P] doctrine. Yet it
remains the case that, as the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, put
it, 'loss of time means more loss of lives.' The Security Council must
do more -- and fast. It is our collective responsibility to ensure
[R2P] is an effective approach to protect people and human rights.'"
It is now well known that many of those "mass
atrocities" of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, so vehemently condemned
by Cotler, were nothing but fabrications designed to justify military
aggression which resulted in the wholesale destruction of Libya by the
U.S. and NATO member states including Canada.
Now, Cotler continues to play his nefarious role
trying to justify U.S. imperialist ambitions in Venezuela. Foreign
Policy magazine carried an article co-authored by Irwin
Cotler on February 6, 2019, titled, "Recognizing Juan Guaidó
as Venezuela's Leader Isn't a Coup. It's an Embrace of Democracy." Once
again Cotler poses as the saviour of the people against what he calls
"Maduro's brutal and criminal assault on the liberal democratic order,"
and says U.S. imperialism is justified to use any means necessary to
"transition to democratic governance."
The appointment of Cotler comes as crimes are
being committed against the Palestinian people in the occupied
territories, especially in Gaza, where for the past 14 years the people
have suffered continuous bombing and military attacks against civilians
by the Israeli Army. Israel has turned Gaza into the largest open air
prison in the world where over 2 million people are under attack and
forced to live in inhuman conditions.
These barbaric acts are being condemned by people
all over the world and Israel is desperate to divert attention from its
responsibilities as an Occupying Power and from its continuous
construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land. An Occupying
Power is required to provide public
safety, sufficient hygiene and public health standards, as
well as the food and medical care to the population under occupation.
Collective punishment, regularly carried out by Israel, is prohibited.
With the passing of the "Nation State Law" Israel
has become an officially discriminatory state on the basis of religion
and Israel's policy of systematically destroying Palestinian houses in
East Jerusalem while building illegal settlements in the occupied
Palestinian territories, one of the methods of ethnic cleansing it has
used since 1948 to drive Palestinians off their lands.[3] These criminal
acts and violations of international law are what Irwin Cotler will
continue to try to cover up and he will use his position as Canada's
"Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance" to turn truth on
its head to suggest that the Zionist state is the victim of
anti-Semitism.
This must not be allowed to pass! The Canadian
government brings shame on itself by invokingthe memory of the European
Holocaust to justify inflicting such suffering on the Palestinian
people.
Furthermore, to associate Cotler's name with
Holocaust Remembrance is an insult to Holocaust survivors and their
families whose suffering is being used to promote the same
unbridled racism and obscurantist mentality of the Zionists
which has caused so much oppression and misery in the past.
1.
According to its website, "The IHRA (formerly the Task Force for
International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and
Research, or ITF) was initiated in 1998 by former Swedish Prime
Minister Göran Persson. Today the IHRA's membership consists
of 34 member countries, each of whom recognizes that international
political coordination is imperative to strengthen the moral commitment
of societies and to combat growing Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.
"The IHRA's network of trusted experts share their
knowledge on early warning signs of present-day genocide and education
on the Holocaust. This knowledge supports policymakers and educational
multipliers in their efforts to develop effective curricula, and it
informs government officials and NGOs active in global initiatives for
genocide prevention.
"The Declaration of the Stockholm International
Forum on the Holocaust (or "Stockholm Declaration") is the founding
document of the IHRA and it continues to serve as an ongoing
affirmation of each IHRA member country's commitment to shared
principles.
"The declaration was the outcome of the
International Forum convened in Stockholm between January 27-29, 2000
by former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson. The Forum was
attended by the representatives of 46 governments including: 23 Heads
of State or Prime Ministers and 14 Deputy Prime Ministers or Ministers.
"Their vision has remained intact, unaltered
throughout the ensuing years, demonstrating its universal and enduring
value." (www.holocaustremembrance.com/about-us)
2. The
IJV document can be found here.
3. The
National State Law is the main legislation that bases rights on
religion. These are the three main points of the law:
i) The "right to exercise national
self-determination" in Israel is "unique to the Jewish people."
ii) Hebrew is Israel's official language. Arabic
-- the language widely spoken by Arab Israelis -- is reduced to a
"special status."
iii) It recognizes "Jewish settlement" as a
"national value" and mandates that the state "will labour to encourage
and promote its establishment and development."
The most recent application of the Nation State
Law was in Karmiel. The newspaper Haaretz carried
the following report on December 1, 2020:
"In November 2020, using the law as justification,
the Israeli magistrate's court ruled that Karmiel is 'Jewish city' and
that Arabic-language schools or funding transport for Arab
schoolchildren are liable to alter city's demographic balance and
damage its character, essentially blocking access to schools for Arab
children in the northern city of Karmiel. The court implied that
facilitating this access would incentivize Palestinian Arab citizens of
Israel to move into the city, thus damaging its 'Jewish character.'"
A Haaretz editorial discussing
the ruling stated: "The nation-state law has legalized racism and
Jewish supremacy, and allows the state to discriminate against Arab
citizens in order to keep them from living where they choose under
equal conditions, thus deepening ethnic segregation in Israel."
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 47 - December 5, 2020
Article Link:
Dangerous Self-Serving Invocation of Holocaust Remembrance to Cover Up Crimes Against Palestinians - Louis Lang
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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