"The current Israeli political leadership is packed with racists and homophobes like Chikli and Cohen; it’s a government that Canada should have nothing to do with. The Trudeau government must, once and for all, declare a boycott of Israel’s extreme right-wing leadership."
May 26, 2023
Dear editors at the Victoria Times Colonist,
While I’m surprised that MPs have independently invited Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli to address them (as reported by in Dylan Robertson’s article of May 26, “Israeli cabinet minister’s unofficial visit comes amid strained relations”), the government’s mixed signals regarding the current Israeli government are partly to blame. While Robertson reports that a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly criticized Chikli’s visit because it will “showcase far-right activists and elevate intolerant rhetoric,” Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has sent very mixed messages regarding its stance on Israel’s right-wing leadership. In March, for example, Joly herself met with Israeli foreign affairs minister Eli Cohen, himself a far-right anti-Palestinian extremist. Cohen, like Chikli, supports the illegal annexation of the West Bank, and last year sponsored a bill to ban all institutions in Israel from flying the Palestinian flag. So it’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
The current Israeli political leadership is packed with racists and homophobes like Chikli and Cohen; it’s a government that Canada should have nothing to do with. The Trudeau government must, once and for all, declare a boycott of Israel’s extreme right-wing leadership.
Thomas Woodley
514-641-7114
H3M 2R6