Once again, the accusation of antisemitism was weaponized to trump both common sense and support for the victims of Israel\u2019s murderous rampage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week prominent Quebec cartoonist Serge Chapleau caricatured Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire. The cartoon published in La Presse<\/em> reads \u201cNosfenyahou, en route to Rafah.\u201d The pro-Israel and genocide lobby immediately condemned the caricature of Israel\u2019s prime minister. So did NDP MP Alexandre Boulerice and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion there\u2019s nothing antisemitic about the cartoon and Chapleau should be celebrated for using his mainstream platform to challenge Israel\u2019s holocaust in Gaza. Even more, his refusal to apologize for a cartoon that was quickly withdrawn should also be applauded. Chapleau told CBC, \u201cIt\u2019s a<\/a> caricature based on an old character Nosferatu, an old vampire who goes and invades another country. That\u2019s all, it\u2019s not worse than that. If you look up cartoons of Netanyahu, you\u2019ll see much worse. \u2026 It\u2019s not antisemitic, it\u2019s not that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the genocide lobby\u2019s condemnation, Boulerice posted in French \u201cThe La Presse caricature, now withdrawn, was highly problematic and antisemitic. It should never have been published. In these difficult times, we all need to be more careful not to stir up the roots of hatred.\u201d In what may have been a coordinated move with the party\u2019s Quebec lieutenant, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh quickly retweeted Boulerice\u2019s post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next day I questioned Boulerice about his criticism of the cartoon. His response suggested he hadn\u2019t done much research on the matter. But the broader aim of my questioning was to highlight the connection between a willingness to disparage those opposing genocide and left-wing MPs failure to participate in anti-genocide protests. I asked Boulerice<\/a> if he\u2019d attended any of the mass marches that had taken place in Montr\u00e9al over the past 25 weekends against Canada\u2019s role in enabling Israel\u2019s genocide. He hadn\u2019t (though he participated in the following day\u2019s large union-led march).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the years I\u2019ve seen Boulerice at climate, poverty, immigrant rights, etc. marches. Imagine if there had been 25 weekends in a row of protests with thousands, even tens of thousands, coming out for workers\u2019 rights or expanded Medicare or against racism, homophobia or even Canada deploying troops abroad. It is unthinkable that Boulerice and other NDP and Green MPs would fail to participate. But I\u2019m only aware of one MP attending a Palestine protest. NDP MP Matthew Green spoke during a march in Toronto on November 12. (Conversely, the PM, Deputy PM, ministers and MPs have attended far smaller and less numerous pro-genocide rallies.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n One reason MPs have not attended the demonstrations is out of a concern for being smeared (Green was forced to release a statement<\/a> defending himself after speaking in Toronto). That\u2019s the power of the antisemitism stick. Leftists who echo the genocide lobby\u2019s faux outrage about a cartoon are strengthening a stick that makes it less likely that anyone with profile or power will add their voice to the popular uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) played a dubious role in this anti-Palestinian affair. Former IJV communications lead Aaron Lakoff quickly echoed the backlash, posting to X that \u201cthis caricature<\/a> in La Presse is antisemitic\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IJV\u2019s main account retweeted Lakoff and the group\u2019s spokesperson Corey Balsam immediately liked his post. Lakoff suggested the cartoon was a \u201cblood libel\u201d and claimed \u201cit\u2019s antisemitic because you just don\u2019t draw Jews with exaggerated large noses. Netanyahu is already an evil monster. No caricature needed. For those Jews like me who were teased for our noses, this is foul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But a quick scan of Chapleau\u2019s cartoons demonstrates that they largely all have big noses (if anything Netanyahu\u2019s nose, which is not drawn in a stereotypical hook fashion, is exaggerated less than other public figures).<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to IJV\u2019s definition of antisemitism posted on their website: \u201cAntisemitism<\/a> is racism, hostility, prejudice, vilification, discrimination or violence, including hate crimes, directed against Jews, as individuals, groups or as a collective \u2013 because they are Jews. Its expression includes attributing to Jews, as a group, characteristics or behaviours that are perceived as dangerous, harmful, frightening or threatening to non-Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clearly Netanyahu is not targeted because he is Jewish, but rather because he is the PM of a country currently engaged in what even the International Court of Justice has ruled is a \u201cplausible\u201d case of genocide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s say for the sake of discussion you believe there is a problem with the depiction of Netanyahu\u2019s nose and that the cartoon reinforces some residual \u2018Jews as vampires\u2019 stereotype, does the damage done to Quebec\/Canadian Jews outweigh the benefit of a mainstream publication vilifying an Israeli prime minister committing a holocaust in Gaza? It\u2019s not even close and focusing on Jewish sensitivities in this manner enables more Palestinian babies to be starved or slaughtered. IJV should remove Lakoff\u2019s post and apologize to Palestinians and everyone seeking to mainstream critiques of Israel\u2019s holocaust. (Long-time IJV member Larry Haiven corrected some of the harm done by the group with \u201cLabelling La Presse<\/a><\/strong> cartoon \u2018antisemitic\u2019 falls into pro-Israel trap\u201d but he takes pains to note that it\u2019s \u201c<\/strong>the personal opinion of the author alone and does not necessarily represent the views of Independent Jewish Voices Canada.\u201d<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The La Presse<\/em> cartoon highlights how IJV\u2019s political weight in Palestine solidarity circles can be damaging. IJV\u2019s quick tweet undercut those pushing back against the bad-faith attacks on the cartoon and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East retweeted IJV (and to their shame two other criticisms of the cartoon).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even amidst the unimaginable horrors in Gaza, some mainstream respectability-oriented Palestine solidarity groups are willing to echo apartheid lobby panics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is, of course, not the first time IJV and CJPME have assisted the apartheid lobby in marginalizing Palestine solidarity. And it\u2019s almost a pastime of those in the NDP leader\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Friday I also asked Jagmeet<\/a> Singh why he echoed the genocide lobby\u2019s claim that a march to stop the attack on Rafah last month \u201ctargeted\u201d a Toronto hospital with Jewish roots. I mentioned to the NDP leader that over 6,000 individuals<\/a> had emailed him to delete his smear, but it\u2019s still on his account. He partially backed away from the post, but his answer was unconvincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amidst the genocide, Singh has yet to attend a demonstration against it. Singh was in Montreal on Saturday to attend former Conservative party leader Brian Mulroney\u2019s funeral but failed to join the 5,000 who participated in a broad union and civil society led march against Israel\u2019s holocaust in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why? Not because of principled anti-racism. Rather, the pro-Israel lobby has trained politicians, media pundits and other opinion leaders like Pavlov\u2019s dogs to pile on condemnation when they ring the bell of \u201cantisemitism\u201d regardless of the merits of a particular accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Too many on the left pathetically desire to appear \u201cmainstream\u201d and not threaten the status quo. And that \u201cmainstream\u201d space remains defined by a legacy media and its pro-Israel \u201ccommentariat\u201d despite that media shrivelling in reach over the past two decades. Interestingly, the right has learned just how irrelevant the legacy media has become, but not the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the most important lesson from the vampire cartoon affair is that self-described leftist MPs who echoed the Israel lobby\u2019s condemnations of a cartoon also have failed to attend protests against Canada\u2019s contribution to an incredible injustice in Palestine. That is not simply a coincidence. It reflects a fundamental concession to the power of Israel\u2019s supporters. Some \u201con the left\u201d think it is more important to consider the size of a cartoon figure\u2019s nose than rally support for ending the genocide in Gaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n