The Enemy Within

It is obvious that within any political party you have individuals/groups that will go to extremes to try and acheive their personal agendas. The growth of the Reform Party was stalled thanks to members with extreme views and it would appear that the Liberal Party has their share of extremists and these extremists are jumping on the blame Israel for all the problems in the middle east. This seems to be the flavour of the day.

Rae target of anti-Semitism in leadership contest

Updated Thu. Dec. 7 2006 10:29 PM ET

Canadian Press

Bob Rae was the target of anti-Semitic attacks during the Liberal leadership contest, motivated at least in part by the fact that his wife is Jewish.

Sources close to Rae say that his wife, Arlene Perly Rae, was approached during last weekend's convention by a delegate who didn't realize she was the candidate's wife. The delegate told her not to vote for Rae "because his wife is Jewish."

Perly Rae stonily informed the delegate that she was the wife in question. The delegate beat a hasty retreat.

The incident might have been shrugged off if it had been an isolated event. But Rae team insiders contend it was part of a larger pattern of anti-Semitic smears on Rae, who finished third.

A flyer was circulated electronically among convention delegates denouncing Rae for having once delivered a speech to the Jewish National Fund, a group the flyer said was complicit in "war crimes and ethnic cleansing."

"Rae's wife is a vice-president of the CJC (Canadian Jewish Congress), a lobby group which supports Israeli apartheid," said the flyer in bold letters superimposed over a close-up of Rae's face.

"Bob Rae supports Israeli apartheid. Don't elect a leader who supports apartheid."

The Canadian Jewish Congress has condemned the flyer and blamed Khaled Mouammar, president of the Canadian Arab Federation for circulating it. The federation has, in turn, accused the CJC of making "a pitiful attempt to discredit" it and has denied producing or distributing the flyer.

Nevertheless, in a release Thursday, the federation supported the content of the flyer.

"CAF believes that Canadians have the right to know the factual information provided" in the flyer, the federation said.

Diversity is divisive........