Independent Jewish Voices Ranks NDP Candidates on Their Positions Around Israel/Palestine

August 2, 2017

Independent Jewish Voices Ranks NDP Candidates on their positions around Israel/Palestine.

Niki Ashton A+ Guy Caron A- Jagmeet Singh B Charlie Angus C+

To help you make an informed choice among the four NDP leadership candidates, Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) asked each of the candidates to tell us their views on 10 key issues related to the Middle East, and specifically to the Israel/Palestine conflict. CJPME analyzed 3 topics related broadly to the Middle East, and IJV analyzed 3 topics specifically related to Israel/Palestine. Both groups analyzed 4 issues of common interest. CJPME’s response can be found here.

The NDP leadership candidates are: Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay ON), Niki Ashton (Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MB), Guy Caron (Rimouski-Neigette-Temiscouata- Les Basques QB) and Jagmeet Singh (Brampton ON).

Method: This IJV report analyzes their responses, as potential NDP leader, to the questions below related to Israel Palestine (questions 4 to 10 on the full survey, which you can find here). Response options were ranked on a scale from 1 to 5.  Would you break from Canada’s present uncritically pro-Israel voting pattern at the UN? (1 = no, 5 = would publicly oppose it);  Would you support future Parliamentary motions to condemn BDS and its supporters? (1= support, 3 =oppose BDS but also oppose such motions, 5= believe the government should support BDS via trade or other sanctions);  Would you support sanctions or a ban on Israeli settlement products? (1 = oppose, 3 = support mandatory labelling, but no ban, 5 = support an outright ban on settlement products);  Would you support targeted sanctions on Israel—such as military embargo—to pressure Israel into ending its military occupation of Palestinian land, and to negotiate in good faith towards the creation of a viable and independent Palestinian state? (1= oppose, 3 = would consider supporting targeted sanctions, 5 = would support targeted sanctions);  Would you consider a moratorium on NDP MPs accepting all-expense paid trips to the region, until such trips give equal attention to the Palestinian narrative on the conflict? (1= oppose a moratorium on paid trips, 5= would consider a moratorium on trips unless they give equal attention to Palestinian concerns);  Would you support the Ottawa Protocol or other definitions of antisemitism which conflate criticism of Israel with a hatred of Jews? (1 = support, 5 = oppose)

1  Would you welcome efforts to review the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund? (1 = no, 5 = yes)

Niki Ashton both chose numbers on the scale, and she also added extensive comments. You can read her written comments here.

Guy Caron simply selected a number on the scale for each question.

Charlie Angus and Jagmeet Singh both chose not to select numbers on the scale, but instead to write their own responses. You can read Charlie Angus’s written replies here, and those of Jagmeet Singh here. Because some of their responses exactly repeated the text of one of the ranking options, we assigned them that score. Some of their written comments added useful information, which helped increase their score. Other written comments subtly changed the question or avoided answering it. For consistency, we assigned those responses the score closest to their expressed views.

Summary of NDP candidates’ views on Middle-East related issues

Question Angus Ashton Caron Singh Oppose Canada’s current pro-Israel 4.5 5 5 5 voting patterns at the UN Oppose legislative motions against 3 5 4 4 BDS, support BDS Support labelling and/or sanctioning 2.5 5 4 4 products of Israel’s colonies (“settlements”) Favor targeted sanctions against Israel 1 5 4 3 Would ban NDP MPs accepting paid 2.5 4.5 4 1 32 trips to Israel unless the trips give equal attention to the Palestinian narrative Oppose conflating criticism of Israel 2.5 5 5 3 with hatred of Jews Favor ending JNF’s charitable status 2.5 5 5 3 Total score 18.5 34.5 31 25

Based on these responses, we assigned the following grades to the candidates: Niki Ashton A+ Guy Caron A- Jagmeet Singh B Charlie Angus C+

1 M. Caron participated in an Israel lobby trip in 2012, but, on our survey, he chose “5” that he would ban NDP MPs from accepting such trips. So, we assigned him a score of 4. 1 2 Mr. Singh accepted a CIJA paid trip to Israel in 2017, but also visited Palestinian human rights activists.

Discussion: How well do each of their opinions reflect the views of most NDP supporters? A 2017 EKOS poll3 of Canadians’ views on the region found that most NDP members oppose Israel’s growing oppression of Palestinian people. Specifically, among NDP supporters:  61% have a negative view of the Israeli government.  77% think the Canadian government is biased toward Israel.  84% think sanctions on Israel are reasonable.  92% think that the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israel is reasonable.  71% oppose a Parliamentary condemnation of those who endorse the Palestinian call for a boycott of Israel.  100% do not consider criticism of the Israeli government to be necessarily anti- Semitic. In sharp contrast to these values, under Thomas Mulcair’s leadership, the NDP had adopted a strongly pro-Israel stance, only marginally less extreme than that of Stephen Harper’s Conservatives.

All the 2017 leadership candidates hold views toward Israel/Palestine more reflective of NDP members’ values than those of Mr. Mulcair. (CJPME’s last pre-leadership assessment gave Mr. Mulcair a grade of C-. If asked to grade Mr. Harper, CJPME would have assigned him an F.)

Niki Ashton especially stands out, not only because of her strong positive responses on this survey, but also because of her principled track record on supporting Palestinian rights. As she has said, "I have consistently spoken out for peace and justice in the Middle East, including for Palestinians."4 In 2012, Ashton also scored A+ on the CJPME leadership assessment. She has worked collaboratively with Palestine solidarity groups on a range of key issues. " She has also publicly called "justice for Palestine a key issue."5 She recently endured a slanderous attack by B’nai Brith when she expressed support for Palestinian hunger strikers. Her written responses to this survey reflect her deep knowledge and integrity on this topic.

3 Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, Independent Jewish Voices, Murray Dobbin, Dimitri Lascaris (Feb. 16, 2017): Disconnect: Canadians’ Views of the Israeli Government vs. Canadian Government policy toward Israel and Palestine. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cjpme/pages/2537/attachments/original/1488331789/EKOS_Poll_ Results_Report_-_2017-02-16-Final-v3.pdf?1488331789 and (March 2, 2017) A survey of Canadians’ views toward Israel/Palestine. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cjpme/pages/2537/attachments/original/1488423127/EKOS_Poll_ Results_Report_R2_-_2017-03-02-Final-v1.pdf?1488423127. 4 Yves Engler (July 15, 2017) “Niki Ashton Speaking Truth to Power on Palestine” Rabble.ca http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/yves-englers-blog/2017/07/niki-ashton- speaking-truth-power-palestine. 5 “Fightback interviews Niki Ashton” (June 28, 2017) Fightback. marxist.ca/canada/federal/1230- fightback-interviews-niki-ashton.html

3 Guy Caron’s candidacy is also strong. He not only indicates on the survey that he would oppose Parliamentary bans, but he voted against a Conservative motion to condemn BDS. However, his stated position around BDS both on the survey and in an April 5, 2017 interview is equivocal: “I’m just not sure, in my eyes, that BDS is the most constructive way to try and intervene in what’s happening in the Middle East.”6 His further explanation suggests that he sees the Palestinian call for BDS mainly as betraying progressive Israelis, and he does not appear aware of or sympathetic to the goals or nature of the campaign. We are also concerned that although M. Caron claims on the survey that he would ban NDP MPs from accepting paid trips to Israel, he himself went on such a tour in 2012. In the April interview, M. Caron mentions this tour, but again does not acknowledge that it was sponsored by CIJA. Instead, he said: “I’ve been to Israel. I’ve also been to the West Bank where I had a chance to speak to Israelis and Palestinians.” This raises questions about the credibility of his survey response.

We admire Jagmeet Singh’s principled courage in opposing the Ontario Parliamentary motion which condemned BDS advocates, and applaud his initiative in visiting the West Bank and meeting with Palestinian human rights activists. However, he appears relatively new to this portfolio and we found most of his responses evasive or uninformed.

We found most of Charlie Angus’ replies surprisingly weak, given his past record of publicly speaking for Palestinian rights. In 2015, Mr. Angus criticized a Conservative motion condemning BDS, and in 2014 he denounced the "undue influence" that sponsored tours of Israel were having on MPs. But on this survey, he said he does not support BDS. Although he would consider labelling settlement products, he would not ban their entry. He opposes sanctions on Israel and would not ban NDP MPs from accepting Israel junkets. He thinks the Ottawa Protocol is “laudable.” And he takes no stand on whether the JNF’s charitable status should be revoked.

IJV therefore considers Niki Ashton the best potential NDP leader on the issue of Israel/Palestine.

6 Cory Collins (April 5, 2017) “Interview: Guy Caron on Basic Income and Rebuilding the NDP in Quebec.” Richochet. https://ricochet.media/en/1752/interview-guy-caron-on-basic-income-and- rebuilding-the-ndp-in-quebec.