Normalizing Anti-Semitism as 'Insensitive'

"The anti-Semitic tropes of Zionists controlling governments and of dual loyalty are two of the more abhorrent expressions of paranoid anti-Jewish conspiracy theories."
"Radical and racist statements such as these must result in the immediate disqualification of a candidate for political office. It is unacceptable for any candidate to speak in this deplorable fashion toward any religious minority."
Michael Mostyn, chief executive, B'nai Brith Canada
 
"In January of 2017, Guillet celebrated the release of Raed Salah, a Hamas-aligned activist who has accused Jews of staging the 9/11 terror attacks and has claimed that Jews use children's blood for baking 'holy bread'. The candidate went on to hail Salah as a 'jihad-fighter', and 'frontier-fighter' whom 'Allah will surely support'. Guillet offered his congratulations to Salah on being freed from 'the prisons of occupied Palestine', and prayed that he will some day be successful in the fight to liberate 'the whole of Palestine'. Salah had been serving a nine-month prison term in Israel for 'incitement to violence and racism'."
"In a late 2017 interview with Radio Canada International, Guillet called Israel an apartheid state. Guillet also accused Jared Kushner, the Jewish son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, of directing his government to support an 'Israel first' agenda. He accused Kushner of dual loyalty because of his Jewish background and inaccurately described him as an 'ultra-Orthodox' and 'fundamentalist' Jew."
"Guillet has also stated on Facebook that 'the Zionists control American politics', promoting the common antisemitic trope of Jews manipulating world governments."
B'nai Brith Canada Website

Imam Hassan Guillet has been dropped as a candidate by the Liberal Party of Canada following claims he made anti-Semitic comments. (CBC)

B'nai Brith launched a campaign against the nominated candidacy for the October federal election, of a Montreal-based imam, Hassan  Guillet, a Lebanese by birth who had emigrated to Canada in 1974, and who had made a celebrated eulogy at the funeral of three of the Muslim men who had died after a deadly attack in a Quebec City mosque where in 2017 six people were killed and 19 other worshippers were wounded when a man opened fire at the mosque where 57 people were present. 

The human rights lobby group's overtures to the Liberal Party of Canada succeeded in the Liberal Party revoking Mr. Guillet's candidacy for the Montreal riding he wished to represent. It was historically a riding represented by Italian Members of Parliament, reflecting their majority numbers in the riding. 

Of more recent vintage, a demographic change has taken place where, Mr. Guillet claimed that Muslims now represent as many of the riding population as do Italians. He claimed to be able to speak Italian, and that he would represent the interests of all those in the riding. Perhaps not all, if others living there happened to be Jews however, since his fairly acid remarks on Jews and Israel could fairly be ascribed to an anti-Semitic attitude.

"Anti-Semitism is unfortunately all too real in Canada and threatens the safety and security of Jewish-Canadians. As political leaders, we need to speak out and condemn it at every opportunity", responded the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Andrew Scheer. Under the previous Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper it was not a matter of debate whether Canada was a friend of Israel and was dedicated to protecting Canada's Jewish population from discriminatory hatred.

"Following a thorough internal review process that has been ongoing for a few weeks, the Liberal Party of Canada has made the decision to revoke the candidacy of Mr. Guillet for the riding of Saint-Leonard -Saint-Michel in this fall's election."
"[Hassan Guillet's comments] are not aligned with the values of the Liberal Party."
Parker Lund, Liberal Party spokesperson

In fact, the Liberal Party in a statement issued for the media and public consumption said:
"The insensitive comments made by Hassan Guillet are not aligned with the values of the Liberal Party of Canada", which is in and of itself rather remarkable. 

An imam who has put himself on record through his statements on social media platforms as totally inimical to the survival of a Jewish State in the hope that 'Palestine' would be 'returned' in its entirety to the Palestinians, and who spoke admiringly of 'jihad' as well as repeating an ancient blood-libel against Judaism, is viewed as 'insensitive' by the Liberals.

These utterly repellent and alarmingly, distinctly anti-Semitic sentiments freely expressed have no place in a civilized, democratic country that guarantees equality and respect to all its citizens. 

That this man could be under the radar but yet his comments detected and known by the Liberal Party of Canada whose nominations committee was mulling over their next step; whether to remove or to simply sit on it in the hopes that no one would notice, and then taking action when it was brought to public attention that a potential Montreal Member of Parliament under the Liberal banner is yet another undercover Islamist should surprise no one.

But it does. And it is gut-wrenchingly disappointing.