The battle over Palestine in the Green Party is at its peak
Written by: Mohammed Abdullah
After a long 13-year tenure, Elizabeth May’s leadership in the Green Party of Canada (GPC) has lapsed. While the party’s last election slogan iterated “Not Left. Not Right. Forward Together,” a leadership race is now on with two proud eco-socialists and stellar advocates for human rights, Dimitri Lascaris and Meryam Haddad. Vying for the top position among 6 other candidates, they are sparking fresh interest in the party and hope amongst the left that a true progressive, who is unafraid to tackle capitalism and will be a strong advocate for the Palestinians, will finally take the helm of a major Canadian political party.
With only ONE day left for Canadians to register as party members (registration deadline to vote in the leadership race ends on September 3, 2020, at 11:59 PM), here is a brief overview to gauge where the GPC candidates fall on the political spectrum.
BDS and the Green Party
In August 2016, Dimitri Lascaris, who at the time was the party’s Shadow Cabinet Justice Critic, brought forward a resolution that called on GPC to endorse the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This movement has been overwhelmingly supported by Palestinian civil society, to pressure Israel to comply with international law, namely respect their right to return to their lands, end its illegal occupation of Palestine, and provide equal rights to Palestinians and Israelis, at its convention. Elizabeth May strongly opposed this motion, but it passed with an overwhelming majority in a beautiful and strong show of support for Palestine in the party.
Elizabeth May was part of the small anti-Palestinian minority, however, who opposed this most basic and important attempt to support the Palestinian cause, and was so “broken-hearted” by her base’s BDS endorsement, that she threatened to step down as leader of the party. A month later, three members of her shadow cabinet, including Lascaris, were fired by May “for defending the party’s recently passed policy from attacks by the head of the British Columbia Greens.”
Ultimately, however, support for Palestine was too strong among the party’s membership for the Green Party Federal Council to suppress, and at the party’s Special General Meeting in December 2016, a compromise was reached with May, and the “BDS” acronym was removed while the same stance remained, and the party’s official policy still supports boycotts, divestments, and sanctions on Israel, along with all three major aims of the BDS movement.
Since 2016, May has continued attempting to override the internal democracy of the party and rewrite history by falsely claiming that the party “repealed” the BDS motion and the movement was not supported by the party.
Elizabeth Supports Pro-Israeli Apartheid Annamie Paul
Now, during the Green Party of Canada’s leadership race, Elizabeth May has thrown all of her support behind the anti-BDS candidate in the race, Annamie Paul, who landed the poorest score on Middle Eastern issues, in a recent report released by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and Independent Jewish Voices (IJV). Paul was found to be “one of only two GPC candidates who did not endorse the anti-annexation pledge, and she has generally pursued a neutral ‘both sides are at fault’ approach to the conflict,” erasing or normalizing Israeli colonialism and apartheid. The report also expresses concern that progressive movements be repressed in the party under her leadership.
In a letter sent to all members of the Green Party, Elizabeth May claimed neutrality while in the same breath making a strong pitch for Annamie Paul. Indeed, with May’s unofficial endorsement, Paul was able to raise a whopping $121,000 by the end of July, while first runner up, Dimitri Lascaris, raised only $52,610.
Elizabeth May Exposes her Increasing Fear of a Dimitri Lascaris Win
Most recently, Elizabeth May also attacked the eco-socialist citizens’ advocacy group, Justice Greens, after they endorsed Dimitri Lascaris as their first choice on the Green Party’s leadership ballot, followed by Meryam Haddad. May hypocritically claimed that their “message [was] anti-democratic” and they were “trying to ‘game’ the ballot” by endorsing the progressive candidates. May added, “who are you??” in her rant. She later deleted her tweet, perhaps after realizing that she was commenting on a tweet that was mocking conspiratorial right-wing Greens and their obsession with grassroots socialist mobilization.
David Merner Calls Palestine Rights Supporters “Extremists”
In addition to the anti-Palestinian Annamie Paul, Green Party leadership candidate David Merner has also opposed 90% of the Green Party’s membership, who voted in favour of the BDS movement in 2016, by calling BDS "extremist" and “divisive".
Personal Endorsement for Lascaris from a Progressive Palestinian Student
For me, I have no doubt that Dimitri Lascaris will be first on my ballot. He has defended me and other students at York University, as a pro-bono human rights lawyer, when we were attacked by the Jewish Defense League, an FBI-listed terrorist organization, and had its leader banned from our campus. Unlike Canada’s other major party leaders, who do not support Palestinian rights and have all attempted to silence Palestine rights defenders while attacking the peaceful BDS movement, Lascaris is calling for sanctions on Israel.
Should he become leader of the Green Party of Canada, he will finally provide a progressive alternative to voters across the country. Lascaris’ proposal to spread wealth, withdraw Canada from NATO, cut Canada’s defense spending by 50%, support unions, and provide free university education, while relieving all students of their debt is very refreshing to hear in a country where centrists dominate our politics.
Dimitri Endorsed by Canadian Labour Leader and Former GPC Leader
Sid Ryan, the former president of the Ontario federation of Labour, has endorsed Dimitri Lascaris because he is “not afraid to speak truth to power, his platform on workers rights issues alone is the best (he’s) seen in (his) 35 years as a union leader.”
A victory for Dimitri Lascaris will change the face of Canadian politics. His progressive positions on social justice at home and on the international stage are well documented. His progressive policies on workers rights are the best I've seen from any Canadian party leader. pic.twitter.com/Ge8Ax02DVt
— Sid Ryan (@PSidRyan) August 26, 2020
Furthermore, former Green Party leader Dr. Joan Russow endorsed Dimitri Lascaris because he “is willing to take bold and principled stances for peace, the environment, and human rights” and “he is well-known for standing up for the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed.”
Importance of Voting for Lascaris
The fact that Lascaris has a very strong chance of winning this race and is only second in the race to the Zionist Annamie Paul, makes it that much more important to support Dimitri, a socialist, and push him into first place. He has a real chance of winning! And I know that Lascaris will stay true to his words and promises as leader of the Green Party because he has defended me, defended my friends, and he has continues to express his support for all human rights struggles.
In a year with so much going wrong, the Green Party of Canada’s leadership race is giving progressives a lot of hope. The party’s membership has increased from 20,000 to 30,000 during this race, a 50 per cent jump!
People in this country clearly want a progressive party to follow and they are registering in the Green Party with the hope of electing someone who defends the rights of all people, equally. The Greens can only achieve actual growth if they distinguish themselves from other parties by moving left on the political spectrum, and that is what Lascaris will do.
1. Dimitri Lascaris 2. Meryam Haddad
Therefore, I will have Lascaris first on my ballot and Meryam Haddad, second, since she would bring a young and refreshing progressive voice as leader of Canada’s Greens.
Please register now, as the deadline is 11:59 PM, Thursday September 3, to be eligible to vote for Dimitri Lascaris and Meryam Haddad in the upcoming leadership race. It’s time to finally have shot at establishing a progressive left party!
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