Palestine can illustrate the capacity of a politician to take a principled position and also the ability for grassroots activism to force politicians to act.
NDP leadership contender Thomas Mulcair, actively campaigning to move the NDP to the right, stated in 2008, "I am an ardent supporter of Israel in all situations and in all circumstances." That statement was made as the Israeli siege on Gaza continued, as construction on the Israeli apartheid wall moved forward unabated in the West Bank (despite being condemned as illegal by the International Court of Justice), and as thousands of Palestinian political prisoners remained locked away in Israeli jails.
Mulcair's comments are a clear attack on Palestinian human rights, providing support for Israeli war crimes committed against the Palestinian people. Now is the time to hold Mulcair accountable for these ruthless words on Palestine.
In stating unconditional support for Israel, Muclair aligns with right-wing, neo-colonial efforts to erase the Palestinian struggle from the map, in line with recent statements by U.S. Republican politician Newt Gingrich that "Palestinians are an invented people."
Posted in response to MSNBC's hit piece smearing Gary Franchi as a "conspiracy theorist" (as if that were a bad thing).