[R-G] The Mable Elmore controversy over Zionism is truly embarrassing

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.straight.com/article-209187/mable-elmore-controversy-over-zionism-truly-embarrassing

The Mable Elmore controversy over Zionism is truly embarrassing
By Charlie Smith

This is one of those mornings when I feel sick and disgusted and  
embarrassed to be a working journalist in B.C.

It relates to the ridiculous controversy that has erupted over  
comments that Vancouver-Kensington NDP candidate Mable Elmore made to  
an on-line publication called Seven Oaks in 2004.

Elmore, a critic of Israel’s actions in the Middle East (which have  
often been condemned by the United Nations), said it was difficult to  
generate opposition to the war in Iraq because of vocal Zionists in  
the workplace.

B.C reporters hammer provincial NDP leader Carole James on party  
candidate Mable Elmore's 2004 comments.

The war in Iraq was illegal. Elmore was correct in trying to prevent  
Canadian kids from getting killed and wounded in this illegal war. And  
I have no doubt that she probably encountered opposition from vocal  
Zionists in her workplace.

I’m not going to apologize for saying this.

Elmore, however, was forced to apologize because NDP Leader Carole  
James—whom I’m tempted to describe as a dimwit—didn’t understand that  
the term “Zionist” describes someone who supports the establishment of  
a Jewish homeland in the Middle East.

“The comments were clearly unacceptable and they were offensive and  
she has issued an apology,” James told reporters.

The Zionist movement was created in the late 19th century by  
journalist Theodor Herzl to encourage the migration of people to the  
land now known as Israel. The term is used regularly in the Israeli  
media.

Herzl's idea probably prevented some of his fellow Jews from being  
killed by the Nazis.

Yet we’ve come to a state in B.C. in which a politician can’t utter  
the word “Zionist” in conversation because this has somehow become  
offensive. I bet they’re guffawing at us in Tel Aviv.

James demonstrated a similar level of idiocy in 2005 when she  
condemned another very capable NDP candidate, Rollie Keith, for  
suggesting that former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic’s war-crime  
trial was a farce.

Many people agreed with Keith’s remarks, including Michael Mandel, a  
law professor at Osgoode Hall.

Keith was forced to step down because James kowtowed to gutter  
journalism.

Our local reporters and columnists also egged Elmore into apologizing,  
and then James chimed in with her condemnation of her newest candidate.

Some B.C. journalists who've dealt with this story have probably never  
read a book about the history of the Middle East, but they knew that  
jumping all over Elmore would please the bosses at Canwest Global  
Communications Corp.

It smacked of sycophancy to me. That’s why I feel sick and disgusted  
and embarrassed to be a working journalist in B.C. this morning.