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Or sign-in if you have an account.Former Liberal minister Omar Alghabra in 2022. Mike Hensen/Postmedia Many people welcomed Prime Minister Mark Carney’s forceful denunciation on Monday of the “scourge of antisemitism” as something that is “specific, severe and demands a targeted response.” But the new initiative he announced — the launch of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion — is woeful.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorWorse, some of the members appointed to the council have a history of anti-Israel activism and have expressed questionable views about terrorism. Chief among them is former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra, whose inclusion is nothing short of a poke in the eye of Canadian Jews.Before entering politics in 2006, Alghabra, a Syrian immigrant, served as president of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF), an organization that has consistently downplayed the threat posed by terrorism and criticized Canada’s response to it.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againFollowing the September 11 terrorist attacks, Alghabra’s predecessors at the CAF, John Asfour and Raja Khouri, publicly condemned Canada’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan and argued against groups like Hezbollah being included in the list of banned terrorist entities.In 2004, when Alghabra was head of the CAF, it lodged a complaint with the Ontario Press Council against CanWest, then-owner of National Post, claiming it was inappropriate for this newspaper to label the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade as “terrorists,” even though it was designated as such by the Government of Canada a year prior.At the time, Alghabra said that the “media has moral and ethical obligations to report the facts.” Yet the “facts” included the October 2000 shooting of two Israeli police officers; the January 2001 assassination of a Palestinian journalist; a January 2002 attack that killed six people at a bat mitzvah; a February 2002 assault that killed six Israeli security officers; a March 2002 sniper attack that killed 10 people; another massacre that month that resulted in 11 deaths; the slaughter of 22 people at a Tel Aviv bus station in January 2003; the bombing of a Jerusalem cafe in January 2004 that killed 11; and numerous other atrocities.When then-Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat died in November 2004, Alghabra praised him as someone who “played a tremendous role in highlighting the Palestinian struggle.” That role also included leading two violent intifadas that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians, causing Arafat to be described as the “father of modern terrorism.”In 2005, also when he was at the CAF, Alghabra criticized then-Toronto police chief and his future cabinet colleague Bill Blair for participating in the annual Walk with Israel, which he called a “show of solidarity for a foreign state currently in the midst of an unresolved conflict; a country that is conducting a brutal and the longest contemporary military occupation in the world.”And Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre alleged this week that Alghabra was actively lobbying politicians to “keep Hezbollah legal” at the time.In November 2006, the CAF issued a policy statement criticizing Ottawa’s decision to designate Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations, claiming they’re “legitimate political parties” and that the Canadian government was swayed by the “pro-Israel lobby.” The group was ultimately stripped of its federal funding due to its alleged support for terrorism.Alghabra was no longer with the CAF at the time, but he expressed similar views about Hamas. In a January 2006 interview with the Jewish Tribune, Alghabra refused to denounce suicide bombers and told the newspaper: “I don’t believe that Hamas wants the elimination of Israel.”That statement runs contrary to Hamas’s founding charter, which outlines its “struggle against Zionism,” and says, “The day that enemies usurp part of Muslim land, jihad becomes the individual duty of every Muslim. In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of jihad be raised.”After Alghabra’s successful election campaign in 2015, which followed three failed bids, he attempted to reform his image. In 2016, for example, he told the House of Commons that, “Hamas is a terrorist organization until it gives up terrorist activities and joins us in our call for peaceful dialogue.”And during a speech at a Mississauga, Ont., synagogue later that year, he told the congregation that he wants to help “Jews and Arabs work together to advance the well-being of both and send a message to the Israelis and the Palestinians how we can work together to advance common agenda.”But shortly after Hamas’s brutal October 7 massacre — in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were brutally raped and murdered — he refused to answer a reporter’s question about whether he would condemn the terrorist attack.One of the ministerial advisory council’s primary tasks is to “reassess the nature, scale and drivers of antisemitism in Canada.” A thorough investigation will surely uncover, as a 2023 report from the German government detailed, that much of the anti-Jewish rhetoric is being driven by terrorist organizations, whose “antisemitic ideas” form the “common denominator in the ideology of the entire Islamist extremist spectrum.”It will find clear links between the groups leading the antisemitic protests in our streets and organizations like Hamas. A proper assessment will also note that the Middle East has high rates of antisemitism and Canada has welcomed tens of thousands of new immigrants from the region over the past decade.The question is: will the advisory council be bold enough to bring these sometimes uncomfortable truths to the fore, or will it be prevented from doing a proper job? Carney’s choice of including Alghabra does not inspire much confidence.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.