MPP calls Israel 'rogue' state

 

Ottawa-Orleans MPP Phil McNeely yesterday called Israel a "rogue state," and said the federal government should apologize to Canadians for its support of the Jewish state's "collective punishment" of the people in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Liberal MPP's comments drew immediate rebuke from Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who expressed "serious dismay and disappointment" to his colleague, and distanced his government from them. Mr. McGuinty, who was in Charlottetown, phoned the Canadian Jewish Congress in Toronto to convey the same sentiments to officials there.

"The comments of Mr. McNeely do not reflect the opinion of the government of Ontario or the premier," spokesman Chris Morley said.

A few hours later, Mr. McNeely offered an apology.

"Recently I have made comments with respect to the current situation in the Middle East, which were inappropriate. I apologize for the language of my comments and sincerely regret the hurt they have caused," he said in a statement. "I recognize that the challenges faced in the Middle East are complex and longstanding. During this time of tension, it is even more important for everyone to remain respectful of each other, which I failed to do."

Conservative MPP Tim Hudak was unimpressed by Mr. McNeely's apology. "Judging by the bizarre content of his so-called apology, I think the guy has no clue what he said was wrong. My guess is the premier's staff beat him up quite a bit or force fed him the retraction," Mr. Hudak said.

Mr. McNeely waded into the volatile Middle East conflict with stinging criticism of everyone from former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whom he called a puppet of the U.S. leader. He said it may be dangerous to speak out, but he feels so strongly about what is going on in the Middle East that he couldn't remain silent.

"I believe the Harper government, which receives its foreign policy from David Frum direct from George Bush, should apologize to the Canadian people for their support of the collective punishment of people first in Gaza and now in Lebanon," he said in an e-mail obtained by the Citizen. "As an elected member of Parliament I cannot believe that the democratically elected members of Hamas have been captured and imprisoned by this rogue state."

Mr. McNeely lamented that Lebanon, which was finally on the mend after decades of war and devastation, has been set back years, with the destruction of its infrastructure by Israel.

"Kissinger destroyed Lebanon many years ago. How can the world stand by and accept this," he wrote.

"George Bush and his gang, including David Frum, went into Iraq and killed 30,000 civilians with "Shock and Awe." It made great TV for CNN and a few Americans lost their lives. Arabs and particularly Muslims do not count as people for some governments, but the destruction of a country the killing and maiming of civilians for Oil is not acceptable today."

Mr. McNeely, a former Ottawa city councillor, was elected to the provincial legislature in 2003. He is parliamentary assistant to Transport Minister Donna Cansfield and represents a suburban riding in Ottawa's east end.

In an interview with the Citizen yesterday morning, Mr. McNeely stood by the comments in the e-mail. He is so upset about about the death and destruction going on in Lebanon that he had to speak out, he said.

"I feel very strongly that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction and we have Harper, who is leading Bush instead of following Bush, who is a puppet of Bush and I felt as a Canadian, Ontarian that I have to speak out," he said.

He went on: "You know, the death of Arabs doesn't matter, they are expendable and I just feel very badly the way the world is going. I don't think it is the way to build relationship, I think we should be reaching out to the Arabs and Muslims. We are not."

He said Arabs and Muslims in the community are continually barraged as terrorists, but "people like ourselves feel very strongly, but you know, it's very dangerous speaking freely in this country."

The Canadian Jewish Congress immediately called on Mr. McNeely to retract the statement, and National Post columnist Mr. Frum denied being a foreign policy adviser to the Harper government.

Hershel Sahian, vice-chairman of the CJC's Ontario region, criticized Mr. McNeely's "disturbing" attempt to inject Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, into a critique of Mr. Harper's policy on the Middle East.

"I don't believe he represents the Ontario government and therefore I'm calling on him to reconsider his position and retract it," Mr. Sahian said.

"In the present conflict, the CJC believes that the Harper government and Canada as an honest broker in the Middle East have taken an honest position."

Mr. Frum, perhaps best known for helping coin the term "axis of evil" which Mr. Bush used in his 2002 State of the Union address, added: "My thoughts on foreign policy are published every Saturday in the National Post and are available to anyone willing to pay the price of a newspaper.

"If the MPP in question has positive information that members of the government are reading the column, well I'm delighted to hear it. Beyond that, though, I think the prime minister and the government are doing their own work -- and very well too."

But Bader Siddiqi, president of the Ottawa Muslim Association, defended Mr. McNeely's right to speak, saying some of the things he said are true.

Mr. Siddiqi said the prime minister showed a "lack of experience in foreign policy" by quickly aligning himself with Israel and then realizing that more than 40,000 Canadians, eight of whom have been killed, were trapped in Lebanon.

"And to overcome the guilt of committing to one side rather than being a statesman and showing some leadership, he is flying there and will bring 120 of those Canadians with him -- which is positive," Mr. Siddiqi said.

In an interview with the Citizen yesterday morning, Mr. McNeely stood by the comments in the e-mail. He is so upset about about the death and destruction going on in Lebanon that he had to speak out, he said.

"I feel very strongly that the U.S. is going in the wrong direction and we have Harper, who is leading Bush instead of following Bush, who is a puppet of Bush and I felt as a Canadian, Ontarian that I have to speak out," he said.

He went on: "You know, the death of Arabs doesn't matter, they are expendable and I just feel very badly the way the world is going. I don't think it is the way to build relationship, I think we should be reaching out to the Arabs and Muslims. We are not."

He said Arabs and Muslims in the community are continually barraged as terrorists, but "people like ourselves feel very strongly, but you know, it's very dangerous speaking freely in this country."

The Canadian Jewish Congress immediately called on Mr. McNeely to retract the statement, and National Post columnist Mr. Frum denied being a foreign policy adviser to the Harper government.

Hershel Sahian, vice-chairman of the CJC's Ontario region, criticized Mr. McNeely's "disturbing" attempt to inject Mr. Kissinger and Mr. Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, into a critique of Mr. Harper's policy on the Middle East.

"I don't believe he represents the Ontario government and therefore I'm calling on him to reconsider his position and retract it," Mr. Sahian said.

"In the present conflict, the CJC believes that the Harper government and Canada as an honest broker in the Middle East have taken an honest position."

Mr. Frum, perhaps best known for helping coin the term "axis of evil" which Mr. Bush used in his 2002 State of the Union address, added: "My thoughts on foreign policy are published every Saturday in the National Post and are available to anyone willing to pay the price of a newspaper.

"If the MPP in question has positive information that members of the government are reading the column, well I'm delighted to hear it. Beyond that, though, I think the prime minister and the government are doing their own work -- and very well too."

But Bader Siddiqi, president of the Ottawa Muslim Association, defended Mr. McNeely's right to speak, saying some of the things he said are true.

Mr. Siddiqi said the prime minister showed a "lack of experience in foreign policy" by quickly aligning himself with Israel and then realizing that more than 40,000 Canadians, eight of whom have been killed, were trapped in Lebanon.

"And to overcome the guilt of committing to one side rather than being a statesman and showing some leadership, he is flying there and will bring 120 of those Canadians with him -- which is positive," Mr. Siddiqi said.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2006

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