BRANDON NDP WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION ENDORSES GALLOWAYS SPEECH IN WINNIPEG NOV 26
by Rhonda Spivak
NDP MINISTER MELNICK SAYS “THIS ACTION IS NEITHER SANCTIONED NOR ENDORSED BY THE PREMIER OR THE MANITOBA NDP”
'PRESIDENT OF BRANDON NDP WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION EXPLAINS WHY SHE GAVE ENDORSEMENT.
Viva Palestina leader and former British MP who was expelled from the British Labour Party George Galloway, will be speaking in Winnipeg on Friday November 26, 2010 at the Broadway Disciples United Church, 394 Broadway at Kennedy.
Other organizations endorsing Galloway according to the website include Independent Jewish Voices (Winnipeg), The Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies (University of Winnipeg), and the Uniter. National sponsors of his Canada wide tour include the Canadian Arab federation, and Independent Jewish Voices.
For easy reference, the video at the very end of this article shows some of Galloway’ highly controversial remarks.
“I personally am about to break the sanctions,” Gallloway declared at a Gaza press conference he held with terrorist group Hamas. “We carried a lot of cash here … and we make no apology.”
On live TV, he handed wads of cash to Ismail Haniyeh, the senior political leader of Hamas, who he referred to as the “President of Palestine”.
“This is not charity,” he clarified. “This is politics.”
He also said [as can be seen at the video at the bottom of this article], after giving the money, “one day we [ the Palestinians] can return to our country” [presumably referring to returning to within pre-67 Israel] and that “we can drive them away” [presumably referring to the Jews /or Israelis].
Galloway maintains that he hasn’t supported Hamas, but rather has been bringing humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza.
In an interview in The Mark, on October 8, 2010 Bernie Farber, CEO of Canadian Jewish Congress was asked how Galloway’s involvement supported terrorism.
Farber referred to Galloway taking “a fistful of cash” and handing it to Ismail Haniyeh, who is the head of Hamas, and said: What happens to that money? Well, Galloway will tell us that it goes to humanitarian purposes. I would tell you that he’s handing money to a criminal organization who’s not giving him a receipt, and saying “Here’s 50 bucks for band-aids, and another 1,000 dollars for stretchers.” Why is it not possible that [the] same [money] can go to purchasing Katyusha rockets and arms?
WHY HAS THE MANITOBA BRANDON WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION ENDORSED GALLOWAY'S SPEECH IN WINNIPEG?
When asked why the MNDP Brandon Women’s Association has endorsed Galloway, Christine Melnick, Minister for Water Stewardship, responded in email correspondence:
“It is important to know that this issue was not brought before Greg Selinger, the Leader of Manitoba the New Democratic Party nor the Manitoba NDP Provincial Council. This action is neither sanctioned nor endorsed by either the Premier or the Manitoba NDP. The NDP Brandon Women’s Association does not represent the Manitoba NDP on this issue.”
"I believe that the actions of this NDP government speak of the commitment to peace in the Middle East, by supporting the two state solution and of our friendship towards the State of Israel and the Manitoba Jewish community. This fall, before embarking on a very productive mission with the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg, Premier Selinger appointed Mel Lazareck Special Representative for Manitoba to Israel for Economic and Community Relations. This is, I understand, the first time in the history of the Canada that such an appointment has been made by a province. While in Israel, Premier Selinger officially opened the Playground for Peace, which is located on the grounds of the Arab-Jewish Community Centre in Jaffa, expressing the wish for all children, Arab, Jewish and others, to come and play in safety and friendship.
“Following that the Premier signed an MOU on Birding and Guiding with Dr. Yossi Leshem, who has established strong partnerships with Jordanian and Palestinian partners based on the belief that Birds are the Path to Peace. In addition, MOU's were signed between Manitoba and the State of Israel on clean water technology, agriculture and a Sister Marshs MOU was signed by Efi Stenzler, World Chair of the JNF and myself, as Minister of Water Stewardship, linking Manitoba's Oak Hammock and Israel's Hula Valley marshes. The Manitoba NDP, like so many in this world, dream of peace in the Middle East and are wanting to help that happen in any way that we can.”
Melnick added, "I want to ensure people that the Manitoba NDP is taking this incident very seriously and are already looking into the matter."
The Winnipeg Jewish Review also spoke to Colleen Semore, who is the President of the NDP Women’s Association and asked her the Brandon NDP Women’s Association had endorsed Galloway.
She responded by saying that in 1997 there was a demonstration supporting Israel and “there were four NDP [provincial]cabinet Ministers there. She said shortly thereafter there was a demonstration for Palestinians “and there were no NDP Cabinet Ministers.” Semore said that she wrote a letter to then NDP Premier Gary Doer and complained that “the government shouldn’t show a preference” and she never got an answer back from Premier Doer. She said she did not want to “release the letter” to the Winnipeg Jewish Review. She said as a result, that she and the NDP Women’s Association of Brandon had decided to endorse Galloway, and contributed $50.00 to his speaking event in Winnipeg.
When asked to comment on Galloway’s controversial meeting with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Semore said “I don’t see anything wrong with that myself.” [According to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2966199.stm, Galloway hit the headlines on a regular basis including a spat with the then Foreign Office minister Ben Bradshaw who accused Mr. Galloway of being "not just an apologist but a mouthpiece for the Iraq regime over many years".]
The Winnipeg Jewish Review referred to the fact that Galloway has given money to Hamas and asked Semore whether she considered Hamas a terrorist organization. She answered that she felt that both Israel and Hamas were “in the wrong.” She also said she didn’t know that Galloway and given money to Hamas.
The Winnipeg Jewish Review again referred to the fact that in Canada Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization and asked Semore, “Do you agree with that?
She answered “I don’t want to make a comment on that…I haven’t really decided…I don’t have an opinion on that.”
She also indicated that she thinks “Palestinians have no recourse but to fight back.”
When asked whether she had done an internet search and read about Galloway before her group decided to endorse him, she said she had done a search but “We didn’t study him for three or four hours.” She said, however, that the Brandon NDP Women’s Association did discuss Galloway “at length.”
When asked if she knew about the fact that Hamas’s clashes with PA forces in which it threw PA forces off rooftops in 2007, as it seized power in Gaza, Semore said, “No I didn’t know about that”
Semore also said that she’d “like to hear what Galloway says”. When the Winnipeg Jewish Review noted that she could attend and hear Galloway without having the Brandon NDP’s Women’s Association endorsing the talk, she indicated that she saw no reason not to endorse him.
At the time of the conversation, Semore said that no one in the NDP had asked her to remove the endorsement.
HOW WAS GALLOWAY ALLOWED INTO CANADA?
In 2009, Galloway was scheduled to visit Canada as part of a speaking tour. He was informed by officials that he might be prevented from entering the country based on clauses 1c and 1f of Section 34 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). Galloway chose not to attempt to enter the country at that time; instead, he gave his speech via satellite. His Canadian supporters subsequently raised money for a legal fund and joined Galloway in filing a request for a judicial review in a Canadian court.
Justice Richard G. Mosley released his judgment on Sept. 27, 2010. In his 58-page document, Justice Mosley wrote that “there was no legally reviewable decision to bar Mr. Galloway from Canada and that this application must be dismissed.”
However, the judge wrote, “I also agree with the applicants that the main reason why the respondents [ the Ministers of Public Safety and minister of Citizenship and Immigration]sought to prevent Mr. Galloway from entering Canada was that they disagreed with his political views.”
EGYPT RECENTLY REFUSED GALLOWAY ENTRY TO THE GAZA STRIP
According to a report of The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, earlier this month (November 3, 2010), Egyptian authorities refused to allow 17 activists from George Galloway’s Viva Palestina convoy to enter the Gaza Strip. Those denied entry included Viva Palestina
leader George Galloway, several activists who had been aboard the Mavi Marmara, Muslim Brotherhood activists, and participants in the confrontation
with Egypt’s security forces in January 2010.
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