Stephen Harper makes controversial speech in Israel
Posted January 20, 2014 6:17 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ISRAEL (NEWS1130) – A member of the Knesset walked out of Stephen Harper’s historic speech to the Israeli parliament after briefly disrupting the prime minister’s remarks.
Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian-Israeli member of the Knesset, was among those who began shouting as Harper spoke about what he calls the twisted logic of calling Israel an apartheid state.
Harper says blaming Israel for the problems of the Middle East or demanding boycotts against the Jewish state is nothing more than a new form of anti-Semitism.
Throughout the rest of his speech — a first for a Canadian prime minister — Harper was roundly applauded by other members of the legislature.
He says the more modern forms of condemning Israel are simply an attempt to make old bigotry acceptable.
He says criticism of Israeli government policy isn’t anti-Semitic, but criticism which only targets Israel while ignoring violence and oppression by its neighbours is unacceptable.
