Peter Biesterfeld

We are disgusted and disturbed to see a piece run in the National Post that appears to potentially endorse violence against NDP Leader Avi Lewis for his argument that we all bear a collective responsibility to stop the genocide in Palestine. The writer in this article appeared to suggest that under Jewish law, Lewis would be considered either a “mosar” or a “rodef” - both terms to describe traitors. The killer of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin used the same language to justify Rabin’s assassination, arguing that a rodef can legally be killed under Jewish law. There is no doubt in our mind - and to the Jewish Canadians who have reached out to us today - that this article is entirely unacceptable. The editor at the National Post who approved this should have no choice but to resign. We encourage every Member of Parliament from every party to rise up unanimously to condemn this incitement. If the National Post refuses to take accountability, retract this article, and apologize, we urge the federal government to end all taxpayer subsidies to Postmedia, and for Canadian Heritage to strip Postmedia of the Big Tech C-18 funding, and other departmental grants.