KINSELLA: Real political leaders don't hesitate to choose sides

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To remain human, writer Graham Greene once said, you have to take sides.

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Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre chose a side – the Jews, the Jewish state and Western democracy.

Poilievre sometimes gets into trouble due to a lack of nuance. But this week, his refusal to equivocate on Israel deserves high praise.

On Parliament Hill, Poilievre condemned the avalanche of anti-Semitism, as he said “we have never seen it before in this country”. The Conservative leader cited the “arson bombing of synagogues, the hateful and genocidal protests, (the) chanting in front of Jewish businesses, homes and hospitals” and – this week – the burning of the Canadian flag and the “death to Canada” chants. Samidoun, the federally registered nonprofit that Poilievre correctly describes as a pro-terror organization.

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“We will unify our people… We will protect our borders. Let’s keep terrorists out of our country,” Poilievre said. “And we will stand up for what is right once again and support our allies against terrorism and for decency. Let’s bring home the country we know and still love.”

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Contrast that with the cowardice of Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, who this week was notably absent from a ceremony in Toronto to mark the terrible events of October 7, 2023. Ontario Premier Doug Ford and two dozen Politicians at all levels were there. But not Chow.

Chow, mayor of a region where half of Canada's 400,000 Jews live, literally suggested to the media that the various invitations she received somehow ended up in someone's spam folder. When that didn't work — because Toronto councilors also personally reminded her of the event — Chow said it wasn't because she was, and I quote, “tired.”

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Foreign Minister Melanie Joly was no better. On Monday, Poilievre twice asked Joly to condemn the anti-Semitic and genocidal chants regularly heard on our streets. She wouldn't do that. Poilievre then rightly accused her of favoring Hamas and its ilk.

Former New Democratic Party leader Thomas Mulcair has perhaps provided an explanation for Joly's cowardly approach to Israel, which has seen Joly much more critical of the Jewish state than of its homicidal enemies. In a column he wrote for smart TVMulcair described asking Joly about South Africa's unsubstantiated claims that Israel committed genocide in its war with Hamas.

Mulcair quoted Joly as saying the following: “Thomas, have you seen the demographics of my riding?” Which was apparently a reference to the 22,000 people who identify as Muslim in Joly's cavalcade in Ahuntsic-Cartierville in the Montreal area. Her reaction “surprised me,” Mulcair said.

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Not to be outdone, Justin Trudeau was evasive in calling on Poilievre – and all major Jewish advocacy groups, and various leaders at all levels – to ban Samidoun for his links to listed terrorist entities. Samidoun, based in Vancouver and granted non-profit status by the Trudeau Liberals, is banned in Germany and considered a terrorist group in Israel, and this week was designated a terrorist group by the Dutch Parliament. Its leadership openly admitted its ties to the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the illegal Iranian regime.

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As Postmedia's Terry Glavin reported, the Trudeau government has handed the Samidoun process over to the bureaucracy for an “urgent” review. Which, in Trudeau's parlance, means a decision could be made sometime before the end of this decade.

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Enough. Voters everywhere want clarity. They want political leaders to be clear about their position – even if they disagree with the politician's position on an issue. This is why conservatives tend to win elections with a smaller voter base: they are better at values ​​and words. As I wrote in my book Fight the rightprogressives get tongue-tied when talking about fundamental values. And in doing so, they end up sounding like cowards.

This week, when decency demanded that we remember the 1,200 men, women, children and babies massacred by Hamas and Gazans – and the 250 Israelis kidnapped and the 100 women and girls raped by terrorists – leaders needed to show us leadership . They needed to choose a side: against terrorism and anti-Semitism, for decency and democracy.

What we got from Olivia Chow, Melanie Joly and Justin Trudeau, instead, were profiles of cowardice.

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