The leader of the Bloc Québécois said he endorsed the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism and wants to promote dialogue with the Jewish community, in a letter he sent to B’nai Brith Canada.
“I want to add my voice to yours in the denunciation of antisemitism as a continuing problem for Jewish communities and Jewish people,” BQ leader Yves-François Blanchet wrote to Marvin Rotrand, national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights.
“In response to your specific question on the definition of antisemitism, be assured that the BQ adheres to the working definition adopted by the member states of the IHRA, as well as by the Quebec state… ”
Blanchet cites the definition’s basic description of antisemitism as hatred that can be manifested physically or verbally against Jewish individuals and community institutions.
He also writes that the BQ is in full agreement with the motion condemning antisemitism adopted unanimously last May by the Quebec National Assembly in response to a wave of incidents during the Israel-Hamas conflict.
This included, which Blanchet cites, a call for a “sane and democratic debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and rejection of violence of any kind.
In June, the Coalition Avenir Québec government adopted the IHRA definition by declaration after Québec Solidaire, the second opposition party and, like the BQ, separatist, refused to give the unanimous consent needed for a motion to be put to the legislature.
The federal government adopted the definition in June 2019 as part of its anti-racism strategy without a vote in the House of Commons.
Blanchet, the BQ leader since January 2019, was responding to a letter from Rotrand, who served as a Montreal city councillor for 39 years until last November.
Rotrand wrote to Blanchet that there is a perception in the Jewish community that the BQ is not sympathetic to its concerns, including Israel.
“Many Jewish community members have the feeling that the BQ will not speak out against antisemitism and that it will automatically adopt anti-Israel positions as a spontaneous reaction. At the very least, the community’s perception is that the BQ is silent when on Jewish questions,” he wrote.
Blanchet wrote back he is “pained” to hear that and welcomes the opportunity to make the party’s ideas better known and for dialogue with the community.
“You will find in me an attentive ear as well as a resolute willingness to promote intercultural rapprochement and to further reinforce the social fabric of Quebec.”
Rotrand included a link to the full IHRA definition, which includes delegitimization or disproportionate criticism of Israel as examples of antisemitism, an aspect that pro-Palestinian advocates charge is used to discredit them, although it is not legally binding.
Blanchet does not refer to his party’s position on Israel.
Last May, the BQ presented a motion in the House of Commons calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and withdrawal by Israel from Gaza, citing the civilian casualties. The defeated motion also demanded Israel end its “colonization and annexation of Palestinian territories.”
In 2017, the BQ, then led by Martine Ouellet, urged Canada to recognize Palestine as an independent state.
The BQ currently holds 32 of Quebec’s 78 seats in Parliament.
While Rotrand hails Blanchet’s explicit support for the IHRA definition, he is disturbed that some BQ members continue to show an anti-Israel bias.
He points to the Feb. 25 meeting of the subcommittee on international human rights that was addressed by representatives of Amnesty International, which had just released a scathing report on Israel.
The line of questioning from the Bloc’s Denis Trudel, a subcommittee vice-chair, “seemed to concord with Amnesty International’s apartheid slurs against Israel. He also made some remarks suggesting that Israel kills children,” said Rotrand.
Last month, Rotrand wrote to subcommittee chair Ali Ehsassi that, “Amnesty International’s representatives at the meeting used the leading questions and inexact assertions posed by (Trudel) as a pretext to falsely vilify Israel and accuse it of being a brutal ‘apartheid’ state.”
Rotrand hopes Blanchet’s overture signals a turning point.
In a press release, Rotrand stated Blanchet’s letter “could not be clearer. As leader of his party, he wishes to promote humanist values and will oppose antisemitism in all its guises. His support for the IHRA definition will undercut those who attack the Jewish community and the Jewish character of Israel.”
B’nai Brith CEO Michael Mostyn termed it “an important step towards improved relations with the Jewish community. The BQ has taken a leadership role in this area, one that other parties should consider emulating.”
