Canadians for Justice and Peace condemns MP’s meeting with far-right Israeli legislator

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), a pan-Canadian grassroots advocacy organization, has condemned Canadian Liberal Member of Parliament Anthony Housefather for his recent meeting with Simcha Rothman, a far-right member of Israel’s extremist government.

Rothman is an advocate of racial discrimination and settler terrorism against Palestinians. Housefather shared a photograph of himself with Rothman during a meeting on Tuesday for their joint ‘Task Force’; Rothman describes himself as a co-chair of the group while Housefather is listed as a Steering Committee member.

CJPME urged the government and Liberal caucus to repudiate Housefather for working alongside Rothman and to condemn all forms of far-right extremism.

“It is deplorable that a Canadian MP would work alongside a far-right, extremist Israeli lawmaker like Rothman, who justifies racial discrimination and settler terrorism against Palestinians,” said Michael Bueckert, Vice President of CJPME.

CJPME noted that the meeting of Housefather and Rothman was intended to build support for the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is used to suppress criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights.

“The involvement of a far-right extremist in this initiative further demonstrates that IHRA is not about countering hate and discrimination, but about suppressing speech on Israeli apartheid,” added Bueckert.

Simcha Rothman is the chair of the Israeli Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, and is leading an agenda which threatens to dismantle democracy for Israeli Jews while entrenching apartheid for Palestinians. He has also expressed support for allowing businesses to racially discriminate against customers.