Canadian Islamic leader Mohamed Elmasry continues to maintain at least one foot in his mouth as he condemns the choice of people who aren’t Jew-haters and Israel-haters to government committees.
Muslim leader’s remarks draw rebuke
Mohamed Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, has angered a Jewish group with his condemnation of two recent Liberal appointees as “bad news” for Muslims.
Dr. Elmasry said the appointments of Leo Kolber as chair of a national security advisory committee and Jonathan Schneiderman as an adviser to Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew have made Canadian Muslims nervous, saying both men are “strong pro-Israel voices” in Ottawa.
“With the Muslim community’s vulnerability to negative attention since 9/11 . . . there is understandable nervousness at the news that two of Canada’s most active supporters of Israeli domestic and foreign policy will now have key voices in Canadian security and foreign policy decisions,” said Dr. Elmasry, a professor of computer engineering at the University of Waterloo.
B’nai Brith Canada denounced his statement as inherently anti-Semitic and said Dr. Elmasry has lost credibility over past anti-Israel comments.
“He is effectively saying that Jews ought to be automatically excluded from holding positions within government . . . because of a supposed inherent bias against all Muslims,” said Frank Dimant, B’nai Brith’s vice-president. “It is time for those in the Muslim community for whom Elmasry claims to speak [to] stand up and say this individual does not represent them.”
Dr. Elmasry was the centre of a controversy last November after he said on television that all citizens of Israel over the age of 18 were acceptable targets for suicide bombers.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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