Iggy Pops

Michael Ignatieff has spent the last few days defending comments he made not long ago asserting that Israel had committed war crimes during their summer invasion of Lebanon. Apparently Ignatieff doesn't realize that any criticism of Israel is off-limits for the two major Canadian political parties. If he actually hopes to lead the Liberals in the next election he'd better figure this lesson out quickly or he'll be washed out at the leadership convention.

Michael, there's the truth and then there's the truth.

The truth is that Israel committed war crimes against Lebanese civilians (as did Hizbullah against Israeli civilians). You know it and I know it and, hell, Israel and Jewish communities around the world know it. You can't destroy occupied villages and target businesses and infrastructure needlessly without knowing it's a war crime. And then there are all the unexploded cluster bombs, most of them launched in the dying days of the fighting, waiting for Lebanese civilians to stumble across them just in time to blow off a leg. These are crimes that should be condemned loudly.

But you can't be the one to do it Michael. You see the other truth is politics. Israel, despite its small population and land area, is a powerful place. Israel has many allies in Canada that don't really care at all about the truth. They'll make your life hell if you don't do as Stephen Harper has done and call Israeli war crimes measured or at the very least foolishly occupy the middle ground in a deeply asymmetrical conflict.

Why is Ignatieff's comment even an issue? He's not being racist or anti-Semitic, is he? That's another truth he should learn quickly; for better or worse, anti-Israel equals anti-Semitic.

(If you want to learn more about Mr, I mean Dr, Ignatieff, you should read this interesting account. Did you know that his grandfather, Count Ignatieff, was the Minister of Education under the last czar in Russia? Royalty no less.)