Canada’s NDP chooses the neoliberal approach to geopolitics

A recent article in the Canadian Jewish News website presented a summary of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP) Jagmeet Singh’s position towards Israel. [1]

In general for Singh to take the positions he does with Israel highlights how strongly he supports the U.S.-Israeli geopolitical views, his views on the assassination of Qassem Soleimani not withstanding.

My response that I posted on CJN was quickly edited out [2] as it obviously did not support the Israeli position, nor the position of the local Zionist supporters. In that comment I did not so much address Singh’s comments as address a general geopolitical view concerning Israel and why the U.S. supports it so strongly. As Canada is essentially an adjunct to the U.S., the comments stand in for Canada’s view as well.

Here I wish to address Singh’s views presented while talking to the “Jewish community”.

First off is the statement about supporting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) giving the usual prevarications about it being “an educational tool” and that criticism of Israel “similar to that” against other countries is not anti-Semitic, other criticisms are anti-Semitic.

The first problem is that the IHRA statement on anti-Semiticism is designed to stifle criticism or discussion of Israel as it is easy to dismiss any arguments, such as this one, as being anti-Semitic without offering counter arguments as to why it is so. As an “educational tool” it would be used, wherever approved, in attempts to shut down criticism of Israel in any fashion.

A more powerful statement about criticisms “similar to that” of other criticisms is truly a spurious/red herring type of argument. There are no other countries like Israel. There used to be: Canada, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand are all colonial settler countries that have done their best to eliminate and ethnically cleanse their indigenous populations. Generally they succeeded quite well, and their indigenous populations are much reduced and quite well contained in an apartheid system of reservations and government controlling legislation.

Israel is the main settler-colonial country of importance in the world today. Okay, Kashmir is being destroyed by India and Tibet has been taken over by China; but neither of them have the same geopolitical importance as does Israel. Maybe to keep this presentation even more “similar” I should mention South Africa where the settler colonization and apartheid did not work out all that well. Feel better now?

Israel is the center of importance for the reasons I stated in my original rebuttal on the CJN website which was removed rather quickly, more than likely because they had no counter arguments that could be validly presented. My argument has not changed in the last couple of hours:

Israel is a colonial settler society trying to ethnically cleanse the indigenous Palestinians of whatever religion from the areas they wish to settle and control. This was acknowledged by the founders of Zionism and has extended from then through ben Gurion, the “father” of Israel, up to the present actions - military and judicial - to remove Palestinians from their homes, farmlands, and villages.

Israel was established in part by the interests of the British empire and the U.S. empire as desiring the land for control of resources (oil), transportation (the Suez Canal and routes to the East), and more recently, since the U.S. dropped its gold backed currency, for the support of the petrodollar (oil again).

Next are the domestic U.S. interests. One is the belief that the Jewish vote is important, but probably is over rated - there is no way to test this idea unfortunately. Another set of ideas supporting Israel and its Zionist beliefs are the U.S.’ evangelical Christians and their desire for Armageddon. At that mythological point in time, all the Jews remaining would convert to Christianity and those that do not would be killed. Utterly strange that the two ideas converge, but Israel will take any financial-political advantage it can while it can.

Finally, and above all, the other factor is money, the US$ as global fiat currency, the petrodollar. If, for whatever reason, the petrodollar is no longer the global reserve currency, the U.S. economy and its ability to bribe, coerce, sanction, pay for its military or other para-militaries will end abruptly. Thus the military is used to support the sale of oil in US$ - mainly through an agreement with the liberal democratic [sic] Saudi government that Canada also supports and through all the other little wars and regime changes around the world. It is about the oil, which is all about the power of the US$.

In short, it is still about geopolitical control of the region for resources. That outpost (it should also be noted that many of the Israeli settlements started out being labelled “outposts”) has become a highly militarized economy that supports U.S. intransigence around the world through "field tested" equipment, much of which concerns "security", or in other words, surveillance and control of domestic populations.

There is no other country in the world for which “similar” arguments can be made. That does not make them anti-Semitic, but anti-the-military-industrial-complex of the U.S.-Israeli empire and its desire for global hegemonic power and control.

As for the NDP
Canada’s NDP, as much as they will deny it, has trended toward the center and in issues such as this are well right of center. Sure, they advocate for all the LBGTQ issues, and acknowledge the necessity to do something about climate change, but most political parties in Canada, including the Conservatives, also acknowledge these issues.

Make no mistake, the NDP accept the neoliberal world order, its economic structures, its military structures, its geopolitical endeavours just as much as the other Canadian political parties. As with supposedly socialist democratic parties in other areas they have accommodated to the existing powers in order to try and gain more votes. This pro-Zionist meeting with the a sector of the Jewish community is all part of their right wing turn.

[1] “NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh talks with Jewish community”

“stating that the NDP supports the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism as an educational tool to help policy makers address the ever-evolving scourge of Jew-hatred….[and] that while criticism of Israel or its government similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic, an obsession with, and a single focus on, Israel and Israelis, as well as denying the right of the Jewish people to self-determination are indicators of anti-Semitism.”

“Singh demonstrated a clear understanding that while criticism of Israel or its government similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-Semitic, an obsession with, and a single focus on, Israel and Israelis, as well as denying the right of the Jewish people to self-determination are indicators of anti-Semitism.”

“He unequivocally condemned BDS, stating that it “creates tensions and divisions,” and “does not advance peace.” Singh stated that neither he nor the NDP support BDS, believing that it is not “the right path forward.”

“He committed to fight any kind of racism and discrimination and stated clearly that progressive Zionists had “a home” in the NDP.

[2] Hold on, this is waiting to be approved by The Canadian Jewish News.

Count me out - for all the reasons stated above, I no longer support the NDP. They have become a centrist party following U.S. imperial geopolitical interests. I criticize Israel in its actions against the Palestinian people as a colonial-settler state wanting to ethnically cleanse the occupied territories of all Palestinians whether they are Muslim, Christian or other religions.

The U.S. interests in Israel cover several factors. First the evangelical right wing Christians who are wishing for Armageddon and the subsequent conversion of Jews to Christianity or their killing are a prime target of Republican politicians in particular. Next is the Jewish vote in the U.S. which is really not a huge factor - what is a huge factor is the money supply harnessed through AIPAC (and talk about foreign governments interfering in domestic elections?).

Finally the other factor is primarily money, the US$ as global fiat currency, the petrodollar. If for whatever reason the petrodollar is no longer the global reserve currency, the U.S. economy and its ability to bribe, coerce, sanction, pay for its military or other para-militaries will end abruptly. Thus the military is used to support the sale of oil in US$ - mainly through an agreement with the liberal democratic Saudi government that Canada also supports and through all the other little wars and regime changes around the world. It is about the oil, which is all about the power of the US$.

Israel is the "outpost" desired by both British and U.S. politicians to guard the region for its own hegemonic desires globally. That outpost has become a highly militarized economy that supports U.S. intransigence around the world through "field tested" equipment, much of which concerns "security", or in other words, surveillance and control of domestic populations.

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