Israel lobby Kneecaps Carney

A rookie Liberal MP defied the law and his government in service of a state committing a live streamed holocaust. Because it was on behalf of Israel it will likely pass with little uproar.

A week ago, Toronto MP Vince Gasparro released an unusual video in which he announced that the anti-genocide Irish rap group Kneecap was banned from Canada. In it Gasparro declared that Kneecap “publicly displayed support for terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas”.

The announcement received significant media coverage with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith immediately celebrating the move. The genocide lobby had been pushing to block Kneecap from scheduled performances in Toronto and Vancouver next month.

But Kneecap hasn’t been informed of the decision by the Canadian government. Now Movement Media Hub is reporting that Gasparro “went rogue”. In a release they noted, “sources inside the Prime Minister’s Office have confirmed that Irish rap group Kneecap was never officially banned from Canada, despite Liberal MP Vince Gasparro’s public statements. According to a senior PMO insider, Gasparro went rogue in making the announcement, lied about receiving authorization from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), and may have committed a serious breach of the federal Privacy Act, an unprecedented scandal in Canadian history.” Their press release quoted an unnamed source noting, “The PMO explicitly asked MP Gasparro whether he had IRCC’s authorization to make his announcement — he said yes. That was false. No decision had been made by IRCC or the PMO. His statement was completely unauthorized.”

It’s unlikely Gasparro acted on his own initiative. Three days before the announcement the Liberal MP met with CIJA and Canada’s Jewish federations alongside the prime minister and others. It’s likely that CIJA and other genocide advocates pushed him into creating a fait accompli difficult for the government to back away from. According to former CBC journalist Samira Mohyeddin, Gasparro offered to delete his video announcing the ban, but the PMO rejected the offer on the grounds “it will attract more attention.”

Gasparro represents the riding with the third largest Jewish population in the country. His predecessor was another staunchly anti-Palestinian with Italian roots, Marco Mendicino.

I suspect the Israel lobby pushed Gasporro to announce Kneecap was barred before a judge ruled in a case against one of its members. On Thursday a UK judge dismissed charges against Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh for allegedly waving the flag of a banned “terror” group. The judge declared, “The charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge.”

Despite the scandalous character of Gasparro’s move, it will likely pass with little serious uproar. While “Gasparro has reportedly been barred from Liberal caucus meetings”, it will likely be short-lived unless the Palestine solidarity movement greatly escalates the matter. Gasparro won’t be thrown out of caucus in large part because the dominant media will ignore the scandal. Additionally, there’s little appetite to punish support for genocide in a Liberal party whose head of fundraising is arch Zionist Stephen Bronfman.

The Liberals have bent over backwards for MPs who criticize their own government over genocide. Liberal MP Anthony Housefather openly criticized Justin Trudeau for calling for a ceasefire and criticizing killing babies. He then threatened to quit the Liberal caucus over a parliamentary vote on the matter. Prior to the two-year holocaust Housefather had repeatedly displayed more loyalty to the apartheid state than the Liberal party.

Vince Gasparro should be pressured to resign and Kneecap should be allowed to enter the country to perform their upcoming shows.

Email Immigration Minister Lena Diab and all Liberal MPs to demand they raise their voices in favour of Kneecap’s right to play scheduled performances in Toronto and Vancouver.