Time for left to press Lewis for better anti-genocide positions

Avi Lewis isn’t responsible for the decades of anti-Palestinian activism, but his recounting of family lore shouldn’t lead some to believe the family most responsible for NDP anti-Palestinianism were “anti-Zionist”.

Yesterday Keith Porteous of Island Grapevine News emailed me to complain about an article in which I (in passing) labelled grandfather David Lewis a “fanatic Zionist”. Porteus wrote, “David Lewis was an anti-Zionist member of the Jewish Labour Bund. Avi is also an anti-Zionist Jew. Be serious.” Certain about his version of history, Porteus repeated his claim after I responded, stating in a follow up message that “describing any of the family as being ‘Zionist fanatics’ is dishonest.”

Porteous’ confusion about David Lewis is probably due to Avi saying he’s from an anti-Zionist tradition. It may be the case though it skips two generations. His great grandfather was part of the Jewish Labour Bund, but his grandfather, father, mother and other family members were influential anti-Palestinians.

After Israel conquered East Jerusalem in 1967, David Lewis promoted a “united Jerusalem”. “The division of Jerusalem,” said the long-time influential figure in the NDP, “did not make economic or social sense. As a united city under Israel’s aegis, Jerusalem would be a much more progressive and fruitful capital of the various religions.”

As Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai, Lewis made “impassioned warnings that Israel was in danger.” During his time as federal leader from 1971 to 1975 Lewis also spoke to at least one Israel Bonds fundraiser, which raised money for that state.

Just after stepping down as federal leader of the NDP in 1975 David Lewis was the “speaker of the year” at a B’nai B’rith breakfast. In the hilariously titled “NDP’s David Lewis urges care for disadvantaged”, the Canadian Jewish Newsreported that Lewis “attacked the UN for having admitted the PLO” and said “a Middle East peace would require ‘some recognition of the Palestinians in some way.’ He remarked that the creation of a Palestinian state might be necessary but refused to pinpoint its location. The Israelis must make that decision, he said, without interference from Diaspora Jewry.”

Avi’s father was also deeply anti-Palestinian. Ontario NDP leader from 1970 to 1978, Stephen Lewis demanded the federal government cancel a major UN conference scheduled for Toronto in 1975 because the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted observer status at the UN the previous year and their representatives might attend (the conference had nothing to do with Palestine). In a 1977 speech to pro-Israel fundraiser United Jewish Appeal, which the Canadian Jewish News titled “Lewis praises [Conservative premier Bill] Davis for Stand on Israel”, Lewis denounced the UN’s “wantonly anti-social attitude to Israel” and told the pro-Israel audience that “the anti-Semitism that lurks underneath the surface is diabolical.”

Stephen Lewis only stopped taking openly anti-Palestinian positions during the recent genocide in Gaza. After Canada’s failed bid for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2020 he was still seeking to protect Israel by (absurdly) denying that Canada’s extremist anti-Palestinian voting record at the UN contributed to the country’s defeat.

While Stephen Lewis has publicly criticized Israel’s genocide in Gaza, his sister continues to promote anti-Palestinian positions. Former president of the Ontario NDP and federal council member, Janet Solberg led the charge against having the 2018 NDP convention even discuss the “Palestine Resolution”. In January 2024 Solberg liked a Facebook comment – in response to former Canadian Labour Congress executive vice president Donald Lafleur – claiming Hamas, not Israel, was committing genocide and that they wanted to “drive the Jews into the sea”.

During several decades at the Toronto Star Avi’s mom, Michele Landsberg, wrote anti-Palestinian diatribes. In one of her later columns the prominent feminist wrote, “to keep their people primed for endless war, Palestinians have inculcated racist hatred of Jews and of Israel in school texts, official newspaper articles and leaders’ pronouncements, in language so hideous it would have made Goebbels grin.”

Over the past few years Landsberg has reversed course. She’s published op-eds critical of Israel and rallied against genocide.

While he appears to have told the story of his great grandfather being anti-Zionist more often, Avi has discussed his family’s anti-Palestinianism in recent months. Additionally, Avi has openly challenged Israel for two decades ago and should be credited for that. As I noted after the Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East NDP leadership debate on Palestine, Avi has a better position on the subject than the other candidates who were allowed to participate in the debate.

But Avi should go much further in upending Canadian complicity in genocide and apartheid. He should be pressed to call for:

Revoking the charitable status of organizations backing apartheid.

Prosecuting Canadians who fought in Gaza.

Abolishing the anti-Palestinian “terrorism” list.

Applying the Foreign Enlistment Act to organizations “inducing” Canadians to join the Israeli military.

Now is the time for activists to press the matter since after the leadership vote movements will have less leverage over Lewis or whoever becomes NDP leader. Let’s ensure the prospective NDP leader is committed to ending Canadian complicity in genocide.