Banning British MP a clumsy, dangerous move
EYAD BABA/AP FILE PHOTO British MP George Galloway flashes a victory sign on March 9, 2009 after his aid caravan entered Gaza from Egypt.
Jason Kenney has gone over the edge. The increasingly erratic immigration minister made headlines last week when, in a fit of pique, he cut off funding to an Arab organization that helps newcomers learn English. Now, Kenney has banned British MP George Galloway from entering Canada, on the spurious grounds that he supports Middle East terrorism.
It’s a clumsy move, designed presumably to bolster the Conservative government’s support among voters who ardently back Israel.
But in a roundabout way it does illustrate how absurdly broad Canada’s new anti-terror laws are and how dangerous they can be in the wrong hands.
Galloway’s apparent crime was to deliver humanitarian aid last week to Gaza’s Hamas government, which Canada deems a terrorist organization. But the 54-year-old Scottish MP’s real sin was that he couldn’t resist rubbing it in. Others have taken aid into Hamas-controlled Gaza, including a delegation of Canadians and Americans who crossed into the Palestinian territory on March 8.
As well, other Western politicians talk to Hamas. Last weekend, another British MP met the organization’s top leader.
But the nattily dressed Galloway, known at home as Gorgeous George, is a relentless showboat, famous in his own country for appearing in a reality television show.
He praises Hamas extravagantly, calling on the West to recognize it as the legitimately elected government of Gaza. He castigates countries like Canada that are trying to isolate Hamas as the real criminals of the piece.
Expelled from the ruling Labour Party in 2003 for opposing the invasion of Iraq, he now sits in Britain’s parliament as the sole member of Respect, an anti-war grouping.
When London’s Daily Telegraph accused him of taking rake-offs from Saddam Hussein, Galloway famously sued and won.
In short, he’s egotistical, opinionated and – on the question of whether the West should deal with Hamas – probably correct.
But he’s not by any stretch of the imagination a danger to this country. Even Kenney must recognize that.
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Tags: George Galloway, Jason Kenney
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