Toronto4Palestine@Toronto4P
Read our full statement on the recent harassment campaign against Mississauga Mayor @carolynhparrish for her stance in support of the right to protest Israel’s genocide of Palestinians:
We commend Mayor Carolyn Parrish for displaying immense pertinacity and not being browbeaten and harassed by a foreign-interest group on Canadian soil. Her principled position comes at a time when it’s all too easy to cave in and accept the Zionist status quo of apartheid and ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Recently, statements made by Mayor Parrish have been picked up by the Zionist lobby in Canada, which has stirred up a massive harassment campaign against her for standing up for the rights of activists protesting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.
The Zionist lobby is notorious for cherrypicking facts and reassembling them in a confused ahistorical mishmash. Their greatest concern recently, has been Parrish’s comparison of Yahya Sinwar to Nelson Mandela, claiming Mandela is a “human rights hero” as opposed to Sinwar who is a “terrorist”. The Zionist lobby has thus excoriated Parrish’s claim of “terrorism” being an ideologically charged term, however quite on the contrary, she is objectively accurate with her assertions when she claims “your 'terrorist' and somebody else’s 'terrorist' may be two different things.”
It was the Zionist lobby itself that first took on the mantle to label Nelson Mandela a "terrorist". The Anti Defamation League initially backed the fascist apartheid regime in South Africa, labelling Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress “totalitarian, anti-humane, anti-democratic, anti-Israel, and anti-American.” AIPAC was influential in making sure Mandela remained on the US Terrorism list. Israel itself propped up apartheid South Africa, forming a close military and economic alliance- one that foundered and sank after Mandela became the President.
For years, Israel along with other countries categorized Nelson Mandela as a terrorist due to his resistance efforts, only to later celebrate him as a hero of justice and freedom. The Zionist lobby is completely overlooking the evolution of public perception, ignoring the complexities behind such designations, and underestimating the public’s ability to recognize these historical inconsistencies.
Email the mayor of Mississauga to show your support: mayor@mississauga.ca