This is the exchange I had with Elizabeth May on the situation in Gaza. Im awaiting for the other party leaders responses. Greetings Elizabeth: Please tell me GP president has resigned or has been asked to resign immediately. And I’d also like a statement from the party on the Gaza genocide. As you know Harper, JT and Mulcair are all on the side of Israel and therefore supporting this outrageous action. Where do the Greens stand – today. Many thanks Elizabeth – I know it’s a tough job you have and I continue to applaud your efforts. ______________________________________ Dear Ms. Danley, Thank you for writing about Paul Estrin’s blogpost on the Green Party website. Though Mr. Estrin is the president of the Green Party of Canada and this appeared on the Green Party website, I want to make it very clear that his post reflects neither my position nor that of the Green Party of Canada. The blogs on the Green Party website are neither monitored nor censored. The Green Party is a grassroots party. Any member can post a blog. It was a mistake for Mr. Estrin to sign the original post with his title and he has since removed it. His post reflects his personal opinion only. The role of the president is responsible for the governance of the party; it is not to speak for the party on policy. My position and that of the party is clear. At the recent national convention in Fredericton, we passed the following emergency resolution: Be it resolved that the GPC urges the immediate cessation of hostilities between Israel and Palestine. The GPC will adopt a posture of engaged neutrality, opening all available diplomatic avenues in both Palestine and Israel to press for a peaceful resolution to the conflict consistent with the GPC’s commitment to justice and custom of speaking truth to power. The Green Party is not a dictatorship. It is not for me to interfere or comment about removing the elected president of the party. There are internal democratic processes to address issues with party leadership. However, I must express my disagreement with both the tone and the substance of Mr. Estrin’s blogpost. As I made clear in my keynote address at the convention, Israeli children and Palestinian children have an equal right to be free of bombardment. While I, of course, condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization for sending rockets into Israel, the Israeli retaliation and the invasion of Gaza violates international law and humanitarian norms. The death and destruction in a place that was already experiencing a humanitarian crisis is simply unjustifiable. Any Prime Minister of Canada worth his or her salt would say, as a friend and ally of Israel, “you’ve gone too far - you must move to peace talks.” Thank you again for writing. Sincerely, Elizabeth May _________________________________________ Dear Elizabeth: Thank you for your prompt response. While I appreciate the position you are in and that the party is a grass roots party, there are times when neutrality is a complicit stance - and IMO this is one of them. To attempt to lump the deaths together of the children from both sides is to fail the massacre of the Palestinian children and people at the most basic level. I am exceptionally sorry this is the neutral stance the Party has decided to take. Sincerely, Sharon Danley
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 16:10:40 +0000
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