Marit Stiles must apologize to Sara Jama and welcome her back into the caucus immediately, or consider offering her resignation. This is not going to go away.
I don’t believe that this act was Marit herself. I feel that there had to be staff advisors involved. For some time i have been critical of the conservatism of the directions taken by the party. I feel these people, not Sara, should be removed and replaced by real progressives. I would even offer my services.
I do not say this likely because i just watched a moving zoom meeting criticizing Marit for an obvious Judgemental mistake. Hopefully it will be corrected. I heard beautiful expressions from past ONDP members praising her for a history of social justice and activism while roundly criticizing her for this terrible act.
If Ford can apologize for the Greenbelt fiasco she can apologize to Sara Jama and hopefully heal the wound with what is quickly becoming a World wide and Canadian movement, especially the youth, to save Gaza. Apparently a 2 billion hashtag “Save Gaza” is circulating. The World is increasingly standing with Gaza in their fight for survival.
Marit can reasonably make an admission that her focus has been too exclusively on the many issues facing Ontario and Canada without appreciating the gravity of what is going on in Gaza. She can admit, that she, like many Canadians. she did not grasp a full understanding of the crisis that exists in Palestine.
Marit cannot afford, in any way, to align the Ontario New Democratic Party with Ford, the Conservatives and the right wing politics of blindly aligning Canada in an unjust support of Israel. She cannot be aligned with Trudeau’s declaration of unqualified support for Israel. To do so is to renounce all that the NDP, at one time, so valiantly stood for. Think of Tommy Douglas renouncing Trudeau’s implementation of the War Measure Act that removed the civil rights of Quebecors.
Yesterday I listened to and celebrated the passing of the UN General Assembly resolution calling for a cease fire in Gaza and was shaken by Canada’s Bob Rae voicing and voting against it. I have never heard Canada harshly dressed down and criticized for losing its way in front of the world. Bob Rae disgraced himself and our country with his comments.
Marit must do better.
