Toronto Star : Ignatieff remark costs him top aide

Ignatieff remark costs him top aide

by SEAN GORDON | QUEBEC BUREAU CHIEF | October 12, 2006

MONTREAL — The Toronto co-chair of Liberal leadership front-runner Michael Ignatieff's campaign has abruptly quit after the candidate labelled Israel's summer bombing of the Lebanese town of Qana a "war crime."

Thornhill MP Susan Kadis, a former Liberal GTA caucus chair, issued a statement castigating Ignatieff and indicating she could no longer support him through what has burgeoned into a political furor.

"Michael is an intelligent person and I would think that he would have a better handle on the Middle East given his years of experience on human rights and international law," Kadis said, adding, "I find his comments very troubling given the fact that the Israeli response came in light of the unprovoked brazen kidnappings by Hezbollah of Israeli soldiers."

Ignatieff's comments, made on a French-language Radio-Canada show this past Sunday, mark the second time he has faced embarrassing questions over the incidents at Qana.

In an interview with the Star in August, Ignatieff suggested the civilian deaths in the town were the by-product of a "dirty war" and that he was "not losing sleep" over the attack. Those comments were poorly received, especially in Quebec, where Ignatieff was painted as unfeeling, and he later acknowledged he had erred in making them.

The latest controversy involves a question asked during Ignatieff's 20-minute appearance on Tout le monde en parle, Quebec's top-rated talk show, where he was asked to explain his comments from last August.

"I demonstrated a lack of compassion, it was a mistake. And when you make a mistake like that, you have to admit it. And I admit it, because I was a human rights professor, and I'm a professor of the laws of war, and what happened at Qana was a war crime. I should have said that, it's clear," Ignatieff said.

The July 30 incident is considered a war crime in the Arab world, a notion that Israel stoutly disputes.

At a news conference in his Etobicoke-Lakeshore constituency office yesterday, Ignatieff told reporters Kadis is a "personal friend and valued caucus colleague," adding that "her decision causes me pain, but I understand and respect it."

It's not yet clear what effect his latest comments will have on the leadership race he currently leads, and which won't be decided until the first weekend in December.

Candidates will take part in the final leadership debate on Sunday in Toronto.

Leadership rival Bob Rae said he was surprised by Ignatieff's sortie, and said it constituted "a bit of a swing" from his previous position, which supported Israel's military response to Hezbollah attacks last summer.

"I don't think they were calculated comments, but now Michael will have to consider them. It's not wise to rush to judgment ... as Michael well knows the term `war crime' is bound to stir strong reactions," said Rae, who currently sits second behind Ignatieff, his former university roommate, in terms of committed delegates.

Rae wouldn't characterize the Qana bombing as a war crime, simply calling it a "terrible tragedy," and adding he will leave it to a civilian inquiry to draw the appropriate conclusions.

Officials from other campaigns expressed similar sentiments, and while the public reactions will likely be as even-handed as Rae's, it's clear Ignatieff's rivals see an opportunity to claw into his support.

Ignatieff's most recent statements have also infuriated several prominent Jewish groups, which called on him to immediately withdraw the contention.

The Canada-Israel Committee sent a toughly worded letter to Ignatieff to "express profound concern" over the comments that were "explicitly anchored in your expertise in international law." The group requested a clarification in both official languages, and added "should you choose to offer such a clarification, we will undertake to circulate it widely within the pro-Israel community. Should you choose not to issue a statement, we would feel obliged to convey that message to our constituency as well."

Ignatieff sought to stem the burgeoning crisis by issuing a clarification and then holding the news conference to further explain his position.

In both instances, the former Harvard human rights scholar said he has been "a lifelong friend of Israel" and tried to nuance his position by saying he strongly supports Israel's right to self-defence.

"I believe that war crimes were committed in the war in Lebanon, I don't think there's any question about it, and war crimes were visited on Israeli civilians and they were visited on Lebanese civilians," he told the news conference.

"We've got to be determined as Canadians to do whatever we can to make sure that military solutions are not sought in this conflict because the consequences are just more civilian death."

Those comments did little to mollify the Canada-Israel Committee. An official with the group told the Star that it did not consider his explanation sufficient.

"While we're gratified that Mr. Ignatieff recognizes and extends support for Israel, a democratic state, in any conflict with what he calls a terrorist militia ... his statement simply does not address the issue that we raised, namely that of war crimes," said Shimon Fogel, the group's national executive director.

The Israel Defence Forces conducted an internal inquiry that found a pair of bombs were dropped on the town in error, although it pointed out residents in the area had been forewarned of air raids.

"The IDF operated according to information that the building was not inhabited by civilians and was being used as a hiding place for terrorists," the report read. "Had the information indicated that civilians were present in the building the attack would not have been carried out."

With files from Linda Diebel and Canadian Press