globeandmail.com, Tuesday, January 8, 2002

By PAUL ADAMS
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
BREAKING NEWS

Jerusalem: An influential group of Canadian Liberal MPs, led by Deputy Prime Minister Herb Gray, is lending its support to Israel by attending a conference of Jewish politicians organized by the Israeli government.

More than 50 legislators from Europe, the Americas and South Africa are attending the four-day meeting in Jerusalem, sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"I made the decision [to come] because I am a Jew," said Anita Neville, a rookie Liberal MP from Winnipeg. "I have a large Jewish community in my riding, and I care deeply about the nature of the relationship between Canada and Israel."

Five of Canada's six Jewish MPs are attending, along with two Liberal senators. Although the United States has a larger delegation, Canada is the only country to be represented by two senior ministers, Mr. Gray and Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan.

Ms. Caplan said she sees no problem wearing "two hats," one as a Canadian minister and another as a supporter of Israel. "It's very easy," she said. "As a member of Parliament [from Thornhill] who represents a significant Jewish community, and a Jew, I have an interest in understanding what is happening here, and you can't do that from afar."

In the past, Canada has been a firm supporter of Israel's right to exist, but has also been critical of some of its tactics, such as its policy of assassinating suspected Palestinian terrorists.

Israel and the Palestinians wage a daily propaganda battle for international support, using every incident on the ground as ammunition. Some of the conference delegates criticized the Israeli government Monday for not doing enough to exploit the public-relations value of its seizure last week of a weapons-laden ship in the Red Sea.

All of the visiting politicians appear to be supporters of Israel and sympathetic to its campaign against Palestinian terrorist attacks. However, like Israelis themselves, they are divided over almost everything else.

Some delegates are hard-line Israeli defenders. "For the first time in 2000 years, the Jews are able to defend themselves," said Ben Briscoe, an Irish MP. "The time for kicking Jewish ass is over."

However, other delegates criticized some of the Israeli government's harsh policies toward Palestinians.

Irwin Cotler, an MP from Montreal and a human-rights lawyer, describes himself as a "critical friend" of both sides. "Israel has to be held accountable" for human-rights abuses against Palestinians, he said. But he complained that the world community has sometimes been selective in its criticisms of Israel.

The Israelis offered all participants five nights of free hotel accommodation during the conference but asked $900 (U.S.) for each staff member they brought with them. It was not clear Monday night whether the Canadian MPs accepted that offer, or whether they are billing the Canadian government for other travel costs.

Ms. Caplan's press secretary, Derik Hodgson, said the Canadian government is paying her expenses because she considers the trip official business. He said he could not speak for the other politicians.

Mr. Gray's press secretary, Chantal Reinert, said she could not immediately determine who is picking up his bills. "They're invited to participate in this conference, so it's not the Canadian government that is sending a delegation of MPs to participate per se," she said.

Tanis Gilbert, executive assistant to Mr. Cotler, said his air fare was paid by the organizers of an academic meeting to which he is speaking on the same trip. He is a law professor on leave from McGill University.

With a report from John Saunders