Avi Lewis, (left) celebrates his victory at NDP leadership convention with NDP Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. Lewis’ victory reflects a continuation of the slow transition in the NDP from its historic pro-Israel position to one challenging the Zionist narrative. It has alarmed the Israel lobby. Read more.

On Sunday March 29th, the NDP elected Avi Lewis as its new leader. The election of Lewis caps a decades long evolution of the federal NDP away from Zionism and from support for Israel. Lewis has lots of experience and an impressive CV, which even the National Post had to recognize in its article on him after his election.

Historically, NDP leaders have expressed mixed views on Zionism and Israel. The Canadian Jewish News notes that David Lewis (the grandfather of Avi Lewis) “was a secular, Russian-born Jew with roots in the socialist Bundist movement, which opposed the Zionist ideal of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.” Tommy Douglas, on the other hand, was an ardent Zionist, comparing Israel to “a light set upon a hill – the light of democracy in a night of darkness.” The NDP and the Israeli Labour parties were both members of the “Socialist International”, a world wide organization of mostly social democratic parties.

The NDP position reflected a mix of support for Israel and concern for Palestinian rights, but gradually moving in the direction of the latter.

The NDP finally broke with Israel’s Labour party and the Socialist International in 2005 over a motion at the NDP convention calling for a boycott of Israel and for sanctions similar to those imposed on apartheid South Africa.

For the last two decades, the NDP has officially supported a “liberal zionist” position – calling for support for an Israeli state alongside a Palestinian one. But it has gone back and forth on its emphasis on Palestinian rights. Thomas Mulcair, for example was more pro-Israel than his immediate predecessor Jack Layton, while Mulcair’s successor, Jagmeet Singh, was seen as more balanced in approach.

The NDP federal caucus in Ottawa has often included a mix of both pro-Palestinian members like Libby Davies, and pro-Israel members like Randall Garrison, who was a member of the Canada-Israel Parliamentary committee.

Avi Lewis election reflects a continuing evolution away from ambivalence about Israel, toward a principled critique of it.

He has used terms like “genocide” and “apartheid” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, and has advocated for an arms embargo on Israel. Lewis has also criticized the IHRA definition of antisemitism, labeling B’nai Brith as a “hard-right Zionist outfit. Lewis made Palestine a key element of his campaign, using his victory speech to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the illegal US-Israeli war on Iran.

The lobby is uncomfortable – but doesn’t know what to do about it

The pro-Palestinian evolution of the NDP and the election of Lewis appears to be of particular concern to the pro-Israel lobby, not only because of Lewis’ forthright criticisms of Israel, but also because, as a Jew, it is more difficult to accuse him of antisemitism.

Instead, CIJA has accused the NDP itself of antisemitism!! “Today, the New Democratic Party elected Avi Lewis as its leader. We are left with a deep sense of sadness“, said CIJA in its statement after his election. “NDP spaces are becoming unsafe for Jewish and all Canadians with mainstream views.”

That would strike most as a bit over the top – and also not accurate.

A more thoughtful view is that the NDP is reflecting the shifting views of “mainstream Canadians”. Over the last four decades, sympathy for the Palestinians has quadrupled, while sympathy for the Israelis has dropped in half. Currently, more than twice as many Canadians sympathise with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. So Avi Lewis and the NDP seem to be more aligned with Canadian views than CIJA – which may explain the latter’s frantic response.

As a mainstream political party, however, the NDP’s membership reflects different orientations toward the Israel/Palestine issue. Lewis will have to manage a debate inside his party, as well as outside it. But he has tapped into the rising public sympathy for the Palesinians, and it will be hard to tag him with “antisemitism”.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine is the weekly newsletter of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion about Canada’s response to the Israel/Palestine issue. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment. To get on our regular mailing list or for more information write: ofip.chair@gmail.com