Back in 2016, I posted how a BDS group called Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) filmed themselves defacing Israeli products, which I believed may have fallen foul of Canadian criminal law. My post, in turn, triggered a petition to revoke the charitable status of CJPME. Then, almost two years later, I noticed another CJPME video encouraging people to break the law by defacing store products.
The “star” of these videos was a BDS-hole called Miranda Christina Gallo. It turns out she’s the New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate for the Montreal riding of Saint-Laurent.
Miranda Gallo is social justice activist and human rights advocate, who fought for years for the rights of marginalized communities around the world, in collaboration with several national and international NGOs. More recently, she’s been working with the Montreal Muslim community to fight Islamophobia and for a not-for-profit organization in Saint-Laurent that advocates for human rights in the Middle East.
A proud feminist, Miranda has a BA in Islamic and Middle East Studies and a Diploma in Indigenous Policy and Administration. She knows that all Canadians benefit when we protect our democracy and make sure that the needs of the super-rich are not the only ones to be answered in Ottawa.
Miranda lives in Saint-Laurent, a community she loves for its diversity. She is ready to stand up for ordinary people and is fighting to make life more affordable for families and seniors, with improved healthcare and pharmacare, more housing that’s affordable, access to clean air and water and free post-secondary tuition. She is committed to continuing her fight against Islamophobia, so that everyone can live in dignity.
Her new campaign slogan should be Fighting Islamophobia through Antisemitism!
Her candidacy has caught the attention of B’nai Brith Canada.
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, B’nai Brith reached out to the NDP to relay its concerns and demand that Gallo be dropped as its candidate. On Thursday, Sept. 19, the NDP responded to B’nai Brith, declining to drop Gallo as a candidate, adding that the NDP’s policy is “to work towards a just and lasting two-state solution between Israel and Palestine that respects human rights and international law.” The Party also said that Gallo was made aware of this policy and has agreed to support it.
Ironically, in contrast to the views promoted by Gallo and her employers at CJPME, the federal NDP rejected the BDS Movement at its national convention in February of 2018.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed CJPME’s then-Chair in September of last year, after he had accused Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Michael Levitt of being “more devoted to Israel than to their own Prime Minister and their own colleagues in the Liberal caucus.” Singh tweeted in response: “Antisemitism has no place in Canada.” Hélène Laverdière, then serving as NDP MP for the neighbouring riding of Laurier–Sainte-Marie, added: “I condemn the anti-semitic comments directed against them.” CJPME, for its part, declined to apologize to the Jewish MPs for the comments of its then-Chair. Gallo was already a CJPME employee at that time.
“Someone who thinks it’s okay to vandalize store products based on the origin of their producer has no role as a candidate for a major Canadian political party,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada. “Not only do Ms. Gallo’s actions demonstrate her anti-Israel bigotry, but they also reveal a profound disrespect for the rule of law.”
Canadians may relay their concerns to the NDP and urge the party to immediately drop Gallo as a candidate. You can email Jagmeet Singh, Leader of the NDP, at [email protected] and the President of the NDP, Mathieu Vick, at [email protected].
If you are in Canada, please contact the NDP about their shameful candidate’s misdeeds. Feel free to also let people know about them on her candidate Facebook page.
