Independent Jewish Voices - Halifax statement on Tammy Jakeman compelled to leave campaign for NDP in Eastern Passage
IJV - Halifax stands in full support of former NS NDP candidate Tammy Jakeman, who was running in the Nova Scotia provincial election in the Eastern Passage riding and has now left the campaign. We condemn the shameful smear campaign launched against her by the Atlantic Jewish Council (AJC) and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).
CIJA accused Jakeman of antisemitism for posts critical of Israel's assault on Gaza made on X (a.k.a. tweets) over the past year, a year in which the International Court of Justice itself has called Israel’s assault on Gaza a plausible genocide.
"Tammy has a huge heart and a long track record of fighting for marginalized people, and nothing she wrote was remotely antisemitic," said Ben Sichel on behalf of IJV. "It is infuriating but not surprising that the AJC and CIJA would team up with Tim Houston's Conservatives to deflect attention both from legitimate criticism of Israel, and Tim Houston's recent dog-whistle attacks on immigrants and refugees."
IJV-Halifax is also extremely disappointed that the NS NDP did not fully, unreservedly and loudly defend Jakeman from these false accusations.
Criticism of Israel is not antisemitism. We know that many in the NDP understand this and speak out frequently in support of Palestinians living under Israel's brutal regime. While antisemitism is a real problem, and growing commensurate with other forms of bigotry and white supremacy, it is incumbent upon us as Jews to separate real instances of antisemitism from bad-faith, politically motivated attacks such as that made by CIJA and the AJC.
Independent Jewish Voices Is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across the country, including Halifax.
Through many election campaigns, federal, provincial and municipal, “establishment” Jewish organizations like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs have followed a similar modus operandi. Like trolls, these organizations scour the internet for any criticism of Israel by candidates and sitting legislators and then feed bogus accusations of antisemitism to the media and rival political parties. Political candidates and politicians targeted this way include Sara Jama, Syed Hyder Ali, Hans Marotte, Jerry Natanine, Sana Hassainia, Craig Sauve, Shameela Shakeel, and Nova Scotia’s Rana Zaman and Morgan Wheeldon, among others.
For more information, contact Ben Sichel at 902.817.3826 or bsichel@gmail.com