Avi Lewis' election as NDP leader sparks concern among Canada's Jewish groups
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — As the federal NDP crowns Avi Lewis as their new leader, Canadian Jewish groups are expressing concern.
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Lewis, a self-described “anti-Zionist Jewish person,” handily won on the first ballot during the party’s convention over the weekend, beating out a slate of candidates to succeed former party leader Jagmeet Singh.
Singh resigned nearly a year ago after overseeing one of the worst election outings for the federal NDP — losing 18 seats, including his own in Burnaby Central — and costing his party official party status in the House of Commons.
Lewis election a ‘painful rupture’
A statement from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) called Lewis’ election as leader a “painful rupture” decades in the making.
“This weekend’s convention was a stark reminder of how far the party has drifted from its roots as the voice of Canada’s working class and trade union movement,” the statement read. “Canadian Jews helped build that movement. Today, many are made to feel they no longer belong in it.”
Lewis’ anti-Zionist views have long been a concern to Canada’s Jewish community — particularly in the face of increasingly vocal anti-Israel sentiments among Canada’s left, and the explosion of antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate infecting the country since the Oct. 7, 2023 Palestinian terror attacks, statements frequently excused as “antizionism.”
“When a leader declares that Zionism is inseparable from ethnic cleansing, he is not engaging in legitimate policy critique — he is telling Jewish Canadians that a core part of their identity is illegitimate,” CIJA’s statement continued.
“That is exclusion.”
Invitations for comment to NDP, Lewis for comment went unanswered
Amir Epstein, CEO of Jewish advocacy group Tafsik, told the Sun Lewis’ election as leader signals a “final descent” of the NDP into political irrelevancy .
“While Canadians are drowning under the weight of a housing crisis, soaring grocery prices, unmitigated mass migration and an explosion of violent crime, Lewis’ NDP will remain obsessively focused on a war halfway across the globe,” he said.
“By doubling-down on a leader who prioritizes global hypocrisy over national stability, the NDP has ensured that Lewis will be an even more catastrophic failure than Jagmeet Singh ever was — a remarkably difficult feat that Lewis will undoubtedly achieve.”
The Toronto Sun ‘s invitations to Lewis, via the federal NDP, to comment on this story we not acknowledged as of late Monday afternoon.
B’nai Brith CEO Simon Wolle told the Sun the NDP need to be unequivocal on how they plan to address Canada’s explosion in anti-Jewish hatred.“The NDP must set out, in concrete terms, how it will address antisemitism within its ranks,” he said.
“Anything less from Avi Lewis will be understood as a failure of leadership.”