Criminalising Hizbullah
Political pressure has induced the Canadian government to ban Hizbullah. Aziza Sami reports from Montreal
The banning of Hizbullah's political wing by Canada on 11 December signalled a U-turn in the policy adopted by Prime Minister Jean Chretien's government towards the resistance group, having previously recognised it as a legitimate player in Lebanese and Middle East politics. Canada effectively banned Hizbullah's military wing in December 2001 with the issuing of anti-terrorism legislation. It did, however, continue to recognise the party's political and charitable arm.
The government's action came a week after press reports carried remarks allegedly made by Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in early December. The Washington Times reported that Nasrallah had urged his supporters to engage in a "global suicide bombing campaign" during a rally held in Lebanon's Beqaa' Valley. "Martyrdom operations and suicide bombings should be exported worldwide; don't be shy about it", Nasrallah had allegedly said.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) televised conflicting official statements as to why Hizbullah was actually banned by the Canadian government. Solicitor General Wayne Easton told reporters that the alleged statement had "nothing to do" with the government's decision, which was based on "intelligence reports" that Hizbullah is using Canada as a terrorist base. A visibly vexed Foreign Minister Bill Graham, on the other hand, told reporters that Nasrallah's alleged statement was "definitely" a factor in the decision.
The catch is that there is no proof that Nasrallah ever made the remarks. Hizbullah officially denied that Nasrallah had made any such statement, and on 12 December CBC news anchor Peter Mansbridge broke the news that no record of the alleged statement actually existed in any media outlet -- neither those belonging to Hizbullah or any Western ones.
The Washington Times subsequently admitted that it did not have any record of the alleged statement, and that it is currently "investigating" the matter. A freelance reporter had obtained the quote second-hand from Walid Phares, a US-based Lebanese professor of political science. The newspaper said that Phares did not return calls requesting clarification of the matter.
The quote, however, had already been relayed extensively by the Canadian press, which is 85 per cent owned by the Jewish magnate Israel Asper, and gave fuel to a new campaign against the government's recognition of Hizbullah.
Since the anti-terrorism act was issued a year ago, the Canadian Jewish lobby and main opposition party, the Canadian Alliance, have been waging a vigorous campaign to have Hizbullah added to Canada's list of terrorist groups.
The Liberal government maintained its position that it recognises Hizbullah because it is a legitimate political party (some of its members were elected to parliament) that is recognised by the Lebanese state. Foreign Minister Graham has repeatedly said that Hizbullah is a political player with a significant role in the Lebanese social and political arenas. That approach towards Hizbullah was part of the Canadian government's purported strategy of engaging more positively in the Middle East as well as continuing its aid, peace-keeping and reconstruction efforts in southern Lebanon.
However, Jewish groups such as B'nai Brith Canada and the Canadian Jewish Congress reiterated allegations previously made by Israel that Hizbullah engages in terrorist acts abroad.
In November, Alliance MP Jason Kenney told the House of Commons that Hizbullah was linked to the recent terrorist bombings against Israeli tourists in Kenya. He said that four Canadian synagogues are under threat of bombing by "hate groups like Hizbullah", and that the US considers Canada "a chink in their armour" in the battle against terrorism.
Also last month, B'nai Brith Canada announced that it had filed a petition with a federal court demanding that the government add Hizbullah to its list of banned terrorist groups and freeze the assets of its political and charitable wing, as it had previously done with its military wing.
In a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien dated 2 December 2002, Keith Landy, the national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, urged that Hizbullah be added to "the criminally banned terrorist groups under the new terrorist legislation". He added, "We urge the listing of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the Tanzim faction of Fatah, and all other terrorist organisations whose self-avowed raison d'être is the destruction of Israel."
Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) has been building a case to prove that Hizbullah has been using Canada as a base for procuring materials and planning attacks against targets abroad and, potentially, in Canada and the US.
Solicitor General Wayne Easton said Hizbullah has been raising "large sums" in Canada, "which have not gone to charitable work". He said CSIS was compiling a dossier on Hizbullah and other groups "with an eye to banning them". Intelligence officials say that the process was "long-winded and arduous", undertaken with the aim of presenting a full-proof case, since the decision to ban Hizbullah or other groups can be challenged in Canadian courts under the Charter of Rights. Upon a CSIS recommendation, the cabinet can designate a group as being a terrorist organisation and thereby criminalise supporting them.
CSIS's actions are in line with the US's strategy towards Hizbullah. The US has claimed that Hizbullah cells have operated in Canada since 1993. Apart from reports which date to that time activities by Hizbullah operatives in obtaining materials to be used in terrorist attacks, no case has been formally made, nor any firm evidence presented with respect to a Hizbullah presence in North America.
While both Hizbullah and the Lebanese government protested last week's move, Foreign Minister Graham brushed aside the suggestion that it could harm Canada's relations with Lebanon and the Arab world, saying that the earlier banning of Hizbullah's military wing had not had such an impact.
Canadian Arabs, however, maintain that the Canadian government must show that it is even-handed by also banning fund-raising activities by Canada's Jewish National Front, B'nai Brith Canada and other Jewish groups for Israeli settlements in the Palestinian occupied territories.
Arab Canadian organisations are also preparing to file a suit against the government, contesting the legality of this latest ban.
Mazen Chou'aib, the executive director of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations expressed concerns that the step will stigmatise Canadians of Arab and Muslim background, and make them feel like "criminals or second-class citizens".
The step also brings under scrutiny any Canadian citizen who relays funds to charitable organisations in Lebanon or who has any links to Hizbullah, making the latter punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
