In a statement, the Green Party announced that Lascaris was removed, along with Lisa Barrett and Colin Griffiths, from its Shadow Cabinet because they publicly criticized the leader of the B.C. Green Party, Andrew Weaver. Weaver was critical of his party for considering a policy endorsing Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS). B'nai Brith Canada had proactively reached out to Weaver as early as July 8, calling on him to publicly oppose the boycott motion.
B'nai Brith also had previously urged Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to dismiss Lascaris as justice critic after it exposed that he advocated on behalf of a terroristwho murdered three Israeli civilians in Jerusalem. Lascaris submitted the anti-Israel boycott motion to the Green Party's Annual Convention in August and was among its main proponents.
Last week, B'nai Brith divulged in a release that Lascaris, while speaking in Toronto at a "town hall meeting" about Green Party policies, suggested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be barred from entering Canada. Lascaris repeatedly referred to Netanyahu as a "fascist" during the meeting. In the release, B'nai Brith CEO Michael Mostyn strongly criticized Lascaris.
"The removal of Lascaris and his colleagues from the Green Party's Shadow Cabinet is a welcome development from a party that has faced months of criticism over what many members of the Jewish community viewed as policies that unfairly targeted them," said Amanda Hohmann, National Director of B'nai Brith's League for Human Rights. "Lascaris has gone on record repeatedly in recent weeks expressing his support for the BDS movement -- which the Canadian Parliament condemned earlier this year -- and his removal is a positive sign that the Green Party is treating this matter with the seriousness that it deserves.
May, who has said that she personally opposes the anti-Israel boycott movement, has called a Special General Meeting of the Green Party in Calgary for December 3-4. B'nai Brith, in the aforementioned release, quoted Lascaris as saying the motion to repeal the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), may be revisited at the December meeting.
For more information contact:
Marty York, Chief Media Officer
marty.york@bnaibrith.ca
or
Tevy Pilc
Staff Writer/Researcher
tpilc@bnaibrith.ca
