Though actions speak louder than words, certain times call for a perfect confluence of both. The U.S. and Canada may say the right things about Israel and anti-Semitism, but under Prime Minister Stephen Harper Canada has positioned itself to teach the Obama administration--and the rest of the world--what it truly means to learn the lessons of "Never Again."
Here is what Harper, whose government has worked to improve its relations with Israel more each year, said last month in a speech on the issue: "There are, after all, a lot more votes, a lot more, in being anti-Israeli than in taking a stand. But, as long as I am Prime Minister, whether it is at the U.N. or the Francophonie or anywhere else, Canada will take that stand, whatever the cost. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because history shows us, and the ideology of the anti-Israeli mob tells us all too well, that those who threaten the existence of the Jewish people are, in the longer term, a threat to all of us."
I specifically included Harper's quote about the United Nations for a reason, and it's not just because Canada has become Israel's loudest defender at the U.N. It also highlights the difference between Harper's steadfastness and the Obama administration's hypocrisy.
First, we have to go back to 2007, before Obama's ascent to the presidency. A vote was about to take place to select the next U.N. secretary-general, and the Bush administration was supporting South Korea's Ban Ki-moon. But a group of former Clinton administration officials, led by Al Gore, were maneuvering behind the scenes to attempt to install Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim--the current opposition leader who is on trial for sodomy. It didn't happen (obviously), but it warranted more attention than it received, considering Anwar was an agent of Saudi Wahhabist outreach with close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Anwar has
since distinguished himself as a classic anti-Semite as well, charging that there are "Israeli intelligence personnel in the Police IT unit," that Prime Minister Najib Razak's "Jewish-controlled" PR firm was secretly manipulating Malaysia's leadership, and the like. Yet the Obama administration has thrown its support behind Anwar, even dispatching Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Malaysia to
press the Malaysian government on Anwar's behalf.
And the administration cannot claim ignorance on the issue, either. The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) noted for the record in a 2003 affidavit that Anwar was listed as a trustee of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) on federal tax forms going back at least to 1982. WAMY was founded half a century ago by the Saudis to spread Wahhabism around the world. "The Kingdom provides us with a supportive environment that allows us to work openly within the society to collect funds and spread activities," according to WAMY trustee Abdul Wahab Noorwali. "It also provides us with protection abroad through Saudi embassies and consulates, in addition to financial support."
That quote was given by the Investigative Project on Terrorism's Matthew Epstein in testimony to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security in September 2003. Again, this information has all been given to the U.S. government on the record.
And which tax forms showed Anwar to be a WAMY trustee in the first place? Those of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a Muslim Brotherhood think tank in Virginia of which Anwar is a co-founder. Whatever American officials knew of the IIIT before September 2004 (most likely, a lot), all the blanks were filled in and the dots connected by Douglas Farah and John Mintz in the Washington Post.
Though in the wake of 9/11 the IIIT denied any support for terrorism or terrorist groups, Farah and Mintz reported in 2004, "an IIIT book called 'Violence,' published in 2001, said Israel is a 'foreign usurper' that must be confronted with 'fear, terror and lack of security.' The book, by IIIT official AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, says, 'Fighting is a duty of the oppressed people.' Palestinian fighters must choose their targets 'whether the targets are civilian or military,' it said, adding that any such attacks should not be 'excessive.' The book said such attacks are justified acts of a liberation struggle, not terrorism."
The IIIT, not surprisingly, has been under investigation for its ties to terrorist groups since 2002.
Regardless of when officials knew this information, it all became public well before the Obama administration entered office. So why, then, is our State Department taking up the cause of Anwar Ibrahim?
One answer is the perception that Anwar is a persecuted Muslim. After a falling out with his party leadership in the late 1990s, Anwar was jailed for corruption and then sodomy. Western leaders always believed the charges to be fraudulent, and were willing to say as much in public. But they never marshaled any evidence on Anwar's behalf--they simply pitched a diplomatic fit. And Anwar was--long before those charges--an Islamist and a clear threat to moderate Muslims and the West.
No matter. Everything is out in the open now, and was so before Obama stepped foot in the Oval Office. The president and Secretary Clinton may both say the right things about anti-Semitism, but they are enabling one of the world's foremost practitioners of it.
"We are free citizens, but also the elected representatives of free peoples," Harper said in that speech. "We have a solemn duty to defend the vulnerable, to challenge the aggressor, to protect and promote human dignity, at home and abroad. None of us knows whether we would choose to do good, in the extreme circumstances of the Righteous. But we do know there are those today who would choose to do evil, if they are so permitted."
Anwar Ibrahim chooses evil, and, contra Secretary Clinton, the West has a responsibility to challenge him, not to coddle him.
Seth Mandel is a foreign affairs writer based in Washington, DC. Seth can be reached through twitter at: @sethamandel. 
