An official with B'nai Brith Canada resigned after statements he made on The Michael Coren Show that Israel's use of state-sponsored terrorism is justified to protect its citizens.
Adam Aptowitzer, former Ontario chairman of B'nai Brith Institute for International Affairs, apologized for the comments, and the organization announced yesterday it had accepted his resignation.
His remarks were condemned by Muslim groups, including the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Canadian Arab Federation and the National Council on Arab Relations.
The groups said Mr. Aptowitzer's apparent endorsement of terrorism did not receive the same degree of scrutiny by the news media as Mohamed Elmasry's controversial statement on the same program that all Israeli citizens over 18 are fair targets for Palestinian suicide bombers. Mr. Elmasry, president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, later apologized for his comments, but his organization did not accept his offer to resign.
Mr. Elmasry and Mr. Aptowitzer were panelists, along with Irfan Syed, a Muslim lawyer, and Peter Merrifield, a terrorism and security consultant, on the Oct. 12 Michael Coren Show, broadcast by the Crossroads Television System. In a heated debate, they discussed the topic What is a Terrorist?
Faisal Joseph, the CIC's national legal counsel, said yesterday that Mr. Elmasry's and Mr. Aptowitzer's comments were divisive. "Let there be no misunderstanding. Dr. Elmasry's and Mr. Aptowitzer's comments were totally inappropriate and offensive to many Canadians, both Muslims and non-Muslims.
"It was one of the first times that a national Jewish organization's representatives not only admitted that Israel uses terrorism against innocent Palestinian civilians but actually tried to justify it as an ethical use of terrorism," Mr. Joseph said.
"Terror is an option to be used by states in order to prevent deaths of their own citizens and of others," Mr. Aptowitzer said.
B'nai Brith said in a statement: "[We]reiterate our position that the measures Israel is forced to take to protect itself against ongoing Palestinian terrorist attacks against its civilians constitute legitimate self-defence, and not 'state terrorism.' "