The National Post reports:
David Suzuki and a Vancouver MLA [member of the British Columbia legislative assembly] have withdrawn their endorsement of a group sponsoring George Galloway’s upcoming talk in Vancouver, just as the pastor of the church rented for the event voices concerns the controversial former British MP will “pour rhetorical oil on the fire.”
Rev. Gary Paterson, of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church, is distancing his church from the talk, and said he will soon release a statement clarifying that the event is not a church function. Mr. Galloway was previously banned from entering Canada but is currently on a speaking tour.
“We rented the space to [StopWar.ca],” Rev. Paterson said, referring to the group that sponsored Monday’s event. “We didn’t know that George Galloway would be the speaker, and we have some concerns about that … [He] has a reputation for inflaming emotions.”
Sarina Rehal, a coordinator for the Canadian Jewish Congress, said she received a call from Rev. Paterson earlier this week assuring the congress that he was unaware of Mr. Galloway’s talk.
Meantime, a campaign called StopStopWar.ca, originating out of the University of British Columbia, has unleashed dozens of emails to the people and organizations listed as endorsers of StopWar.ca. The StopWar.ca website lists 174 endorsing member organizations, some of which apparently no longer exist.
Rael Katz, president of the university’s Israel Awareness Club and who is spearheading the campaign, said he believes many of those listed as endorsing members are either unaware their name is tied to StopWar.ca or are unaware of Mr. Galloway’s donation to Hamas, the Palestinian entity deemed by Ottawa to be a terrorist group.
“I believe that these good people, with good intentions, just need to be made aware of what their name is being used for,” said Mr. Katz, adding that, by his count, the list of endorsers has been reduced by eight since the campaign launched on Sunday.
He said Vancouver MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, for example, “had no idea that this was what his name was being used for,” and said the NDP politician has asked StopWar.ca to remove his name from its list.
(Hat tip: Lynne T)
