HUNTINGDON, Que. – A small-town Quebec mayor is under fire for anti-Israel comments.
Mayor Stephane Gendron, who is also a television host, said during a broadcast that Israel is an apartheid state that doesn’t deserve to exist.
Gendron made the comments on Face-a-Face, a daily television talk show he co-hosts on the V-Tele, a Quebec network. In the short clip from Dec. 27, Gendron pays tribute to Quebec politician Amir Khadir for his boycott of a Montreal shoe store that sells wares made in Israel.
He calls Israel an “apartheid state,” likening such modern-day boycotts to the successful 1980s pressure campaign against the now-collapsed South African apartheid regime.
“Unfortunately, Israel has not yet collapsed,” Gendron said.
“Because products being made in Israel, on land stolen from Palestinians, who are kept walled in by an apartheid regime where they are cut off, it’s very serious.
“And a country like that does not deserve to exist.”
It’s not the first time he’s been criticized for his opinions on the Jewish state, but this time the protests have landed on his doorstep.
Members of the Jewish Defence League group picketed in front of Huntingdon’s city hall Thursday, demanding Gendron step down as mayor or be relieved of his duties.
A spokesman for the defence league called the remarks very “dangerous, inflammatory and un-Canadian.”
League spokesman Meir Weinstein said about 20 people protested on Thursday and the group intends to keep up the pressure for Gendron to step down.
“The community is very shocked that a mayor would make such remarks,” said Weinstein. “This isn’t the first time he’s made remarks against Israel and the Jewish people.”
Also Thursday, HonestReporting Canada and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs weighed in with an open letter calling on the television network to address the issue.
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, an industry watchdog, confirms it has received a handful of complaints stemming from the December broadcast and the case is still open.
Gendron, 44, has been mayor of the tiny town near the Quebec-New York border since 2003, where he has been reportedly courted by certain provincial and federal parties and has gained a reputation for being outspoken.
He was once removed from television by a new defunct network for making controversial comments that resulted in complaints.
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