Scott Brison is out of line

I had a lot of respect for Scott Brison. To a certain extent, I still do. He's a good politician with some good ideas. But his comments in this article are just plain wrong. To suggest that Bob Rae's stand on the Middle East conflict is anti-Israel is ludicrous and insulting.

Bob Rae has always supported Israel's right to exist. He believes firmly, as he states in the article, that this recognition is a "fundamental pillar of Canadian foreign policy." In fact, he left the NDP over four years ago because of Svend Robinson's claim that Israel was a terrorist state.

Bob Rae's position on this issue is perfectly reasonable and makes a lot of sense. He takes the stand, as have virtually all Liberal leaders since Pearson, that Canada's role in these situations is to diffuse crises before they escalate beyond control. This view, in essence, reflects nearly 50 years of Liberal foreign policy. Scott Brison apparently disagrees with this traditional Liberal perspective. So do a few Liberal bloggers, who've called Rae's appeals for peace and disengagement "off base" and representing "the wrong side" of the issue. Perhaps Brison et al. are more comfortable with Harper's view of the world. I really don't know.

What I do know is that Scott Brison should be ashamed of himself. He's using cheap one-liners to score quick political points over an issue that is of grave concern to everyone. If he had an ounce of decency, he'd apologize. And soon.