Liberals pressed to ban Hezbollah fundraising Government under fire from opposition

Liberals pressed to ban Hezbollah fundraising
Government under fire from opposition, Jewish groups
By: Stewart Bell and Sheldon Alberts -National Post
Saturday, November 30, 2002

CREDIT: Adnan Haj Ali, The Associated Press

As the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group called suicide attacks "Islamic and moral" and urged more of them, the Liberal government came under mounting pressure to ban the organization's Canadian fundraising efforts.

A leading Canadian Jewish organization announced yesterday it had initiated legal action against the government to force it to crack down on Hezbollah, widely considered one of the world's most dangerous terrorist groups.

On Parliament Hill, the Canadian Alliance accused the Liberals of forcing Canadians to "sue their government in order to protect their own safety" and the Conservatives urged the government to criminalize Hezbollah under the anti-terror act.

But the two federal ministers named in the lawsuit would not comment on the grounds the matter was before the courts and a question raised in the House of Commons was passed to a junior Cabinet minister who would not respond.

"The government, of course, does not respond to opposition allegations or newspaper reports or groups for that matter," said Lynn Myers, parliamentary secretary to the Solicitor-General. "Rather we work diligently to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians."

Meanwhile, police notified Jewish community leaders yesterday they had received information concerning a bomb threat to the Jewish Community Centre in downtown Toronto. But the threat appears to have been a hoax.

"We're investigating it and that's all I can say right now," said Detective-Sergeant Alan Coulter of the Toronto Police Service. "It's Hanukkah starting tonight and, with what happened in Kenya, we're on heightened awareness."

The government has been under fire from the opposition, lobby groups and even some Liberal MPs to take stronger action against Hezbollah, particularly after revelations the terrorist group has established a significant presence across Canada.

The radical Shiite group has been using Canada as a source of money, forged documents, stolen cars, recruits and military-use equipment, according to Canadian police and intelligence officials.

But Bill Graham, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has insisted he will not outlaw Hezbollah in its entirety because it is also involved in social and political work in Lebanon. Canada's only action against Hezbollah has been to order banks to freeze the assets of the group's "External Security Force."

B'nai Brith Canada officials told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa they had filed an application at the Federal Court of Canada in Winnipeg seeking an order compelling the government to freeze the assets of the entire Hezbollah organization.

The government has "a duty at law" to ban Hezbollah fundraising, alleges the suit, believed to be the first of its kind. The application, filed by lawyer David Matas, names the Attorney-General of Canada, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the federal government.

"The government should have acted already," said Mr. Matas, the B'nai Brith lawyer. "Hezbollah is one organization with one set of goals, including killing Jews and destroying Israel. All its wings contribute to this goal and support this message."

At a rally in Lebanon yesterday, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, called on "martyrdom seekers" to "astonish the world" and urged Palestinians to ignore international condemnation and continue with their campaign of suicide attacks.

"What the Palestinians are doing with the martyrdom operations is legitimate, legal, Islamic and moral because they seek to end injustice," he said.

The office of Martin Cauchon, the Attorney-General, said the Minister was "aware of the lawsuit, which is being launched by B'nai Brith" but that he could not comment as it was before the courts. The Department of Foreign Affairs said the same thing.

The Canadian Alliance said it backed the legal action.

"I support what B'nai Brith is doing because, hopefully, it will raise public pressure and educate Canadians about the fact that their government is allowing Hezbollah to operate," said Jason Kenney, MP for Calgary Southeast.

"It is a scandal that Canadian citizens need to sue their government in order to protect their own safety. This is a dangerous group which should have been criminalized a long time ago."

Mr. Kenney said it was wrong to treat Hezbollah lightly just because it is engaged in social and political work as well as terrorism. Hezbollah is "just like the Nazi party, which had a social arm, which did social work, which had people elected to their Parliament," he said.

There is speculation that ministers overseeing those branches of the federal government involved in security want to ban Hezbollah but they are meeting resistance from Foreign Affairs.

The issue is beginning to divide the Liberal caucus. Yesterday, Art Eggleton, the former defence minister, urged the government to outlaw Hezbollah in order to "seal a gaping hole in our country's ban on terrorist fundraising."

Peter MacKay, the Conservative security critic, also came out in favour of outlawing Hezbollah yesterday. "Terrorist organizations operating in our country put all Canadians at risk and the refusal of our government to condemn terrorism at home sends the wrong message to our international friends and allies."