Erin O’Toole is alienating thousands of Muslim Conservative Party members

A robust commitment to inclusion by the Conservative Party during its last leadership election succeeded in swelling its ranks. Among these new supporters are thousands of Muslim Canadians who welcomed Erin O’Toole’s message of hope, change, and a commitment to do better than his predecessors. Unfortunately, he now risks losing much of this ground as Muslims balk at his imbalanced position on Palestinian suffering. During the Harper years, Canadian Muslims yearning to uphold conservative principles felt marginalized by the party’s divisive rhetoric on “Islamicism” and Muslims as a national security threat. Mr. O’Toole has done a lot to change things, including virtually travelling across the country to meet hundreds of Muslims in numerous communities. His recent Ramadan Iftar was attended by three new Muslim Tory candidates and hundreds of Muslims ready to mobilize votes for the Party. All this hard work is a write-off if Mr. O’Toole doesn’t shift from his one-sided position on the recent turmoil in Jerusalem and Gaza between Israelis and Palestinians. He was silent as Israel threatened to evict Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah to make room for Israeli settlers. He was silent as Israel attacked worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque with complete disregard to the sanctity of one of the holiest mosques in Islam on one of the holiest days of Ramadan—a deliberate and symbolic provocation against Palestinians and Muslims across the world. As soon as violence broke out Mr. O’Toole tweeted a statement condemning rocket attacks by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. But his statement made no mention of Israel’s indiscriminate air and ground attacks on Palestinian civilians, killing 122 people including at least 31 children in Gaza. It is unacceptable that the Conservative Party of Canada won’t criticize a state that violates international law, partly by maintaining a military occupation that has, according to recent reports by Human Rights Watch and mainstream Israeli groups like B’Tselem, evolved into a regime of extreme, unlawful inequality. Undoubtedly, Mr. O’Toole’s response threatens to push the Conservative Party of Canada out of step with the majority of Canadians. As noted by the United Nations and numerous other human rights entities across the world, the expulsion of Palestinian residents from the homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, which triggered the latest violence, is both immoral and counter-productive to peace efforts. As noted by the Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem reports, Israel’s laws do much to facilitate the displacement of Palestinian residents by ideological settler groups who want to expel Palestinians from the area. This is both a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventions as well as a huge stumbling block toward the path to a just peace. Again, all of this just hurts the Conservative Party, which is writing off dozens of communities and thousands of voters in key ridings who want to see justice for Palestinians. According to The Canadian Muslim Vote research, Muslim Canadians play a decisive role in the outcomes of 73 ridings in six provinces across the country. A chilling effect has emerged in the party. At least one Tory candidate posted a balanced message regarding the situation, but deleted it a few days later, while staunchly pro-Israel candidates have been free to post their messages across numerous social media platforms. Mr. O’Toole should show a commitment to international justice. Canadians (not just Muslims) want a prime minister capable of uniting people. An important aspect of this, particularly in a multicultural mosaic like Canada, is to maintain balance in foreign policy. The Conservative Party should be capable of expressing this fairness in an inclusive, right-of-centre position that eschews hardline activism for level-headed peacemaking wherever possible. As a leading Conservative Muslim, I’m deeply disappointed with Mr. O’Toole’s position, which is disconnected from what’s happening on the ground. Yes, Israel and Canada are great friends. And allyship can bear tremendous fruits. But real friendship means not being afraid to call the other out when they make mistakes. In this case, Mr. O’Toole and the Conservatives need to publicly recognize that Palestinian lives and property are just as sacred as those of the Israelis. Dr. Mukarram Zaidi is a longtime Conservative Party member. He serves as the chairman of Calgary-based Think for Actions, the chairman of Canadian Muslim Research Think Tank, and the general secretary for Calgarians Against Racism, Violence and Hate. Dr. Zaidi practices family medicine in Calgary.