June 09, 2004
Azania's dubious past
There's been a lot of talk about "extremism" in this election campaign, and now the Edmonton Sun has tracked down the racist, antisemitic writing of one candidiate.
Only said candidate is a New Democrat. Now, for what party did you think he was running?
Malcolm Azania, New Democrat candidate in Edmonton-Strathcona, penned an Internet essay that characterizes white people in general - and many Jews in particular - as "white supremacists." "Whites will, consciously or unconsciously, continue to defend and extend Whitesupremacy (sic), either by action or inaction," wrote Azania in the 1994 newsgroup posting.
Titled "Jews: Enemies? Friends?" the essay touches on the role played by Jews in civil rights and on Holocaust history.
"The group that is defined as 'Jews' in the United States is most notable for their relations to us ... in that they are WHITE," Azania wrote.
[...]
"For us to exonerate (Jews) as a group because they have been persecuted by their fellow Whites seems to me short-sighted. Worse still, I think many of them use their exploitation/slaughter by other Whites to make us believe they understand us and sympathize with us better than do other Whites."
Contacted by the Sun yesterday, Azania was quick to repudiate the opinions he expressed 10 years ago.
"I am very sorry that I said these things," he said. "It was wrong of me, first of all, to make so little of one of the greatest crimes of the 20th century.
"I wish I could take those words back. I have Jewish friends ... my mother is white. I can't express how sorry I am."
Colby Cosh broke this story a few days ago, linking to Azania's original USENET posting and his passionate defence of Palestinian terrorism:
Teacher and activist Malcolm Azania pointed out that the monopoly-owned media speak of Palestinian acts of violence and Israeli retaliation so as to completely confound the facts. The Palestinian people are defending their right to self-determination and a homeland, while the Israeli Zionists are the illegal occupier, he said. Azania stated that the Palestinian people are waging a just struggle against imperialism and colonialism.
Has he retracted these comments yet? (And who, I wonder, makes up this "monopoly" to which he refers?)