Is change in the air?

Editorial

In a democratic society, elections are about change. That is certainly the case in three elections currently being watched closely by Jewish Canadians.

The Canadian election on Monday, the Palestinian election two days later and the Israeli elections in March each pivot on the issue of change.

In Canada, the "ballot question" – that issue that voters figuratively answer when they cast their votes – is something along the lines of "Do you want a change? (Or are you satisfied with the way things are going?)"

Of course, there are a variety of issues upon which voters will make their ultimate choice: taxes, foreign affairs, day care, same-sex marriage and many more. But the fundamental question is whether voters are relatively satisfied with the direction of the country and its government, or whether they are dissatisfied enough to change the government. Sometimes, such as in the last election, when the Liberals received a minority government facing an emboldened Conservative opposition, the answer is clouded.

On Monday, we will receive a new decision from voters.

Jewish Canadians are concerned about the same issues that all Canadians care about. But there are additional considerations, including the emergence in recent years of a distinct rise in anti-Semitic activity. There is also deep concern over Canada's approach to the Middle East. Sometimes these issues are in conflict.

For example, Jews in Canada have been among the most vocal proponents of our country's multicultural policies. Some voters wonder how genuine the Conservative support is for this aspect of our national identity, as well as other sacred Canadian cows, including publicly funded health care. On the Middle East front, however, the Conservatives, particularly their foreign affairs critic Stockwell Day, have expressed apparently deep and genuine support for Israel's right to exist in security.

On the flip side, while New Democrat and Liberal policies may be nearest to many Canadians' views on multiculturalism and the role of government, Canada's votes at the United Nations and the statements by some New Democrats on Israel have raised worries among some Jewish voters about the direction of these parties' foreign policies.

The question for Jewish voters – as for all Canadians on Jan. 23 – will be whether the status quo is acceptable, all other things being equal, or whether sufficient disagreement exists to dislodge the 12-year Liberal reign and replace it with, presumably, a Conservative government. Similar questions face voters in Israel and in the Palestinian Authority.

In Israel, the change is already well under way. Before his recent stroke led to the end of Ariel Sharon's political career, the prime minister had fundamentally reshaped Israeli politics. Not only did the policies of the Israeli government alter substantively – to a position shorthanded as "disengagement" – Sharon literally remade the political structure in his own image. The leader's Likud party, which has been the primary right-wing bloc for decades, has seen a raft of defections to a brand new entity – Kadima – that has drawn MKs from the left as well. Had Sharon remained at the helm, the overwhelming conventional wisdom was that Kadima would have been the winner in March. The election field now is far more open.

Even so, Israelis have indicated, in public opinion polls and public commentary, that a sea-change has already taken place in attitudes. The path down which Sharon has begun to lead his country is a route the voters seem prepared to follow in significant numbers. In other words, whatever the outcome of the election in March, the change has already happened.

Perhaps the most significant race to watch is the election Wednesday for representatives of the Palestinian Authority. Fatah, the agency of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, is seeking to defeat Hamas, the terrorist organization that doubles as a social security organization and, for now at least, a political party.

Voters in the PA will decide whether Abbas and his Fatah movement deserve continued support. But change, if it comes, will be slow to see. The key question for Hamas, should they win substantial support Wednesday, is whether they have genuinely changed into a political grouping that will abide by democratic decision-making or whether they are still a violent organization dedicated to the destruction of Israel that will take up arms if they don't get their way.

In Canada, we are about to answer the ballot question about change. In Israel, the answer has already been partially answered. In the PA, the answer has more far-reaching implications – we can only hope that the Palestinians choose peace.

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