B’nai Brith Canada Calls For Investigation into Valeri Meeting with Hezbollah

Ottawa, June 30, 2003

For Immediate Release

Ottawa, June 30, 2003 — B’nai Brith Canada today called on the Prime Minister and the Solicitor-General to conduct an official investigation into the actions of Liberal MP Tony Valeri who reportedly asked for and was granted a meeting with Hezbollah leaders in Beirut in light of the government’s policy toward the terrorist organization.

B’nai Brith, Jewish Canada’s foremost human rights organization, played a key role in pressuring the government to add Hezbollah to its list of banned terrorist groups last year.

“We are very upset by this meeting,” said Rochelle Wilner, President of B’nai Brith Canada. “We are particularly upset that Mr. Valeri’s staff apparently tried to cover up the fact that it was he who requested the meeting. No Member of Parliament should behave in this manner.”

“The issue is one of credibility,” said Frank Dimant, Executive Vice-President of B’nai Brith Canada. “The government must abide by both the spirit and the letter of its own laws. If we are ever to rid the world of this scourge, organizations like Hezbollah must be ostracized in their entirety.”

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For further information contact: Joseph Ben-Ami, Director of Communications at 613-294-7313

B’nai Brith has been active in Canada since 1875 as the community’s foremost advocacy and volunteer organization.