Friday, January 10, 2014

Statement on Inappropriate Line of Questioning by CBC Anchor Evan Solomon

Mike Fegelman



In response to CBC Anchor Evan Solomon’s deeply inappropriate questioning of the appointment of Vivian Bercovici as Canada’s new Ambassador to Israel, ostensibly due to her Jewish faith, HRC Executive Director Mike Fegelman issued the following statement calling on the CBC host to apologize for his remarks:
“It is entirely inappropriate and deeply offensive for CBC anchor Evan Solomon to have raised the issue of religion when questioning Canada’s appointment of Vivian Bercovici as Canada’s new Ambassador to Israel.
In an interview with Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on the January 9 edition of Power and Politics, Solomon stated: “Vivian Bercovici is Jewish, so there are going to be some questions. Why not appoint someone who doesn’t even have the perception of any kind of bias?
A person’s religious or ethnic background has no bearing on one’s qualifications for a job, on top of it being illegal for an employer to ask such irrelevant and discriminatory questions of a potential employee.
Challenging Ms. Bercovici’s credentials, her experience, and the various positions she has taken publically on the Mideast file is fair game, but to imply that her religious background in some way makes her a poor choice as a candidate due to a supposed “perception of bias” certainly crossed the line.
With even some of the most rabid anti-Zionists such as Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pape etc. all being Jewish, Solomon’s reasoning falls flat. To parse, it seems Mr. Solomon finds it most appropriate for non-Jews to be Canada’s ambassador to Israel, meaning that Jews should be barred from such a position. In light of the deeply offensive nature of this line of questioning, Mr. Solomon should apologize on-air for his inappropriate question which has only served to malign Ms. Bercovici’s character and Canada’s choice of her as a candidate.”
Mike Fegelman
Executive Director
HonestReporting Canada
Watch the full interview by clicking here or below:

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