Sometimes anti-Israel opinion columns are so lacking in self-awareness that they are little more than a self-parody.

A December 3 commentary in Prince George Daily News fit this to a tee. The column, authored by writer Peter Ewart and “community activist” Dawn Hemingway entitled: “Speaking out in support of Palestine,” claimed that Canadians “are not allowed to criticize or even talk about the anti-democratic actions of a foreign government like Israel,” apparently unaware that they are, in fact, doing just that.

Ewart and Hemingway claimed that this right is “increasingly under threat especially as related to the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people.”

There is, of course, no genocide against the Palestinians. Even after a year of intense urban combat in Gaza, provoked by the Hamas terrorist group which actively uses the civilian population as human shields – which, predictably, got no mention in their column – the population in the coastal enclave is expected to increase by a very robust two percent in 2024 alone.

In an actual genocide, populations decline, and dramatically so. But in the ludicrous “genocide” libel being peddled by Ewart and Hemingway, somehow the population of Gaza can rapidly grow.

Their argument built upon allegations a fake genocide aside, Ewart and Hemingway bemoaned the federal government’s cancellations of meetings with anti-Israel conspiracy theorist and Hamas apologist Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, blaming a “big media campaign directed against Ms. Albanese by the pro-Israeli Zionist lobby in North America.”

While it may be news to the authors, Albanese is a widely-ridiculed voice who represents a fanatical perspective on a contentious subject. As such, the Canadian government is under no obligation to meet with her and legitimize her extremist positions. Consequently, that decision does not represent capitulation to the “Zionist lobby,” but a recognition that meeting with radicals is not in the interest of Canadians, nor their values.

But instead of addressing, or even acknowledging the criticisms against Albanese, the authors attempted to misdirect readers, referring to “toxic attacks” against her.

In a bizarre meandering, the authors heaped praise on Senator Yuan Pau Woo, who has been called a “mouthpiece” for China, for speaking out against the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. They quoted him as saying that “the so-called ‘working definition’ of antisemitism that has been endorsed by the government means Palestinians, and indeed all Canadians – including Jewish Canadians – who make deep criticisms of Zionism and Israel, can be accused of antisemitism.”

From this praise, it appears that neither author has read the IHRA definition. If they had, they would note that it specifically details how “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

In relying on overt (and easily disproved) falsehoods to make their case, Ewart and Hemingway not only failed to demonstrate their point, but in fact significantly weakened it. After all, if disinformation is required to promote their anti-Israel agenda, then that should tell readers all they need to know about the allegations being presented by the writers.