Tuesday, July 23, 6 pm
South End Baptist Church (60 Hastings Drive)
A number of NDP members in the Dartmouth Cole Harbour federal constituency will be protesting at a July 23rd meeting to nominate a new candidate for the October election.
A previous nomination meeting on May 1 selected Rana Zaman as the party’s candidate. However on June 20 the federal party removed Ms. Zaman from the candidacy after it emerged that she had written several tweets in August 2018 critical of Israel’s shootings of thousands of unarmed Gazans in the “Great March of Return.” Shocked by the shootings and empathetic with the victims, Zaman compared the Israeli actions to those of the Nazis.
Realizing how her tweets might be construed, Rana issued a genuine, heartfelt public apology within less than 24 hours of notification by the party, acknowledging the inappropriateness of those comparisons and her commitment to learning from her Jewish allies. But the NDP has ousted Zaman from the party and is putting forward the candidate who ran against her and lost, instead of calling for a contested nomination.
NDP members supporting Zaman have sent a letter of protest to NDP leaders for breaking party rules. They will also be at the July 23rd event to distribute flyers, carry signs and speak to the meeting.
For more information, contact Violet Rosengarten, violetrosengarten7@gmail.com
