Top Liberal candidate in Canada, Michael Ignatieff accused Israel of committing war crimes in Lebanon. Ignatieff, a human rights expert and a former Harvard don, said at the
weekend that Israel committed a war crime when it bombarded the
Lebanese village of Qana in July.
His comments prompted an angry response from the conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who said that Liberals had taken an anti-Israel stance.
"I think we all remember last summer when the Liberals were making all these anti-Israeli comments," Harper told reporters.
Ignatieff said on Friday that both Israel and Hezbollah committed war crimes in the war which started on July 12, however, he said that it would be up to international bodies to determine whether Israel had committed war crimes at Qana.
"I do believe that in this explosive conflict, war crimes were visited on Israeli citizens and were visited on Lebanese civilians," he said.
In his response to the PM’s comment, Ignatieff, said it was disgraceful for Harper to suggest the Liberals were anti-Israeli, and stressed his friendship for Israel and said he would travel there soon.
"There is no basis whatever for Mr. Harper to suggest that the Liberal Party is biased against Israel."
A recent Amnesty International report described the Israeli attacks against Lebanese civilians as serious violations of international law, yet, described Hezbollah attacks as war crimes.
