May’s period of reflection comes in the wake of a convention vote last weekend in which a majority of Green members opted to support the controversial Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Advertisement
Whatever her decision, there will be an emergency meeting of the party council to discuss next steps, likely August 21 or 22, she added.
Jewish groups swiftly denounced the move.
May told The Canadian Press there could be “a trigger to hold a special meeting of all members” for another look at a resolution she believes does not reflect the party’s genuine will.
She said she is not necessarily leaning toward quitting, but it’s an option she is considering. The hastily adopted policy could draw accusations of anti-Semitism, she said, and she hopes to have Green Party members reconsider.
“So if I can’t find a way to bring that back and have the members review it with a consensus decision-making process, then I have to profoundly question whether I can continue as leader and that’s obviously heart-breaking”. “I think it’s a awful idea and I don’t think it’s going to advance the cause of Palestinians”, she said.
“I would say as of this minute I think I’d have real difficulties going not just to an election but through the next month”, May said in an interview with CBC Radio’s The House, set to air this Saturday morning on CBC Radio One.
May, who is the Green Party’s only member of Parliament, said she would continue to represent her constituents until the next federal election, which is scheduled for 2019.
Former Nanaimo-Ladysmith Green Party candidate Paul Manly said he hopes May remains as leader.
“I’m quite certain most of our members don’t support this policy, but weren’t fully engaged in the consensus building process we normally would have had”, she said.
“For me it was like finding myself in a foreign land”.
May said she didn’t get a chance to explain why she is opposed to the so-called BDS movement, which she sees as “a polarizing campaign”. “The (party) supports a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict and we continue to advocate for good-faith negotiations”, Melamed wrote.
“Greens have chosen to embrace the policy position of shills for 9/11 conspiracy theories and terror apologists, rather than side with the democratic and environmentally-friendly state of Israel”, said B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn.
Advertisement
“We have clear priorities, and this isn’t one of them”.
