Thornhill MPP Martow blasts Obama’s deal with Iran at demonstration

YorkRegion.com
July 23, 2015
By Tim Kelly

Thornhill MPP Gila Martow attended a demonstration in Toronto Wednesday blasting the Obama administration over the recent Iran nuclear deal.

The outspoken Progressive Conservative member of provincial parliament made no apologies for her opposition to the deal, which lifts crippling economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for guarantees that  the country cannot build a nuclear weapon for at least a decade.

But Martow said the deal, which took many months to reach and was agreed to by the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, China and Russia, does not guarantee peace in the Middle East.

She attended a lunch-time demonstration in front of the United States consulate on University Avenue in downtown Toronto to show her support for those against the deal, which must still be ratified in the United States Congress within 60 days.

‘...to me, this is not a Jewish-Muslim issue, this is people who do not support terrorism versus people who support terror.’

“How does this Iran deal achieve global peace? It’s not just, is this a good deal for Israel or not but, is this a good deal for the Middle East, is this a good deal for women’s rights, is this a good deal for the LGBT community?” she said Wednesday morning just before the demonstration.

Martow said it wasn’t just the Jewish residents in her riding who were concerned about the deal.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has been the leading opponent of the deal, calling it an “historic mistake,” and warning of the dire consequences for Israel and the region of a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I’ve spoken to people in the Persian community and they’re very concerned, they feel the only good thing about this deal is that the US isn’t going to bomb Iran. They were worried about that, that it was going to become another Afghanistan or Syria,” said Martow.

The Thornhill MPP took pains to say she wasn’t protesting against the United States, but was supporting her constituents and was only taking issuing with the US administration’s support of the Iran nuclear deal.

“I don’t see myself as protesting the US, I see myself as supporting my constituents. Rabbis are going down today, many of my constituents are going down there today and I’m there to support them. I didn’t organize the demonstration, I didn’t invite anyone to the demonstration, I didn’t ask to speak at the demonstration, I was asked to join and support my constituents,” she said.

And Martow added Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown is aware of her actions and didn’t object when she told him she was going to the demonstration yesterday.

“If he (Brown) had any issues he had to address them to me, and I think he can speak on his own behalf about his opinion on the Iran deal. But I did let him know that I was planning to go,” said Martow, who added, “to me, this is not a Jewish-Muslim issue, this is people who do not support terrorism versus people who support terror.”

Brown was not available for comment by press time.