Stefan Jonasson is no longer running in the Manitoba riding of Charleswood-St. James-Assiniboia-Headingley after comments surfaced in which he compared the beliefs of one set of Orthodox Jews to the Taliban.
Jonasson said he was asked by the NDP to step down and agreed to do so.
“I wish that the party had had the courage and the foresight to believe that my candidacy was worth defending, but they did not,” he said Thursday night.
Jonasson, a minister, posted an article three years ago in which he accused the Haredim — an Orthodox branch of Judaism — of mistreating women by segregating the sexes, enforcing strict dress codes and more. He wrote “much like the Taliban and other extremists, the Haredim offer a toxic caricature of faith at odds with the spirit of the religious tradition they profess to represent.”
I can't even hold my nose and vote for the NDP- Ultra-Orthodox Jews cause '11-hour long nightmare' on board flight to Israel
A flight from New York to Tel-Aviv descended into an “11-hour long nightmare” after ultra-orthodox Jewish passengers on board refused to sit next to women, delaying take-off and causing further disruption during the flight. But the flight did not take off on time, according to Shalom Life, after a group of Haredi Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women, believing that men and women should be segregated.
The Haredi passengers agreed to sit in their assigned seats for take-off, but one passenger described the overall experience as an “11-hour long nightmare,” referring to the difficulty before take-off and the ensuing disturbances on board, caused by the Haredi passengers “jumping out” of their seats when the fasten-seatbelt sign was switched off.
Woman wants apology after Haredi man demands seat change on plane
Christine Flynn, 31, said she was waiting for her flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Toronto to take off early Monday morning when a Haredi man approached, CBC News reported Wednesday. “He came down the aisle, he didn’t actually look at me … or make eye contact. He turned to the gentleman across the aisle and said, ‘change,’” Flynn told the broadcaster.
After the passenger refused to switch seats, the man asked a passenger in the row behind to switch with her, Flynn said, adding that the Jewish man never spoke directly to her or made eye contact. A flight attendant finally found a place for the man to sit, next to another man.
Flynn said. “If people are going to get on flights and demand that they sit next to someone of the same sex, there should be an area where they can go. I should not have to move because someone has a problem with my uterus.”
Stefan Jonasson should not have been pushed out for stating an honest opinion in a truthful manner- Canada doesn't love free speech or freedom- period.