‘separatist’ Leader in Quebec Denies His Party is Anti-semitic

Gilles Gregoire, the newly-elected leader of Quebec’s National Ralliement, a separatist party, has denied that his party is anti-Semitic. The party has been under sharp criticism for several anti-Semitic articles in its monthly magazine, La Nation. M. Gregoire, in a statement issued from his House of Commons office, blamed the controversy on the press.

He referred specifically to an article in the August issue, headlined, “The Jews Flout Quebec,” which drew sharp criticism from the Canadian Jewish Congress. The article alleged that Quebec Jews gave so much financial and other support to Israel that they did nothing for Quebec. He said that the article was published before he was elected as party leader and that a five-man editorial board had been named to review all material in the periodical. He said the controversial article was “a letter which slipped into the editorial page by mistake.”