The Susan Kim Saga (Updated)
How an open letter brought a distant conflict to the doorstep of Victoria politics
It has been a wild five days in Victoria politics, and you’d be excused for being unable to keep track of everything. But fear not, in this special edition newsletter, we will cover the saga from beginning to end and bring you to the statement released by Councillor Susan Kim as of late Monday evening.
The Two Letters
Let’s start with the crux of the issue: an open letter signed by Susan Kim. It is important to note here that there are at least two available letters that Susan Kim has signed regarding Palestine and the terrorist attacks of October 7th. Although perhaps rooted in naivety and misinformation, one letter contains nothing reasonably described as hateful or anti-Semitic, while the other does. A copy of the first letter, which Victoria councillor Krista Loughton, Saanich councillor Zac de Vries, Langford councillor Colby Harder and Central Saanich councillor Sarah Riddell have also signed, can be found here.
The letter that has caused concern is one which denied reports of the rape of women and girls in Israel during the October 7th attack and failed to mention the release of innocent hostages being held by Hamas while also linking Canada to the acts of terror taking place in the Middle East. An archived copy of this letter can be found here, as the hitherto unknown Google Forms administrator has removed it since this saga started.
I think it’s essential to stress the existence of at least these two letters (there may be more) because there has been some confusion as this issue unfolded in the peanut gallery around the content of each letter. While some people can take issue with the stand Susan Kim has adopted in the first letter, no one could reasonably call it anti-Semitic or hateful. The second letter, however, is an entirely different story. The second letter has raised this issue to its current level.
Susan Kim was one of two politicians to sign and be prominently featured in the second letter. Her name appeared alongside Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Sarah Jama. Jama was one of the very first public officials in Canada to issue a statement following the terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th. Her comments were so egregious that she was censured by the Ontario Legislature and removed from the Ontario NDP caucus within weeks after they were made.
Since that time, Jama has blamed a “Zionist lobby” for how members of her former party and the Ontario legislature treated her. All of the way up to November 14th, Jama has denied the rape of Israeli women and girls during the attacks.
Before the October 7th terrorist attacks, Jama was no stranger to allegations of anti-Semitism in Canada. Back in March, Jama came under fire for comments she made in a video which circulated online, which the leader of the Ontario NDP said “caused real concern for members of the Jewish community.”
Michael Levitt, chief executive of The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, called the comments on the video “disturbing,” adding that it contained “wild conspiratorial accusations.”
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After her online comments, Sarah Jama met with Jewish community members and participated in a healing process to move ahead from the issue. Michael Levitt would later pop back into the Jama drama after her comments around the October 7th terrorist attack, stating online how disappointed he was in her given the hope he had for her redemption following their interactions in March and April of this year.
There were initial reports that Sarah Jama may have been the author of the second letter signed by Susan Kim, but that was quashed when Jama explicitly stated that although she had signed the letter, she was not the author. She later asked for her name to be taken off the letter, and whoever has control of the Google Form containing the letter struck it from a copy before removing the entire document from the original site on Monday afternoon.
Brought to Light
What brought the issue to the forefront of local Victoria politics was a single Tweet from a fellow local elected official and GVPL board member. On Thursday, November 16th, Colwood councillor Ian Ward posted the following on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter):
In the Tweet, he explained that he was “absolutely appalled” by the letter signed by Kim and questioned how he could continue to work with her on the GVPL board. He called Susan Kim an “antisemitic victim blamer” and the letter itself “unconscionable” while demanding an apology from Kim. Ward, it is somewhat necessary to note, has “close Jewish ties” and is an elected official, so this perspective goes beyond the musings of an ordinary citizen on the subject.
Local politicos picked up this, and opinions and perspectives began to take shape. However, confusion over the first and second letters also started to creep in. Some defenders of Kim were referencing the first letter and claiming that nothing improper had been done, while most of the commentators were focused on the second letter, the one co-signed with Sarah Jama. For Ian Ward, this has always been about the second letter, as he explained below:
Susan Kim Responds
At some point over the weekend, Susan Kim commented on the issue through her X account from Korea, where she attended a conference. In her Tweets, she linked her Korean ethnicity to the obligation she felt to stand by Palestine and against Israeli occupation and aggression. She went so far as to relate the struggle of South Koreans against the Communist North to the struggles faced in the Middle East.
She also added that her wearing the keffiyeh during council meetings was a public act of solidarity with Palestinians, not an act of hate toward the Jewish community while adding that if Jews had something they wanted her to wear to show support, she would consider it. She ended her comments with the following Tweet:
Her comments did not clarify who authored the letter and when, nor did they provide an apology for the harm being caused to the Jewish community in our city through her actions.
Attention Grows
On Saturday, November 18th, Janice Williams, a former Victoria city councillor candidate, created an online petition calling for the censure of Susan Kim while explaining the letter and response up to that point. Within 24 hours, the petition gained over 800 signatures, and by Sunday morning, as national and international news agencies began to pick up the story, the petition grew to the thousands. As of publication, it stands at 8,935 signatures.
By the afternoon of Sunday, November 19th, the issue had gained national and international attention. The Daily Mail and The Times of Israel had stories over the weekend, citing Jama and Kim as signatories (and potentially authors, which has since been refuted directly by both individuals). The petition has also been shared online by national political commentators such as Warren Kinsella:
Council Takes Notice
Councillor Jeremy Caradonna was the very first sitting councillor to make any comment, which was done online via Meta’s Threads. Caradonna told a concerned citizen that he was aware of the issue and had encouraged Susan Kim to make a statement. This was late Sunday evening.
On Monday, November 20th, Mayor Marianne Alto met with reporters and issued the following statements regarding the issue.
Her statements were immediately criticized online for failing to acknowledge the context in which the statements had to be issued.
The council had a meeting for Monday morning, and CHEK news was on hand to get comments from the councillors. Susan Kim was not physically in attendance, connecting to the meeting online, and many had already entered the chambers before the media could speak to them. Councillors Caradonna and Dave Thompson specifically had no comment for the media on the matter. At the same time, councillor Stephen Hammond wanted to hear from Kim before passing any judgment.
Rabbi Harry Brechner of the Congregation Emanu-El in Victoria said that he hoped this would be a time of greater understanding and greater learning, stating he did not feel a resignation was in order. However, it is entirely possible that not all Jewish leaders in our community feel the same way as Rabbi Brechner about the issue.
By Monday night, it was established that Susan Kim had signed the second letter, but it was still being determined who the author was and when Jama or Kim signed it. Furthermore, since the locking and subsequent shutting down of her Twitter account, the public had yet to hear from Susan Kim since the issue began to grow in severity by the close of business Monday.
Susan Kim’s Responds (Again)
Around 5 pm Monday, Susan Kim issued her statement on the matter. And I’ve included it here in full for you to read:
“Let me first begin by stating that I regret how this matter has polarized our community. That was never my intent.
“My principles demand that I continue to condemn any and all forms of hate and oppression, be it victim-blaming, genocide, racism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.
“I believe survivors of gender-based violence. I will always believe survivors of sexual assault. The use of sexual violence in war is undeniably among the worst facets of human history. My condemnation of all sexual violence is perpetual and unconditional.
“On the open letter signed by civil society, I agree that a ceasefire is a necessary next step in de-escalating the horrific conflict we’re seeing on the other side of the globe.
“To further clarify, that letter was not written by me. It is disappointing that international media did not reach out to verify the letter’s authorship.
“Venturing forward, I commit to being more attentive to community before adopting positions while I am a City Councillor. Aggravation and polarization of this beloved community is never my intention.
“My primary duty is to serve the city and its residents; I am sorry for how this matter has pulled me away from the work of this city. I will continue to serve out the rest of my term to the best of my abilities on behalf of those who entrusted me with this privilege.”
I feel compelled to note that there is some confusion over which letter Susan Kim references in her statement, the one which she calls “signed by civil society.” There is a feeling that the delay in the response from Kim may be the result of her obtaining professional public relations assistance, in which case the wording of this statement would have been carefully crafted to avoid legal sanctions down the road. That could also allude to an intentional desire to obfuscate the issue in the statement.
Generally, Susan Kim’s statement was met with skepticism immediately following its release by those now following the issue closely online:
The Saga Continues
Susan Kim is not just a city councillor for Victoria; she also sits on the GVPL board. Colwood councillor and GVPL board member Ian Ward first raised concerns with the letter because of his shared space with her. Given his connections to the Jewish community and his status as an elected official, he is undoubtedly in a position of authority to speak on this matter and the impact her statements have on the broader community. Councillor Ward has publicly stated that he will seek an avenue to remove Kim from the board, citing an inability to work alongside her in the future.
Councillor Ward also had a chance to dig into Susan Kim's social media activity on Twitter before its lockout and removal. He found a disturbing Tweet that she liked following the terrorist attacks:
And that’s the fix on the Susan Kim Saga as of the Tuesday morning you are reading this newsletter.
The First Update
As of the evening of Tuesday, November 21, there are a few important new updates to the Susan Kim Saga, and we will be chronicling them here in our first update.
Concerning the statement made by Mayor Alto yesterday, there have been more responses from Jewish voices. Specifically, some people have taken issue with an answer given to a question regarding the rape of women in Israel on CHEK news. I warn you that the images in the video linked here contain graphic scenes from the massacre— it’s utterly wrong that we have to show these videos for people to understand that this took place.
The first bit of Susan Kim Saga news came late last night, shortly after Susan Kim released her statement. Councillor Marg Gardiner released a personal statement on the issue. However, this statement was not made public until early Monday morning. Here is the complete statement from Gardiner:
In her statement, Gardiner stated that she was “disturbed” by the issue unfolding in Victoria politics. She mentioned protests which have occurred within the city, which have chanted genocidal rally cries in the streets. She claimed that Susan Kim “inflamed matters by wearing a scarf associated with Hamas terrorists in Council chambers.” She called the events of October 7th terrorism and called back to history as a means of avoiding repeating the “hatreds” of the past. Her statement was met broadly with support from those closest to the issue.
Councillor Gardiner was one of many politicians to issue statements today. Provincial NDP MLA Grace Lore stated the following:
In the statement she made with CHEK news, Grace Lore said she “hoped that Councillor Kim’s statement would’ve included an apology,” adding that she thinks “[Susan Kim] needs to make that apology and recognize the harm of her words.”
I had also previously failed to mention a brief statement that Minister Anne Kang, the BC Minister of Municipal Affairs, made on Monday in my first edition of this newsletter. Here it is below:
Kang said that Susan Kim needed to “apologize immediately” while not calling for her resignation (which I agree with). She added that she believes in survivors and their “first-hand accounts.”
The former leader of the BC Green Party, Andrew Weaver, also weighed in on the issue online on Tuesday, adding:
Probably most significantly, the Jewish Federation of Victoria & Vancouver Island sent a letter to the mayor and council calling for the resignation of Susan Kim. Their concerns were alluded to in our first edition of this newsletter in a Tweet from Ian Ward. Here is a copy of the letter:
The Federation has also openly endorsed the petition calling for the censure of Susan Kim created by Janice Williams.
A petition in support of Susan Kim has been circulating since yesterday. The petition states they support Susan Kim, adding, “CEASEFIRE NOW!”. It was started by someone identified as Tara Ehrcke on the change.org site and had 959 signatures as of the publication of this update. At least the petition created by Janice Williams did not conflate our local issue with an international humanitarian crisis happening halfway around the world.
So, Tuesday was a day of public statements and reflection on the matter once people were caught up on all that had taken place over the weekend and into Monday.
Generally speaking, this is a cross-partisan issue. And yet, Ian Ward has been fending off unfounded claims of being a conservative for the mere fact that he cares about this issue.
But the facts speak for themselves, and you can see it all here: Grace Lore, Anne Kang, Andrew Weaver—these are not names associated with conservatism, yet they are calling for what’s right. I find it disturbing that some of the most vocal voices online defending Susan Kim are insisting on drawing this along partisan lines or, worse, insinuating that a position on calling out anti-Semitism and inappropriate behaviour from a public official defines one’s position on the entire Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The fact is that despite the very vocal progressive fundamentalists on Twitter and elsewhere online, the vast majority of Canadians and thus British Columbians and Victorians support Israel’s right to self-defence and do not question the legitimacy of the violence taking place in that region.
After the day unfolded, I think this personal Tweet summarizes how people are feeling about the issue on the whole:
Your Thoughts
What do you think? Are the comments made in the letter co-signed by Susan Kim anti-Semitic and hurtful to members of our Jewish community? Do the statements from Mayor Alto and Councillor Kim go far enough to help address concerns about inappropriate conduct by elected officials? Should Susan Kim be forced to resign or be censured by the city council? What do you think is the best way forward on this issue? Please feel free to comment below to share your thoughts and perspective.
Municipal councillors should keep their focus on the job they were elected to do and running someone else's war on the other side of the world is way outside their scope, experience and ability. Most of these people are struggling with Potholes101 and they should focus on mastering that which they were elected to do. No one cares about their opinions outside of that.
Her statement was everything BUT an apology. Almost doubling-down on her ill-informed missive!