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Green Leader Elizabeth May is distancing herself from her party president after he wrote a strongly worded blogpost on the Gaza conflict that condemns Hamas and supports Israel.

Paul Estrin’s essay — “Why Gaza makes me sad” — appeared on the party’s website, prompting anger from some Green members who said it should not have been there because it doesn’t reflect party policy.

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In an interview Tuesday, May emphasized that Estrin was expressing his own views.

“I didn’t know he felt this way about Gaza,” she said.

“He had not raised this before.”

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May said that while she and the Greens also condemn Hamas for firing rockets into Israel, they do not adopt an unquestioning attitude towards the Jewish state.

She said that since the political firestorm broke earlier this week over the blogpost, she has heard from both sides on the issue: Some Greens have angrily said they will quit the party and stop donating, while other Canadians have complimented the party for showing “courage” on the Middle East.