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February 7, 2010 Torstar - Foreign groups criticize Tory appointees to rights agency The Harper government is being accused of trying to gag legitimate criticism of Israel, amid a bitter dispute over alleged Conservative interference with a government-funded rights agency. Dozens of foreign non-governmental organizations that work in the field of human rights have written an open letter denouncing actions by Tory appointees on the board of Montreal-based Rights and Democracy. And a former president of the arms-length agency, former Liberal cabinet minister Warren Allmand, is accusing the government of “a deliberate attempt ... to dampen and control public dissent and accountability.”
CBC The National - Is Stephen Harper Canada's most pro-Israel Prime Minister This is a very bold report by the CBC. In it, Wendy Mesley talks about Harper's cuts to Kairos and UNRWA and the Rights and Democracy controversy. At approximately 5 minutes into the report she interviews Frank Dimant of B'nai Brith who praises Harper for not trying to be an honest broker, not trying to weigh both sides and compares Palestinians to Nazis. The clip is followed by reader comments that clearly indicate that most Canadians do not share Stephen Harper or Frank Dimant's views.February 4, 2010 G&M - Conservatives cracking down on criticism of Israel, NGOs warn The Harper government is being accused of trying to gag legitimate criticism of Israel amid a bitter dispute over alleged Conservative interference with a government-funded rights agency. Dozens of foreign non-governmental organizations that work in the field of human rights have written an open letter denouncing actions by Tory appointees on the board of Montreal-based Rights and Democracy. January 22, 2010 rabble.ca - Policy and prejudice: De-funding Canadian aid projects Kenney's office justified the "defunding" by citing "critical comments" made by NGO Monitor (NGOM).... Although using language that would appear neutral, NGOM is a highly partisan organization that weakens universal human rights by its fixation on shielding Israel from accountability and charging some of the most respected international human rights organizations with bias against Israel. According to NGOM, these include Christian Aid, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Médecins Sans Frontières. January 17, 2010 Toronto Star - Canada redirects funding for UN relief agency Is Canada pulling the plug on the UN's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which provides education, health and other social services in 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East? Will UNRWA's Canadian funding be diverted instead to training Palestinian police forces and building courthouses and prisons? That's certainly what was suggested on Wednesday by Treasury Minister Vic Toews in both the Jerusalem Post and a news release from B'nai Brith Canada. Toews, who met on Monday with senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials in the occupied West Bank, is quoted by the Post saying, "Canada is not reducing the amount of money given to the PA, but it is now being redirected in accordance with Canadian values." ( In other words, Canada will now be funding the PA apparatus that helps Israel enforce the occupation instead of funding the agency that provides aid to the Palestinians. This new Canadian policy is announced by Minister Vic Toews from Jerusalem and the information disseminated in a B'nai Brith press release and in the Jerusalem Post. In addition, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney has been in Israel at least twice this year. Where is Canadians policy being made these days?) December 21, 2009 The Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda, has been telling KAIROS, Parliament and the Canadian people that funding to KAIROS was cut because its work did not fit current Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) priorities of economic growth, food security and children and youth. On Wednesday, however, a completely different reason was given in a speech by Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration. Addressing the Global Forum to Counter Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem, Minister Kenney described his government's fights against anti-Semitism and, as an example, said the government had “defunded organizations … like KAIROS for taking a leadership role in the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign” against Israel. STATEMENTS FROM ORGANIZATIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES IN SUPPORT OF KAIROS
December 12, 2009 Weinstein - Canadian campuses NOT hotbeds of antisemitism The CPCCA, composed of MPs from all the parties except the Greens, has a sinister plan for Canadians: label and criminalize as anti-Semites those who criticize Israel and Zionism. These activists and critics fall into what the CPCCA defines as the "new antisemitism" . November 30, 2009 Murray Dobbin - Will Harper criminalize criticism of Israel? It remains to be seen what the recommendations of the coalition will be, but its conclusions regarding a sweeping redefinition of anti-semitism have already been drawn and incorporated into their inquiry process -- mortally damaging its credibility. The likelihood that the Harper government is working in lock-step with the coalition is high and the CPCCA's purpose may well be to prepare the ground for criminalizing criticism of Israel. November 22, 2009 Torstar - Liberals say Tory flyers accuse them of anti-Semitism Comment - The taxpayer funded propaganda is bad enough but what is worse is that the Liberals are falling all over each other to proclaim their support of the racist regime in the middle east to gain the support of a Jewish community which is increasingly divided on the issue. Maybe if they tried appealing to the peace and justice electorate instead of the Zionist racists they would actually stand a chance at the polls. Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
- Bilin's legal struggle continues
November 3, 2009
Linda McQuaig mentions the Canadians Parliamentary Coalition to Combat anti-Semitism (CPCCA) in her Nov. 3rd article in the Toronto Star. This is a very important topic that few journalists have dared to mention. Torstar - Harper's extremism is showing The tone set by the Harper government seems to be encouraging an attack on open debate about Israel on Canadian campuses. An ad-hoc group of parliamentarians, including Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats, has set itself up as an "inquiry" into what it considers a new anti-Semitism, with a particular focus on campuses. They open hearings in Ottawa this week.
October 29, 2009 Liberal MP Irwin Cotler is probably the only current or former "Human Rights Critic" of any political party in the world to be publicly criticized by a world leading human rights group. The rebuttal below by Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth appeared the Jerusalem Post in response to an op-ed by Irwin Cotler. Jerusalem Post - Right of Reply: Don't Smear the Messenger Irwin Cotler's attack in these pages on Judge Richard Goldstone's UN-mandated investigation of the conflict is of a piece with these efforts ("The Goldstone Mission - Tainted to the core," August 17 and 19). Rather than addressing the sad reality in Gaza, he effectively offers an apology for Israeli abuse. October 20, 2009 CPNO - Palestinian Village of Bil'in Seeks Justice in Canada - Plans to appeal recent decision The Palestinian Village of Bil'in has filed an appeal to a Canadian Court against two Canadian companies involved in settlement construction on their land. In a press conference in the Jerusalem on October 20th, Mark Arnold, Bil'in's Canadian Legal Counsel spoke via video conference from Toronto about the case, its precedent-setting significance, and the recently submitted appeal. Rabble.ca - UN endorses Goldstone: Can Israel now be held to account? he Goldstone report states that, given its role in the enforcement of International Humanitarian Law as well as International Human Rights Law, the ICC is a competent authority to investigate and prosecute crimes such as those allegedly committed during the 22-day war on Gaza. October 17, 2009 CTV News - UN vote sends Gaza war report to Security Council GENEVA — The U.N. Human Rights Council has voted to endorse a Gaza war crimes report that calls on Israel and Hamas to carry out credible investigations into alleged abuses -- or face possible referral to international war crimes prosecutors. The move -- which was opposed by six nations, including the United States -- means Israel could find itself facing a request at the U.N. Security Council to refer the case to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, a move likely to be blocked by Washington.
Counterpunch - A Suppressed Talk on the Israel/Palestine Conflict In April of this year I was invited by the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Association to speak at one of their meetings. The meeting was to have taken place in the Parliament building in Ottawa, where I have spoken previously without incident. John Ivison, in the
National Post newspaper, published a not particularly vicious or unbalanced attack on me, deploring the invitation. After this, without any contact with me and without seeing the content of my talk, the meeting was 'postponed'. It is now clear that the postponement was EI - Is Canada more pro-Israel than the US? ....under Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, Canada has become (at least diplomatically) the most pro-Israel country in the world. Israeli officials concur. After meeting Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, four other Conservative ministers and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff in July 2009, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has openly called for the expulsion of Palestinian citizens of Israel, commented: October 3, 2009 Embassy Magazine - Tories' Israel policy damaging: says UN rapporteur Richard Falk The Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pushed a staunchly pro-Israel position since taking office. In the 2006 war between Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah in Lebanon, Mr. Harper called Israel's retaliation "measured." The bombing severely damaged Lebanese infrastructure and killed about a thousand people, many civilians caught in the warzone. CJPME - Palestinian village's Court Case is dismissed by Quebec Judge September 27, 2009 Globe & Mail - A hostile takeover of Zionism [This is an important article about the growing power of fanatical ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel and how it could dramatically change Israel into a theocracy!] Ironically, considering these religious leaders have made such use of the democratic process, they continue to say democracy is not consistent with Halacha. “In many ways these guys are closer to Islamic fundamentalists than to anything else,” Prof. Ben Yehuda said. They also do not shrink from violence. Prof. Ben Yehuda's research found that violence is the number-one criminal infraction among Haredim. He also found that most of that violence is for political purposes.
September 24, 2009 Obama's Washington Summit - Is this finally the end of the two state solution farce? The article below by Ali Abunimah is an excellent summary of Obama's M-E peace efforts culminating in the US administration backing off on the demand that Israel halt settlement building and its shameful rejection of the Goldstone report. Surely this spells the end of talks based on the long dead "two state" solution. The one state solution is now clearly the only feasible option. Isreal has seen to that by choosing to avoid peace in order to gain time to confiscate more Palestinian land. Obama's peace effort has failed but our struggle continues The meeting hosted by US President Barack Obama with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel on 22 September signaled the complete and terminal failure of Obama's much vaunted push to bring about a two-state solution to the Palestine/Israel conflict. September 20, 2009 THE GOLDSTONE REPORT Siddiqui - Shining a light on Israeli aggression in Gaza So, Stephen Harper and his ministers were defending possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, while Michael Ignatieff and senior Liberals were staying mostly mum. And much of our mainstream media were averting their gaze from, or excusing, the possible crimes. Now, no less an authority than Richard Goldstone, former chief prosecutor with the war crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, says that the three-week Israeli onslaught on Gaza eight months ago amounted to "war crimes and possibly, in some respects, crimes against humanity." More on this important report: [This article contains key findings of the UN-mandated international independent fact-finding mission led by Justice Richard Goldstone.] Le Monde Diplomatic - Sinking the Goldstrone Report Independent (UK) - UN says Israel should face war-crimes trial over Gaza Report also censures Hamas but accuses Israelis of punishing entire population of the Palestinian Strip
September 16, 2009 CPNO - Carleton Professors ask University President to waive fees for information on treatment of Israeli-Palestinian issuesSixty four Carleton Professors have called on University President Roseann Runte to waive the fees demanded from a student for his information request to investigate Carleton's treatment of the Israel-Palestine issue under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)
The Mission found that, in the lead up to the Israeli military assault on Gaza, Israel imposed a blockade amounting to collective punishment and carried out a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation of the Gaza Strip. During the Israeli military operation, code-named "Operation Cast Lead," houses, factories, wells, schools, hospitals, police stations and other public buildings were destroyed. Families are still living amid the rubble of their former homes long after the attacks ended, as reconstruction has been impossible due to the continuing blockade. More than 1,400 people were killed during the military operation. The Guardian (UK) - Israel threatened with international law Israel's commanders should be careful about booking holidays – the Goldstone report suggests they could be prosecuted abroad Goldstone .... calls on individual countries to use their "universal jurisdiction" to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes. Israeli army and air force commanders may need to be careful booking holidays abroad lest they face charges for involvement in a campaign, in the report's words, "designed to punish, humiliate and terrorise a civilian population".
September 14, 2009 The TIFF controversy continues - the list of signatories grows daily Read the Toronto Declaration and view list of signatories. Jewish Voices for Peace - Fighting the Lies- Toronto International Film Festival
September 8, 2009 Yakov Rabkin - Fighting antisemitism in Canada Canada's parliamentarians have formed a committee to fight antisemitism. ...To fight antisemitism, it is crucial to dissociate Jews and Judaism from the State of Israel and its behaviour. Our parliamentarians should affirm the right of all Canadians to criticize Israel like any other country in the world, without the fear of being labelled antisemitic. This would be a sure way to rid Canada of the scourge of antisemitism, new and old. September 1, 2009 Canadian MPs form Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism The members of this committee are Canada's top defenders of Israeli crimes. The FAQ on the CPCCA website clearly indicate that this committee conflates anti-Semitism and anti-Zionimism. Click here to read an excellent letter to the members of the CPCCA explaining the dangers in the principles and goals of this commission.
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