Archives September 2007 Israel Palestine Canada

(It seems that the mainstream US and Canadian media did not find this interesting enough to report!)

On Monday Sep. 24, '07 in the Intercontinental Hotel, at 48th St. and Lexington Ave. New York City at 9:00am anti-Zionist Orthdox Rabbis met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad then participated in a counter demonstration against protestors of the Iranian President in the Dag Hamerskold Plaza at the United Nations followed by a counter demonstration during the speech of the Iranian president at Colombia University.

In his famous novel 1984 , George Orwell introduces us to “Newspeak,” the pseudo-language by which the Ingsoc (English Socialist) government of Oceania, led by Big Brother, sabotages independent thought and imposes a repressive conformity on the public.

As Burma's monks and their supporters held out yesterday under attack from the military, with at least five people dead from gunshot wounds, Canada joined other countries condemning the use of force against the pro-democracy demonstrations.

(Israel, of course, should not feel any contraints on the deadly force it deems necessary to maintain its' 40 year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. )

CAIA - Israel Escalates Collective Punishment of Gaza Strip - Statement from The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid

The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) views with alarm the recent serious escalation of Israeli actions against the Palestinian people. On 19 September 2007, the Israeli security cabinet unanimously voted to declare the Gaza Strip an "enemy entity" and gave themselves the authority to impose several 'measures' against the Palestinian population living in Gaza. These so called 'measures' include severing the electricity and fuel supplies, and, as a result, the Israeli military "began formulating plans to limit services to the civilian population in Gaza" (Haaretz, Sept. 20).

Jerusalem Post - Israel rejects Hamas's offer for cease-fire in Gaza Strip

Israel has rejected an offer by Hamas to renew a cease-fire in the Gaza
Strip, Israel Radio reported Friday.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's office reportedly contacted a senior
diplomatic source in Jerusalem through a third party before the cabinet
decided on Wednesday to declare Gaza a "hostile territory."

McLeod: What is unique about the Israel/Palestine issue that makes it so controversial and sensitive?

Finkelstein: There is nothing unusual about the Israel/Palestine issue, apart from the fact that there is a lobby here that prevents any kind of rational debate and discussion about what goes on there....

In terms of its strength, the Israel lobby is beginning to fall apart. The case for Israel is becoming indefensible. Israel's human rights record, the actual historical record, and the diplomatic record, are becoming better known. And the more the facts are becoming part of mainstream discourse, the more the lobby has a difficult time defending what is indefensible.

Jews for a Just Peace Vancouver deplores the unanimous decision by the
Israeli cabinet to impose sanctions on supplies of electricity, fuel and
other basic goods and services to the civilian population of Gaza, and calls
upon the international community to prevent this crime against humanity from
being carried out.

Mistreating a million and a half people will make them the most bitter of enemies. Instead of a cruel policy of naked force, we should negotiate with all Palestinians - including Hamas.

(Test of flyers distributed at the Palestinian and Jewish Unity vigil in front of the Israeli Consulate in Montreal every Friday.)

In a shocking display of violence and arrogance, two Israeli "religious settlers" attacked a United Nations jeep and injured the UN driver.... These are "Hebron tactics": Fanatical Jewish settlers in the West Bank city of Hebron constantly attack and sabotage Palestinian citizens in this way in order to ethnically cleanse the area of most of its Palestinian residents. They first harass and bully, then threaten to lodge complaints against their victims.

No doubt all the Canadian political parties are watching how the Canadian Arabs and Muslims and their friends respond to the repeated attempt to keep pro-Palestinian activists out of the Federal Liberal Party nomination process. Their reaction will indicate whether this community is a force to be reckoned with or if it can be ignored. There are a number of examples of this campaign against pro-Palestinian activists and their supporters over the past several years.

Earlier this month, with three crucial by-elections only weeks away, the bulk of Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's brain trust, including the Quebec co-chair of his national election readiness committee Lucie Santoro, signed up for a trip to Israel sponsored by the Canada-Israel Committee.

COMMENT - It looks like Dion is too timid to assert his leadership and is completely under the thumb of the Zionists. He is still under the illusion that pandering to the lobby will get him elected, but Canadians are catching on and there will come a time when the contributions from the Israel Lobby will no longer buy the electorate. Quebeckers in particular know the truth about Israel and will make Dion pay for his subservience to the Lobby.

Furthermore, there is no advantage to the Lobby in actually supporting Dion as they have a passionate supporter of the Apartheid Jewish State in Stephen Harper, a Christian Zionist. Hence, scheduling the trip to Israel for the election readiness committee just a few weeks prior to the by-election is a brilliant strategic move on their part: it might well be calculated to contribute to the defeat of the Liberal candidates and eventually the demise of Dion as leader giving them the opportunity to install an Israel devotee such as Bob Rae as the Liberal leader.

Dion can probably consider himself lucky that they didn't actually take star candidate Jocely Coulon himself to Israel. However, Coulon did have to retract his statements regarding Hamas.

Montreal Gazette - Coulon retracts factious call for peace talks with Hamas

Jocelyn Coulon, Liberal candidate in the Sept. 17 Outremont by-election, has rescinded his controversial call for including Hamas in future Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

(Hurray for Ryerson students who will not allow Levy to speak for their university without consulting students, faculty and staff.)

Since Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy issued a statement against the proposed British academic boycott of Israeli universities, the Ryerson Students' Union (RSU) has been busy drafting a motion that calls on Levy to retract his statement.

In July, Levy issued a statement in response to the British University and College Union's (BUCU) proposed boycott of Israeli universities and academics that read, “As a university we embrace understanding, exchange of ideas, empathy and intellectual engagement. We do not shy away from controversy, difficult ideas, or disagreements over deeply held views.”

But Heather Kere, the RSU's vice-president of education, said after concerned students learned about Levy's statement against the proposed boycott, they approached the RSU with concerns about “the process he took in order to come to the conclusion of approving of it, or not approving of it. That is when we looked into what could be done about these concerns.”

She said that the decision was made to draft a motion that reads: “Be it resolved that the Ryerson Students' Union ask Sheldon Levy to retract his comment and; be it further resolved that a meaningful discussion on the issue
involving consultation of students, faculty and staff occur before a public statement from the university issued.”"

Canada was at one time an indisputable supporter of human rights. However, during the Martin-Dion era, it became a supporter of the policies of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. This is obvious through the uninterrupted support of Israel's practices against the Palestinians. The pro-Israeli groups within the Liberal Party recently became so dominant that even if its historic leaders returned to power, it would be difficult for them to do anything about it.

Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza costs nine billion dollars a year. Nine billion U.S. dollars. That is the yearly cost of Israel's occupation of Palestine, according to Israeli economist Shir Hever.... Shir Hever does not hide the fact that he favours a boycott of Israel. The economist stresses the fact that "people in Israel are afraid of a boycott because like the occupation it can really affect them adversely. This is, in fact, the main reason to completely boycott Israel.

[Comment - Israel receives more aid from the US than all other nations in the world combined. So whether your concern is AIDS or hunger, Africa or South America or health care in America, ending the occupation should be a priority for everyone.]

"After a false start, controversial award-winning play My Name Is Rachel Corrie will be presented in Toronto.... at the Tarragon Extra Space ... My Name Is Rachel Corrie is a one-woman show based on the writings 23-year-old Corrie left behind... when she was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer.

CanStage planned to mount the play earlier this year but decided against it. Despite artistic producer Martin Bragg's official statement that it was pulled because it was flat onstage, rumours surfaced that CanStage worried it would have upset prominent [Zionist] donors.

Rachel Corrie was initially produced by the Royal Court Theatre in London where it played to sold-out audiences and wide acclaim. It has since played the West End, Edinburgh, New York and Seattle."