October 28, 2006
Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians versus the Canadian Jewish Congress
The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians would like to let people know about a dispute we are having with the Canadian Jewish Congress.
The ACJC has about 115 members across Canada. We joined together late last year to create a cross-Canada alliance of Jewish anti-occupation forces to try and contribute to a peaceful resolution to the tragic and seemingly endless Israeli - Palestinian conflict. We have since had occasion to weigh in on such matters as the CUPE boycott resolution and the Lebanon war.
(CBC interview with Michael Mandel on the dispute between the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians and the Canadian Jewish Congress; CBC-Ottawa Morning. Click on "Pressing the Canadian Jewish Congress to broaden its membership", under October 24th.)
Greg Felton - The World According to Garth
(This is a must read interview ith Garth Turner. Although this site tries to remain strictly focused on Canada-Palestine related issues, we are making an exception in this case. This interview reveals the frightening inner-workings of the Conservative Party under Harper - something all Canadians should know about.)
On Oct. 18, Garth Turner, MP for the Ontario riding of Halton, was expelled from the Harper Party for having expressed an opinion on a matter of policy. In an interview Mr. Turner explains his ouster as a product of Stephen Harper's secretive, autocratic regime, under which an elected MP needs permission to ask a question, debate or even represent his constituents.
October 25, 2006
Clash of Civilizations? Wrong, Mr. Harper!
Last week, Prime Minister Harper delivered a highly partisan speech to an equally partisan B'nai Brith crowd. He insisted that "Israel has the right to defend itself," without setting limits on how this can be done, or what it is exactly that Israel has the right to defend as it continues to occupy other people's lands.
Counterpunch - Lieberman Steps Out of the Shadows
Lieberman, a Russian immigrant, is every bit the populist and racist politician he is portrayed as being. Like many of his fellow politicians, he harbours a strong desire to see the Palestinians of the occupied territories expelled, ideally to neighbouring Arab states or Europe. Lieberman, however, is more outspoken than most in publicly advocating for this position.
[More on Avigdor Lieberman]
October 21, 2006
Toronto Sun - Jews embrace Stephen Harper
B'nai Brith leader calls him not just the prime minister, but 'the answer to our prayers'
...Further, as in every community, Jews do not speak with one voice. Some strongly oppose current Israeli policies in the Mideast and are unlikely to reward Harper for supporting them.
Finally, as more Canadian Jews warm to Harper because of his support of Israel, more Canadian Muslims will drift away. And in the end, there are a lot more Muslims in Canada than Jews...
Palestine House Press Release - "Unconditional support" encourages Israeli war crimes
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's speech at the B'nai Brith dinner on October 18 makes Canada the only country in the world that unconditionally supports Israeli war crimes.
“In his speech, Harper wrongly confused the values of the Canadian people - freedom , democracy human rights and rule of law - with the values of a state that abuses the human rights of its non-Jewish citizens, continues to occupy Palestinian land, and denies the Palestinian people their freedom and democratic choice.” stated Dr. Farid Ayad, Palestine House President.
October 18, 2006
Letter to Liberal Leadership Candidate Bob Rae re: HRW and Amnesty International Reports of Israeli War Crimes
Mr. Rae, According to the following excerpt from an article in today's National Post, you are criticizing fellow Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff for his calling Israel's 2006 massacre of civilians in Qana, Lebanon a war crime...
Guardian UK - Gaza doctors say patients suffering mystery injuries after Israeli attacks
"Bodies arrived severely fragmented, melted and disfigured," said Jumaa Saqa'a, a doctor at Shifa hospital, the main casualty hospital in Gaza City. "We found internal burning of organs, while externally there were minute pieces of shrapnel. When we opened many of the injured people we found dusting on the internal organs."
Times (UK) - Rabbi leads defence of Palestinian olive groves
Rabbi Ascherman, co-director of Rabbis for Human Rights, will spend the six-week olive season rising at dawn with other volunteers to put his life on the line to protect Palestinian farmers from armed Jewish settlers. Without the Jewish cleric, the farmers would be fired upon or beaten, their harvest stolen and ancient trees - some dating from Roman times - felled with chainsaws.
October 15, 2006
While Canadian politicians and the media engage in a hypocritical debate about Israeli war crimes, the extra-judicial assasinations, the use of chemical weapons on civilians, the home demolitions etc. continue in Gaza.
Haaretz - Italian probe: Israel used new weapon prototype in Gaza Strip
An investigative report to be aired on Italian television Wednesday raises the possibility that Israel has used an experimental weapon in the Gaza Strip in recent months, causing especially serious physical injuries, such as amputated limbs and severe burns.
Herald Sun (AFP) - Two dead in Gaza shelling
An Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip killed two Palestinian militants overnight as the Jewish state showed no let-up in its pounding of the territory that has seen 22 people killed in barely 48 hours.
B`Tselem*: 1.4 million Gazans without electricity twelve hours a day
Israel must finance the rehabilitation of the power plant it bombed in the Gaza Strip. This is one of the conclusions of B`Tselem`s new report, Act of Vengeance, which describes and analyzes the harsh effects of the Israeli Air Force`s destruction of the power plant in June. B`Tselem states that the bombing was illegal, and calls on the government to finance upgrading the infrastructure for transferring electricity from Israel to the Gaza Strip...
(*B'Tselem is an Israeli Human Rights organization)
October 14, 2006
Lech Biegalski - Rea and Kennedy join Harper in legitimizing Israel's war crimes
Given the amount of available evidence concerning Israeli crimes in Lebanon , it is difficult to understand the denial of facts demonstrated by Harper, Rae and Kennedy . A number of reputable international organizations, including Amnesty International, International Committee of the Red Cross, Human Rights Watch, as well as the newly created UN Human Rights Council, issued official statements condemning Israeli crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It is simply impossible that Stephen Harper, Bob Rae and Gerard Kennedy are "unaware" of these facts. The question is: "Why are they hiding the truth, why are they lying to Canadians?"
October 13, 2006
TorStar - Campaign organizer abandons Ignatieff
Thornhill MP Susan Kadis withdrew her support for Ignatieff on Wednesday, after he accused Israel of committing a “war crime” during its bombardment of Lebanon last summer.
October 9, 2006
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign against Israeli Apartheid Moves Forward as 600 Attend Toronto Conference
Salim Vally, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Committee in South Africa, gave a powerful analysis of Israeli apartheid and its resemblance to the South African situation. He stressed that the solidarity movement to isolate the South African apartheid regime was built by grassroots and popular forces organized throughout the world.
The Israel Defense Forces is demanding that Palestinian farmers not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region told Haaretz.
Report from solidarity activist escorting farmers in the West Bank.
Peaceful resistance continues in this village and is again met by sound bombs and rubber bullets.
October 8, 2006
A feast that tastes like famine
JABALIYA, GAZA STRIP -- Sundown is coming, but Rafiq al-Nimnim has no reason to rush. Instead, he sits in a white plastic chair beside a black telephone that doesn't ring, and stares at 10 pale chickens roasting slowly on an electric spit. "We used to make 100 at a time," the tall, mustachioed, restaurateur says, recalling line-ups around the block at the same time a year ago....
NDP PRESS RELEASE - NDP LEADER URGES ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE, NOT POLITICAL RHETORIC
(On September 15, NDP Leader Jack Layton issued the statement below. It is about time that Canadian politicians and officials told Alan Baker to SHUT UP! It seems that many Canadians feel the same way.
"I am disappointed by the comments made by Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker reported in the Globe and Mail today. At our convention in Quebec City, New Democrats voted to support a resolution which condemns acts of terror that targeted innocent civilians -- a resolution which quite clearly condemns suicide bombings.
"For the Ambassador to suggest that the NDP is giving a 'green light' to terrorists is not only wrong but it is an unnecessary attempt on behalf of the Ambassador to insert himself into domestic politics. The resolutions passed on the Middle East commit the NDP to the promotion of dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian communities. I would hope that this is something the Ambassador would support -- not disparage.
"The NDP is looking to move the debate forward on the Middle East. Our party passed solid resolutions that are about continuing to work with both sides of the conflict."
Read NDP Resolutions on Lebanon and Palestine
October 2, 2006
Counterpunch - Israeli Militarism and the Necessity of a One-State Solution
It's true that the rhetoric of Iran's President gave and gives a degree of apparent credibility to Zionist and neo-con spin--but only to those who are unaware of, or don't want to know, the difference between the facts and documented truth of the real history of the Arab-Israeli conflict...
