I wrote this in November 2007 on the hope for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The solution essentially comes down to understanding the most and least that each side can accept. We could argue forever whether the State of Israel should have been created the way it was but,
Continue readingTag: Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Song of the Watermelon: Israel’s Assault on Gaza
In the days since Hamas’s violent rampage through southern Israel, one word that keeps popping up is “unprovoked.” A Biden administration official condemned “the unprovoked attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians,” while Mike Pence urged every American to “condemn the unprovoked and massive attack on Israel by terrorists in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Clearly, This Needed To Be Said
On the latest battle between Israel and the Palestinians, John Oliver has this to say. I really have nothing to add to this. Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Is Powerful
And very difficult to watch: This is sickening. Why is there no outrage from the Canadian government? https://t.co/2sCYh4YJ3g — Linda McQuaig (@LindaMcQuaig) November 12, 2019 Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: In Case You Were Wondering
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Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Can Anyone Imagine Such A Speech In Our House Of Commons?
There must be an independent investigation of the Gaza massacre, and those responsible must be held to account. My Commons statement today: pic.twitter.com/ig7c3bXg0j — Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) May 15, 2018 In a similar vein, this seems an appropriate description of the atrocity: GENEVA (Reuters) – Israel’s use of force against
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: We Should All Be Outraged
My father lived to be almost 91 years of age. Should I enjoy such a long life, there are many things that I hope not to lose along the way. Near the top of the list is my capacity for outrage. This morning brought confirmation that at least for the tim…
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: UPDATE: We Should All Be Outraged
My father lived to be almost 91 years of age. Should I enjoy such a long life, there are many things that I hope not to lose along the way. Near the top of the list is my capacity for outrage. This morning brought confirmation that at least for the time being, it is alive and well.
Some may remember a post I made in July about Nadia Shoufani, the Mississauga, Ontario Separate School Board teacher who participated in a rally protesting Israel’s brutal abuse of the Palestinians and the occupation of their land. At the time, the Jewish lobby demanded her head, conflating her criticism of the Jewish State with antisemitism, as they are wont to do.
It appears their efforts have paid off.
The CBC reports the following:
A Greater Toronto Area elementary school teacher has been suspended following a school board investigation after she was criticized for appearing in and speaking at what advocacy groups have called an anti-Israel rally.
Nadia Shoufani, a teacher at St. Catherine of Siena school in Mississauga, Ont., has been suspended with pay pending further investigation by the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, the board said in a statement.
The school board said concerns raised by the public about Shoufani’s professional conduct have been referred to the Ontario College of Teachers for review.
We should all be outraged over this craven capitulation of the Dufferin-Peel Board to the political pressure exerted by those who will brook no criticism of Israel, despite its well-documented record of human rights abuse and atrocities. Human Rights Watch notes the following:
Israel enforces severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinians’ human rights, and it builds and supports unlawful settlements in the occupied West Bank. Its security forces appear to use excessive force against Palestinian demonstrators and suspected attackers, raising the specter of extra-judicial killings. It has renewed the practice of punitive home demolitions. The Palestinian Authority has arrested students and activists allegedly for their political affiliation or because they expressed criticism. Hamas security forces also engage in torture and ill-treatment of people, including journalists. Israel’s closure of Gaza, supported by Egypt, amounts to collective punishment and has impeded reconstruction.
In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli forces committed unlawful killings of Palestinian civilians, including children, and detained thousands of Palestinians who protested against or otherwise opposed Israel’s continuing military occupation, holding hundreds in administrative detention. Torture and other ill-treatment remained rife and were committed with impunity.
The facts are not in dispute here, but thanks to those public officials working in Dufferin-Peel who have neither backbone nor a belief in freedom of speech, only the kind of cravenness seen in the worst of our politicians, Shoufani is being made an example of. That the board lacks even a scintilla of integrity is evidenced by their refusal to acknowledge they are succumbing to outside pressure, instead hiding behind another excuse for her suspension, as revealed by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), which is representing the beleaguered teacher. They said,
the teacher wasn’t suspended for her conduct, but instead for appearing to not comply with the investigation. However, OECTA said the teacher has provided all of the information the board has asked for and met its timelines.
But not everyone is unhappy about this witch hunt:
Amanda Hohmann, the national director of B’nai Brith Canada’s league for human rights, praised the board for suspending the teacher this week.
“It is heartening to see the school board treating this matter seriously,” Hohmann said in a statement.
While Hohmann and her group may be gratified by Shoufani’s suspension, I expect and hope that fair-minded people everywhere will be appalled by this indefensible curtailment of one of our most valued Charter rights: freedom of expression.
UPDATE: Thanks to Marie for this video that clearly addresses the kinds of conditions that Nadia Shoufani was protesting against. Even if you watch even five or ten minutes, you will get the picture.
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: An Open Letter to Elizabeth May Regarding BDS
Dear Elizabeth May, Please don’t resign over Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. Far from being “polarizing, ineffective and unhelpful,” the BDS movement seeks to employ moderate, non-violent means (i.e. boycotts and other economic measures) to pressure Israel to end its decades-long … Continue reading →
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Free Speech Is Fine
…. except when it is used to criticize Israel, as Mississauga, Ont. teacher Nadia Shoufani is learning. She addressed a downtown Toronto rally on 2 July, marking al-Quds Day, an annual event held around the world to support Palestinian rights and to …
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: A Double Standard?
Under normal circumstances, a court of last resort would be welcomed in the pursuit of justice, but it is apparently an entirely different story when it involves holding Israel to account Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Would You Hug A Terrorist?
There is no question that here in the West, we like to treat almost as an embarrassment; we sanitize it, hide it away in hospitals and palliative care units, and conduct our lives with a kind of cognitive dissonance, believing on some level that while it happens to others, somehow
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Israelis Of Conscience
I reproduce the following story without comment, except to state the obvious. It is a testament to the courage and integrity of those described therein, who will likely face all manner of vitriol at home for their principled decision: Forty-three reservists from Israel’s elite army intelligence unit have announced their
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Joan Rivers
I was never a fan of Joan Rivers, though I take no pleasure in the fact that she has died. However, you can call me churlish and insensitve, but I doubt that the celebrity hagiography likely to ensue will include this outburst from last month: Recommend this Post
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Cowardly Leadership: We All Pay A Price
As I have written in the past, poor leadership costs all of us dearly. Whether looking at local provincial, federal or international politics, the price we pay for leadership that has too high a regard for itself and too little for the people is moral, social, economic and military disarray.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Praising Stephen Harper
Now that I have your attention, let me assure that I am not the source of that praise. No, a site called Breaking Israel News is. Drawing heavily upon a piece written by the Ottawa Citizen’s Mark Kennedy, it offers the following effusive approval of Stephen Harper: The support he
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Justin Trudeau Speaks
But, unfortunately, says nothing. As I have noted elsewhere in this blog and in comments on others’, I have grave misgivings about the Liberal Party under the leadership of Justin Trudeau. Despite the latest EKOS poll showing the party with a commanding lead while the Conservatives continue to sink under
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Chris Hedges, Gaza Rally in NYC: God’s Covenant in the Promised Land
Here is the note written by Leigha Cohen as an introduction to the following video on You Tube featuring Chris Hedges: On August 9th, 2014 a rally supporting the people in Gaza took place at Columbus Circle in NYC. The rally lasted for 2 hours which was followed by a
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Mulcair Speaks
Noted recently is the widespread criticism that both Justin Trudeau and Thomas Mulcair have earned by either their silence or their very timid comments about the slaughter in Gaza. While most Canadians have probably come to expect the reflexive uncritical endorsement of all things Israeli by the Harper regime, many
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Scotian Responds To A Post
The other day I posted a video showing an Irish Senator and internationally recognized human rights activist, David Norris, speaking impassionately about the Israeli-Gazan situation, sparing no criticism of Israel’s disproportionate response to Hamas’s aggression that has cost so many lives. I wondered what things would be like if we
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