Having worked as a teacher for 30 years, I am well-aware of the politics that pervades and blights education. The higher one goes up the ladder, the more one is concerned about damage control. Since I was a mere peon, i.e. a classroom teacher, I had little tolerance for such
Continue readingTag: anti-Semitism
Views from the Beltline: What about the atheists?
We hear a great deal about religious bigotry these days. Islamophobia so concerns the federal government that it recently appointed an anti-Islamophobia representative—Amira Elghawaby. (Ms. Elghawaby immediately got into hot water herself and had to apologize to Quebeckers for uncharitable remarks she had made about the good people of that
Continue readingKersplebedeb: Reflections on the Antisemitic Content in Öcalan’s The Sociology of Freedom [mirrored from social-ecology.org]
[Originally posted on the Institute for Social Ecology website.] The following reflection piece reflects the views of the signers and has not been endorsed by the Institute for Social Ecology as an organization. We are a group of leftist educators, scholars, and activists who support the Kurdish-led liberation struggle in
Continue readingsomecanuckchick dot com: “Take Canada Back” ?!?!?
“Take Canada Back” to when/what/where, etc., exactly?!? ICYMI Erin O’Toole is the newly-minted leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Erin O’Toole ran on a leadership campaign platform that courted nationalists and populists, AKA hate/fear-mongering, racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic, etc. pieces of garbage. Erin O’Toole’s leadership campaign slogan? “Take Canada Back”.
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: This Is Unbelievable
I’ve seen a lot in my life, but I am still trying to process this story: At a carnival procession in Spain, participants dressed like Nazis and Jewish concentration camp prisoners while dancing next to a float evoking crematoria. A video of the procession shows the participants marching in their
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Breaking news: opposition research firm does opposition research
From CBC, earlier today: On his Kinsellacast podcast, an unapologetic Kinsella said the campaign to spotlight racists who attached themselves to the fledgling party was not supposed to extend into the period covered by election spending rules. “Our efforts would strictly adhere to Canadian election law and cease all operations
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: My latest: this isn’t the face of a Prime Minister
Blackface. I’ve been writing about, and researching – and opposing – racism for more than thirty years. And make no mistake: blackface isn’t funny. It’s racist. Ask Megyn Kelly. A year ago, the former Fox News star was filming a segment about Halloween costumes and “political correctness.” Someone asked whether
Continue readingWarren Kinsella: Hate rag editor gets a year in jail
Finally. James Sears, the editor of the so-called newspaper called Your Ward News, was finally sentenced this afternoon in a Toronto courtroom to one year in jail. He’d been convicted in January of promoting hatred against Jews and women. I just did an interview with some Toronto media, and noted
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Front Page of Polish Paper – ‘How to Spot a Jew’
The right wing is alive and in charge in Poland today as that country joins Hungary and Italy in descending into illiberal democracy. It therefore should come as no great surprise that the latest edition of the Polish weekly, Only Poland, has on its front page an article entitled “How
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Things We Would Like To Forget
One of the benefits of receiving the print edition of the Toronto Star seven days a week is the Sunday edition. While not necessarily replete with news, the Sunday paper frequently embraces the opportunity to explore issues in depth. Today, Mitch Potter looks at an aspect of Canada’s bigoted past,
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Anti-semitism, racism and other old white supremacist prejudices die hard
Anti-semitism, racism and other prejudices are on the rise in most established democracies. Still, silencing white supremacists on the Internet is counterproductive. It would only lead to more senseless acts violence similar to those perpetrated by Anders Breivik and Rhodesia-inspired Dylann Roof. The post Anti-semitism, racism and other old white
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Islamophobia—what’s in a word?
Words don’t always mean what they say. For example, anti-Semitism says “against Semites,” but it means “against Jews,” who actually only make up a small part of the Semite community. Yet confusion never arises because the word has become so firmly established as meaning anti-Jew. That is not the case
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Islamophobia—what’s in a word?
Words don’t always mean what they say. For example, anti-Semitism says “against Semites,” but it means “against Jews,” who actually only make up a small part of the Semite community. Yet confusion never arises because the word has become so firmly established as meaning anti-Jew. That is not the case
Continue readingTrashy's World: For those Canadians who think that the election of Trump is of no matter to us…
… wake up. I have literally no patience for those people anymore. Zero. He has emboldened racists everywhere. Even in my own backyard. A Synagogue not far from where I live and even closer to my kid’s school was defiled with anti-Jewish and racist slop the other night. This Synagogue
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will Trump Embolden Bigots in Canada?
Yesterday we read Kinsella’s post about a white power, Alt.Right handbill posted in his neighbourhood. Today we have an account from CBC Ottawa of a woman, Anna Maranta, a rabbi no less, who awakened in the early hours of Tuesday morning to find a swastika and the word “kike” spray
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 readingLeft Over: The MSM Semantics of anti-Semitism…
ANALYSIS Has the activist left decided anti-Semitism doesn’t exist?: Neil Macdonald History, detail and nuance often ignored in modern political discourse By Neil Macdonald, CBC News Posted: Jun 14, 2016 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 14, 2016 6:28 AM ET … Continue reading →
Continue readingwRanter.com: Gaffes and ‘anti-Semitism’ on the campaign trail
In the Sept. 17 Globe and Mail leaders’ debate, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made reference to “old-stock Canadians” in defending his government’s policy on health care for refugees and immigrants, saying it had only denied care to bogus claimants. “We do not offer them a better health-care plan than the
Continue readingwRanter.com: A national icon takes his leave
One of the questions I posed in this space a few weeks ago was: who will be the next big-name Jewish MP? With apologies to Joe Oliver, Canada’s first Jewish federal finance minister, what I may subconsciously have been asking is who will be the next Irwin Cotler, now that
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