In a move that has greatly pleased Israeli PM Netanyahu the Harper government has shut down its Iran embassy and expelled Iranian diplomats in Canada. On Sept 7 Harper’s foreign minister, John Baird, announced they had five days to leave. Baird characterized Iran as ‘a threat to global peace.’ The
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Montreal Simon: Benny and Steve and the War with Iran
As you know I'm a real romantic eh? And I'm usually a sucker for movies about two men in love. Especially if they're R-rated.But I think it's safe to say that with the Middle East on the brink of a war that could kill millions of people, the last thing
Continue readingLeDaro: Orly Weinerman: Gaddafi’s girlfriend
It is a strange love story. Orly Weinerman is an Israeli model and soap opera actress and in love with Saif Gaddafi who is Muammar Gaddafi’s son and is in Libyan custody. He is under trial in Libya and possible punishment could be death sentence. She is appealing former British
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Rachel Corrie: Israeli court ruling raises questions and spurs activism
On March 16, 2003, a 23-year old American activist named Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an IDF armored bulldozer in Rafah, southern Gaza. Along with fellow activists from the International Solidarity Movement, Corrie was engaged in a courageous effort to defend Palestinian homes slated for demolition. In an
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Can America Imagine a "Post-Israel Middle East"?
An American intelligence community report is sparking outrage among pro-Israel factions in Washington. It’s a paper entitled: Preparing For A Post Israel Middle East, an 82 page analysis that concludes that the American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist Israel. The authors concludes that Israel is
Continue readingwRanter.com: Church settlement boycott becomes interfaith train wreck
Share this: This past August, the General Council of the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, adopted a motion urging its members to boycott goods produced in West Bank settlements. The proposal was part of a larger, rather one-sided report prepared by the church’s Working Group on Israel/Palestine
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Israeli Settlements and the United Church Boycott: Three Common Distortions
*** Note: An unfinished draft version of this post mistakenly went out to e-mail and feed subscribers yesterday. Please do your best to scrub it from your memory and enjoy the updated post — as its author intended — below. Many thanks and apologies. *** After months of controversy and
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: Israel, the Settlements, and the United Church: Three Common Distortions
– proposed United Church boycott of products from Israeli settlements Distortion #1: Why Israel? The world is full of tyranny and injustice. Of all the places and issues, why boycott the Middle East’s only democracy? Three assumptions are packed into this distortion: that the United Church is boycotting Israel, that
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Canada-Israel relationship: BBC survey and ‘Fault Lines’ report
With discussion of a possible boycott of goods from Israeli settlements heating up this week, the question is often asked why Canada is taking such a marked pro-Israel stance. Really that is more about perceptions than reality. The majority of Canadians are far from ardent pro-Israel supporters. The face of
Continue readingCuriosityCat: If Israel attacks before November 6, 2012
This is what one set of supposedly leaked documents says will happen if Israel decides to strike Iran: According to Silverstein, an Israeli strike on Iran will include a “barrage of tens of ballistic missiles” launched from Israeli territory towards Iran, as well as a barrage of “hundreds of cruise
Continue readingLeDaro: Canadian United Church’s resolution on Israel/Palestinian situation
The United Church is critical of Israel and the treatment/ plight of Palestinians. Spokesperson Sid Shniad of Independent Jewish Voices has some interesting points of view. Rabbi Reuben Poupko defends Israel’s position. You be the judge. I believe the United Church is showing courage and fairness to pass such a
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: United Church should adopt boycott of Israeli settlement goods
The United Church of Canada’s governing body is meeting this week to decide if the Church will adopt a boycott of goods that come from illegal Jewish “settlements” in the Israeli-occupied territories. If the proposed UC boycott flies it will be a bold stand for principle, in-step with a global
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Avraham Burg and the hard truth about ‘Israel’s Fading Democracy’
Avraham Burg has an opinion piece in the New York Times this week titled “Israel’s Fading Democracy.” It’s well worth the read. Burg doesn’t shy away from addressing hard truths about the Israel of Binyamin Netanyahu – a society that has becomes more radicalized, in some respects more extremist.
Continue readingwRanter.com: Why seek validation from the IOC? Instead, flip it the bird
Share this: I love the Olympics, but not for the reasons you might think. It can be truly inspiring to watch the best athletes in the world – and the best Canada has to offer – compete against one another at the highest levels of sport. And I’m proud when
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: If America is Israel’s Best Friend, Why Does Israel Respond with Treachery?
The CIA deems Israel America’s greatest counterintelligence threat in the Middle East. This is America as in Israel’s hands down greatest benefactor and defender. The CIA considers Israel its No. 1 counterintelligence threat in the agency’s Near East Division, the group that oversees spying across the Middle East, according to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Will Israel Take Out Assad?
It sounds like a bad dream until you factor in two things. One, Assad has announced he has WMDs, chemical and biological, at his disposal and he’s prepared to use them to thwart potential foreign intervenion. Two, Assad’s days are probably numbered and it’s possible those WMDs could fall right
Continue readingDrive-by Planet: Was Arafat killed? Uri Avnery suspects hand of Ariel Sharon
Questions have long been circulating about the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Yasser Arafat. In the months prior to his death Arafat’s health wasn’t what it had been, but nevertheless he was judged by medics to be in pretty good shape for a man of his age. He was
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Syria Isn’t About Syria
Bahrain and Syria both have repressive governments and both had uprisings in 2011, the United States and Saudi Arabia stopped one but are continuing the other, showing democracy and humanitarian concerns don’t shape foreign policy, national self-interest does. In February 2011 protesters took to the streets in Bahrain calling for
Continue readingLeft Over: Neil MacDonald: Try a little self-censorship on for size…
ANALYSISNeil Macdonald: Is self-censorship fueling Alice Walker’s Hebrew halt? (CBC this morning) Mr. MacDonald, with all due respect from someone who has Jewish cultural roots, you are letting your ‘fondness’ for your time in Israel cloud your usually sharp judgement.. Canada has been blindly following Israel’s lead with no perceptible
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Israel To Deport 60,000 ‘Social Irritants’
Describing them as “a social irritant and a threat to the Jewish character of the state,” Israel is set to deport 60,000 African migrant workers, or, as they are being labelled, ‘infiltrators,’ all of whom were technically working illegally. Despite its collective historical experience with racial profiling, the state apparently
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