What’s worse than bombing a hospital? Bombing a refugee camp, turning it into a death camp. The excuse: There was apparently a Hamas commander there. So if the first devastating blast killed him as the IDF claimed, why the followup attacks on refugees and emergency workers there? Hitting a refugee
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Views from the Beltline: A Gaza-Canadian analogy
Reading about the circumstances of the Palestinians in Gaza, I was reminded of a piece of our own history: the infamous pass system. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Indians of Western Canada signed treaties with the Canadian government yielding control over their territories. They believed they
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: About That Hospital in Gaza
There’s been a lot of discussion back and forth about the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza. Hamas claims it was an Israeli bomb or missile attack, Israel claims it’s the result of a failed rocket launched from within Gaza. I have thoughts about this. Certainly, I agree that the site
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Are our hands clean?
One of the best articles I have read about the Hamas-Israel war is The New York Times “There Is a Jewish Hope for Palestinian Liberation. It Must Survive” by Peter Beinart. Beinart is a Jewish-American professor of journalism and political science at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Jewish wisdom; Gentile folly
Reading The New York Times, as I do every morning (the world’s best newspaper), I have encountered a number of articles on the current hostilities in Palestine. I couldn’t help but notice that the articles with the most rational, most compassionate, and wisest analyses were written by Jews. This might
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Once, I Was a Peace Advocate. Now, I Have No Idealism Left – Ilan Benjamin
The Western world needs to give its collective head a shake and *not* celebrate terrorism. The conclusion from Benjamin’s essay published on The Free Press. “How wrong I was. This past week, as over 1,300 Jews were slaughtered, the most murderous attack on Jews since the Holocaust, I saw the
Continue readingSong 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 readingSaskboy's Abandoned Stuff: War Breaks Out In The Middle East
An evergreen headline, because the war basically never ends. If you google for “Israel killed journalist” it doesn’t know if you want contemporary results, or ones for the infamous incident where unpunished Israel snipers killed a journalist last year. The situation isn’t complicated. There’s a repressed population in Gaza, and
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Terrorism—weapon of the weak?
Hamas’s invasion of Israel has once again brought attention to the Palestine problem. The routine of Israel oppressing the Palestinians while simultaneously stealing their land has once again been interrupted by outright war. For over 75 years our government, parroting the United States, declares that a Palestinian state can only
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The No Space for Hate People Better Step Up Their Game…
The theory. The Praxis.
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: A Winnipeg Vigil for Palestine
On August 12, 2023, supporters of Palestinian liberation in Winnipeg held a vigil across from the Israeli Folklorama Pavilion to raise awareness of the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: First the U.S., now Israel
2015 was a good year. May brought the “Orange Chinook.” After 44 years of Conservative rule, the longest-serving provincial government in Canadian history, the NDP won a close-fought election. Then in October, Justin Trudeau and his Liberals defeated the Harper Conservatives to end a decade of Conservative rule. To quote
Continue readingSong of the Watermelon: National Post Letter
Electoral reform opponents are once again pulling out the old Israel canard. I’ve responded with a letter attempting to set the record straight in today’s National Post: Electoral reform Re: Think you want electoral reform? Kelly McParland, July 9 According to Kelly McParland, “Israel has a proportional representation system of
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: The Corona Virus is just another excuse to target Palestinians.
When will Canada speak out against Israel’s appalling treatment of Palestinians, both those who are Israeli citizens and those on the West Bank? Corona is just another excuse to target Palestinians. I should not have Read more…
Continue readingTrump and Israel—So Much for Separation of Church and State
The Trump administration has taken yet another step in its radical support of Israel. Having recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, cut off aid to the Palestinians, and abandoned the Iran agreement, it has now declared that Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: America’s enforcer in the Middle East
Stephen Gowans is an independent Canadian political analyst. His writings, which appear on his What’s Left blog have been reproduced widely in online and print media in many languages and had been cited in academic journals and other scholarly works. He’s the author of Washington’s Long War on Syria (2017),
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Israel Palestine International Law Symposium
Earlier this month I attended and recorded the proceedings of the Israel Palestine International Law Symposium, held in Winnipeg September 7 – 9. While I thought I was better informed than the average Canadian going into the symposium, by the time it was over I was overwhelmed by the amount of
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: So, Let’s Get this Straight.
Trump, despite the advice and warnings of America’s security/intelligence agencies and his country’s major allies, gives in to Netanyahu’s propaganda campaign against Iran, and walks away from the Iran nuclear weapons deal. Iran, therefore, in an act of crushing military stupidity, fires a missile barrage at Israeli targets in the
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: United Nations Rejects US Unilateralism on Jerusalem.
The United Nations is a marginalized entity, like the League of Nations, it was formed with the idea that humanity, as a species can do better than just sit within our imaginary borders and fling poo (sometimes thermonuclear) at each other. It’s a noble and nice idea. And that’s about
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Quaking
I wonder if there have been any reports of unusual seismic activity in Canada today. If there have, they would likely be the consequence of the Trudeau government’s massive boot-quaking in the face of a bully. While 22 of the 28 EU countries, including the UK, France and Germany, voted
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