By Murray Dobbin The next time any of us go out to a restaurant, to a sports event or to a music venue will be imagining what it would be like to be suddenly Read more…
Continue readingTag: Middle East
Canadian Dimension: Seeds of ISIS terror sown by Western hegemony
Photo by Thierry Ehrmann
Syria is a global powder keg. Putin’s intervention in Syria in September led to ISIS blowing up a Russian airliner over the Sinai in November, killing hundreds of passengers. Two weeks…
Continue readingParis—the blowback of imperialism
U.S. President Barack Obama has referred to the atrocities in Paris as attacks “on all of humanity.” He is wrong, of course. The attacks were specifically directed at France, an ex-imperialist European nation that has a long history of colonizing, oppressing and exploiting the Muslim peoples of North Africa and
Continue readingLeDaro: Are we headed for a third world war?
What is going on in the Middle East has reached a very dangerous cross-road.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: How’s This For a Script? Warning – It’s a Tough Read.
Young men and women, conscripts, manning the ramparts at Festung (fortress) Europa as legions of desperate migrants approach seeking safety. As the steely commander shouts the order the young defenders reluctantly open fire on the horde knowing they have no other choice – the migrants carry among them a highly
Continue readingwRanter.com: What does the Liberal win mean for Jewish groups?
The longest election campaign in modern Canadian history delivered more than a surprise Liberal majority – it yielded six new Jewish MPs for the winning party: Michael Levitt in Toronto’s York Centre; Anthony Housefather in Mount Royal, and Jim Carr in Winnipeg South Centre – all ridings with large Jewish
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Uri Avnery on Israeli Racism
Photo by cyrillelala Editor’s Note: The sad reality of racism in Israel has been known to many of us for decades–a tragedy for a people which has suffered so much from the racism directed against us. Its first manifestation was in the scorn and discrimination with which Sepahrdic/Mizrachi Jews escaping
Continue readingwRanter.com: Cultural and religious issues dominate as election day nears
Thank God for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). I say that not because trade is an inherently Jewish issue, nor because I know for certain the recently negotiated deal will be good for Canada, especially since its details have yet to be released. Irrespective of its long-term effects, the TPP might
Continue readingwRanter.com: Munk Debate glosses over Israel – is that a good thing?
Is that all there was? Given how much praise – and criticism – the Harper government’s strong support for Israel has attracted, it’s somewhat surprising that so little was said about the Jewish state in the Sept. 28 Munk Debate on foreign policy in Toronto. The night’s only exchange on
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Lawyers, guns and money: Russia’s intervention in Syria offers a useful teaching moment for Canadians
PHOTOS: A Russian Su-34 bomber releases a bomb near the provisional ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria. (Russian Ministry of Defence photo.) Below: Russian President Vladimir Putin, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Russia’s military intervention in the Syrian civil war has offered a unique teaching
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 readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: ISIS and Terrorism – A Reality Check
“The responsibility of intellectuals is to speak the truth and expose lies.” – Noam Chomsky “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell According to a February 2015 Gallup poll, Americans consider the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — abbreviated as
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
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Robert Fisk
Last evening my wife and I attended a talk given by Robert Fisk, the renowned British journalist who has lived in and covered the Middle East for almost 40 years. The talk was quite dense, given the complexity of the issues and dynamics of that region, and I realized how
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Don’t let the refugees down
Yeah, it’s been a while. But I had to take to my keyboard today because of the refugee crisis that is swamping Europe – since many of them may be headed Canada’s way. And I never thought, a month into the election, that it would become a debating point…
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Don’t let the refugees down
Yeah, it’s been a while. But I had to take to my keyboard today because of the refugee crisis that is swamping Europe – since many of them may be headed Canada’s way. And I never thought, a month into the election, that it would become a debating point, but
Continue readingBlast Furnace Canada Blog: Don’t let the refugees down
Yeah, it’s been a while. But I had to take to my keyboard today because of the refugee crisis that is swamping Europe – since many of them may be headed Canada’s way. And I never thought, a month into the election, that it would become a debating point, but
Continue readingAlberta Politics: Labour Day 2015: Analyzing Europe’s refugee crisis through the lens of labour rights
PHOTOS: The Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan. Below: International studies scholar Vijay Prashad; former Conservative Senator Hugh Segal. On Labour Day 2015, the world’s attention is focused on the great migration of desperate human beings streaming into Europe from the economic and military catastrophes of North Africa and
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Aylan Kurdi’s drowning death exposes Canada’s inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis
A leading Canadian refugee right group says last week’s tragic drowning death of Aylan Kurdi highlights the human costs of the Harper government’s inaction on the Syria’s growing refugee crisis. The post Aylan Kurdi’s drowning death exposes Canada’s inaction on the Syrian refugee crisis appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingAlberta Politics: The refugee crisis: Harper Conservatives just can’t spin it both ways
PHOTOS: Refugees from the Syrian civil war clog a road near the Syria-Iraq border. (UNHCR photo.) Below: Saskatchewan Conservative MP Kelly Block’s constituency leaflet; Ms. Block herself; Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. For several years, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has played to the worst instincts of a significant
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