Segacs's World I Know |
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Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.
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21.12.02
There was a bus bombing in Pakistan today, where at least 2 people were killed and more than a dozen injured. How long until they start blaming the Jews and the Zionists for this one, do you figure? | It really pisses me off to hear allegations that Israel doesn't do enough to provide emergency rescue services, especially considering the Canadian and worldwide campaigns against Magen David Adom. And especially when I read things like this: The event featured guest speaker Sarah Kronis, who has worked as a volunteer with Magen David Adom for the past five years. Kronis, 24, described her experiences helping patients, and assisting medical staff aboard the ambulances. She also noted the changes that have taken place since the latest intifidah began in September 2000.The next time I hear that it was the Israelis who were preventing ambulances from reaching injured people, I'm going to ask those making the allegations exactly how many Red Crescent ambulances were stolen, repainted, and used to transport explosives by the IDF. | Hillel files suit against the CSU. A declaration filed by 10 plaintiffs from Hillel has been filed, demanding Hillel's full and unconditional reinstatement, the unfreezing of its funding, and $100,000 in punative damages. | 20.12.02
Another typical day at the UN. A resolution is proposed criticizing Israel for the deaths of three UN workers. The United States vetoes it. A resolution is proposed condemning terrorism against Israelis in the Kenya attacks. Syria votes against it. And the beat goes on . . . | Jaggi Singh enters West Bank illegally. After Israel let him in, even though they didn't have to, Singh decided that laws were merely "suggestions" and that he could break whichever ones he pleases. He defied a ban on entry into the West Bank and is now bragging to the media about it. Singh told Montreal radio station CJAD he had violated an Israeli court ruling to keep him out of the area and freely showed Israeli soldiers his passport. "Most of the soldiers who man checkpoints, who are involved in dealing directly with Palestinians, are 18- and 19-year-old kids," Singh told the station. "They're nice guys and girls when they don't have their uniforms on, but they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer."So which is it, Jaggi? Is the Israeli army oppressively restricting people's movement? Or is crossing the border a simple matter? It does make me wonder about the effectiveness of Israeli security, though. Surely if Singh could get IN, then a suicide bomber would have little trouble getting OUT with 50 pounds of explosives strapped to his chest. A bit disconcerting. Singh had this to add: "I'm not here committing any crimes. I'm here observing the situation and if they want to come in and get me, I'm not going out of my way to hide."Go get him, Israel! | Reader poll: I could make a reader poll about war in Iraq, international relations, sovereignty, the Israel-Palestinian conflict, or a whole host of important issues. So of course, I'm choosing the most important debate of all: Counting Crows vs. Michelle Branch. Not that I'd want to bias this poll in any way . . . so just type in the comments whether your vote is for the poetic, talented, awesome Counting Crows . . . or for Michelle Branch. Jon, I will prove you wrong! | Mario qui?  Quebeckers were getting ready to crown him king, but the closest Mario Dumont is likely to get to the throne is in a washroom stall. A new poll shows ADQ support is slipping. A new CROP-Express poll suggests 34 per cent of decided Quebec voters now support the Liberals. The Parti Québécois follows at 33 per cent, and then Mario Dumont's ADQ at 31 per cent. It's the first time the ADQ has come third in a poll since April.Granted, "super-Mario" was a one-man show, who got by on charisma as long as his platform - or lack of - wasn't scrutinized too closely. His proposals may have been a bit too conservative for Quebec - with the feasibility of such ideas as flat tax or school vouchers being doubted. And his surge in popularity led to increased questions about his youth, his lack of experience, and his incredible fence-sitting act on the sovereignty question. But according to the Gazette, none of that is the reason for the wind being knocked out of Mario's sails. Many believe Dumont's popularity decline began after a well-received speech at Toronto's Canadian Club in September. The next day, Quebec networks and newspapers carried images of Dumont speaking in front of a giant Maple Leaf flag.Once again, as the song says, "Blame Canada" . . . | No offense, Damian, but your provincial government has just given us a whole new cause to crack Newfie jokes. Legislation banning handheld cellphones in cars was just passed by the Newfoundland cabinet. "I know that all the other provinces realize that the use of cellphones by drivers is a problem," said Walter Noel, the province's government services minister. "They have various reasons not to act on it to date (but) I think we'll see more provinces act before very long," he said in an interview Friday.This law is both restrictive and ridiculous. There are tons of idiots who drive erratically while on the phone, true. But there are also many people who use the phone responsibly. And what about other distractions, such as changing the radio station, drinking coffee, or checking makeup in the rearview mirror? Should all of those things be banned too? Cell phone laws are always advocated by people looking for an easy scapegoat for road accidents. But there were plenty of accidents before cell phones were invented, and there will be plenty more even after this ban is imposed. Studies have indicated that there is no evidence that cell phone use causes accidents. This is a fluff law, designed to appease the public while solving nothing. | I'm getting really sick of hearing these "root-cause" arguments for hatred. Between Osama's apologists, Arafat's cheerleaders, and the Jaggi Singhs who insisted on blaming everyone for the rioting at Concordia but the rioters, it seems that nobody takes personal responsibility seriously anymore. In a letter in today's Gazette, Dorval resident Juerg Bangerter blames Anglophones for being resented by Francophones: If some 25 years ago or even 50 years ago, the French-Canadian population would have been treated equally and with respect in Canada, the Parti Québécois would never have risen to power. If English Quebecers would have treated the francophone Québécois majority as equals, there would never been any of the language extremism we all hate today.If Bangereter wants to criticize the members of the Anglo society fifty years ago who didn't treat Francophones as equals, then that's certainly legitimate. But his suggestion that "they hate us cause we don't all speak their language" is ridiculous. Firstly, many of us do speak their language. Secondly, since when is it grounds to hate someone simply because they don't speak a certain language? Silly me, I was under the impression that this constitutes discrimination. | Amram Mitzna and the Labour party continue to weaken Israel's position in the Palestinian conflict by promising more unilateral concessions. As prime minister, Mr. Mitzna would withdraw immediately from the Gaza Strip without conditions and resume peace talks with the Palestinians, the program says. If there is no agreement after a year, Israel will withdraw from considerable parts of the West Bank and draw its own "security border."Peace without a peace partner just means more war, but from a smaller strip of land. We can debate Israeli politics or the wisdom of Likud's policies all day if we want, but that doesn't change the fact that those 63% of Palestinians who support suicide bombings aren't likely to be swayed by Mitzna's sweet-talking. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have already vowed to "continue the struggle", indicating that it makes no difference to them who leads Israel; their goal is to wipe Israel off the map. A unilateral withdrawal from the territories will only serve to trigger even more terrorist attacks, since they'll have achieved something. And as long as a strategy works, it will continue. | 63% of Palestinians think suicide bombings should continue and 80% support the continuation of the intifada, while only 17% oppose it, according to a new poll released Wednesday. (via LGF.) The poll also showed that, while there is widespread mistrust of Palestinian leaders, Yasser Arafat was the most-trusted leader, with 25% support. More importantly, the second- and third-place leaders were Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, leader of Hamas, and Marwan Barghouti, a leader of Fatah in jail in Israel for terrorist attacks. So much for claims that suicide bombers are extremists on the fringe with no mainstream support. | 19.12.02
LGF's Idiotarian of the Year contest is getting some excellent nominations. My nominees: David Ahenakew The Concordia Student Union (especially exec members Sabine Freisinger, Yves Engler, Ralph Lee, Aaron Mate, Sameer Zuberi, and Kealia Curtis as well as members of the council of representatives Jaggi Singh and his buddies (including Samer Elatrash and Laith Marouf) Françoise Ducrois The 11% of Americans who couldn't find the USA on a world map. Bill Graham and, last but not least, Jennifer Durocher. Although, admittedly, Robert Fisk has been getting so many nominations that it almost seems unfair to declare him as the winner. It seems the award will be named for him, thus disqualifying him and opening the field to other nominees. Feel free to mosey on over and give your suggestions. | Failing grade for Iraq. Did you really ever expect Saddam Hussein to pass the UN weapons inspection test? It's being reported now that Britain and the US are saying Saddam failed the arms test. (Via Tim Blair.) Britain joined the United States yesterday in judging that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had failed the crucial United Nations test by supplying an untruthful declaration about weapons of mass destruction.It seems to me that there was a lot of misplaced faith out there. Anyone who took Saddam seriously when he said he intended to cooperate with weapons inspectors should really get the word "Naive" tattooed to their forehead. | Jeremy Wallace and Anne and Max Bailey from the Centre For Human Rights & Cultural Diversity defended the CSU in a letter to the Canadian Jewish News this week. In the wake of last year's events, we decided some pro-activity was needed. We offered a speaker, Edwin Black, who wrote IBM and The Holocaust, to the student union. They helped to book a room, and put up posters around the school. [ . . . ] That subject was right up the alley of the anti-corporate types. The Jewish community has far too much pro-capitalist rhetoric, and apologists for corporate extremism.Nobody's disputing the CSU's willingness to be accommodating to people whose speech agrees with theirs. Of course they roll out the red carpet for anyone who wants to bring in an anti-capitalist, anti-corporate speaker. That fits right in with the CSU's politics. Nobody's disputing the rights of someone like Edwin Black to be heard. I even agree that there has been too little attention paid to the role of certain corporations in the Holocaust. All that, of course, is besides the point. No, this dispute is about freedom of speech extending to those with whom the CSU disagrees. True freedom means allowing anti-corporate types to speak, and also pro-corporate types. It means allowing pro-Palestinians to speak and also pro-Israel speakers. It means helping left-wing, right-wing, and non-wing alike to be heard. The letter goes on to criticize the Jewish community leadership compared to the CSU: And let's not keep calling these people anti-democratic. We never voted for the leadership of Montreal's Jewish community. In fact, we find their unabashed support for Israel, no matter what is done there, to be an embarassment. When will our community welcome dissent, as a sign of strength and not of weakness?Ah, but there's a key difference. Nobody voted for the Jewish community leaders because we all have a choice whether or not to be represented by them. We don't pay tax to these people, we give donations. We can choose to agree with some of these community groups some of the time and disagree other times. These groups are interest groups, and their views are pro-Israel. Mr. Wallace and Mr. and Ms. Bailey have every right to dissent. Concordia students don't have this choice. They have to pay fees to the CSU or else they can't take their classes. The CSU legally represents all students, whether they like it or not. CSU fees aren't voluntary - they're compulsory. And that is why the CSU's flagrant abuse of democracy is so disturbing. When CSU executive members illegally annull by-election results and appoint themselves to remain in power after being recalled by the students, when council members elected to represent their constituents instead use their positions to advance their own political views, and when thousands of dollars of student money is used to defend people who assaulted some of those same students, then that's abuse. The CSU may act nicely towards people with whom they agree. But the true judge of an elected representatitve is his or her ability to act nicely towards people with whom they disagree. | 18.12.02
A Hamas leader has been arrested in Texas, as well as members of his family and five employees of a computer company. "We will follow the money of terror," Attorney General John Ashcroft said at a news conference. "And we will pursue the financiers of terror as aggressively as we pursue the thugs who do their dirty work."This is kind of like charging Al Capone with tax evasion instead of murder . . . but I suppose any charge is better than none. | Free parking! Well, not quite. You'll still have to shell out the 12 bucks to park in a downtown lot. But plans to tax off-street parking have been shelved, for now at least. It's about time someone stopped the madness. Parking is already expensive enough without adding even more tax. Parking spaces rake in $600 to $700 a year in hidden taxes, said Pierre Cléroux of Groupe Urbain, a coalition of businessmen who, backed by the chamber of commerce, oppose the tax.Environmentalists and city planners usually advocate raising taxes on gas and parking as a means of discouraging people from driving and encouraging them to switch to public transit. But I take serious issue with that. I'd love nothing more than to be able to leave my car at home - or sell it - and use a reliable, efficient public transportation system instead. It would save me money on gas, insurance, and maintenance, as well as the headaches of rush hour and the concern about drinking and driving, just to name a few reasons. The trouble is, that reliable, efficient public transporation system doesn't exist. Not for us suburbanites anyway. Our buses are few and far between and we don't have a metro. Commuter trains are only convenient to people going straight downtown and back, and only at peak hours. My daily commute to work - maybe 75 minutes round-trip, even in traffic - would take well over 4 hours by public transit. Efficient? Hah! The carrot-and-stick method of persuasion only works if you offer a carrot; namely, improved public transit. Until that happens, the government can wield the tax stick all it wants, and people will keep driving. We simply don't have a choice. | Another terrorist attack thwarted. This time in Paris, police arrested 4 who were allegedly involved in planning a terrorist attack. Four suspected Islamic militants who had an unidentified liquid and an anti-contamination suit were probably planning an attack, France's interior minister said Tuesday. French counter-terrorism agents arrested the four - three Algerians and a Moroccan - in a raid on an apartment in a Paris suburb on Monday. One of the suspects is a woman, judicial officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.I've now been to Israel three times and I've never seen any kind of problems. But I was in France for 3 days and I witnessed a bomb scare. Statistically, you have a higher chance of dying in a terrorist attack while vacationing in France than in Israel, and yet look which country's airport has been ghostly empty these past couple of years. Exactly whom is France accused of occupying? | Ahenakew's apology rings hollow. In an emotional appearance Tuesday, Ahenakew apologized to the Jewish community, Holocaust survivors and their families.Sorry, but in a case like this, that just don't cut it. What's more likely to be a true expression of how he feels? The disgusting racist comments he made in anger? Or a carefully-crafted apology after nearly five days of media pressure? For a man like this to be a member of the Order of Canada is a disgrace. He resigned from all his political positions within the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, but even during his apology speech he still opted to wear his Order of Canada pin on his lapel. What does that say about Canada? What does that say about us as Canadians? He should be stripped of the Order immediately. | 17.12.02
What's in a name? In a discussion on the Link's website, I noticed something I'd seen in a few places before: an anonymous pro-Palestinian poster (alias "ii"), when referring to Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, felt it necessary to include the fact that his birth name was Schneinerman in parenthesis. I asked him why he felt the necessity to do this, and he gave the following reply: The reason I use it is to discredit the misnomer 'anti-semitism.' The name shows Mr. Scheinerman to be of European, rather than Semitic origin.He then proceeded to give the birth names of Golda Meir, Shimon Peres, David Ben Gurion, and Yitzchak Shamir, seemingly incapable of so much as mentioning any of these prominent figures in Israeli history without a parenthetical reference to the fact that they all Hebraized their names. Aside from the obviously convoluted reference to the "Semitic" race - a social construct of racists, with no basis whatsoever in reality - "ii" shows both a lack of understanding of the term and basis of antisemitism, and a gross disrespect and disregard for Jewish and Israeli history. Firstly, the term "antisemitism" is defined as hatred directed against Jews. The whole point is that there is no so-called "Semitic" race! That's why it's racist. And the fact that all the Israeli politicians to whom "ii" referred were Ashkenazi rather than Sephardi really has no bearing on whether attacking Jews is antisemitism or not. According to "ii"'s logic, it's not antisemitism to make racist statements against Jews of European origin. Do I really need to go into how twisted that is? Secondly, if "ii" knew more Israeli history, he would know about the efforts of the olim in the early twentieth century to revive Hebrew as a national language. Prominent people such as Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (whose name graced the cover of the pocket dictionary that got me through Hebrew school) and others accomplished what was essentially a modern-day miracle: the revival of a language that had not been used in everyday conversation for nearly two thousand years. Far from an attempt to "fabricate history", as "ii" slanderously suggests, the revival of modern Hebrew was an attempt to reunite a People who had been scattered in different parts of the world for far too long. While Hebrew continued to be the language of religious study and prayer throughout all that time, by the beginning of the twentieth century, most Ashkenazi Jews spoke Yiddish, Russian, Polish, German, French, or English, and many Sephardic Jews spoke Arabic, Ladino, or a whole host of other languages in everyday conversation. What Ben-Yehuda and his compatriotes recognized was that if Israel was going to reunite the Jewish people from across the world, they would need a common language as an expression of a common heritage and national identity. When Ben-Gurion, Meir, Shamir, Peres, and Sharon - as well as Ben-Yehuda himself and a host of others - Hebraized their names, it was as much an expression of their common National Jewish identity as anything else. And it is precisely this identity that people like "ii" seek to discredit. A person's name is an expression of who they are, and who they wish to be, and the habit of anti-Zionists to deny the history and heritage of the Israeli leaders is nothing but a thinly-veiled claim that the history and heritage does not exist. As poster "bistro" commented in reply to "ii"'s post: The idea there is that Jews are not "really" a people: Jews from Arab countries are "really" Arab; Jews from European countries are, surprise, Europeans after all; and you're done -- people (des gens), but not a people (un peuple). [. . .] The your-real-name-is manoeuvre is very convenient. It's shorthand for saying: you don't really belong in the Middle East, your peoplehood is a lie, even your names are lies, and you are really European. You don't belong here.Next time you see this being done, pause a moment and think about it. It may seem like a small thing, but it's nothing but an attempt to claim that Jews aren't really a people at all. | Plaintiffs wanted for the Hillel lawsuit against the CSU. Hillel has issued an appeal for its constituents (Jewish Concordia students) who have personally experienced damages thanks to the CSU's illegal and groundless actions, to join them as plaitiffs in their lawsuit. Here's the skinny: Shalom Chaverim,For more information, contact Noah. | 16.12.02
Jaggi Singh has been allowed into Israel, but he's barred from entering the Disputed Territories. The media's calling him a "peace activist" and a "committed protestor", while simultaneously quoting his buddy Samer Elatrash of the SPHR. "It clearly demonstrates that Israel has formulated and is enforcing a policy of putting a lid on the West Bank and the Gaza," said Elatrash, who disputed the Israeli court's jurisdiction over the Palestinian areas.No, the fact that Israel's letting him in at all clearly demonstrates what an open and tolerant society it is - far beyond the call of duty. Singh threatened the security of Israel's former Prime Minister, for godssakes! How many countries would then let someone like that come visit as a tourist, let alone as an activist intending to stir things up for media attention? Now that Singh is stuck in Israel but can't visit the Territories, what, oh, what, will he do? Jaggi, why not hang out in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem a while? Maybe check out the nightlife. Go see a few museums or historical sights. Who knows? You might even like it! Or maybe - what a concept! - he can even try being a real "peace activist" for a change. He can ride buses for Israel to protest suicide terrorist attacks against civilians. And why not? What else does he have to do while he waits to be cleared to go to the Territories and disseminate anti-Zionist propaganda? 12/17/02: Update: Jaggi Singh now says he intends to defy the ban and go to the Territories anyway. (via LGF). I guess he doesn't like Tel Aviv's nightlife that much after all. | Speaking of the Gazette, yesterday's editorial about antisemitism on campus is highly worth a look. It argues that UQÀM was right to allow Gideon Kouts's scheduled speech to go ahead, but that should not lull us into a false sense of security. Hatred is alive and well on campuses, even when disguised as something else - or when very thinly disguised, as was the case at Concordia on September 9th. UQÀM officials would doubtless protest - without question truthfully - that they haven't an anti-Semitic bone in their bodies. And yet they evidently failed to discern the larger pattern: Kouts, after all, is not the only prominent Israeli recently prevented from speaking at a Montreal (read: Canadian) university. In September, glass-smashing thugs silenced former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Concordia.Sounds an awful lot like Jaggi Singh's arguments, doesn't it? | Update on the Jaggi Singh story. The Montreal Gazette reports that he's not being detained, and is free to leave Israel at any time. Instead, he is trying to force Israel to let him in, and has won a temporary injunction in the courts to stay. Furthermore, he's appealing to the Canadian Department for Foreign Affairs for assistance. "If early reports are correct and he decides to stay, there's not much we can do," Lemay said, adding that Israel, like Canada and the United States, has the right to refuse entry to any individual it deems a security risk.Precisely how is this "criminalization of dissent"? It's criminalization of criminal activity, such as rioting and violence. Those are not acceptable forms of dissent no matter what Singh and his cronies would like to have you believe. Furthermore, Singh is not an Israeli citizen. A democracy gives free and equal rights to all its citizens, but there's never any expectation that foreign citizens should have all the same rights as those of a nation. If Israel doesn't want to admit Jaggi Singh, it has plenty of reasons - but doesn't really need any. Countries have the right to decide who to let into their borders. And Singh, with his past record as a security risk in every situation he's ever at, doesn't seem to be someone Israelis would want hanging around. I don't blame them. | Ruth Wisse has written a column about antisemitism on college campuses. In it, she examines the core question of how the campuses got to be so antisemitic in the first place. Anti-Semitism thrives because slandering Israel is the only aggression against a minority that is encouraged by the rules of political correctness.Worth a read. | Alexa McDonough jumps on the NDP bandwagon by making a speech at Concordia as part of a panel speaking to a group organized by the Canadian Muslim Forum. This is just weeks after NDP MPs Svend Robinson and Libby Davies spoke outside Concordia - after an injunction prevented them from speaking on campus - in support of the CSU and against the temporary moratorium on mideast events. I guess Alexa McDonough just wanted to make it really really clear, for anyone who was confused, that the NDP supports the alliance between the Palestinian movement and the Left. NDP leader Alexa McDonough spoke out yesterday in heartfelt support of Canadian Muslims. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, she said, "they have been on the receiving end of hateful sentiments."Of course, speaking out against racism is never wrong. But McDonough was making a political statement by holding her speech at Concordia, and by specifically only referring to anti-Muslim racism and supporting the "Palestinian cause" at a site where anti-Jewish racism has been especially rampant. The NDP leader noted that her party had been Ottawa sponsors of the UN-sanctioned International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People - though "some irresponsible members of the media will portray that in a dishonest way. Thank God for the alternate media."In true NDP fashion, a bit of America-bashing and Bush-bashing was thrown in for good measure. The NDP leader deplored the "message of hatred" set in motion by U.S. President George W. Bush, when he told the world: "Either you're with us or you're against us." McDonough dryly commented, "Most of us see much better choices."Yeah, most of us do see better choices . . . certainly we see better choices than you, Ms. McDonough. | Jaggi Singh fights deportation from Israel. (via LGF and Damian Penny.) Singh was travelling to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as part of what he calls a "fact-finding mission into allegations of human rights abuses against Palestinians". The CBC is calling him a "peace activist" and making Israel look like the villain for not letting him in. But what else can we expect from the good ol' CBC? Singh has long been made into a media darling by the clueless left, even while being considered one of the most dangerous militants in Canada. Jaggi Singh, for anyone who's unaware, is one of Canada's most annoying and notorious "activists". He personally was largely responsible for starting the Concordia riot against Benjamin Netanyahu on September 9th - at which he authored the so-called "arrest warrant" for Netanyahu, accusing the former Israeli Prime Minister of War Crimes. After the riot, he wrote the following article, widely-disseminated, flinging accusations of brutality against the police and shifting blame everywhere other than on the rioters. He was arrested in Quebec City protesting against the Summit of the Americas, and used his arrest to generate further publicity including a petition on rabble.ca to "free" him. And now he has won a preliminary injunction as the first step to be allowed into Israel. But since when is a country forced to admit anyone and everyone into its borders? People with criminal records have difficulty entering the US. Singh has a criminal record - why should Israel have to let him in anyway? And I just love the fact that he's using the Israeli court system to fight the ruling. I wonder if he sees the irony in that, given all of his anti-Israel propaganda about it not being democratic. | Gore for President . . . not! Al Gore has announced he will not be running in 2004. "I've decided that I will not be a candidate for president in 2004. ... I personally have the energy and drive and ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think that it's the right thing for me to do," Gore said, in an interview on the CBS news program "60 Minutes."In other words, the powers that be in the Democrat party flat-out told him to get lost and make way for some new candidates. Among the names being tossed around as possible candidates is Senator Joseph Lieberman, Gore's running-mate in 2000. But I don't know why they're bothering. Lieberman has about as much of a chance of winning the nomination as I do. America is simply not ready for a Jewish President. A woman for President? Sure. A Black or Hispanic presidential candidate? Very soon. But there's simply no way a Jew is getting anywhere near the Oval Office . . . at least not in the near future. | CSU rewards themselves. The CSU must be mighty pleased with themselves for all their successes in inducing riots, shutting down Jewish speech on campus, and battling evil pro-capitalist speech. Now they've voted to reward themselves with Christmas bonuses. Council has authorized Christmas bonuses for the CSU's executive. President Friesinger will get $600, while the remaining five executives will get up to $300 each, plus an extra $100 for those with a perfect attendance record at Council meetings.Note that these "bonuses" come straight from student money, which all undergrads at Concordia are forced to fork over each term or else they risk being de-registered from their courses. So nice to see democracy in action. | 15.12.02
The double-standard of targeted killings has just become a step clearer with the revelation that the CIA is authorized to kill terrorists. President Bush has authorized the CIA to kill "the worst of the worst" terrorist leaders, including al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and his top deputy, The New York Times reported in its Sunday editions.But of course, when Israel targets terrorists - who masterminded bombings of buses, cafes, discos, and universities - that's wrong according to Bush, who has frequently criticized Israel for being heavy-handed in its response methods. Killing innocent school children is part of a "legitimate struggle", but killing murderers is "heavy-handed". Sure, makes perfect sense to me. (More sarcasm here). | "You're giving us terrorists a bad name!" Yasser Arafat has reportedly asked Osama Bin Laden to stay out of Palestinian affairs. "I'm telling him (bin Laden) directly not to hide behind the Palestinian cause," Arafat said in an interview published in London's Sunday Times newspaper.In other words, Arafat is saying, Osama, we're trying to convince the world that it's okay to kill innocent Jews. When you start killing other innocent people, it makes us look bad for killing innocent Jews. So please stop, cause we wouldn't want to be giving terrorism a bad name or anything. | Native leader praises Hitler. Damian Penny alerted me to this disgusting news: A respected Saskatchewan Indian leader said Friday Hitler did the right thing when he "fried" six million Jews during the Second World War.I must admit, words fail me. Except to point out that the rise in worldwide antisemitism in the past two years among the fringe extremes has exactly mirrored the rise in anti-Zionism among people who consider themselves more "mainstream". But one, of course, has nothing to do with the other. (Insert sarcasm tag here). | |
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