Blog about politics (mideast and pro-Israel, Canadian and local Montreal), world events, and random thoughts.

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The World I Know is updated on a semi-regular basis by segacs.

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9:41 PM
Samer Elatrash has been suspended from Concordia for 3 years for his role in instigating the September 9th riots.

Samer Elatrash, 23, was found guilty of all five charges against him under the school's code of rights and responsibilities.

The charges, which include rioting, assault and harassment, stem from a violent protest in the Henry F. Hall building last year that prevented former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from speaking on campus.

In an article in the Link, Elatrash levels his usual myriad of accusations against the university administration, the hearings panel, the police, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hillel, and of course the Zzzzzionists.

Verdicts against the other accused students are to be announced this week.

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9:36 PM
A car bombing in Columbia killed 32 people today.

President Bush (news - web sites) on Saturday condemned what he described as "a barbaric act of terrorism" and offered help to find the bombers.

Thousands of people are killed every year in Colombia's four-decade-old war, which pits the FARC and other leftist guerrillas against the U.S.-backed army and far-right outlaws.

But almost all the killing is in the poor, lawless countryside. The FARC, which says it fights for land reform and socialism but draws funds from kidnapping and "taxing" drug producers, has struggled to build up strength in the cities.

How much you wanna bet that someone is going to turn around and blame the Americans for this? Or, better yet, the Zionists?

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9:32 PM
So I finally saw the movie Chicago tonight. Lots of fun. Great singing and dancing. Highly recommended.

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8:36 PM
This article in the Jerusalem Post shows how democracy is a beautiful thing . . . except sometimes at the dinner table.

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11:39 AM
The U.S. government has raised the threat level of a terrorist attack from "moderate" to "high".

I really wonder what the point is of this. It's not as though there's anything people can do about it. Nobody knows if there will be an attack, what sort of attack it would be, or where it would strike. All the people who complained that there was no warning about September 11th would be best to remember that a warning does nothing but cause panic.

Hopefully it's a false alarm. But in the meantime, life still has to go on.

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11:12 AM
Peter e-mailed me about this one: PETA is upset about the use of a donkey in a suicide bombing attack. Apparently, after a botched Palestinian terrorist attack against Israel, in which a bomb was strapped to a donkey and detonated, PETA wrote to Arafat to ask him to please leave the animals out of it. Kerry Dougherty of the Virginia Pilot is not amused:

PETA, the group that never before expressed concern about the carnage in Israel, is suddenly outraged.

All because a donkey died.

Never mind that, according to the Israeli embassy, which keeps track of such grim statistics, 729 Israelis have perished in terrorist attacks since September 2000.

It took the death of a donkey for PETA to find its voice.

Leave the animals out of it, they cry.

[ . . . ]

"If you have the opportunity," Newkirk beseeched Arafat, "will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?" In other words, Newkirk seems to be begging the Palestinians not to stop the slaughter, but rather to find a different delivery system for their bombs.

[ . . . ]

The Washington Post this week asked Ms. Newkirk if she had "considered asking Arafat to persuade those who listen to him to stop blowing up people as well" as animals.

Her response should be required reading for all would-be members of PETA:

"It's not my business to inject myself into human wars," Newkirk told the Post.

How does one respond to such moral ambiguity?

What she said.

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5:14 PM
Hamas has issued a statement that it is prepared to take over the Palestinian leadership from Yasser Arafat.

Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of the Hamas political wing, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that his group is "absolutely" prepared to lead the Palestinian people now. He said Hamas has the infrastructure to take over leadership "politically, financially (and) socially."

Lest we panic, remember that all this would mean, even if it did happen, is that one terrorist would be exchanged for another. At least Hamas openly admits its aims and activities, unlike Arafat who tries to earn world sympathy by pretending to condemn terrorism while all the while funding and encouraging it.

If the Palestinian people want to be led by Hamas, they'll be led nowhere but to more misery, dispair, and death.

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12:07 AM
Stick to the music, Raine!

Just got home from an amazing Our Lady Peace concert at the Bell Centre. My ears are still ringing. What a show!

But then Raine Maida had to interject a comment about how he wishes our prime minister "would get some balls and tell the US to stay the fuck out of Iraq!" The band then proceeded to play a cover tune (Drive, by the Cars - which seems to have no relation whatsoever to Raine's political commentary). I'm not sure if all the people who cheered at that comment agreed with him or were just cheering because they'd scream at anything he said. Not that it matters.

Of course, he's entitled to his opinion. And I guess I've known for a while that he and his wife (Chantal Kreviazuk, whose music I also love) have been involved in organizations to end the sanctions on Iraq, and other related activities. But I filed that away someplace at the back of my mind, figuring it shouldn't affect my enjoyment of OLP's music.

As it well shouldn't. Except that I was really enjoying tonight's concert as a form of escapism from everything. And just at a point when I was most into the music, this threw a bucket of wet sand on everything. Suddenly, it was an in-your-face challenge: how to scream and cheer for music sung by someone who just lost all my respect from a political point of view.

This is what's wrong with celebrity politics, in a nutshell. I can't stop listening to all music or watching all movies by musicians and actors with whom I disagree politically . . . or else I'd have nothing left to listen to or watch. But it does present a challenge.

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12:00 AM
There appears to be a glitch with the site comments. Haloscan has a short message saying that they're working on their server. In the meantime, I just want to inform all readers that any missing comments are the result of this server problem and not censorship.

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10:32 AM
The following letter in today's Gazette questions the neutrality of the UN:

The consensus of opinion around the world is that no action should be taken against Iraq until such time as the UN arms inspectors uncover proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But can we trust the UN's "neutrality" in this situation?

The UN has just appointed Iraq to chair its disarmament conference in Geneva next month (Gazette, Feb. 4). It appointed Libya to chair the Human Rights Commission. It allowed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a known terrorist, to address the General Assembly while openly carrying a weapon.

Where is the UN's credibility as a neutral body supposedly promoting peace on our planet?

Aaron Muscott
Dollard des Ormeaux

Well, unfortunately, the UN has never had any credibility as a "neutral body". This is old news. From the countless one-sided General Assembly resolutions against Israel, to the twisting of the concept of "human rights" to mean "rights for select humans", the UN lost its credibility decades ago.

The problem is that most people seem unaware of this. The world is pressuring the United States to get UN approval before attacking Iraq, as though a rubber-stamp from the UN would mean that the attack is legitimate.

The UN needs to clean up its act - fast.

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5:48 PM
An e-mailed article from Hasbara Israel asks the question: Do you agree with those who say that the Palestinians are doing a better job than the Israelis on the public relations front?

Professionally trained and disciplined Palestinian spokespeople usually present themselves as a ragtag bunch of amateurs. They meet Western reporters in modest Jerusalem or Ramallah hotels or against the backdrop of refugee camps. This tactic has been very successful in reinforcing the stereotype of their side as the aggrieved underdog. An interview with a Palestinian in an alleyway with burning tires and bullets flying overhead captures the imagination of editors who place a premium on entertainment value--the human drama unfolding.

In contrast, when foreign correspondents meet with Israeli officials, they are often greeted by slick government spokespeople at fancy hotels, state-of-the-art media centers, or modern offices. Israeli spokespeople labor under three false notions: first, that formal, professionally packaged P.R. is persuasive; second, that lengthy explanations of the history of the conflict will be more effective than sound bytes in convincing the public of the rightness of their cause; and third, that the moral correctness of their action and cause is self-evident to any rational, fair-minded human being. Along these lines, Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres once said: "Good policies are good P.R.; they speak for themselves." Unfortunately, Peres was wrong. A lie can be more powerful than the truth, if you market your lie well enough for people to believe it.

The Q&A that follows is a chilling look into the infrastructure of deceit that has made the Palestinians the media darlings of the decade. Quite a chilling read. I've posted the rest of the article up so have a look.

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3:44 PM
Jewish humour (via Laurie):

A story is told of a Jewish man who was riding on the subway reading an Arab newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to be riding in the same subway car, noticed this strange phenomenon. Very upset, he approached the newspaper reader, "Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper?"

Moshe replied, "I used to read the Jewish newspaper, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty. So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world. The news is so much better!"

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12:17 PM
AAAAUUUGGGHHHHHHHH!

I'm having a stressful day. Just needed to vent. See? I knew blogging had a purpose!

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11:44 PM
Look out America, Canada's coming!

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6:10 PM
Dr. Sari Nusseibeh is going to be speaking at McGill University on Wednesday.

I wonder if they'll riot this time . . . after all, Nusseibeh has publicly called for an end to Palestinian violence. Then again, MIB calls him a "prominent intellectual voice of reason calling for peace between Palestinians and Israelis", and I think that's going a bit too far. After all, he called "martyrdom operations" a form of resistance and refused to condemn them.

Most people have listened to Nusseibeh's statements in Arabac and interpreted them, and concluded that he only plays the moderate. He's been given that role, in order to make it seem like there are dissident voices in Palestinian society. But he's just play-acting, and it seems like the Montreal Jewish Community is buying his act hook, line, and sinker.

Still, I somehow don't predict any riots.

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5:45 PM
Concordia Hillel will be holding a vigil in memory of the seven astronauts who lost their lives on the Columbia space shuttle. It will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon, at the Java U in the Hall building, for anyone who is interested.

Montreal/Israel In Brief also has an e-mail address for the family of Col. Ilan Ramon, for anyone who wishes to write and express their condolences. The IDF has opened a special e-mail address for these messages, so you can write to [email protected].

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11:57 AM
Let the finger-pointing begin . . .

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10:15 AM
Mock Israeli election results are in.

At university and college campuses across North America, students were given the opportunity to vote in a "mock" Israeli election. The goal was to foster interest among students in Israeli democracy. The results, though for all practical purposes useless, are nonetheless interesting. Likud won by a landslide, with 42% of the vote - even higher than among Israelis in the real election. The Green Leaf party, calling for the legalization of marijuana, made a strong (but perhaps predictable) showing in fifth place.

Well, at least students have their priorities in place!

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11:10 PM
I'm not in a writing mood.

I'm not sure why. I've been home most of the day. Certainly, there's tons to blog about. But somehow, the words won't come. Maybe it's emotional or informational overload? Who's to say?

But I'm having the same problem in French . . . even worse! Having decided my writing skills in French are laughably horrid, I enrolled in a course at l'Université de Montréal this semester in effort to improve it. So far so good, except that my measly little homework assignment consists of writing about a half-page, and I can't seem to work up the motivation. Sad, ain't it?

I guess some days our brains are just on "off".

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