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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6:17 PM
A.N.S.W.E.R. bans a Jewish rabbi from speaking at an anti-war rally: (via Steven):

Rabbi Michael Lerner, founder of the progressive Jewish magazine Tikkun, says he was ``blackballed'' from speaking at Sunday's rally because he has criticized one of four coalitions sponsoring the event for spreading ``anti-Israel propaganda'' at recent peace rallies.

[ . . . ]

The local peace movement's intramural spat erupted nationally Wednesday when Lerner publicized his situation in a Wall Street Journal opinion article. It is all the more striking because the San Francisco-based Lerner is perhaps one of the most vocal Jewish critics of Israel in the country.

Many anti-war activists have unspoken agreements not to publicly air their differences, in part because they feel infighting distracts from the more urgent cause of opposing U.S. policy on Iraq. But Lerner said the anti-war movement will grow in strength only if it is able to seriously critique itself.

He charges that San Francisco rally organizer Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or A.N.S.W.E.R., uses anti-war rallies to blast Israel's human rights record while ignoring Palestinian violence, a tactic that he characterized as both lopsided and anti-Semitic.

The article goes on to explain that while the vast majority of the anti-war protestors are simply against war in Iraq, Jews attending these events often find themselves in a "hostile" environment that is strongly anti-Israel. The pro-Palestinian cause has been linked to the anti-war cause, and those who support the latter and not the former find themselves unwelcome, and asked to keep their opinions to themselves.

Some democratic movement.

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3:29 PM
"It's not about oil" is the claim of an editorial by Thomas W. Lippman in the Washington Post:

Even a perfunctory acquaintance with the realities of the global oil market would indicate that the "oil war" theory does not stand up to analysis. As an imagined rationale it doesn't square with the facts; and in the unlikely event that it actually does factor into the administration's thinking, it is a specious argument that cannot justify sending American forces into combat.

Lippman argues that the Bush administration has failed to make its case strongly enough as to the real reasons for war (namely, security) and that's left the door open for anti-war protestors to claim that oil is the real reason that the U.S. wants this war.

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3:16 PM
Happy birthday to my grandfather today, who's 94 years young!

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7:16 PM
Happy over-commercialized high-pressure relationships to fall apart day (aka Valentine's Day).

To all of my friends out there who just went through Valentine's breakups, get some Haagen Dazs and blame cupid.

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3:19 PM
Reports are coming in that Arafat has agreed to appoint a Prime Minister.

Appoint? Excuse me??? I guess I was under the silly, clearly mistaken impression that Prime Ministers ought to be elected, not appointed. But then, I guess that's what passes for democracy in that part of the world - with the notable exception of Israel.

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1:53 PM
Terrorist threat averted in London. Gatwick airport's north terminal has been shut down, and Heathrow has been placed on high alert after a man was found with a hand grenade at Gatwick.

Police have arrested a man carrying a live hand grenade at Gatwick Airport and evacuated one terminal. All flights out of the north terminal were suspended after the man - thought to be a 37-year-old Venezuelan - was detained under anti-terrorism laws.

[ . . . ]

The incident comes after days of heightened alert at Britain's airports, especially at Heathrow where troops were called in.

The BBC's Margaret Gilmore said she had learned that the Heathrow operation was sparked by MI5 intelligence that a group was plotting to shoot down an aircraft.

Two men were arrested near Heathrow airport under the Terrorism Act on Thursday afternoon, but police said they were held as a "precautionary measure".

[ . . . ]

The government and police said the ongoing security alert was linked to fears that al-Qaeda could use the end of the Muslim festival of Eid, which runs until Saturday, as a trigger for an attack on London.

Reuters is reporting that the man arrived on a flight from Columbia. This comes on the same day as a plane carrying five Americans crashed in Colombia. In all likelihood there's no relation, but it's a strange coincidence.

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1:45 PM
No proof, eh? According to a weapons report, Iraq has missiles of prohibited range.

A panel of independent arms experts told the U.N. the range of Iraq's Al Samoud 2 rockets exceeded by up to 24 miles the 93-mile limit laid down by U.N. arms controls.

"If these reports are correct...it is very serious," Blair said after talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"It would be not just a failure to declare and disclose information, but a breach of resolution 1441," Blair said, referring to the November Security Council resolution threatening "serious consequences" if Iraq failed to disarm.

Russia and Germany are making their usual excuses for Iraq, but the U.S. and Britain are among those countries who are rightly pissed off. There's a very good reason why Saddam isn't supposed to have long-range missiles - because he'll use them to attack long-range destinations.

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10:53 AM
In a wonderful start to the day, I left the dentist's office this morning and promptly backed my car into an electric pole. Brilliant. Luckily nobody was hurt. But I'm in kind of a crappy mood . . . and it's bound to be worse when I get the repair bill.

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10:03 PM
I went to Concordia today . . . and nobody rioted!

It was to see the Cannes Lions Festival 2002 winners for the year's best advertising. The JMMA screened the winners in a "mad about ads" evening, and people packed the H110 auditorium at $5 a ticket to see the best ads of the year.

Some of the ads were wonderfully creative and side-splittingly funny. The best part about the Lions is that entrants are from around the world. European advertising is so far ahead of ours.

Hmmm . . . a room full of people there specifically to admire advertising. I'm surprised the CSU were able to restrain themselves from showing up to heckle!

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2:53 PM
Charest wants Landry to call elections and not to use the possibility of a U.S.-led war on Iraq as a stall tactic:

Military action in Iraq shouldn't delay the expected election battle between Quebec political parties, Liberal Leader Jean Charest said Wednesday.

Charest was reacting to recent comments by Premier Bernard Landry that he might have to postpone calling the election if war starts in Iraq.

Does anyone else think that the system - where the party in power gets to choose the timing of the election - stinks? I personally think Canada should move to an American-like system of fixed election dates. Then the party in power can't wait to call the election until it's doing better in the polls.

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12:09 PM
My deconstruction of the anti-war movement:

I've been working on this for a couple of days. It's pretty long so I'm not posting it directly here, but feel free to read it and comment.

Update: I've moved this to my main site, to the thoughts section.

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10:18 AM
Montreal Gazette columnist Mike Boone adds his voice to the people who claim that the US's war on Iraq is all about ooooooooooiiiil. His theory is about as bizarre as it gets: he claims that the US needs to attack Iraq because people insist on living in the suburbs and commuting to work:

I'm a big hero because I take the train and the métro to work, right? But yesterday morning was so cold that the Great Environmentalist left his car idling in the driveway for five minutes to warm it up for the drive to the train station.

In 1996, 10.1 per cent of Canada's workforce used public transit. Five years later, it was 10.5 per cent.

That's 1.4 million strap-hangers, compared with 10 million drivers (and another one million passengers in private vehicles.)

This is why there's going to be war in Iraq. We're petroleum junkies - and the census makes a pretty good case that Whitney Houston's rehab is going better than ours.

I've heard the argument before that anyone who drives a car is public enemy #1. To that I say, give us decent public transit, and we won't be forced to drive our cars as much. Does anyone really think I like sitting in gridlock twice a day? But I digress.

The theory that there will be war in Iraq because Bush simply woke up one morning and decided he'd like to see lower prices at the pump is incredibly absurd - to say the least. But of course, if Mike Boone believes it so much, he can sell his car. It won't make the least bit of difference. Saddam Hussein will still be trying to acquire dangerous weapons to unleash on Israel and the West, and to use to massacre his own people. He'll still be a crazy dictator and a world menace, and a major sponsor of terrorism. But if it makes Boone feel better . . .

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7:35 PM
And while the world is distracted in Iraq . . .

The Jerusalem Post reports that Iran is developing a nuclear weapons program.

Iran insists it is following international regulations and that all its facilities are open to inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday it has been aware for several years of Iran's plans to mine and process uranium.

[ . . . ]

Washington says those two facilities are part of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program.

A disconcerting thought.

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10:33 AM
Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney spoke out against antisemitism at an international conference being held in Toronto:

Canadians talk proudly of our tolerance and fair-mindedness. Often a tone of moral superiority insinuates itself into our national discourse. But these virtues are of fairly recent vintage - we have little to be smug about.

Mulroney summarized the dark history of antisemitism, and Canada's shameful participation - including PM Mackenzie-King's praises of Hitler, and the shameful "None is Too Many" immigration policy that slammed our doors shut to refugees in desperate need. He then brought his speech back to the present, blasting the current leadership for refusing to take a moral stand:

Anti-Semitism is born in ignorance and nurtured in envy. It is the stepchild of delusion and evil. The ongoing success of Canada's Jewish community is consequently often misunderstood, misrepresented and misreported. The rise in the number of attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in Canada and the pathetic but startling ravings of Saskatchewan Indian leader David Ahenakew testify to the intractability of the problem, and the constant need for vigilance, consistency and strength in dealing with the entire sweep of anti-Semitism.

In Dante's Inferno it is noted that ''the hottest place in hell is reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis, strive to maintain their neutrality.'' Prime ministers are not exempt from this.

After his speech, Mulroney also blasted Chretien for its fence-sitting on Iraq:

"I don't think anybody can be impressed by what has taken place so far in Canada," he said.

"Our traditional allies -the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and so on - are going one way and we appear to be going another with the Russians and the Chinese."

"We have to be moving now to convey to the (United Nations Security Council) our view that this evasion by the Iraqis is no longer acceptable and we want action and that we will support action taken by the United States, preferably, of course, through the Security Council."

Widely blamed for an international recession, hated for the introduction of the infamous GST, and criticized for a laundry list of sins, Mulroney did not leave office as Canada's most popular politician. The Conservative Party has been in freefall since his departure. But in this case, he happens to be right. Neutrality is another way of siding with the status quo. As long as the Liberals bury their heads in the sand and refuse to take a stand, Canada is tacitly voicing approval for the current state of affairs. And, as Mulroney pointed out, this current state is unacceptable.

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10:24 AM
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs has published a report by David Raab about the systematic discrimination against Christians in Palestinian-controlled areas.

However, the reality of Christianity under Islam has often been difficult. "Over the centuries, political Islam has not been too kind to the native Christian communities living under its rule. Anecdotes of tolerance aside, the systematic treatment of Christians...is abusive and discriminatory by any standard....Under Islam, the targeted dhimmi community and each individual in it are made to live in a state of perpetual humiliation in the eyes of the ruling community." As described by a Christian Lebanese president, Bashir Gemayil: "a Christian...is not a full citizen and cannot exercise political rights in any of the countries which were once conquered by Islam."

[ . . . ]

Islam is the official religion of the Palestinian Authority. In addition, fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad have promoted Islamic influence on Palestinian society.

[ . . . ]

In addition, no PA law protects religious freedom. While asserting that all Palestinians' "liberty and freedom to worship and to practice their religious beliefs are protected," a PA Information Ministry statement also stresses that: "The Palestinian people are also governed by [Islamic] Shari'a law...with regard to issues pertaining to religious matters. According to Shari'a Law, applicable throughout the Muslim world, any Muslim who [converts] or declares becoming an unbeliever is committing a major sin punishable by capital punishment...the [Palestinian Authority] cannot take a different position on this matter."

For all the people who complain about Israel's Jewish character, this report should be an eye-opener.

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9:16 PM
Habs finally win one. Mathieu Garon posts his first shutout of the season in a 2-0 win against Washington.

After last night's disgraceful loss to the Leafs, it's about time!

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