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

""

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

Think I'm the greatest thing since chocolate-covered strawberries? Think I'm certifiably insane? E-mail me at segacs2.at.yahoo.ca.

Buy me a present! Visit my Amazon Wish List.

Frequently asked questions about me and this blog.

Atom site feed

Comments are open and unmoderated, although obscene or abusive remarks may be deleted. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of segacs's world i know.

---

<< List
Jewish Bloggers
Join >>

 
2:51 PM
And in the continuing charade that is Palestinian politics, Mahmoud Abbas has resigned as Prime Minister, ostensibly because of a power struggle with Arafat.

What gets me is that the international media is buying this second-rate acting job. Abbas never did a thing to try to curb terrorism. This lets him claim to the West that he was trying but had his hands tied. And it lets him escape the puppet role that they set him up for without actually trying to make any changes - because he never wanted to in the first place.

|

 
10:37 AM
The EU won't blacklist them and Mahmoud Abbas won't fight them - so why is anyone surprised that Hamas just keeps gaining power?

In the meantime, only Israel has shown a willingness to fight this terror organization, and it's a costly fight indeed - for both sides. Today's operation to kill senior Hamas commander Mohammed al-Hanbali cost the life of an IDF soldier and wounded four more. It also collapsed the apartment structure where al-Hanbali was hiding, meaning 28 Palestinian families became homeless. And of course, Hamas will clamour for "revenge", which it will take out on more innocent schoolchildren riding buses, or grandmothers shopping in supermarkets, or teenagers at a nightclub.

The US and especially the EU calls this a "cycle of violence", implying that it is an endless chain of morally-equivalent actions and reactions on both sides. They then tend to blame Israel on the ground that Israel is the occupying power and the Palestinians are being occupied. I suppose using those overly simplistic leaps of logic, this makes sense somehow.

But, of course, there is no moral equivalence between assassinating a terrorist murderer, and blowing up a busload of innocent civilians. None whatsoever. Israel is engaged in defense while the Palestinian terrorists are engaged in offense. Israel's goal is peace and security; the goal of the Palestinians is the erradication of Israel. No, not the same thing at all.

Unfortunately, the world seems to think that the terrorists are reasonable people and that they should be tiptoed around and negotiated with. Israel knows that there is no chance of peace with Hamas, or an Arafat-led PA, calling the shots. So they'll keep fighting this war against terrorism and the world will keep on blaming them for it . . . until it's won.

|

 
9:57 PM
This has got to be the best gay pride sign of all time:



Must be tough being both gay and Jewish. Kind of a double-minority-whammy. At least this guy's got a good sense of humour about it.

|

 
4:36 PM
It is beyond me why Israelis were surprised at what went on at the Pro-Palestinian UN conference Anti-Israel propaganda fest held in New York yesterday:

Postcards of a Palestinian child dwarfed by the Israeli fence, slide shows of Palestinian humanitarian crises allegedly caused by the fence's construction, informational leaflets printed by the anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox group Neturei Karta, and maps of "Palestine" from the river to the sea from 1920, minus the caveat that Palestine was never a state, were all on display yesterday at UN headquarters in New York, where delegates from across the globe gathered for the International Conference of Civil Society in Support of the Palestinian People.

The theme of the two-day conference was "End the Occupation!"

Ridiculous allegations were also levelled against the security fence, delegates were urged to overlook and excuse Palestinian terrorism, and Rachel Corrie's mother was called up to speak. ADL chairman Abraham Foxman wrote a letter to Kofi Annan urging him not to support this conference, which - surprise, surprise - was ignored.

And people wonder why Israel doesn't trust the UN . . .

|

 
3:03 PM
I was over at Imshin's blog and I decided to check out the Hebrew section, where spotted a link to this essay by Scott at AMCTLG.com entitled "The Stand". It's one American's view about why supporting Israel is so important. If it were up to me, it would be required reading:

I stand with Israel. In the endless finger-pointing game of "who shot first? Who stops shooting first?" I point my finger squarely at the Arab world, and wait with Israel for them to make the first real move. I admire Israel, because it is a ridiculously small country with ridiculously brave people.

At this point most other authors would say, "if you don't agree with me you'd better just skip the rest of this." I almost did just that. But I changed my mind. If you don't agree with the sentiments above I want you to read the rest of this very slowly. I want you to understand how stupid and ignorant you are. I want you to understand that being "for Jews but against Israel" is a contradiction that reeks of anti-Semitism. I want you to get so angry your blood fizzes. Because you see that's how angry I am right now, and I feel like sharing.

Read the rest. Yeah, even you who disagrees. You know who you are.

|

 
10:36 AM
Well, it's official: Benjamin Netanyahu will be returning to Montreal. But - perhaps wisely - he'll likely stay far away from Concordia this time; he'll be speaking at a local synagogue instead:

Netanyahu's visit this fall will be as minister of finance in the government of Ariel Sharon. He will meet with Quebec business executives about investing in Israel.

The official nature of his planned tour contrasts with last year's visit here - and to Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg - when he came as a private citizen. He was invited to Concordia by Hillel, the main Jewish organization on campus.

Various levels of security will be on duty the night of the planned synagogue speech, which Poupko said will be open to all "as long as they behave themselves."

On the one hand, it would have been nice for him to be invited back to Concordia merely to prove a point about free speech. On the other hand, I wouldn't put it past the same idiots to riot again, just like last year. At least this way, Netanyahu's speech will likely be heard.

|

 
10:02 PM
This sums up pretty accurately how I feel about Canadian Idol:

People like [music journalist Kerry] Doole don't believe a televised contest, one built around cover versions, is the best way to find Canada's next musical star. "It can assess a very limited type of musical talent - the talent of mimicry," Doole says. "The stress appears to be on vocal ability, rather than any kind of originality or creativity."

For Canadian Idol's detractors, that's the central issue - since the contestants only do cover songs, it's impossible to assess how much raw talent they have. After all, Gordon Lightfoot and Joni Mitchell and Neil Young didn't become music legends by singing covers.

"Ultimately, the only way you make music is by listening to your own voice, certainly not putting yourself in front of a panel that's trying to create hit songs," says Jim Cuddy, one of Blue Rodeo's two front men.

In other words, it's nothing but a glorified karaoke contest. Which is why I don't watch it.

|

 
10:11 AM
Palestinian children will no longer be allowed to worship "martyrs" (read: terrorists) in schools . . . at least not in front of the TV cameras:

The Palestinian Authority Education Ministry has banned schools from hanging on their walls posters of "martyrs" killed in the violence over the past three years, threatening to punish anyone who defies the order.

The ministry has also issued instructions banning schoolchildren from participating in demonstrations or any other activities related to the current violence, including painting graffiti on walls.

[ . . . ]

"Despite all the difficulties, Palestinian children will prove that they are not different from other children their age in other parts of the world. Our children only want to live a normal life and be able to study," said Humos.

I suppose if they feel repressed at school, the children can always attend camp Ayyat Al Akhras next summer. Al Akhras was a 17-year-old suicide bomber who murdered two Israelis, and she already has at least two camps named after her.

It's going to take more than a phony bit of window-dressing for the media to reverse deep-set worship of violence and terrorism among Palestinian school children. Operation S.I.C.K., an acronym for Stop Inciting Children to Kill, has a lot more on the PA's real policies concerning "martyr" worship - not just the ones they want shown on CNN.

|

 
1:04 PM
The Globe and Mail's latest online poll asks readers who they think would be most to blame for the collapse of the "road map": Palestinians, "Palestinian militants", or Israelis. And at the moment, 67% have said Israelis.

These polls aren't exactly scientific. I have to assume that some pro-Palestinian site is directing thousands of votes over there to flood the poll. But even at that, it seems pretty ridiculous, when you consider that the Palestinians have made absolutely zero steps towards fulfilling their end of the bargain, comapred to all the concessions Israel has made.

|

 
12:03 PM
Could it be the international spotlight that led the Lebanese courts to acquit Bruce Balfour on charges of spying for Israel?

The Canadian Christian missionary was arrested on spying charges after he tried to enter Lebanon with an Israeli stamp in his passport.

I can't condone Balfour's work, preaching religion in the mideast. But that wasn't why he was arrested. He was thrown into jail because he had been to Israel, and the countries are at war.

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre met earlier Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and said Canada respected Lebanon's judicial system.

[ . . . ]

Speaking about Balfour's treatment in prison, John Bleile said, "To my knowledge (torture) did not happen . . . but just being in a prison system, which is probably inferior to our own, is torture enough."

Foreign Minister Bill Graham said Monday he was "satisfied that due process has acquitted Mr. Balfour of these most serious charges and pleased that he will be returning home to Canada."

The Canadian government doesn't like to step on any tows. Luckily for Bruce Balfour, he wasn't thrown to the wolves while Canada bowed and scraped to the Lebanese authorities. But he could have been. That's what happens when you have a foreign policy that's so enamoured of relativism that it lives in fear of offending anyone.

|

 
11:55 AM
Fair, impartial Israel-bashing 24/7 with the re-launch of Al Jazeera's English site.

A quick scan shows stories talking about how "rational", "pragmatic", and "moderate" Hamas is, stories on Israel's policy of assassinating terrorists being the stumbling block to peace (with no mention of terror attacks against Israelis), and a poll in which 44% of people believe that the US attacked Iraq to gain control of its oil. And that's only the front page.

Call me crazy, but this looks an awful lot like most other news sites out there. Which probably speaks more to their bias than to Al-Jazeera's "objectivity".

|

 
11:15 AM
The Or Commission Report was released yesterday. Key among its findings was that the Israeli police used excessive force in reaction to the October 2000 riots by Israeli Arabs:

In a landmark report on the country's treatment of the Arab minority, a commission of inquiry has found police used excessive force in stopping Arab riots three years and that the country's leaders badly underestimated the community's anger after decades of systematic discrimination.

Thirteen Israeli Arabs were killed in the October 2000 protests, in which thousands threw stones and blocked streets in a show of support with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A Jewish motorist was killed by a rock at the time.

After hearing 377 witnesses in nearly three years, the Or Commission released its report of several hundred pages. It was only the fourth probe of such a scope in the country's history. The others were a 1974 investigation into reasons why the government failed to predict the Yom Kippur War, the 1983 commission into massacres of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps in Lebanon and an investigation into the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The commission's recommendations are not legally binding, but carry strong weight. The 1983 findings forced Ariel Sharon to resign from his post as defense minister.

The reaction to this has been instantaneous, on all sides. And as usual, I feel the need to weigh in with my two cents.

On the one hand, it's fair to say that the excessive use of force should be strongly condemned. If, as the report's findings suggest, rubber and then live bullets were used too readily, and the situation escalated too quickly, then those responsible ought to be taken to task. In addition, the report brought the very important problem of discrimination against Israeli Arabs - often swept under the rug - to light. While it is illegal to institutionalize racism in Israel, that doesn't mean there isn't any. The problem exists, like in most democratic societies, and in Israel it is compounded by the decades of hostility and all-out war by what too many generalize as "the Arabs". Understandable, maybe, but not excusable.

On the other hand, the commission of inquiry system speaks to the relative transparency of the Israeli system. And what I find frustrating is the knowledge that this will be used to paint Israel as the sole villain by the Palestinians, who would never dream of mounting a similar commission of inquiry for any wrongdoing on their side. The very transparency that makes Israel what it is, in a sense, is also its weakness. Israel is shining a self-reflecting light on its own shortcomings, knowing full well that the Palestinians would never do the same. And the Or Commission report will become nothing but another propaganda tool. I mean, could you ever conceive of a Commission of Inquiry held by the Palestinians in their eventual state, finding that police used "excessive force" against a Jewish minority? Palestinian security force members who kill Jews don't get reprimands; they get hero's welcomes.

It also makes me uneasy to read things like this:

The report put the blame for the riots squarely on the shoulders of the Israeli establishment, saying a major cause was systematic government neglect of the Arab minority.

"The state and all its governments failed consistently in dealing with the problems raised by the existence of a large Arab minority within a Jewish state," it said.

That sounds suspiciously like a "root cause" argument.

Now, for the record, I'm not denying the existence of "root causes". I think they are important in the long-term in working to alleviate tensions and solve problems. But in the immediate term, the blame for an action has to be on the person causing the action, not on those reacting.

Israel holds itself to a higher standard than the rest of the Middle East. And a cornerstone of democracy is the ability to self-examine and self-criticize. For those reasons, the findings of the Or Commission are important.

But instead of self-criticism or a long hard look in the mirror, the rest of the Middle East prefers to use such admissions of wrongdoing as additional propaganda against Israel. Because it's easier to point the finger outwards than inwards.

Update: Imshin gives her personal take on the events.

|

 
7:45 PM
Labour day today - the day with the least labour of the year, just about. And we all know what that means: tomorrow is the day with the most traffic of the year.

|

 
7:43 PM
So much for Expos Fever . . .

After the euphoria caused by last week's clean sweep of the Phillies, the Expos were on the receiving end of a sweep by Florida that puts us three games out of the wildcard spot, and relegates baseball to the back of the sports section where it belongs.

I think Don MacPherson had a point when he said that last week was a blip:

If there's a word beginning with the letter ''f'' that describes the phenomenon at the Olympic Stadium this week, it's not "fever''; it's "festivalitis."

Montreal is known for its summer festivals, when its citizens are encouraged to dabble briefly in activities they ignore the rest of the year. The Phillies series was the baseball festival, and it leaves Montreal as much a baseball town as it is a year-round jazz hot spot.

The chances of the team being back this year are looking slim.

|