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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6:00 PM
Well, what did they expect?

Israel was forced to withdraw its proposed UN General Assembly resolution calling for the protection of Israeli children from terrorism, after it got sabotaged by Israel's enemies (via Damian):

At the United Nations, the lives of Israeli children are worth less than the lives of Palestinian children, Israel's ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said Wednesday after he was forced to withdraw a resolution calling for the protection of Israeli children from terrorism.

[ . . . ]

On Nov. 6, the same committee adopted a similar resolution calling for the protection of Palestinian children from Israeli aggression by a vote of 88 to 4 with 58 abstentions.

The Israeli draft, the Jewish state's first at the UN since 1976, was introduced earlier this month in response to numerous terrorist attacks that have targeted Israeli children, including a bombing at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa on Oct. 4 that killed 21 people, among them four children.

Gillerman withdrew the draft after a group of states from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), led by Egypt, demanded the inclusion of amendments that, if adopted, would have turned the draft into an anti-Israel resolution.

The list of amendments, cosponsored by Bahrain, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, included deleting of the phrase "Israeli children" from the text and replacing it with "Middle East children," and inserting references to Israeli "military assaults," "occupation" and ""excessive use of force" ahead of all mention of terrorism. Even the title of the draft was changed from "The situation of and assistance to Israeli children" to "The situation of and assistance to children in the Middle East region."

Well, excuse me for saying this but, DUH. There's a reason Israel hasn't tried to introduce a GA resolution in over a quarter of a century. Israel should know better than to expect objectivity or even a modicum of fair treatment from a body dominated by its enemies, committed to wiping its existence off the map.

It won't stop supposedly "neutral", "objective" watchdogs and commentators from relying on the GA's authority to criticize Israel, though, you can bet on that.

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10:57 AM
Get less for more.

Only two days after the end of a week-long transit strike that created hassles for thousands of people, the Montreal Tranist Corporation announced plans to hike fares:

Transit users' patience will be tried again as the Montreal Transit Corp. plans to unleash fare increases, including a $5 increase on the monthly regular bus pass come January.

A monthly pass would increase to $59 from its current $54, The Gazette has learned.

After a strike by its maintenance workers hobbled service last week, the transit agency will now hit bus and métro passengers on Montreal Island in the pocketbook as part of its 2004 operating budget to be tabled tomorrow or Thursday, sources said.

Is there anyone left out there who isn't completely, totally fed up with public transit?

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12:50 PM
When it comes to Palestinian-organized events on campus, the rule of thumb seems to be no dissenting viewpoints allowed, as is evidenced by a planned conference at U of T that was cancelled at the last minute:

The conference had a six-point political basis of unity which conference participants must support in order to attend. The administration brought up two points they specifically objected to: unconditional support for the Palestinian right of return and the principle that a two state solution is not a viable option for the Palestinian people.

According to Susan Bloch-Nevitte of the department of Public Affairs, the conference's basis for unity was exclusionary and therefore the university delivered an ultimatum: either abandon the basis for unity or abandon the booking.

[ . . . ]

The conference would have included sessions on the refugees' right to return, the current situation in all of historical Palestine, women's involvement and solidarity with feminists, and queer activism. Sunday would have been dedicated to a session on strategies for resisting what conference organizers called the "Israeli apartheid."

Of course, conference organizers are, in typical fashion, up in arms denouncing the university's "blatant trampling on students' right to organize" and demanding apologies, yadda yadda yadda.

If you recall, pro-Palestinian students made (false) allegations that they weren't going to be allowed to get tickets to hear Benjamin Netanyahu speak at Concordia last year... they even used it as an excuse for their riot. But apparently it's ok to organize a conference where nobody but the most hard-line extremist viewpoint is allowed to be expressed, and people can't even attend unless they're committed to the destruction of Israel. And yeah, then they have the gall to be angry when their event is cancelled.

This is a very clear example of democracy, Palestinian-style: we have the right to put forth our hard-line views, they say, and you have no right to object or dissent. Our viewpoint matters, yours doesn't.

(Via Bob).

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4:14 PM
The transit strike is over - and not a moment too soon:

The union representing 2,050 striking workers announced that more than 90 per cent voted in favour of the new contract with the Montreal Transit Corp. after learning the details in a closed-door meeting earlier in the day.

Transit service was to be gradually reinstated to full service throughout the day Sunday.

Montrealers had been forced to cope with limited bus and subway service during weekday rush hours and for two hours late at night since the employees walked off the job Nov. 16.

While a bunch of overpaid maintenance workers argued over pension allocations, thousands of seniors couldn't get to doctors' appointments, shift workers couldn't get to jobs, and students couldn't get to classes.

I'm glad the strike is over. But if I'd ever entertained the notion of giving up my car and becoming a more environmentally-friendly citizen by relying on public transit, this strike was a good reminder to forget it.

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3:38 PM
Yep, it was cold out there!

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