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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1:26 PM
An interesting editorial in today's Jerusalem Post calls for the institution of civil marriages in Israel, an idea whose time is long overdue:

The obvious solution has yet to be formally presented: the institution of civil marriage and divorce for all those prevented from creating a recognized conjugal unit today. Any country that does not guarantee this essential right fails to safeguard one of the most elementary building blocks of individual wellbeing.

The issue of providing marital privileges to all is now at the top of the country's domestic human-rights agenda. As the country continues to contend with the way it treats its minorities and the population of the territories still under its control, it can also resolve this problem.

This year Israel can finally take the long overdue step of liberating hundreds of thousands of its citizens from the confines of an anachronistic system by enabling them to join together in marriage within their own country.

Israel needs to remove religious jurisdiction over marriage and divorce. It really is that simple. Religious people can still be married by an Orthodox Rabbi - just as they can in Canada, or the US - but those either not wishing to or unable to should have the civil alternative available. Israel has the responsibility of making this fundamental right available to all its citizens.

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7:14 PM
The local French newspaper La Presse has nominated Yasser Arafat as "person of the year" for 2003 (via Jay, among others):

Yasser Arafat a marqué l'actualité internationale en 2003. Il a légué une partie de ses pouvoirs à un premier ministre; il a proposé de nombreux cessez-le-feu et a encouragé les pourparlers pour faire avancer la paix au Proche-Orient, tout en se faisant officiellement menacer de mort par l'état israëlien. Pour son courage et sa ténacité à vouloir faire avancer la cause de son peuple envers et contre tout, Cyberpresse le nomme Personnalité de l'année 2003, Catégorie Politique (Monde).

Is this some kind of sick joke???

It would be one thing if he was nominated in a "newsmaker of the year" category or something, where any newsworthy person, good or evil, can win. But to be nominated for his "courage and tenacity"??? For "advancing the cause of his people"??? Either April Fool's came early this year, or I'm living in the twilight zone!

It's no wonder Quebec is the most pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist province in Canada, when people get their news from papers like La Presse. And La Presse is a bastion of balance next to Le Devoir.

I suggest e-mailing La Presse's news editors at [email protected] or [email protected] to let them know what you think of this disgusting award.

Update: A day later, the award page was removed. No explanation, no apology, just disappeared from the Internet as if it never happened.

If anyone has a hard copy of the December 8th La Presse, hang onto it, lest the moronic editors try to pretend that they never lauded Arafat.

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5:49 PM
The CSU is a picnic compared to these guys (via Damian):

In a West Bank university election for the student leadership that focused on which party had killed the most Israelis, the violent Hamas swept to victory Wednesday, defeating Yasser Arafat's Fatah.

[ . . . ]

At a debate, the Hamas candidate asked the Fatah candidate: ``Hamas activists in this university killed 135 Zionists. How many did Fatah activists from Bir Zeit kill?''

The Fatah candidate refused to answer, suggesting his rival ``look at the paper, go to the archives and see for yourself. Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have not stopped fighting the occupation.''

Fatah set up models of Jewish settlements and then blew them up with fireworks. The display was meant to emphasize the group's focus on attacking settlers and their communities - considered by Palestinians to be one of the most provocative elements of Israel's occupation of territory they claim for a state.

Hamas countered by blowing up models of Israeli buses, a tribute to the dozens of suicide bombings its members have carried out in the past three years, killing hundreds of Israelis. Activists held samples of the group's homemade Qassam rockets - often fired at Gaza Strip settlements and Israeli towns that border the coastal area.

Student issues were barely touched on because the Palestinians' main problem is the Israeli occupation, candidates said.

[ . . . ]

[A university spokesperson] said the student elections have wider significance. ``The Bir Zeit elections are like a barometer to measure the political mood on the Palestinian street.''

Suddenly, voting scandals, ripped-down posters, and debates over club funding don't seem so bad. How many indications do we need like this one that the Palestinians have absolutely no interest in making peace? How much more crystal-clear does it get?

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12:14 PM
I consider it a good thing to be informed on what's going on in the world. But I know a lot of people who choose not to read or watch the news, because it stresses them out too much.

How much? Well, we're about to find out:

Jewish Montrealers will soon be asked to give saliva to see how stressed they get when they read about the Palestinian-Israeli situation in daily newspapers.

Professors from Carleton University in Ottawa are looking for people willing to stick a cotton ball in their mouth to measure how irate they become while reading stories about this subject. They hope to get about 60 participants.

[ . .. ]

Matheson said she watched her Jewish co-workers' faces turn red in anger last year as they read stories about the situation in Israel.

"My Jewish colleagues were getting very upset at the news coverage," she said. She could see their stress levels rise.

I don't think there's much doubt as to what the results will show. But then what? Where is the line between healthy stress - getting angry at an injustice and channelling it towards making a change - and unhealthy stress - letting anger over the news take over your life? At what point do we have to shut of CNN and turn on the Simpsons, and just say "enough"?

It might give us an indication if we look at mainstream Israeli society. Israelis have been living with the constant fear of war and terror for decades... and yet the most popular shows on TV are consistently fluff like this. In fact, I probably talk about current affairs or politics the LEAST with my Israeli friends. Our conversations are about much more important things... like scummy boyfriends who don't return text messages, or the latest episode of Friends.

So while it's great to be informed, it can get to be a bit much. Every so often, let's take our cue from the Israelis and just relax... focus on celebrity sightings, magic wands, or politicians' personal lives.

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5:31 PM
Are suicide bombings becoming more commonplace?

Just today, a bombing in Moscow killed six and injured over a dozen. And in what is becoming almost a daily occurrance, a bombing in Iraq injured over 60 people, mainly U.S. soldiers.

So are we becoming more accepting of suicide bombings? I won't say that nobody batted an eyelash - both these events made headline news - but we are no longer shocked to hear of them. And it seems we're not asking the right questions anymore. Why are so many people in so many parts of the world increasingly willing to blow themselves to bits in order to spread terror, destruction, or hate?

If the tactic of suicide terror is spreading, it's for one reason: it's working. Armies can be fought with bigger or stronger armies. Traditional warfare has rules. People who want to live can be reasoned with. But how do you win a war against people who want to die?

I don't know. But unless some new and good ideas on how to fight suicide bombings start emerging soon, I fear that they will continue to spread. Suicide bombings are no longer just "Israel's problem". Very soon they will be everybody's problem.

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4:15 PM
What's wrong with this picture?

When Canadian citizens are being imprisoned and tortured by Syria... by Lebanon... by Saudi Arabia... the Canadian government sees fit to stay quiet and uninvolved. But when a Palestinian-Canadian terrorist suspect is arrested and merely interrogated by Israel, for involvement in a Hamas plot to target Jews in the US and Canada, then of course Bill Graham is the first to rush to his defense:

Graham told [Israeli ambassador Haim] Divon that comments about Jamal Akkal's citizenship and guilt or innocence are inappropriate, a spokeswoman said. The low-key meeting took place during a diplomatic forum which drew a variety of ambassadors, including Divon.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs said Divon would be called on the carpet Monday over the case of Akkal, a Canadian citizen of Palestinian extraction.

The Israeli government has said Akkal confessed to being recruited by the terrorist group Hamas to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Canada. Foreign Affairs complained the comments pre-judged Akkal.

Graham told the ambassador that Canadian considers the presumption of innocence is sacred, Isabel Savard said Monday.

[ . . . ]

Akkal, a 23-year-old who lives in Windsor, Ont., has complained of prolonged interrogations and sleep deprivation.

Jamil al-Qhateb, Akkal's lawyer, has said his client admits he was approached by Hamas to carry out attacks in North America but said he never agreed to do so.

Sure, and OJ was innocent too.

It's not as if a Hamas terrorist is going to admit the Israelis were right for picking him up. The standard line on torture sounded so far-fetched that even his lawyer amended it to "prolonged interrogations and sleep deprivation".

In the meantime, Akkal is being elevated into some kind of hero status. He may be innocent until proven guilty, but he'll be proven guilty. And the Canadian government has no business censoring the Israelis for trying to explain how they picked this guy up to prevent terrorist attacks - on our soil, no less.

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4:00 PM
The same UN General Assembly that considers the lives of Israeli children to be worthless has passed a resolution sending the security fence issue to the "International Court of Justice" in The Hague:

Israel condemned the United Nations decision Monday sending the security fence issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), saying it is a "cynical manipulation" of an apparatus that is designed to promote world peace in order to further the interests of those supporting terrorism.

But officials agreed to cooperate with the court's expected investigation, saying they would argue the fence is needed for self-defense against terrorism.

With 90 nations in favor, eight opposed, and 74 abstentions, the non-binding resolution asks the court to consider the "legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power."

"The Palestinians again used the automatic majority they enjoy at the UN to further initiatives that not only damage efforts to create conditions to renew the diplomatic process, but also damage the UN itself and the organization's ability to fulfill its mission to preserve world peace and security," Foreign Ministry spokesman Yonatan Peled said.

So what else is new?

The IJC is nothing more than a puppet court, an instrument used by a morally corrupt world to prosecute the countries that enjoy the freedoms which they hate so much. And the UN is nothing but a numbers game. The mere fact that Israel has to defend its decision to build a fence to keep out suicide bombers, while the Palestinians don't have to answer for the bombers' actions in the first place, is testament to how upside-down the UN has become.

Maybe Israel should split into about 90 independent states. Then each could have a separate membership and vote at the UN.

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3:52 PM
President Dean? Howard Dean's campaign ads in the Vermont race for Governor showed up on all of our cable border stations, and they were annoying enough. I'm really not looking forward to seeing Dean's face plastered all over a massive presidential campaign... as it now looks like it might be.

If Al Gore's endorsement propells Howard Dean to victory in the Democratic primaries, as many pundits are suggesting it will, then next November, the American public will be faced with a choice even more polarized than in 2000, when Gore himself ran against Bush:

Mr. Dean hopes the endorsement also eases concerns among party leaders about his lack of foreign-policy experience, testy temperament, policy flip-flops, campaign miscues and edgy anti-war, anti-establishment message.

"What this says is that all these Washington insiders who have been gnashing their teeth, wringing their hands and clinging to their cocktail cups can relax now. Dean's been knighted by the ultimate insider," Democratic consultant Dean Strother said. "It's game, set and match. It's over."

Well, game and set, perhaps. But personally, I don't think it will be "match" until we see who Bill Clinton chooses to endorse.

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2:09 AM
Well, the good news is, I'm back up and running again.

I had to reformat my hard drive this week, after all but killing my computer. To make a long story short, it rebelled against my attempt to upgrade my Windows version.

I did manage to revive it from life support, which, if I may say so myself, is pretty good for a technical nitwit like yours truly. I even rescued a lot of my documents and programs.

Sometimes, I do think the developers of Windows added a few "extra" settings to their software, though:

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