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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8:26 PM
Happy Passover (almost)

Yep, it's that time of year again - complete with the crazy relatives, awful kosher wine, and savoury cardboard-tasting food.

In honour of the holiday, Jewlicious has a collection of really awful Passover groaners. And there's some good news for a certain portion of the male population. Now if only they could figure out how to finally let us Ashkenazi Jews eat peanut butter...

Chag Sameach, everyone!

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4:03 PM
UK passes Israel boycott

The UK Association of University Teachers has passed an academic boycott of two of Israel's most prominent academic institutions: Haifa University and Bar Ilan University:

The Israeli Embassy in London released a statement condemning the boycott as a biased and adverse move which, far from promoting peace efforts, it ignores and sabotages progress made between the Israelis and Palestinians.

"The resolutions are as perverse in their content as in the way they were debated and adopted. The AUT ignored overwhelming academic and public rejection of the proposed motions.

"The fact that no AUT member who wanted to argue against this decision was allowed to speak, and the case for the Israeli universities was not presented to delegates, speaks volumes about the relevance and fairness of this debate," the embassy statement read.

If three years at Concordia taught me something, it was that the notion that academia supports a free exchange of ideas is utter hogwash. The academic milieu is perhaps the most totalitarian, dictatorial, one-sided environment imaginable, where you either toe the party line or find yourself pounding the pavement.

But this goes beyond the pale. A mob of anti-Israel, politically-motivated professors decided that these top-quality, world-renowned Israeli universities are not acceptable to them, and here are some of the reasons why:

Pro-boycott activists were hopeful that their motions stood a better chance of being passed this year after they were turned down in 2003. One reason for their optimism, they said earlier this month, was that they have now received the unequivocal support of the Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities' Teachers and Employees, a sister union of the British association. The Palestinian federation has recently released a statement endorsing the British call to boycott Israeli universities.

In an interview with The Jerusalem Post earlier this month, Sue Blackwell, a Birmingham University lecturer and one of the leaders of the boycott proposal, told the Post that she "completely agreed" with comparisons between Israel and the former Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Universities are supposed to teach truth, not propaganda. But with the twisted "truths" currently being taught in Britain and in campuses across Europe and North America, it's hard to imagine what will soon pass for "truth" among new graduates.

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4:01 PM
Harper digs self into hole

Memo to Stephen: Remarks like these won't help you get elected.

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11:46 PM
More reflections on the sponsorship scandal

There is widespread disgust with the Liberals on the sponsorship scandal. Of course, everyone has their own spin and view on what's going on, and much of this is influenced by their political outlook and which party they support. But on the whole, it seems that the disgusted people fall into three broad categories:

• People who are disgusted with political corruption in general.



• People who are disgusted by the Liberals' corruption in this particular case.



• People who are disgusted that the sponsorship program existed in the first place, regardles of the fact that it got corrupted.

I think it's a critical distinction, because it can have an enormous impact on our country's future.

The second category of people - of which I am a member - despises the way the sponsorship program turned into a palm-greasing, pocket-lining program for the Liberals and their friends. But they believe that the basic idea of fighting to promote Canada and keep the country together is a good one, and was worthy of government spending.

The last category splits between Quebec separatists who hate the fact that the Federal government is spending money to deny them their independent nation of Quebec, and people in the rest of Canada who are fed up with Quebec's whining and wish that we'd just separate already so they can get on with their lives.

Why is this important? Because as a federalist Quebecker, I'm - according to the last two referendum results - in the majority. But I often feel like I'm in the minority. With so many people in Quebec pushing to leave, and so many people in the ROC wishing us a good riddance, I sometimes wonder who will be fighting alongside me when the next referendum is inevitably called.

The Charest Liberals are in freefall, the PQ is almost certain to get back into power in a couple of years, and Gilles Duceppe's Bloc holds a virtual lock on most of Quebec's seats in Ottawa. All the strongest politicians right now are separatist. And with the fallout from the sponsorship scandal, the Federal government - whoever they are - will think long and hard before spending more money on any kind of sponsorship, scandalous or otherwise.

One of the reasons we won the 1995 referendum with such a razor-thin margin was that, the weekend beforehand, thousands of Canadians poured into Quebec to show their support and solidarity. People suddenly felt wanted. Obviously this had little effect on staunch federalists like myself, but it made some fence-sitters think twice about a yes vote.

But with Quebec thinking this is a Canadian problem, and the ROC thinking this is a Quebec problem, I see the chasm between the Two Solitudes widening again. Only a couple of years ago, sovereignty almost seemed passé. But suddenly, it's a looming threat again.

We cannot stand for corruption in government. There's no doubt that the sponsorship program went horribly wrong. But the risk is that the fallout from the scandal will make the Federal government gun-shy about fighting for national unity in the future.

It worries me. A lot.

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8:04 PM
Martin fights for his political life

Perhaps the only politician in Canada with more woes than Charest, Prime Minister Paul Martin addressed the nation on prime time television, delivering a recorded speech designed to plead for his political life.

Watching him was a bit wince-worthy, but ultimately he got his message across. He apologized without admitting direct involvement or guilt, accepted responsibility as a leader, and vowed to prosecute the offenders. To be fair, he did what I would have done in a similar situation. The only surprise was a promise to hold an election within 30 days of the end of the Gomery inquiry - a stall tactic if I've ever heard one. But I think that this desperation move may pay off for him.

In contrast, the other three leaders looked like they were launching campaign speeches. Harper attacked Martin straight-on, but his speech may have the unintended effect of making Canadians wary of a mud-slinging campaign. Duceppe had me wishing - not for the first time - that he wasn't on the wrong side, because as usual he stole the show with a fantastic opening line to his speech, something to the effect of "the last time a prime minister addressed the nation, it was 1995 and Chretien was fighting to save Canada; this time, Martin's fighting to save the Liberals". He picked up votes for sure.

As for Layton, his small smile bugged me even more than it did during last summer's debates. But he implied that he'd be willing to make a deal with Martin to attempt to stave off a no-confidence vote in exchange for changes in the Federal Budget to give the NDP what they want. This is Layton's chance to blackmail the Liberals for all they're worth, and don't think it hasn't occurred to him.

I think that, though this mess is with the Liberals, most people are cynical enough to realize that corruption is rampant in all political parties, and there's quite a bit of distaste for the perceived opportunism of Harper and the other opposition leaders in this situation. I think people are already tired of hearing about Gomery. Mostly, I think people are tired of elections and their options are severely limited when it comes to actually voting.

What will happen is anyone's guess. But I wouldn't write off the Liberals just yet.

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8:03 PM
Quebec's snoozer budget

The embattled Charest government released its provincial budget this afternoon.

So-called "highlights" include tax cuts - which will basically give me an extra loonie a year - as well as small increases in spending for health and education. Overall this doesn't seem too bad. The budget is balanced and avoids excessive spending increases in nonsensical areas. It's the type of budget that will leave everyone whining for more, but was probably the most sensible course of action at this point for a government whose chances of re-election are somewhat smaller than the head of a pin: sensible, not overly political, and ultimately a real snoozer.

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1:24 PM
Another "Checkers" speech?

When Paul Martin addresses the nation tonight, will his speech provide his sinking governemnt with a life raft? Or will he dig himself further into a hole?

More importantly, how many Canadians will tear themselves away from "Survivor" to watch the Canadian-politics version of the game: who gets voted out of office?

Update: I guess this occurred to Martin's handlers too; they moved his speech earlier, to 7pm, presumably to avoid competing with prime time.

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10:27 AM
Didn't we just do this last year?

Looks like it will be a June 27th election.

Early prediction: another Liberal minority government, a few more seats each for the Bloc and the Conservatives, and a sense of growing frustration among Canadians at the lack of options. Oh, and a total disgust with the additional wasted funds of yet another election at this time, on top of all the money that's been wasted already on the scandal and the subsequent inquiry.

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11:41 PM
More proof summer is here

Today was Ben & Jerry's free cone day.

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1:43 PM
New Pope elected

Germany's Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI.

I don't really feel qualified to comment on the leadership of another religion. The media reports make him sound like a conservative hard-liner - but then again, he is the Pope.

However, I can't imagine I'm the only Jewish person out there to be feeling a bit uncomfortable by the fact that Ratzinger was once a member of the Hitler Youth - even if it was compulsory... even though the Jerusalem Post spoke up in his defense.

Update: With such a serious topic as the election of a new Pope, we can always count on The Onion for some irreverent satire.

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9:40 AM
Quote of the day

This from Canadian Immigration Minister Jon Volpe, commenting on the newly-announced eased immigration restrictions:

"We become Canadians by doing that which Canadians do," Volpe said at a news conference. "We manifest our identity as Canadians by fulfilling our obligations and responsibilities as Canadians."

Huh???

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10:22 PM
Spring is officially here

Today, I wore sandals and I had my first iced mocha granité of the season. Spring has been in the air for a few weeks but today it's officially here.

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6:09 PM
Blog plug

Check out The Observant Jew, a blog written by a former Montrealer friend who recently made aliyah to Israel. A very worthwhile read and a solid blogroll addition.

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1:17 PM
Digital revolution update

I've officially succumbed to pressure and joined the digital revolution. My new camera seems to be a lot of fun. I played tourist in Montreal yesterday, walking around all the places crowded with map-reading Americans, snapping photos of Chinatown, Old Montreal, downtown, Mount Royal... The verdict? There's actually something to this digital thing. It's lots of fun!

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