There is still time for our diplomats to better balance the genuine needs of the Palestinian people and the objective reality of why this war rages on.
The biggest disservice the west has done, IMO, is conflate the war against Hamas as being a war against Palestinians. I know nuance is hard for most people - but Hamas is a terrorist group that also tortures and abuses the Palestinian people. When people protest against the war on Hamas and treat Hamas and Palestinians as the same group, they do a disservice to the whole conversation.
Although my own belief is once Hamas is gone something else will likely rise up given the hatred that is taught in Palestinian schools against Israel and the abuse heaped on anyone who questions the official teachings. Israel could give everyone plush homes and unlimited funds and they’d still be villainized within Gaza because of how deeply engrained it is in the culture and history there. I’m not sure the long term solution but I do know I’m anti-Hamas as they are hurtful and terrorist towards everyone and need to be eliminated.
I don’t believe for a minute that the Anand statement was an uninformed or off the cuff offering. Anand is far brighter than her predecessor and certainly more prepared and polished. This is the LPC (unofficial?) position and has been for a long time. They know that there are far more voters at stake who despise Jews than defend them and their entire focus is vote totals. When what remains of the mainstream media meekly points out the obvious terrorism that Israel is defending itself against they throw in a quick remark about terrorism being bad as well but obviously their hearts aren’t in it. This statement should surprise no one who has been paying attention.
Dan Pujdak is absolutely correct to point out that antisemitism has surged since the war in Gaza began. It is a particularly toxic example of the so-called progressive, identitarian brand of politics that has taken over the left, and there are still a lot of “useful idiots” who continue to support Hamas as noble freedom fighters.
Mr. Pujdak repeats the standard justifications for the war: Hamas started it with their despicable mass slaughter on Oct. 7; they continue to refuse to release the hostages; they hide weapons amongst civilians and in hospitals. All true. Hamas is a bunch of psychopaths that have brought down terrible destruction on their people to further their perverted goals.
But like so many defenders of Israel, Mr. Pujdak treads awfully lightly over the horrors being inflicted on Gaza. He makes the obligatory statement about how starvation is a tragedy, but can’t resist qualifying that by adding “forced starvation, if it’s occurring”. As if every credible aid agency isn’t warning about mass famine because Israel won’t let in aid trucks. As if thousands of babies haven’t already died from starvation.
And to call into question the number of civilians who have been killed – “the figure makes no distinction between Hamas militants” – come perilously close to the kind of thinking that disputes how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
What does it matter that those numbers include Hamas fighters? They include far more civilians than terrorists. After a while, when you’re talking about tens of thousands of deaths, it almost makes no difference whether it’s ten, thirty, fifty, or a hundred.
When you stack up the number of dead Palestinians against the 1,200 deaths on Oct. 7, there are ten or twenty or forty or fifty dead for every Israeli killed. Is that merely "collateral damage"? Or is it an insane ratio lacking all proportion and restraint? Just how much further are we willing to let Israel go before even its most fervent defenders are sickened by the slaughter?
Mr. Pujdak would have a lot more credibility if he were to come out with a full-throated condemnation of Netanyahu. But he can’t, because he is forced to defend Israel, no matter the atrocities they commit, and that means looking the other way while a self-serving monster and his cabinet of extremist war criminals do everything in their power to destroy Palestine.
Israel has become a pariah state that I can no longer support – not while the current government is in power. And lest anyone hurl the usual accusations of anti-semitism at me, let me make absolutely clear that I have *always* supported Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. I have *always* regarded the Holocaust as one of history’s greatest crimes and have nothing but contempt for those who strive to deny it. I have *always* regarded anti-semitism as a deep, dark, 2000-year-old stain on our Western culture.
The time has long since passed when it’s possible to defend Israel’s continued war against Palestine.
The time should have long since past when commenters continue to put forth that this is a war against Palestine when it is clearly a war against Hamas. Hamas is a thoroughly cowardly terrorist gang and continues to use that old misogynistic explanation of a coward - 'one who hides behind skirts'. It's not only about the remaining hostages it's the fact that Hamas has been holding Palestine hostage for years. Hamas cares about Hamas and only Hamas. Your comment, while well written, is simply fodder for Hamas-loving Muslim extremists.
Thanks Robert. All of what you say is true, even the bit about fodder. Anyone deluded enough to support Hamas will seize on anything to justify their depravity.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is what depravities is Israel itself willing to inflict in order to defend itself. They have committed themselves to an implacable logic that comes at a terrible cost. The more it unfolds the more more brutalized their nation becomes.
Israel has lost the high ground and is in danger of losing its soul. I’m pretty that isn't what its founders envisioned.
Better that than ceasing to be a nation. That would be suicidal. The founders would not likely have envisioned a terror group like Hamas being supported by people who should be condemning these terrorists for their willingness to cause this suffering to their people, rather than compromise.
Three offers were made to Gaza for statehood and each was refused.
> And to call into question the number of civilians who have been killed – “the figure makes no distinction between Hamas militants” – come perilously close to the kind of thinking that disputes how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
Rubbish. Those are not even remotely similar. Apples vs. bicycle sheds.
It has long been the norm to distinguish between civilian and military deaths as I'm sure you know.
Carney needs to convince Canadians he is more than just Trudeau in a better suit and more sensible socks. So far, the signals are mixed. But if he doesn't soon demonstrate that he intends to move away from the left-wing, climate-change, EV mandate, anti oil & gas, anti-Israel, globalist dogma, he will soon find his support at similar dispiriting Trudeau levels.
The author's essay would have more credibility with me if he had at least mentioned Netanyahu and tried to account for his stubborn continuation of this war against Hamas and the Palestinian people. What happens to the Israeli Premier if there is peace? Doesn't he face charges of corruption, and the continuation of the war is his only way to defend himself against his own people?
I have no dog in this fight. Netanyahu, however, looks like another Donald Trump to me. Any product I have seen from Anita Anand has shown intelligence and character. Your slur that she is aping Hamas propaganda derides a fine Canadian leader on no grounds other than your own prejudice.
During Covid she promised supplies of vaccines and masks for Canadians. She delivered everything she said she would. This was at a time when everyone on my screen was saying great things, but not delivering. Anita Anand was as good as her word. So Trudeau sensed leadership aspirations and sent her to the woodshed.
It is not a slur to point out that Anand has accepted and is practicing the "Liberal" style of Jew-hatred, which now permeates whole sections of Canadian society and has become the "Liberal" official policy.
I'm sorry, but you lost me at 'forced starvation, if it’s occurring'. Once you said that when there are hundreds of trucks line up outside the Gaza entrances, I believed I was not going to read something unbiased, so I stopped. I'm sick of the screeds on both sides, both blaming the other side. And yes, Hamas ARE terrorists. The Gazans are victims too - feed them.
You e done yourself a disservice by stopping reading at the point where Hamas propaganda was questioned. It would be a fools errand to trust the aggressors information as accurate - it could be accurate, but nobody knows.
And make no mistake here - Palestinians are victimized first and foremost by Hamas, not Israel. Israel had been out of gaze for quite sometime before this conflict broke out when Hamas killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds after raping Israeli women and children to inflict terror. It’s also worth saying. That Israeli doesn’t equal Jew - about 1/3 of the Israeli population is Muslim last I read.
I’d suggest reading the entire article with an open mind rather than nitpicking a sentence you disagree with.
And Israel, there are no good guys here, only helpless victims caught between two warring forces. Who's supposed to be the enlightened society? Using starvation of a population is not very enlightened.
Same here. I am all for Israel defending itself and it's right to exist. These starving civilians are no threat to that. They've crossed the line in this war.
This is not a small issue because it reflects what an evolution in 'Canadian' values away from the country's fundamental and founding principles looks like - ie. a liberal democracy, emphasis on 'liberal' and what that means respecting individual rights and freedoms shared by all - moving inexorably towards a social democracy based on group identity assigned by government certain privileges and punishments. Nowhere is this caustic 'national' evolution more apparent than with this shocking rise in acceptable and politically expedient anti-Semitism. My opinion is that we must get used to it because it's only going to get worse. There is no evidence to indicate otherwise.
This loss of common values is what the Canadian flag now represents: a social democracy driving Canada's intersectional identities into a power hierarchy that promotes disunity, intolerance, and awarded status and replaces personal industry with government largess.
A house divided cannot stand no matter how temporarily beneficial this division may be for some. Taking advantage of and promoting that division is the now the common path to power for every Canadian political party. Jews who presume this situation will improve as if by some kind of magical intervention I think are deluding themselves and should plan accordingly.
It’s a no brainer. The Liberals are controlled by the Quebec French who have antisemitism bred in their bones. From two centuries of Catholic Church dominance including anti Jew papal bulls, to Premier Duplessis stating the holocaust was an English lie, to Justin’s dad Pierre wearing German regalia while riding a motorcycle in the1940s, to “one is too many” when turning back European Jewish refugees from Naziism, Jews shouldn’t expect a drop of sympathy from Canada. Oxford where PM Carney received his education was rated the most elite institution ( in the world? ) 9 years running. Subject to correction I have never heard of the Brit upper crust being particularly friendly to Jews either.
To be sure, there were members of the British royal family who supported Hitler and the Nazis, but that was 90 years ago. I don’t think that you would find any anti-semitism in the current royal family.
As for Canada, yes, we have a history of official anti-semitism, but that is also in the past. There is no government that is anti-Semitic in Canada.
Oh I agree with you on the British royalty. Apologies for the lack of clarity . I was addressing Canada and its government and the Quebec dominance of it. I was referring to the upper crust as the dominant influence in how Oxford is run. I googled antisemitism at Oxford and was overwhelmed by how prevalent antisemitism is currently at that institution. And unlike the US where the universities are being forced to clean up their act or lose funding, no such mechanism exists in the UK or Canada that I know of.
Good question. Surveys of Jewish students and professors in whether they feel threatened at their institutions seem to be a common measure used by media. Studies by academic research groups I believe one such was recently released at Harvard. Anecdotal evidence?
Hamas is a death cult and Israel is *not* guilty of "genocide". However, the laws and obligations of proportionality still apply to the Israeli government: a military operation aimed at recovering 50+ hostages should not be putting thousands or even hundreds of Palestinian lives at risk to achieve that goal.
Proportionality would be better achieved if the end outcome of the military operations were the successful elimination of Hamas and any Hamas-like institutions - but given Israel's distinct lack of post-war planning and strategy, we have reason to be skeptical that can be accomplished. And so that does give Israel some share of responsibility for ongoing fatalities.
I understand but good god, if Hamas cared about the civilians in Gaza, they could have released all of the hostages over a year ago and negotiated with Israel. .
Hamas may have badly miscalculated how determined Netanyahu was to defend Israel and destroy Hamas. This is very possible.
True, Israel values Gazan lives more than Hamas does. But at the same time, Israel values Gazan lives much less than it values the lives of Israeli citizens, and its military operations act on such a calculus accordingly. That is questionable.
The last time an army tried to ethnically-cleanse an entire population in retaliation for terrorism, we bombed them and forced a ceasefire (Kosovo). I don't understand why Israel feels it deserves a pass here.
Members of Israel's government are loudly and proudly telling the world that they intend to eradicate the Palestinians. The IDF just fired on a group of international diplomats in the West Bank (not Gaza!). Even the opposition leader in Israel has warned that Israel is becoming a pariah state: “A sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.” Even Trump is reportedly warning Netanyahu to knock it off.
Supporting this madness is not the same as supporting Canadian Jews or supporting Israel. The longer this slaughter goes on, the more Israel will stand alone.
The more this, "eradicat(ing)e the Palestinians," false narrative about Israel is spread, the more support Israel needs from those who care more about respecting what's true in a complex yet existential situation than what sounds good to simplistic anti-Semitic ears. Once and if Israel falls to Islamic jihad as so many western sympathizers seem to help bring about, the rest of the 'satanic' West in next. Those who don't grasp this fact are living outside of reality.
I didn't claim that Israel was eradicating the Palestinians. That's what the finance minister of Israel said (along with other government officials). Not narrative, just words and deeds from the people in power.
Islamic jihad won't topple Israel; Israel can only do that to itself.
Conflating anti-semitism against Canadian Jews, which is happening, (I'm using the racist def of antisemitism, not the criticize-policy def of anti-semitism) with criticizing the choices of Bibi/Likud is absolutely a big problem.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and there will never be an excuse for October 7. But let us not pretend that Israel is some innocent virgin for the last 77 years of history. You can be disgusted with the behaviour of the Israeli government without being an Anti-Semite. Anyone harassing others for their religion in Canada should have a visit from the police. Anyone in Canada protesting either side of what is happening in Israel is a time and energy-wasting idiot.
There is a massive human tragedy taking place in Gaza..or should I call it Trumpworld. It will go on until the leaders of both sides are locked in an unventilated room with a high school football team that hasn't showered in a month who are all chain-smoking Gitanes. As ISIS has shown, you cannot bomb your way to peace. Both sides have to give. Israel will never be safe until it does.
True enough, but on many occasions, they have taken "it is better to give than to receive" to extremes. It's equally clear that those who survived the Camps were taking notes. Again, I am not defending Hamas in any way, nor the idiocy of 70 years of slaughter. I would really like to know what Bibi knew and when. There is a huge stench that this was his "Coventry" for purely political power purposes. I don't believe this enhances Israel's long-term security in any way.
Are you sure this is what you meant to write — “Anyone being harassed for their religion in Canada should have a visit from the police”? Should it not say “anyone harassing others…”?
War is cruel, yet mainstream Canadians today have had it so soft for so many decades that we can’t accept that heartbreaking decisions must be made in wartime.
Our decades of peace was earned by the sacrifices of our Nation in WW2. Naive Canadians must remember that our soldiers, airmen and sailors carried out orders that displaced, wounded and killed civilians as collateral damage. We also were involved in direct attacks against civilian areas. (See: Bombing of Dresden et al.) Our military also saw unspeakable horrors that enemy forces unleashed upon civilians which led to the creation of a homeland for Jews. Amongst other things, the liberation of the death camp prisoners and the exposure of what real genocide looks like validates the sacrifice of others to find peace.
I might not like the tactics of the IDF but I understand. Just as I understand why the Allied forces pressed forward to Berlin and forced Germany to surrender. The root cause of the terror has to be eliminated to find peace.
The IDF is focused upon a defeat of Hamas and a return of all hostages. Perhaps then diplomacy can find a way to enforce a truce that allows Palestinians to live peacefully, like we take for granted every day.
The "Liberals" have been amoral for a couple of generations. Large portions of citizenry have from the "Liberals" example acquired similar amorality. No surprise that Jew-hate is now officially sanctioned by the "Liberals" and promoted in education.
Let's consider some real data. “Statistics Canada data on religion is primarily collected through the Census of Population, but other surveys like the General Social Survey also collect data on religious affiliation and practice. (The most recent data are from the) 2021 Census where 4.9% of Canadians identified as Muslim and 0.9% identified as Jewish. Muslims were the second-most commonly reported religion in Canada.” I am neither religion – I am a Métis Catholic. Perhaps I am better equipped for objectivity because I have no skin in the game compared to those arguing position-based religiosity. And I have a good understanding of the reciprocity required to honor the loss of homeland. I disagree that it is ‘silliness’ as Jen has said not to accept Isreal’s rights here as paramount. We must expect world leaders, including Canada’s to step up against any power starving the land-based population who are caught in a war. The world did not do this for the Jews in WW2 and knows it did wrong. It is that wrongdoing that informs the actions of good-hearted leaders today. Benjamin Netanyahu does not get a pass because he is Jewish. And in Canada, our leaders have to respect that they represent a multicultural population. Perhaps as a country, we are well-equipped to find the AND solutions to manage the otherwise polarizing ones. We would do well to explore the nuances of polarity management strategies and not be so quick to condemn.
Loss of homeland? The Arabs, Bedouin, Christians, and Druze that did not flee the oncoming armies account for about 25% of Israel's population with full rights of citizenship. 'Palestinians' somehow separate from all the inhabitants are not a historical population; it's an assigned name going back only to the 1960s. This notion that those that did flee have some 'national' right to return to 'their' homeland is straight up KGB disinformation. But it does demonstrate the complexity of this area that is very important to understand before assuming certain partisan narratives are to be believed. One might hope responsible governments like Canada's (it's not) should be better educated about what's true before jumping on a preferred and highly skewed narrative and then basing policies on fictions (ain't gunna happen in Canada any time soon, let's be clear).
Why Canadians think themselves in a position to so harshly judge and be jury to such a one sided response to a terrorist invasive attack (that in Canadian terms murdered the population of PEI and took thousands of hostages) is an indication of deep foreign interference. One should ask one's self who is being served by believing and then acting upon this fictional narrative? I can tell you who isn't: Canadians and the state that is supposed to represent their best interests.
Apologies for using the word homeland. I can see it was a poor choice. I meant these are humans who need a place to call home, just as the Jewish people did in 1945. Their homeland is also a 20th Century development.
The biggest disservice the west has done, IMO, is conflate the war against Hamas as being a war against Palestinians. I know nuance is hard for most people - but Hamas is a terrorist group that also tortures and abuses the Palestinian people. When people protest against the war on Hamas and treat Hamas and Palestinians as the same group, they do a disservice to the whole conversation.
Although my own belief is once Hamas is gone something else will likely rise up given the hatred that is taught in Palestinian schools against Israel and the abuse heaped on anyone who questions the official teachings. Israel could give everyone plush homes and unlimited funds and they’d still be villainized within Gaza because of how deeply engrained it is in the culture and history there. I’m not sure the long term solution but I do know I’m anti-Hamas as they are hurtful and terrorist towards everyone and need to be eliminated.
I think Likud does the best work, it's best work, on the conflation of war against Hamas as being a war against Palestinians.
It seems to be the racist foundation for the continued killing.
I don’t believe for a minute that the Anand statement was an uninformed or off the cuff offering. Anand is far brighter than her predecessor and certainly more prepared and polished. This is the LPC (unofficial?) position and has been for a long time. They know that there are far more voters at stake who despise Jews than defend them and their entire focus is vote totals. When what remains of the mainstream media meekly points out the obvious terrorism that Israel is defending itself against they throw in a quick remark about terrorism being bad as well but obviously their hearts aren’t in it. This statement should surprise no one who has been paying attention.
More conflation anti-semitism with criticism of policy.
Dan Pujdak is absolutely correct to point out that antisemitism has surged since the war in Gaza began. It is a particularly toxic example of the so-called progressive, identitarian brand of politics that has taken over the left, and there are still a lot of “useful idiots” who continue to support Hamas as noble freedom fighters.
Mr. Pujdak repeats the standard justifications for the war: Hamas started it with their despicable mass slaughter on Oct. 7; they continue to refuse to release the hostages; they hide weapons amongst civilians and in hospitals. All true. Hamas is a bunch of psychopaths that have brought down terrible destruction on their people to further their perverted goals.
But like so many defenders of Israel, Mr. Pujdak treads awfully lightly over the horrors being inflicted on Gaza. He makes the obligatory statement about how starvation is a tragedy, but can’t resist qualifying that by adding “forced starvation, if it’s occurring”. As if every credible aid agency isn’t warning about mass famine because Israel won’t let in aid trucks. As if thousands of babies haven’t already died from starvation.
And to call into question the number of civilians who have been killed – “the figure makes no distinction between Hamas militants” – come perilously close to the kind of thinking that disputes how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
What does it matter that those numbers include Hamas fighters? They include far more civilians than terrorists. After a while, when you’re talking about tens of thousands of deaths, it almost makes no difference whether it’s ten, thirty, fifty, or a hundred.
When you stack up the number of dead Palestinians against the 1,200 deaths on Oct. 7, there are ten or twenty or forty or fifty dead for every Israeli killed. Is that merely "collateral damage"? Or is it an insane ratio lacking all proportion and restraint? Just how much further are we willing to let Israel go before even its most fervent defenders are sickened by the slaughter?
Mr. Pujdak would have a lot more credibility if he were to come out with a full-throated condemnation of Netanyahu. But he can’t, because he is forced to defend Israel, no matter the atrocities they commit, and that means looking the other way while a self-serving monster and his cabinet of extremist war criminals do everything in their power to destroy Palestine.
Israel has become a pariah state that I can no longer support – not while the current government is in power. And lest anyone hurl the usual accusations of anti-semitism at me, let me make absolutely clear that I have *always* supported Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. I have *always* regarded the Holocaust as one of history’s greatest crimes and have nothing but contempt for those who strive to deny it. I have *always* regarded anti-semitism as a deep, dark, 2000-year-old stain on our Western culture.
The time has long since passed when it’s possible to defend Israel’s continued war against Palestine.
The time should have long since past when commenters continue to put forth that this is a war against Palestine when it is clearly a war against Hamas. Hamas is a thoroughly cowardly terrorist gang and continues to use that old misogynistic explanation of a coward - 'one who hides behind skirts'. It's not only about the remaining hostages it's the fact that Hamas has been holding Palestine hostage for years. Hamas cares about Hamas and only Hamas. Your comment, while well written, is simply fodder for Hamas-loving Muslim extremists.
Thanks Robert. All of what you say is true, even the bit about fodder. Anyone deluded enough to support Hamas will seize on anything to justify their depravity.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is what depravities is Israel itself willing to inflict in order to defend itself. They have committed themselves to an implacable logic that comes at a terrible cost. The more it unfolds the more more brutalized their nation becomes.
Israel has lost the high ground and is in danger of losing its soul. I’m pretty that isn't what its founders envisioned.
Better that than ceasing to be a nation. That would be suicidal. The founders would not likely have envisioned a terror group like Hamas being supported by people who should be condemning these terrorists for their willingness to cause this suffering to their people, rather than compromise.
Three offers were made to Gaza for statehood and each was refused.
This is on Hamas.
> And to call into question the number of civilians who have been killed – “the figure makes no distinction between Hamas militants” – come perilously close to the kind of thinking that disputes how many Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
Rubbish. Those are not even remotely similar. Apples vs. bicycle sheds.
It has long been the norm to distinguish between civilian and military deaths as I'm sure you know.
"The unchecked rise of antisemitic extremism" ...
The term antisemitism has become for too anodyne; lets call it what it is: "Jew-hatred". Unchecked Jew-hatred.
Exactly.
Carney needs to convince Canadians he is more than just Trudeau in a better suit and more sensible socks. So far, the signals are mixed. But if he doesn't soon demonstrate that he intends to move away from the left-wing, climate-change, EV mandate, anti oil & gas, anti-Israel, globalist dogma, he will soon find his support at similar dispiriting Trudeau levels.
Mr. Carney subscribes to the OmniCause (Andrew Doyle). You have highlighted most of their causes.
The author's essay would have more credibility with me if he had at least mentioned Netanyahu and tried to account for his stubborn continuation of this war against Hamas and the Palestinian people. What happens to the Israeli Premier if there is peace? Doesn't he face charges of corruption, and the continuation of the war is his only way to defend himself against his own people?
I have no dog in this fight. Netanyahu, however, looks like another Donald Trump to me. Any product I have seen from Anita Anand has shown intelligence and character. Your slur that she is aping Hamas propaganda derides a fine Canadian leader on no grounds other than your own prejudice.
Maybe Hamas could release all remaining hostages first
You do have a dog in the fight. Criticizing Anand is not a slur.
During Covid she promised supplies of vaccines and masks for Canadians. She delivered everything she said she would. This was at a time when everyone on my screen was saying great things, but not delivering. Anita Anand was as good as her word. So Trudeau sensed leadership aspirations and sent her to the woodshed.
It is not a slur to point out that Anand has accepted and is practicing the "Liberal" style of Jew-hatred, which now permeates whole sections of Canadian society and has become the "Liberal" official policy.
I'm sorry, but you lost me at 'forced starvation, if it’s occurring'. Once you said that when there are hundreds of trucks line up outside the Gaza entrances, I believed I was not going to read something unbiased, so I stopped. I'm sick of the screeds on both sides, both blaming the other side. And yes, Hamas ARE terrorists. The Gazans are victims too - feed them.
You e done yourself a disservice by stopping reading at the point where Hamas propaganda was questioned. It would be a fools errand to trust the aggressors information as accurate - it could be accurate, but nobody knows.
And make no mistake here - Palestinians are victimized first and foremost by Hamas, not Israel. Israel had been out of gaze for quite sometime before this conflict broke out when Hamas killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds after raping Israeli women and children to inflict terror. It’s also worth saying. That Israeli doesn’t equal Jew - about 1/3 of the Israeli population is Muslim last I read.
I’d suggest reading the entire article with an open mind rather than nitpicking a sentence you disagree with.
Isn’t Hamas responsible for starving the Palestinians?
And Israel, there are no good guys here, only helpless victims caught between two warring forces. Who's supposed to be the enlightened society? Using starvation of a population is not very enlightened.
I wonder if we would be talking about this if Jews hadn't been raped and slaughtered on October 7, 2023. What do you think?
Talk to Egypt.
Right?!
Same here. I am all for Israel defending itself and it's right to exist. These starving civilians are no threat to that. They've crossed the line in this war.
This is not a small issue because it reflects what an evolution in 'Canadian' values away from the country's fundamental and founding principles looks like - ie. a liberal democracy, emphasis on 'liberal' and what that means respecting individual rights and freedoms shared by all - moving inexorably towards a social democracy based on group identity assigned by government certain privileges and punishments. Nowhere is this caustic 'national' evolution more apparent than with this shocking rise in acceptable and politically expedient anti-Semitism. My opinion is that we must get used to it because it's only going to get worse. There is no evidence to indicate otherwise.
This loss of common values is what the Canadian flag now represents: a social democracy driving Canada's intersectional identities into a power hierarchy that promotes disunity, intolerance, and awarded status and replaces personal industry with government largess.
A house divided cannot stand no matter how temporarily beneficial this division may be for some. Taking advantage of and promoting that division is the now the common path to power for every Canadian political party. Jews who presume this situation will improve as if by some kind of magical intervention I think are deluding themselves and should plan accordingly.
Well said.
It’s a no brainer. The Liberals are controlled by the Quebec French who have antisemitism bred in their bones. From two centuries of Catholic Church dominance including anti Jew papal bulls, to Premier Duplessis stating the holocaust was an English lie, to Justin’s dad Pierre wearing German regalia while riding a motorcycle in the1940s, to “one is too many” when turning back European Jewish refugees from Naziism, Jews shouldn’t expect a drop of sympathy from Canada. Oxford where PM Carney received his education was rated the most elite institution ( in the world? ) 9 years running. Subject to correction I have never heard of the Brit upper crust being particularly friendly to Jews either.
To be sure, there were members of the British royal family who supported Hitler and the Nazis, but that was 90 years ago. I don’t think that you would find any anti-semitism in the current royal family.
As for Canada, yes, we have a history of official anti-semitism, but that is also in the past. There is no government that is anti-Semitic in Canada.
Oh I agree with you on the British royalty. Apologies for the lack of clarity . I was addressing Canada and its government and the Quebec dominance of it. I was referring to the upper crust as the dominant influence in how Oxford is run. I googled antisemitism at Oxford and was overwhelmed by how prevalent antisemitism is currently at that institution. And unlike the US where the universities are being forced to clean up their act or lose funding, no such mechanism exists in the UK or Canada that I know of.
How do you objectively measure the depth of anti-Semitism in an academic institution?
Good question. Surveys of Jewish students and professors in whether they feel threatened at their institutions seem to be a common measure used by media. Studies by academic research groups I believe one such was recently released at Harvard. Anecdotal evidence?
Hamas is a death cult and Israel is *not* guilty of "genocide". However, the laws and obligations of proportionality still apply to the Israeli government: a military operation aimed at recovering 50+ hostages should not be putting thousands or even hundreds of Palestinian lives at risk to achieve that goal.
Proportionality would be better achieved if the end outcome of the military operations were the successful elimination of Hamas and any Hamas-like institutions - but given Israel's distinct lack of post-war planning and strategy, we have reason to be skeptical that can be accomplished. And so that does give Israel some share of responsibility for ongoing fatalities.
I understand but good god, if Hamas cared about the civilians in Gaza, they could have released all of the hostages over a year ago and negotiated with Israel. .
Hamas may have badly miscalculated how determined Netanyahu was to defend Israel and destroy Hamas. This is very possible.
True, Israel values Gazan lives more than Hamas does. But at the same time, Israel values Gazan lives much less than it values the lives of Israeli citizens, and its military operations act on such a calculus accordingly. That is questionable.
The last time an army tried to ethnically-cleanse an entire population in retaliation for terrorism, we bombed them and forced a ceasefire (Kosovo). I don't understand why Israel feels it deserves a pass here.
Members of Israel's government are loudly and proudly telling the world that they intend to eradicate the Palestinians. The IDF just fired on a group of international diplomats in the West Bank (not Gaza!). Even the opposition leader in Israel has warned that Israel is becoming a pariah state: “A sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.” Even Trump is reportedly warning Netanyahu to knock it off.
Supporting this madness is not the same as supporting Canadian Jews or supporting Israel. The longer this slaughter goes on, the more Israel will stand alone.
The more this, "eradicat(ing)e the Palestinians," false narrative about Israel is spread, the more support Israel needs from those who care more about respecting what's true in a complex yet existential situation than what sounds good to simplistic anti-Semitic ears. Once and if Israel falls to Islamic jihad as so many western sympathizers seem to help bring about, the rest of the 'satanic' West in next. Those who don't grasp this fact are living outside of reality.
I didn't claim that Israel was eradicating the Palestinians. That's what the finance minister of Israel said (along with other government officials). Not narrative, just words and deeds from the people in power.
Islamic jihad won't topple Israel; Israel can only do that to itself.
Can you show me where Israel has said it intends to eradicate the Palestinians? I'm scratching my head here.
Conflating anti-semitism against Canadian Jews, which is happening, (I'm using the racist def of antisemitism, not the criticize-policy def of anti-semitism) with criticizing the choices of Bibi/Likud is absolutely a big problem.
This article makes it worse.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation, and there will never be an excuse for October 7. But let us not pretend that Israel is some innocent virgin for the last 77 years of history. You can be disgusted with the behaviour of the Israeli government without being an Anti-Semite. Anyone harassing others for their religion in Canada should have a visit from the police. Anyone in Canada protesting either side of what is happening in Israel is a time and energy-wasting idiot.
There is a massive human tragedy taking place in Gaza..or should I call it Trumpworld. It will go on until the leaders of both sides are locked in an unventilated room with a high school football team that hasn't showered in a month who are all chain-smoking Gitanes. As ISIS has shown, you cannot bomb your way to peace. Both sides have to give. Israel will never be safe until it does.
Innocent virgins are not generally surrounded by countries that would like to exterminate them.
True enough, but on many occasions, they have taken "it is better to give than to receive" to extremes. It's equally clear that those who survived the Camps were taking notes. Again, I am not defending Hamas in any way, nor the idiocy of 70 years of slaughter. I would really like to know what Bibi knew and when. There is a huge stench that this was his "Coventry" for purely political power purposes. I don't believe this enhances Israel's long-term security in any way.
Yeah, no.
Are you sure this is what you meant to write — “Anyone being harassed for their religion in Canada should have a visit from the police”? Should it not say “anyone harassing others…”?
Thank you, that would be correct.
War is cruel, yet mainstream Canadians today have had it so soft for so many decades that we can’t accept that heartbreaking decisions must be made in wartime.
Our decades of peace was earned by the sacrifices of our Nation in WW2. Naive Canadians must remember that our soldiers, airmen and sailors carried out orders that displaced, wounded and killed civilians as collateral damage. We also were involved in direct attacks against civilian areas. (See: Bombing of Dresden et al.) Our military also saw unspeakable horrors that enemy forces unleashed upon civilians which led to the creation of a homeland for Jews. Amongst other things, the liberation of the death camp prisoners and the exposure of what real genocide looks like validates the sacrifice of others to find peace.
I might not like the tactics of the IDF but I understand. Just as I understand why the Allied forces pressed forward to Berlin and forced Germany to surrender. The root cause of the terror has to be eliminated to find peace.
The IDF is focused upon a defeat of Hamas and a return of all hostages. Perhaps then diplomacy can find a way to enforce a truce that allows Palestinians to live peacefully, like we take for granted every day.
The "Liberals" have been amoral for a couple of generations. Large portions of citizenry have from the "Liberals" example acquired similar amorality. No surprise that Jew-hate is now officially sanctioned by the "Liberals" and promoted in education.
And, once again, we see (what's emerging to be) the Line's most apt quote: Liberals are those who wouldn't dream of doing what they're actually doing.
Let's consider some real data. “Statistics Canada data on religion is primarily collected through the Census of Population, but other surveys like the General Social Survey also collect data on religious affiliation and practice. (The most recent data are from the) 2021 Census where 4.9% of Canadians identified as Muslim and 0.9% identified as Jewish. Muslims were the second-most commonly reported religion in Canada.” I am neither religion – I am a Métis Catholic. Perhaps I am better equipped for objectivity because I have no skin in the game compared to those arguing position-based religiosity. And I have a good understanding of the reciprocity required to honor the loss of homeland. I disagree that it is ‘silliness’ as Jen has said not to accept Isreal’s rights here as paramount. We must expect world leaders, including Canada’s to step up against any power starving the land-based population who are caught in a war. The world did not do this for the Jews in WW2 and knows it did wrong. It is that wrongdoing that informs the actions of good-hearted leaders today. Benjamin Netanyahu does not get a pass because he is Jewish. And in Canada, our leaders have to respect that they represent a multicultural population. Perhaps as a country, we are well-equipped to find the AND solutions to manage the otherwise polarizing ones. We would do well to explore the nuances of polarity management strategies and not be so quick to condemn.
Loss of homeland? The Arabs, Bedouin, Christians, and Druze that did not flee the oncoming armies account for about 25% of Israel's population with full rights of citizenship. 'Palestinians' somehow separate from all the inhabitants are not a historical population; it's an assigned name going back only to the 1960s. This notion that those that did flee have some 'national' right to return to 'their' homeland is straight up KGB disinformation. But it does demonstrate the complexity of this area that is very important to understand before assuming certain partisan narratives are to be believed. One might hope responsible governments like Canada's (it's not) should be better educated about what's true before jumping on a preferred and highly skewed narrative and then basing policies on fictions (ain't gunna happen in Canada any time soon, let's be clear).
Why Canadians think themselves in a position to so harshly judge and be jury to such a one sided response to a terrorist invasive attack (that in Canadian terms murdered the population of PEI and took thousands of hostages) is an indication of deep foreign interference. One should ask one's self who is being served by believing and then acting upon this fictional narrative? I can tell you who isn't: Canadians and the state that is supposed to represent their best interests.
Apologies for using the word homeland. I can see it was a poor choice. I meant these are humans who need a place to call home, just as the Jewish people did in 1945. Their homeland is also a 20th Century development.