Attempt to Downgrade Bet Shemesh from Israeli City to Illeagal Settlemen

Last Friday there was a major accident along highway 38 outside of Bet Shemesh. A car crossed the centre line and hit another car head on. 6 people were killed in the accident. Palestinian main stream media also reported this tragedy.

The problem with the Palestinian news source is that they reported Bet Shemesh as being a settlement. Bet Shemesh is located in Israel proper by any definition. The intentional misuse of terminology is a great cause for concern.

There is an old expression that the winners write the history books. With today's technology the truth goes to whoever can spin their side of the story the best before history has a chance to sort the facts out. Truth can easily be lost in the rush for a good story. A simply placed wrong word creates the impression that Bet Shemesh is to be included in the demand to stop settlement growth. The Palestinian Authority has repeatedly said they want the 1967 borders no more, no less. However, when it comes to actually negotiating are they going to try to claim Bet Shemesh is a settlement and demand it as part of negotiations. After all their media reports that it is a settlement.

The Palestinians have rejected as a non-starter having the Old City of Jerusalem being declared an International City under the United Nations. Some Palestinian officials have responded that they want a 'United' Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian State. Not only do they want full control over the Kotel (the spiritual centre of the Jewish people) but they are willing to claim territory that they do not have a claim to.

For people who may face having their homes traded in for an empty peace deal, this careless use of language are cause for concern. Those who live in this part of the world who have to live with the fallout of an agreement have cause for concern. How can there be trust when terminology can so easily be changed in an attempt to cease more territory?

G8 Calls for the Immediate Release of Gilad Shalit

The G8 held their annual summit in 2009. This year they also invited the G5 (Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa) as guests, since the environment was a keyissue. In the course of their meetings they did adopt statements regarding Israel.

G8 Statement Middle East Coverage Starts on Page 6 of 10


Here are the highlights:

The achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East remains crucial for the international community.

We also call on the Parties to fulfil their obligations under the Roadmap – including the unequivocal rejection of violence, terrorism and incitement, and a freeze in settlement activity, including “natural growth” – and on Arab states to take meaningful steps toward normalization with Israel and to provide political and economic support to the Palestinian Authority.

We call for the immediate release of the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. We also call for the immediate opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza, in a manner that respects Israel’s security. .

We look forward to a comprehensive peace between Israel and all its neighbours, also building upon the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which will be a key element of this regional process.

...we urge a resumption of peace negotiations also on the Syrian and the Lebanese tracks.

We underscore the importance of regional partnerships in areas of education, economic development, science and technology, and health, as outlined in President Obama’s speech in Cairo.


It is great that they called for the release of Gilad Shalit. The statement could be better categorized as a whimper. The statement did not appear to make news anywhere outside of Israel. There is a massive move by the United States to establish that Jewish homes as the biggest threat to any sort of real peace. Since the Obama speach the Palestinian Authority has once again clarified they will accept nothing less than what they have been asking for the entire time. Practical compromises are unacceptable and they will not negotiate until an offer they could accept is on the table. Syria has made a number of statements that if they don't get back the Golan Heights they are prepared to take it by force. The Egyptian government who has had a 30 years of 'normalized relations' with Israel, is appealing a court ruling to strip citzenship from Egyptians who have married Arab Israelis. Hizzbolah has kindly infomred the newly elected Lebanese government that the new Government was not to interfere with their defence of the Southern border. In the last few months UNIFIL has found a number of weapons in violation of UN Resolution 1701 that brought an end to the 2nd Lebanon War.

Hamas has effectivly tied Israel's hands with the capture of Gilad Shalit. The purpose of his capture continues to be to cause pain and suffering for Israeli society. In violation of the Geneva convention he has been denied access to the Red Cross and denied communication with his parents. Both acts make his captivity a war crime. To add to the cruelty they refuse to confirm if he is alive or dead, eventhough they are bargaining as if he is alive. The price for his release is and has always been 1000 prisoners including 450 serving life sentences.

The pain of Shalit's captivity is felt across Israel. It is a topic of conversation. There are signs and posters all over the place. It is felt when a mother watches her 18 year old go off to do his army service. It is felt by the soldiers both new and doing mandatory reserved duty who feel he is abandoned. It is felt by families of terrorist victims who may one day watch the orchestrators of their nightmares go free without any rehabilitation or remorse.

The release of Gilad Shalit on favourable terms unleashes a multitude of options for the Israeli government. It would allow for the possibility of support of lifting the siege on Gaza or reasonable land concessions. It allows Israel to once and for all put the ball in the court of Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon. The decision to live in peace would fall exclusivly into their hands.

If the world leaders really care about making peace they need to take greater efforts to freeing Shalit. As long as the nation feels the pain of his captivity the government cannot consider any more sacrifices to an ever increasingly mythical goal.

Updates

This blog was started in the aftermath of the October 2007 Ontario election. I had been writting about politics on and off since 2006. I have now added all of the old posts to the blog.

Did Harper Eat the Cookie?

On Friday Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the funeral of former Governer General Romeo LeBlanc. He accepted communion when it was offered. The video footage seems to show that he did not immediatley eat the wafer. It is possible he ate it immediatly after the camera panned away. In this case the correct course of action was to immediatly eat the wafer.

Some Catholics have expressed concern that Harper has slighted Catholicism. Treating the host inappropriatly is a major issue. During the Middle Ages, Jews would be found guilty on trumpped up charges of Desecration of the Host. The penalty for cookie torture was death and would sometimes extend to the community at large and not just the accused. Keeping the wafer instead of eating it is a major insult. A spokesperson for Harper said that he did swallow the wafer.

As a Protestant he would normally not be allowed to take Communion. However as he is the Head of State there may be an exception to this rule. There is an accepted custom of crossing arms to indicate to the priest that one will not accept Communion. It stands to reason that people would have been just as offended by that decision sighting the exception to the rule. As a Protestant Harper would be more used to the idea that everyone eats the wafer at the same time. He could very easily have noticed right after the camera panned away that nobody else was waiting.

It took 5 days for the story to break. Despite the number of people standing around him, there doesn't seem to be any eye witnesses. Both are more indicative of a slow news day than a major story. Harper is scheduled to meet with the Pope this week. He should simply ask the Pope what the correct protical should be to avoid such silly problems in the future.

Update: Senate Speaker Honourable Noel A. Kinsella has confirmed he witnessed Harper consuming the host.

Toronto - More than the Garbage Smells

The City of Toronto strike continues to drag on. There are reports that both side are prepared for a 6 week strike. As always the losers are the citizens who are unable to access community services. CUPE and City Council seem to be clueless at the anger felt by residents about the strike.

On Wednesday, CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan wrote about the strike in the Toronto Star. He talked about the historical importance of unions and their goal to provide every worker with a 'liveable' wage. He does not feel it is fair to publish workers for an economy collapse caused by risks taken by the rich in attempts to further line their pockets. Rank and file union members have claimed they can relate to the economic suffering of others because they had to live with Rae days or 8 years without a raise under Mel Lastman.

Union demands have hurt the economy, especially in the auto sector. There is a reasons aside from nationality why companies like Honda and Toyota were not jumping in line for government handouts. Unreasonable labour rates, plus union red tape can cut into the pofitability of a company. If a company can't make money then they are not going to have any employees. The fact that the union doesn't flinch at complaining about reduced sick benefits to people who have lost their jobs or live in fear of losing their jobs during the economic colapse.

City council is doing their fair share of not connecting to tax payers. Call from an emergency council meeting to slash roll back this year's raise. An oppurtunity to take action didn't make it to the floor for consideration, when the decision was made to freeze union salaries. Excuses from councillors range from their portion gets donated, to the meeting would cost too much, to it is a 'cost of living' increase and not a raise. Mayor Miller's excuse is that the city stopped the practise of tying their salaries to contracts the city negotiates, recognizing it was a conflict of interest.

Over the years City Council has called on taxpayers to tighten their builts. Tax increases and new taxes have been standard to help with city finances. City Council has still not managed to roll back a single perk to show that they are prepared to stand with residents and tighten their built. The overall savings to the city budget would be minimal. An act of do as I do, instead of do as I say would go a long way to gaining respect from residents.

The Gay Pride Parade was too important to allow the strike to allow it to be cancelled. The same effort and care was not placed on Canada Day celebrations. City Council and it's unionized employees are out of sink with the needs of the community. They are willing to allow everyone else to suffer in order to stick to their ideoligical guns. In Toronto voters are consistent in re re-electing the same politicians over and over again. If they continue to be treated like garbage and taken for granted, there is a slim chance that will not be true for the next election.That seems like a risk all the important players are willing to take.

Quiz for Canada Day

As Canada Day is tomorrow, it is once again time to test your knowledge of Canadian history. The Dominion Institute is an organization that advocates for more history to be taught in schools. They take various surveys to demonstrate how lacking Canadians are in knowing their own history.

The most recent survey involved identifying famous Canadians by picture. As usual some of the major players in Canadian history scored low with pop stars such as Celine Dion, Wayne Gretzky and Terry Fox as being more easily recognized. When I took the online version of the test I scored an 8/10. For the two answers I got wrong, my second choice was correct.

The test does say a lot about Canadians relationship to history in culture. I don't think the test is a fair marker for testing people's knowledge. There were many names on the list that I recognized and their contributions without having a clue as to what they look like. Joey Smallwood was a regular guest in my grandparents home. I know what he did but I have no clue what he looks like. Billy Bishop, Tommy Douglas also fall into the category of people that I know how they have contributed to Canada without any idea of what they look like.

Sadly most Canadians who could not identify the picture probably didn't recognize the name either. It is for that reason we need organizations like the Dominion Institute to convince the government to include more history lessons in school.

Gilad Shalit, The Real First Obstacle to Peace

Today marks three years since Hamas went into Israel proper and captured then 19 year old Gilad Shalit. The pain of his kidnapping was felt across Israeli society and by Jews around the world. His lack of freedom continues to be an open wound in the heart of Israeli society.

For the last 3 years Hamas has tried to leverage the plight of this one man into political gain. Hamas is happy to commit war crimes by refusing to follow the Geneva Convention for Prisoners of War. They have denied the International Red Cross access to him. They have not permitted communication with his family. They have refused to confirm he is even alive. Shortly before Operation Cast Lead they held a rally where thousands of cheering supporters witnessed a play where an actor playing Shalit begged to be returned to his mommy and daddy.

Hamas set the price of his freedom at 1000 prisoners. Some of those prisoners are serving multiple and double digit life sentences for carrying out restaurants and night clubs. Ahlam Tamimi is serving 16 life sentences for her role in the Sbarro bombing. Killed in that attack was a family 2 adults and 3 chilren aged 14, 4 , 2. She has expressed no remorse for the attack and even takes satisfaction out of the children who were killled. Abdallah Barghouti is serving 67 life sentences for his role in bomb making in various attacks. To lump these two in as political prisoners would be inconceivable by any other country in the world.

Hamas has one goal. It is the destruction of Israel. Hamas is willing to sacrifice the well being of their own people in order to make Israel look bad. Israeli society is not willing to make concessions towards any sort of peace plan before the return of Shalit. The soldiers who went into Gaza felt that they were on a mission for his rescue. When the operation was called off, messages were spray painted on walls saying that they had been looking for him.

Shalit is the key to advancing the well being of the Palestians. If he goes home safe and sound it opens up an entire world of possibilities. It is time for the world to put pressure on Hamas for his unconditional release. Anything less is unacceptable by International law and those who sincerly want to improve Palestinian lives.