Frozen Politics Eh'

The Beit Shemesh Fault Line

2012-01-02T00:50:00.004+02:00

6 days a week, I wake up in the morning and walk my daughter to school. There are only crossing gaurds on one side of the street, so she needs me to help her cross the other street before she is under the care of the crossing guards (who happen to be Grade 6 students). When the school day ends, I meet her at the park near the crossing guards. In a little more than a year, she will be 9 years old and able to do this walk all by herself.

About a 10 minute drive on the other side of town. Orot, a similar religous girls school opened moved into their new building at the beginning of the school year. Their experience is completely different. It is located near the border between the Chearedi Neighbourhood RBS B and the edges of 3 Datei Leumi communities. A group of men calling themselves the Sikirm (bearing the same name as the group who's zealousness to force the Jewish to fight the Roman's lead to the destruction of the second Beith HaMikdash) come out to intimidate the girls (Grade 1 - 6). Name calling, spitting and occasionally throwing rocks and bricks are all par for the course. Parents (and at certain points members of the community) have been escorting the children through the group of thugs to protect their safety. Last week a news crew filmed a scared 8 year old girl, as her mother tried to walk her to school. The image has inspired the country to take action.

The State does have a history of mistreating religious Jews. The Charedi community reaction to the backlash has been t0 fall back to being victims of Charedi bashing and everyone being against them. Most cannot even imagine that this is a direct backlash to their long tradition of using violence and political power to force their life style on others. When I was in Yeshiva, I was a block away from where they protested to have Bar Illan street closed on Shabbat. I saw wrongs on both sides. One night when a police car was hit with a rock, an arrest was made. They spent the night calling the soldiers Nazis, which in their world is a term for anyone who doesn't agree with them. The Nazi imagery that they used Saturday night should not have been a surprise to anybody.

In order to solve the problem at Orot, it is important to look at the real root of the problem. Most importantly this is a turf war. The Sikirm want the school for themselves and to expand the borders of their community and sphere of influence.

Moshe Abutbul was elected under the mantra of a Mayor for everyone. His actions have been anything but as he tries to cater to the Charedi community. In RBS A, the Mikvaot was split between those who wanted a "Mehdarin" experience and those who wanted to have the same standards applied by Jewish communities around the world. He tried to hand them over to the Charedi community and was only stopped by the backlash from the Datei Leumi community and leadership. He has been working to close the only secular school in RBS A, while telling parents he was trying to keep it open. Eventually the Minister of Education stepped in to declare that he will use his powers to guarantee the school stays open. The year my daughter entered Grade 1, school registration was delayed, waiting for the final decision of the school to be made.

When the Sikirm protested the opening of Orot in their new building, the Mayor tried to solve the problem by not allowing the school to open. Once again the Minister of Education threatened to step in, to make sure it opened. The Mayor falsely claimed that he was just trying to listen to the advice from the police.

In order to make peace it will be necessary to remove the political power wielded by the trouble makers in the Charedi community. This can be done both from a policy of not tolerating violence and limiting the dispoportional political power.

- Police should not be afraid to arrest those who are causing violence.
- There has to be a way to enforce a restraining order preventing, such ugly protests so close to the school.
- Following the lead of other democracies and raising the minimum threshold to obtain seats in the Knesset from 2% to 5%. This will allow knock out some of the extremist parties and cause the smaller parties to carry political weight more proportionate to their size.
- Eliminate vote sharing agreements and party mergers during election campaigns. These agreements allow parties with little support to leverage their votes and advertising allotments to in exchange for political favours.

It should be noted that the Charedi fighting does not spread to the communities of Bnei Brak, Beitar Illit, Kiryat Sefar and only seem to be limited to Meah Sharim and Beit Shemesh. The Beit Shemesh Charedi community is made up of a lot of people that cannot afford to stay in Mea Sharim. Mea Sharim is such an insulated community that they just cannot handle the idea that the rest of the world is not like them. Once you think your way is the only way, anything can be justified in the name of your beliefs.

Beit Shemesh will be getting a new Police Chief this week. Hopefully, he will have the skills and if necessary force to make it safe for the Orot girls to go to school. Once that is done, the Charedi community can start worrying about repairing their reputation and getting along as peaceful neighbours. The choice is theirs.

If the Sikirim had been stopped at the beginning of the school year, there would have been no need to bring in the media. Something that should be considered before starting the next turf war. Hopefully, my friends who's daughters go to Orot can let their daughters walk to school without worry just like I can.

Free Gaza Struggles to Keep Flotilla Interesting

2011-07-03T00:35:00.003+03:00

There are some other bloggers doing a much better job of covering the Freedom Flotilla then I ever could. The turn of events of the last couple of days, make it very easy to overlook some very interesting details.

Free Gaza is claiming that two of their boats have been sabotaged. Turkish officials preleminary investigation has found that the Irish ship had not been sabotaged and was damaged before entering Turkish waters. They wouldn't buy ships that were not sea worthy, so they can blame it on Israel, would they?

Reporter Joseph Dana tweeted on Friday that CNN and CBS were planning on jumping ship if nothing happened on Friday. He was very clear that he was contemplating doing the same thing. Perhaps that was the motivation for the Audacity of Hope to set sail without permission of the Greek authorities.

According to the Free Gaza website the humanitarian aid on the Audacity of Hope are 3,000 letters of solidarity. As they are not willing to delivery their humanitarian aid through legal means, the people of Gaza will have to continue to suffer without such essential goods.

Free Gaza should note that International Law is not determined by whatever they feel like doing. If they want to avoid the legal and political delays, next time they should set sail from Syria and Lebanon.

Greek authorities are operating well within their rights to legally stop the flotilla. Free Gaza has the right to appeal through their court system. How can they be taken seriously as defender of International law, while they intentionally break Greek laws?

Back to the Future - Obama Style

2011-05-20T12:54:00.004+03:00

During the last Israeli election, I attended a meeting at Yisrael Beytenu head quarters in Jerusalem. At the meeting, one elderly gentleman took great interest on the policy of land swaps in any peace agreement. The policy is based purely on logistics. There is inside the 'Green Line' that would make more sense in a Palestinian State and territory that Palestinians, now lay claim to that should fall within Israel's borders. This was not a major campaign platform, as there was no hope of negotiations getting that far in the short term.

Yesterday, President Obama made his big Middle East policy speech. While mentioning many of Israels major concerns, he managed to give the Palestinian leadership another opportunity to dig in their heels. He declared that a Palestinian State should be established based on the 1967 (re: 1949 Armistice Treaty) borders. On the surface suggesting land swaps may seem like step forward in recognizing the logistical impracticality on turning the clock back to a time where Israel's borders with Egypt and Jordan (re: West Bank & Gaza) were not recognized as permanent by any stretch of the imagination.

Unlike Israel, the Palestinians have no reason to establish practical borders. The right of return calls for their people to live in Israel rather than live in a Palestinian State that is supposed to represent their historical and national interests. On the flip side, Jews will be thrown out of a Palestinian State the same as when Israel pulled out of Gaza. Palestinians living in Israel have no reason to share such fears. Currently have severe limited access to Jewish holy sites under PA control. Visits to these sites need to be coordinated with the IDF or risk being killed by PA security forces. Palestinians don't have any such worries visiting to holy sites in Israel.

Obama's plan to freeze construction on land that was going to be swapped in any agreement was a complete backfire. It has provided great cover for the Palestinian leadership to avoid any type of negotiations. His statement that a Palestinian State should be based on the 1967 border gives Palestinian's everything they need to happily continue on the path towards unilaterally declared Statehood in September. With all of the contradictory foreign policies he has to justify, it is always easier to be harsh towards a friend than a foe. Obama has already pushed Israel farther than it is willing to go. Continuing the push, strengthens those who want to harm Israel, while sinking the President's very limited political capital. Perhaps it is time to start picking battles that are winnable.

Canadians Vote for Stable Government

2011-05-03T09:09:00.004+03:00

Once again the Canadian political landscape has been rewitten with huge changes. As the Conservatives finally have a Majority Government and the days of the Liberals being the Natural Government of Canada or the Government in Waiting might as well be ancient history.

Conservates 167 Seats (+23) -- Stephen Harper's unwavering support of Israel has been rewarded with the defeat of Liberals Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe. Now that he has a majority he can focus more on governing and spending less time on partisan politics. Highly ranked and skilled Lawrence Cannon was the only significant Convesrvative casualty of the election. The new influx of talent should allow for an even stronger cabinet.

NDP 102 Seats (+66) -- Under Jack Layton, the NDP played the roll of Effective Opposition, while the Liberals were floundering under Stephane Dion. They started by taking Outremont in a by-election and have grown in Quebec ever since. They will should serve the title of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition well. The only potential drawbacks that will emerge, will be from candidates that won who had no business running in the election.

Liberals 34 Seats (-43) -- It looks like Michael Ignatieff will join Stephane Dion and become the 4th Liberal leader not to become Prime Minister. He was ineffective at rebuilding the party. He lost his seat, along with former leadership race contenders Martha Hall-Findley and Gerard Kennedy. Bob Rae is the only one left from that group. The Liberals need to rebuild from the ground up with a real vision and a strong leader. Without the fear of an election or forming a coalition they have the opportunity they need. Now it is a matter of taking advantage of the time they have.

Bloc Quebecois 4 Seats (-44) -- They lost official party status. Gilles Duceppe lost his seat and resigned as party leader. This is good news for Canada and as bad as it gets for the Seperatist movement. In Quebec there is always room for a rebound but at least for the time being they will not be doing very much.

Green Party 1 Seats (+1) -- In 2008 Elizabeth May ran a horrible campaign. She tried to run a campaign on Foreign Policy by running against the very popular Peter McKay. She signed a signed a deal with Dion, to have the Party leaders not compete against each other. In the dying days of the election endorse strategic voting that would hurt her party. It made for an easy decision for the TV networks to not include her in the leaders debate.

This time round she took a different strategy. She moved over to the more cushy riding of Saanich--Gulf Islands. She spent the entire campaign in her own riding. With only 3.9% of the popular vote, costing the Green Party their vote subsidy. However she gets full credit for winning her seat. She can now be taken seriously and the future of the Green Party will be determined by her performance in Parliament. Exactly what her and her supporters wanted.

The best news about this election is the new Government will have time to govern and the parties will have time to recover before the next election. The Conservatives, NDP and Green Party will have a chance to prove themself while the Liberals and Bloc will have time to rebuild.

Choosing a Prime Minister King-Byng All Over Again

2011-04-22T14:25:00.005+03:00

The Canadian First Past the Post electoral system is designed to create majority governments. As Canadians prepare to go to the polls in a few weeks, they face the possibility of electing a 4th consecutive minority government. If the Conservatives win another minority will Harper still be Prime Minister has become a real question.

Harper was the first one to spin the debate to keep his job, by attacking the concept of a Liberal, NDP, Bloc coalition. It put the ball in Ignateif's court and his response was gaurenteed to help the Conservatives. If he said he was willing to form a coalition, then his more left wing supporters have no fear in peeling off to the NDP because it would still knock Harper out. It would also alienate his more right wing supporters who don't like the idea of the NDP in government. Rejecting the coalition would make it more difficult to come in 2nd place and argue he has a mandate to be Prime Minister. This week Harper also said that the who ever has the most seats should form the Government. If they lose the support of parliament they should go back to the polls. Harper is taking the side of Mackenzie King side of the King-Byng affair.

Ignateif this week tipped off how he would become Prime Minister even if he loses the election. The Government still has to pass a budget. If the budget were defeated, the Governor General could act as Lord Byng did in 1926 and ask the Liberals to form a Government. Ignateif could keep his promise to not form a coalition as long as he is able to pass the budget. Fearing the backlash from voters of another election would buy him the time he needs to put the fingerprint he wants on Government.

There is another variable that has started to emerge. The NDP are polling strong in Quebec and are showing signs that they may beat the Liberals and form the official opposition. The more voters accept the possibility of a real NDP breakthrough the more likely they are not going to lost that support to strategic votes for the Liberals. They could repeat the above scenario with Layton becoming Prime Minister.

Canadians may wake up on May 3rd to discover they have no idea who they have elected to govern. As Harper, Ignateif and possibily Layton stake out their political ground the Governor General may be the one deciding who really won the election.

Canadians Going Back to the Polls

2011-03-26T21:21:00.003+02:00

The writ has been dropped and Canadians are going back to the polls for another Federal election. For years we have heard rhetoric about how Harper is destroying Canada and we need an election "now". With the Conservatives leading the polls going into the election, those who believe Harper is truly destroying Canada have until May 2nd to make their case.

There are 4 likely out comes to this election.

1. A Conservative Majority Government, which may help reduce the partisan bickering as the Government and Opposition parties will have 4 years to focus on the governing rather than political posturing on questions like if and when an election is called.

2. A Conservative Minority Government, which just means going back to the same old, that has been in place for the last 5 years.

3/4. A Liberal Government that can focus on changing course from what Harper has offered while in the Prime Ministers seat. How different the course will be from the current Government will probably be less noticeable than the Anti-Harper camp has hoped. In the event of a minority Government, Ignatieff should get some breathing room to put his fingerprints on the government before facing the difficulties of strategic maneuvering through a minority parliament.

As a Canadian living abroad my most important concern is on Foreign Policy. The current Government has proven to be a friend of Israel and willing to make the correct moves even if they are unpopular. While the Liberals have Israeli supports, such as Irwin Cotler, we are more likely to see a foreign policy that more closely mirrors that of the Obama Administration.

Obama has created a big mess in Israel that has allowed the Palestinians to avoid the negotiating table and reintroduce terrorism into their political arsenal. The Palestinians are hoping to force the creating of a State that will be in a de facto state of war come September. It is important that countries that have stood up for truth, such as Canada do not lose their voice in such a critical time.

Revolution Paranoia

2011-02-03T22:56:00.000+02:00

This Sunday, fans from around the world will gather to watch one of the most watched television events of the year. With only 2 of the NFL's 32 teams participating, most NFL fans will find themselves trying to decide who to cheer for. The event is so big, that it also attracts many fans who couldn't care less about the NFL during the rest of the year. Criteria for choosing a team to cheer for can include; team colours, if a team is a rival of a favourite team, support for a division or conference, underdog or favourite or any other reason.

In general pro-democracy demonstrations receive wide spread support for various reasons. In Iran, the people were protesting against a rigged election; Ivory Coast, the government refuses to accept electoral defeat and Tunisia chased out their dictators. In all these cases it is easy to support the under dog both as supporting democracy. As an Islamic Republic, Iran does not share any commonality with Western values and the plight of Ivory Coast and Tunisia are just not that important to the average person outside of unquestioning support of democracy.

With the focus on Egypt, choosing who to cheer for a particular outcome is very difficult. On the one hand democracy is the form of government that represents the will of the people. The other is Muslim Brotherhood, is best positioned to pick up the political vacuum. Egypt is an important player in the Middle East. They have a peace treaty with Israel and bare some responsibility for keeping weapons out of the hands of Gaza terrorists. A Muslim Brotherhood with political power could see them joining Syria and Lebanon as another Iranian satellite state. Continuing the cold peace is far better for both countries, than dragging Israel into another war.

For those who automatically support Democracy in at all costs should take note of the other "Democratic" countries in the region. In Lebanon, when Hezzbollah's threats were not enough to prevent being inditing by the UN Special Inquiry into the death of the previous Prime Minister, they toppled the government. The new Prime Minister's party holds 2 of 128 (yes two) seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

Under the PA, all election dates at every level of Government have been cancelled when Hamas could not reconcile with Fatah. Out of fear of the events in Egypt, the PA has called for municipal elections to be held. Hamas has already said they will not participate effectively cancelling elections in Gaza. Hamas and Islamic Brotherhood are essentially they same organization. The PA sided with the Tunisa Government before they fled and have come out in support of Mubarak. Solidarity protests with Egyptian demonstrators have been shut down while pro-Government protests have been permitted.

Israel is the only country in the region, where citizens vote for their government. There isn't even the slightest fear of violence being necessary in order to transfer power. In practical terms this is a huge difference that is ignored by those who want to blame Israel for every other problem in the region. The protestors are on the right track in demanding a Government that represents them is a noble goal. However at the end of the day, the components are not in place to avoid building a democracy like Lebanon or the PA. This is why unconditionally choosing sides may not be in the best interests of Egypt, their allies or Israel.

Bibi is the Winner as Barak Leaves Labor to Sit as an Independance

2011-01-18T22:45:00.004+02:00

It takes tremendous skill both in strategy and foresight to rise to power to lead a Government and hold on to that power over a period of time. In many cases these skills are much more important then the ability to govern. Jean Chretien, Bill Davis, Stephen Harper, Brian Mulroney are examples of political leaders who have succeeded. The flip side are Joe Clark, Paul Martin, Kim Campbell and Joe Tory who just couldn't pull it off.

The biggest failure in recent Israeli politics is without a doubt Tzipi Livni. When she took over as chairperson for Kadima she could not get Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign. This meant she had to form her own coalition from scratch instead of inheriting the Government at the time. She failed forcing elections to be called. She then beat out Likud by one mandate but couldn't convince anyone that she deserved first shot at forming a Government.

Yesterday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak quit the Labor Party to form his own Atzmaut (Independance) Party, taking 4 more MKs with him. A lot is being made on Barak's motivations but the steps by Bibi to engineer this move have been mostly over looked.

When Bibi was given the mandate to form the government his goal was to form a stable Government. He managed to get enough parties on board, so that he was in a position to weather threats by smaller parties to quit the coalition. Bringing in Labor had some extra benefits. Barak proved himself to be a competent military leader both during Cast Lead and destroying Jewish homes, where the only reason they were illegal is they did not have his signature.

Half the party choose to stay in the opposition. However a Labor Party by-law meant that any of those MKs who voted against Labor supported Government legislation would not be allowed to run for Labor in the next election. This party split was difficult on the Government as there were effectively opposition members holding cabinet positions but the balance was even more difficult for Barak to hold on to. The eventual split of the Labor party was inevitable.

Once the dust settles, there are going to be 3 political parties (Artzenu, Kadima, Labor) that will be effective fighting for the same ground on the political spectrum. While the 3 battle it out Bibi will be in a much better position to build support on political territory not being as strongly contested. Bibi once again comes out ahead from another political misfortune that he helped create. The only question is if voters will turn on Barak and put the final nail in his political career.

Obama Offers Not to Sell Out Israel in Exchange for False Hope

2010-11-15T23:07:00.000+02:00

Obama is pushing ahead with his attempts to bring the Palestinians to the negotiating table with Israel. It looks like Israel is going to accept his proposal for Freeze II. Israel will once again stop construction for 90 days in the West Bank in exchange for some military equipment and a promise not to sell out Israel on the world stage (for now). Plenty has already been written on how Obama's hands on diplomacy has made a bigger mess than he started with. The best articles on the Obama approach to peace talks are here and here.

In an effort to restart Peace talks, at the end of last year the Israeli government agreed to a settlement freeze for 10 months. Politicians promissed it would show the world that Israel is serious about reaching an agreement and the Palestinians would have only one shot. As expected the opposite happened. The Palestinians waited 9 months to join the negotiating table and made it clear they would walk without an extension. Instead of commending Israel for their efforts the world decided that the Palestinians must be appeased and Obama flexed is Presidential powers to make it happened.

If there is going to be another Freeze there needs to be at least some chance of success. Instead of hoping the Palestinians will return to the negotiating table it should be a condition of Israel accepting the freeze. Another condition should be that the moment the Palestinians walk away from the table the freeze is automatically over. It is the only scenario that doesn't result in a repeat of the original diplomatic failure.

Obama has mistakenly made settlements the #1 obstacle to peace. What is going to happen come January? He will have to choose between honouring his commitment to Israel or continuing to spar with Israel over settlement construction.

UNESCO to Declare Mosque of the Nativity, Palestinian Holy Site?

2010-11-01T00:05:00.000+02:00

The most effective political weapon being used the Palestinians is the use of the political arena. The aim is to create the perception that the Jewish people have no connection to the land of Israel and to instigate scenarios that make Israel look bad in the eyes of the world. The United Nations has been a key tool to this goal. Palestinian leadership can call on the Arab world to pass any condemnation of Israel they wish.

This week UNESCO passed 5 resolutions condemning Israel. Sadly, most of them could be dismissed as just another example of intentional ignorance of the facts on the ground. One resolution was particularily disturbing by it's implications. UNESCO demanded Israel remove Me'arat HaMachpela (Tomb of the Patriarchs) and Kever Rochel (Rachel's Tomb) from the Israel's list of heritage sites. They consider these mosques to be integral part of the Palestinian identity and Israel has no right to control them.

Me'arat HaMachepela is the burial place of the founders of the Jewish people. Avraham and Sarah; Issac and Rifka; Yaakov and Leah are buried there. As descendants of Avraham the Arabs claim the spot as there own holy spot. For centuries Jews were only able to approach the outside of the building but never enter.

Under Israeli control a compromise has been put in place recognizing the importance to both Jews and Muslims. The building is split in half with seperate entrances. 10 days a year, the entire building is open exclusivly to Jews and 10 days the entire building is open exclusivley to Muslims. When the dates conflict priority is given to the Muslim calendar. The Muslim side has undergone renovations over the years, while the Waqf has refused to allow any major renovations on the Jewish side. The United Nations condemning a solution that mostly works, comes as no surprise.

Kever Rochel is the burial place of Rochel the other Jewish Matriarch. Through the centuries it was an important place for Jews to pray. She is completely irrelevant to Muslim tradition Elder of Ziyon has documented that it was not until after the Oslo Accords that this important Jewish site was started to be referred to as an ancient holy mosque.

The goal of the condemnation is to disconnect the Jewish people from their founders and further discredit, the history of their presence on the land. Kever Rochel has extra meaning because Jewish tradition teaches it was in her merit that the God promised her the Jews would return from exile. It is the reason that when Jews make Aliyah (immigrate to Israel) the song Shavu Banim (Her Children have returned to their borders) is sung in shul.

Kever Rochel is no more an anicient Muslim holy site than; the Mosque of the Nativity, Mosque of the Holy Sepulcher, or the Mosque being built at the World Trade Centre.

The United States is the only country to vote against the 5 resolutions, with a dozen or so choosing to take a knee and abstain. Rewriting history for political means, is a disgrace to UNESCO who has as it's goal to preserve culture and education. The countries that choose to remain silent and watch should be embarrassed for not being brave enough to stand up for the truth.

Toronto Voters Face Tough Decision

2010-10-24T22:59:00.000+02:00

With Municipal elections taking place tomorrow, I am glad I don't have to live with the consequences of choosing the new Mayor. While David Miller has taken himself out of the race, each of the remaining candidates have major flaws that put into question their ability to lead.

Rob Ford - Ford has been a tremendous assest to City Council. He has been a thorn in the side to many in the old boys networks of patronage and privilege. He has recieved rath and scorn from councillors who were not happy with his boat rocking. He was even investigated for not spending enough money from his office budget. He has fought and lost many times to put a cap on spending or to reduce the perks councilors are entitled to. His fiscally responsible approach is what has put him within range of this election. However their is more to being a Mayor then cutting spending. The city also needs to be allocate funds wisely in order to grow and prosper. I just don't see Ford being able to grow beyond his rebel image to fill the shoes necessary for the job.

George Smitherman - The last provincial election predominantly factored into our decision to leave Canada. The government campaigned on the principle that all Ontario students are entitled to the same secular public education. Catholics can also have their own education but funding any other religion is an attack on public education. Smitherman was a prominent member of the government and the election campaign.

Joe Pantalone - Pantalone was the unions only pick to run for Mayor. As Mayor he would be as close to David Miller as it is possible to get. The city needs to take control of it's finances, instead of trying to find more creative ways to tax the same people.

There is a plus side. A bunch of councillors have stepped down leaving the arena open to fresh blood with fresh ideas. Although Ford may not make it to council there are a number of fiscally responsible councilors (Doug Holyday, Karen Stintz, Denzil Minnan-Wong etc.) who should be returned to serve another term. Hopfully the fresh faces in Council and the Mayor's office combined with the reelection of deserving councilors will be a huge leap forward for the City of Toronto.

The fallout from this election is going to filter into the next Provincial election and possibly Federal election. Most people are billing it up as Ford (Hudak) vs Smitherman (McGuinty). A number of scenarios have been proposed as to who to cheer for. When McGuinty was elected Premier for his first term he campaigned that as a Liberal he would be better suited to deal with PM Paul Martin. In the end they didn't get along and Martin was kicked out of office a short time later. McGuinty is hoping a Smitherman win would bring in an era of like minded leaders that would help him in the election. The flip side is if Smitherman fails the demand for change will sweep through Queen's Park and knock the Liberals out of power.

The same analysis could play out in reverse. Ford falling flat on his face in his first year could be an anchor on Hudak, allowing McGuinty to win for a 3rd time. Win or lose Ford has a lot of political capital. If he doesn't become Mayor he will find himself a seat in Queen's Park or Ottawa. His reputation for shaking things up to help the Conservatives come election time. Which ever direction voters send his political career, he will remain a force to be reckoned with.

Israel Bashing Returns to Toronto Gay Pride Parade

2010-06-25T06:39:00.000+03:00

The Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) have been a thorn in the side of the Toronto Gay Pride Parade for a number of years. They change the nature of the parade from an expression of unity and celebration of values, to a medium for decisiveness and controversy.

Acting out of self interest and political pressure the organizers of the parade banned the term Israel Apartheid from this years parade effectively banning QuAIA. This caused a grass roots backlash sighting an attack on free speech. In order to keep both sides happy the parade organizers have changed policy again leaving it to the City of Toronto to determine if their parade participants are behaving appropriately. It is a technical loophole that gets the parade off the hook. An ironic decision considering other parades this year, across the country have fallen to heavy criticism for not keeping out unwanted elements.

Putting aside the technical issues, does QuAIA belong in the parade? This can be answered by examining two simple questions. Is the parade an appropriate venue for political protest? Do they represent the values of the community under whose banner they choose to protest?

QuAIA sights two examples as proof that the parade is an appropriate form of protest. The parade originally started as a form of political protest and the Gay community was instrumental in the protest against Apartheid South Africa. While these may be important history lessons, they might as well be ancient history. As Gay rights have changed over the decades, so has the nature of the parade.

The second question takes the form of why single out Israel. Their response is that there are no gay rights without universal human rights. They envision, Israel as a secular democratic state stripped of it's Jewish identity. Any of their criticism of Israel are universal values that would apply anywhere in the world.

There are so many human rights issues around the world including; Arab countries denying Palestinians the rights to livelihood, property and citizenship. President of the Islamic Republic of Iran denies there are gays in his country and violently put down protests of election results, genocide in Darfur, spread of Sharia law in Asia and Africa, Hamas murder of political opponents, 2 cities in Saudi Arabia are banned to non-Muslim visitors, China's human rights record, Turkey's oppression of Armenians, Canadian issues with it's aboriginal population and many more. There are so many issues that no one individual or organization can devote resources to every issue.

Based on QuAIA, criteria in choosing Israel one would expect at least some of these issue to reverberate in the gay community, never mind manifesting into protests at the Gay Pride Parade.

For an activist who has already won their battles at home, Israel represents a low hanging fruit. It is far enough away to limit the damage from the fall out of a social engineering experiment gone wrong. Israel doesn't have the economic or political power to punish it's detractors.

By hooking on to the Gay Pride Parade, QuAIA generates more publicity than their cause could ever generate on it's own merits. They alienate people, who have a as much right to be considered part of the community the parade represents. They don't deserve the privilege of participating.

Remembering the Iran Election

2010-06-12T21:00:00.002+03:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of the rigged Iranian election. The democratic protests that followed resulted in 60 dead and thousands of arrests. Everyone remembers the video Neda Agha-Soltan who was shot while walking the streets in peaceful protest. To commemorate the anniversary we will look at what the world has done, to condemn the actions of the Iranian governments gross violations of human rights. Below are the complete texts of both the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution and the report by independent international investigation.

UNHRC Resolution

Independent International Investigation Report

Happy International Hypocrisy Day!!!

Defending "Peaceful" Violent Resistance

2010-06-04T11:22:00.000+03:00

On Monday morning, the Israeli Navy carried out their part in what should have been a well rehearsed script. Free Gaza sent a flotilla to run the Gaza blockade under the cover of a humanitarian mission. Israel's offer to transfer all the aid through the port of Ashdod under the watch of Free Gaza was turned down because it avoided the primary goal of running the blockade. The script was simple. Israel would stop the ships and tow them to Ashdod. The aid would be transferred to Gaza. Free Gaza promised publicly over and over again, that they would abide by their mantra of peaceful resistance.

As dawn approached Israeli commandos armed primarily with paintball guns strapped to their backs, they carried out their part of the script. 5 of the 6 boats cooperated and went off with out a hitch. However the lead boat had decided to change the script. They attempted to kill the soldiers, as they boarded the ship. The soldiers had no choice but to defend themselves, which resulted in the deaths of 9 of the 'peace activists'.

For the first few days Free Gaza claimed that it was not possible that the soldiers were attacked. There was a baby on the ship, plus at the shipped raised the white flag and all activists were trained in non-violent confrontation. When it was proven that the attacks did take place, they should have said the boat was commissioned by the IHH and did not act in accordance with the mission. Instead they have claimed the passengers had a right to attack the soldiers. Israel should have done things differently, they should have landed during the day, they should have sent less soldiers, they should not have been stopped in international waters. Even under attack, the soldiers should not have killed anyone. They can make all the excuses they want but if they had resisted peacefully, as promised, as was done on the other 5 ships nobody would have been hurt. Instead they have declared that IHH is welcome to participate in future flotillas.

As this entire episode was about PR, Free Gaza has won. Israel has rejected, demands from around the world to allow an impartial international investigation into the incident. For those who have already passed judgment this is just further proof that Israel is guilty.

The United States has suggested that Israel appoint a high profile international judge to conduct the investigation. Who would be respected enough by the world, who would consider all the facts before drawing conclusions? The logical choice would be the judge who carried out the independent investigation into the Iran elections. The judge had a lot more to consider. There was vote rigging, demonstrators shot dead in the street, unjustified arrests and beatings all under the watchful eye of the world. There were at least 69 deaths and over 4000 initial arrests. The results of the findings were factual, indisputable and accepted by both sides.

What did you say? There was no investigation. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights addressed the issue on September 14th, 2009.

"The recent elections in Iran and the subsequent protests over the result were a reminder of both the vitality of Iran's civil society and political life, but also of the towering constraints that peaceful activism faces. I call on the Government to release those detained for peaceful protest, to investigate reports of their ill-treatment, and to ensure respect for human rights "

Israeli soldiers kill 9 people, from a mob of 'peaceful' protesters that were trying to kill them. Iran kills 69 people for peacefully marching the streets to protest a rigged election. In one case the UNHRC calls for an internal investigation and the other an international investigation. What could possibly be the mitigating factors that determine who should conduct an investigation?

Free Gaza Rejects Request to Help Gilad Shalit

2010-05-28T00:51:00.000+03:00

The Israeli Navy is busy preparing for an all too familiar scenario. Free Gaza has started launching boats in preparation for their attempt to run the Gaza blockade and deliver their cargo of humanitarian aid. This time more boats, more cameras, more drama. The fact they could have easily shipped their cargo through Israeli channels or that it is a small drop in the bucket to what is already being shipped to Gaza are not relevant for their supporters.

The scenario will once again play out as it has in the past. The Free Gaza boats will be boarded and towed to Ashdod. The goods will be transferred to Gaza and the activists will be sent home. There will be plenty of cameras to capture some sob story of the activists mistreatment or how terrible Israel is for blocking a shipment that contains some sentimental items. With 7 boats in their fleet Free Gaza is bound to create havoc for the Navy and create some heroic drama.

The Shalit family has thrown an unexpected twist into the story line. They offered to support the flotilla if they would agree to pressure Hamas to deliver humanitarian aid to their son. Gilad Shalit has not had contact with his family in 4 years, in violation of the Geneva connection. Previous attempts to send care packages by the family have failed. His imprisonment is a major reason behind the restrictions that has been imposed on Gaza that Free Gaza claims to be protesting. With support from the Shalit family, the Navy would be forced to reconsider plans to stop the flotilla. Objective human rights believers should not make any distinction as to who's rights are being violated. As it says on the Free Gaza website "Respect for international law is not optional, it is obligatory."

Free Gaza rejected the request. Free Gaza has shown their true colours. They are interested in being part of the PR campaign for the resistance against Israel. In the coming days they will make enough noise to cover up their relative morality black whole. Seeing these activists for who they truly are is the only way to understand why Israel is taking a necessary course of action. Perhaps one day, people who believe in human rights will be able to take up the plight of Gilad Shalit with as much passion and enthusiasm as they show for meaningless feel good gestures to help Palestinians.

Is George Galloway a Terrorist

2010-04-29T01:03:00.000+03:00

In 2009 George Galloway was denied entry into Canada. The grounds for the ban were based on his aid convoy to Gaza where he gave cash directly to Hamas. The Government is saying he was giving money to a terrorist organization while Galloway claims he was offering aid to the people of Gaza and their elected Government. Today Galloway had his day in court.

His lawyers have argued that there is no difference between Galloway giving money to help the people of Gaza and the Canadian government or other Governments of the world providing aid to Gaza. If he is a terrorist than the Prime Minister is a terrorist. No matter what the courts decide Galloway has won the publicity war. He has painted himself as a hero on a simple mission to help those in need.

The details of his trip tell a very different story. The rest of the world follows a standard protocal for delivering aid to Gaza. Most aid is transferred through Israel. During Operation Cast Lead, Israel stopped fighting to allow aid convoys to pass through the border even though Israeli positions were under fire. Israel has continued sending aid into Gaza to provide for basic needs. Thousands of Palestinians have gone to Israel to seek medical treatment. A field hospital during the operation was shut down, when Hamas blocked their wounded from seeking medical attention that Israel was offering.

Galloway intentionally ignored protocol because he wanted things done his way. He angered Egyptian officials who stopped him at their border and insisted the aid be transferred through Israel. He faced numerous delays all for the ability to give his cash gift directly into the hands of Hamas leadership instead of UN agencies that could gaurentee the money went to the needy. If the aid really was urgently needed he could have had it delivered a lot faster through normal channels.

Hamas has brought the problems in Gaza upon themselves. They threw Fatah memebers off of buildings tied to chairs as they took control of Gaza by force. They fired rockets at Israeli civilians for years with no regrets. They are holding captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in the hopes of exchanging him for 1000 prisoners. They have violated the Geneva Convention by not allowing Red Cross visits or contact with his family. Israel had to release prisoners from jail just for a video tape confirming he was alive. Negotiations have broken down because Hamas wants those serving multiple life sentences for carrying out terrorist attacks to be free.

The court is dealing with a difficult case as the evaluate issues of free speech and alleged Government interference. No matter what the out come of Galloway's admissibility hopefully the courts will clarify that there is a huge difference between giving money directly to a terrorist organizations like Hamas and transferring aid through organization that are supposed to have safe guards to make sure aid gets to the people and not confiscated for future terrorist attacks. Failure to make this distinction will open up a whole can of worms, as other take the opportunity to disguise their political aspirations as merely helping those in need.

Obama vs Bibi; Battle for Jerusalem

2010-04-18T20:00:00.002+03:00

As the air raid siren sounds, the Israeli flag is lowered. An entire nation stops to remember the sacrifices made by it's soldiers. Victims of terrorism are remembered for the price they have paid for trying to go about their day to day lives. The siren will sound again tomorrow morning and once again life will stop and the sacrifices will once again be remembered. As the sun sets the flag will once again be raised and the country can begin celebrating independence. It is a good time to reflect on how the actions of President Barak Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu will affect celebrations in the future.

Obama rose to the White House on a simple campaign of charisma and hope. He promised badly needed health care changes and a promise to make the Peace Process his primary goals. He faced a weak Republican campaign. He was even able to step aside from criticism on the type of people he choose to be his mentors.

Obama offered a very wishy washy vision of the health care plan. He wanted something that was bipartisan. He ended up making major sacrifices to this end. In the end he didn't get any Republican support and had to make additional changes to get his own party on board. For all of his efforts he did not bring in a single payer system. It is estimated that the paperwork to comply with the number of insurance companies adds 30% to the overall health care cost.

In 1948 the Arab world rejected the 1947 UN-partition plan by declaring war on Israel the day after it was created. During the 1950s the Arab nations demanded Israel pull back to the 1947 Partition plan instead of the borders established the 1949 Armistice Treaty (Green Line). In 1967 despite Israeli requests, Jordan entered the 6 day war. Israel captured the West Bank and liberated Jewish own land that was captured by Jordan in 1948. This included the Old City of Jerusalem, sight of the Jewish people's most holy sight.

Obama has taken the same appeasement approach to his foreign policy. He has failed to make any progress on stopping Iranian nuclear ambitions. He has marked Israeli settlements as the number on enemy to an Israeli/Palestinian peace treaty. He asked blocked Israel from buy US military equipment and blocked the Israeli Defence Industry from bidding on contracts that would compete with American companies.

George Bush had said that a final agreement Israel would have 1967+ borders. They would retain areas of natural interest due to facts on the ground such as population bases and and security considerations. Obama has had harsh criticism for any moves over the 1967 borders. This is even true for areas that Palestinians have already agreed to concede in previous negotiations. Israel would trade for land that would be more practical for a Palestinian State. The White House response to Israeli concessions has been a blanket not enough. Palestinians have not been on the receiving end of criticism and have taken the President's lead to dig in their heals and wait for the 1967 borders to be established for them rather then through negotiations.

Netanyahu took a different route to return himself to the Prime Minister's chair. He has been a cunning strategist at obtaining his political power. His first rise to power was when he opposed the expulsion of Jews from Gaza. His change of heart took place after it was too late to stop it. He had Likud rewrite their election bylaws to push his chief opponent Moshe Feiglin down on the party list, resulting in him not making it into the Knesset. He argued that he should be Prime Minster even though he had one less seat than Kadima because the right wing won more seats. He then formed a government including part of the left wing Labor party. Those who refused to join have their hands tied to a certain degree. Voting against their own party would prevent them from running in the next election. Legislation has also been passed making floor crossing easier. There have already been some close calls on failed attempts for Likud to pick off members of Kadima.

Netanyahu paid the price of 4 prisonors just for a short video to show Gilad Shalit is alive and can walk. He has also taken a firm approach with Obama. He has made concessions such as acknowledging a Palestinian State and a 10 month settlement freeze. While painful for Israelis Obama has responded that it is not enough. The same time he has lacked the same courage to criticize Palestinians. The plight of Gilad Shalit who is held by the defacto Gaza government barely makes the radar screen.

Everytime Netanyahu stands up to the White House, Israelis rally to the support of their Prime Minister. The opposition parties have been mostly silenced as they don't have an opening to attack the government. Opposition leader Livni took a short bounce in popularity when a warrant was issued for her arrest in London, for her role in Operation Cast Lead. She tried to play it up but the cancellation of the warrant sent her back to the wilderness.

Israel has demonstrated over and over again the willingness to make sacrifices for peace. The Palestinians have demonstrated they are willing to sacrifice the benefits of improving their own lot in order to concede an inch to their final goal. Obama has completely misread the situation and as a result has put many lives in danger.

Canada Doesn't Follow American Lead in Latest Diplomatic Mistep.

2010-03-19T00:03:00.000+02:00

This week should have cast any doubts that at the moment Canada is Israel's #1 ally.

From the Toronto Star Editorial Staff

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to rebuke the Israeli government for expanding Jewish settlements in disputed East Jerusalem, as Washington and others have done, why doesn't he just come out and say so in plain language?
Instead, Harper has opted to send politically mixed messages in what appears to be a bid to curry favour with U.S. President Barack Obama's administration without alienating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Amid the fog, it's hard to know just where the Conservatives stand.
Netanyahu's government infuriated the Obama administration on March 9 by provocatively announcing it plans to build 1,600 more housing units for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem, despite Obama's express request not to. Worse, the news came as U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden was in Israel, professing America's unshakeable support. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it "insulting." The White House cancelled a planned visit by Mideast envoy George Mitchell.
So what was Ottawa's reaction? Last Thursday, March 11, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon merely voiced tepid "regret" and "concern." No surprise there, given Harper's reflexively pro-Israel stance. However by Tuesday Cannon told a Commons committee, "We feel that this is contrary to international law and therefore condemn it." That sounded more like Washington's angry reaction.
Yet when Harper was questioned in Parliament that same afternoon about a call he put in to Netanyahu, he pointedly declined to reinforce Cannon's tough stance. All he would say was that Canada's "position is well known," and that he hoped peace talks would resume.
To cap it all off, Cannon's office issued a backtracking statement later in the day insisting his condemnation wasn't "an escalation in our diplomatic language," just business as usual.
So there it stands. The United Nations, the European Union, the U.S. and Russia have all condemned the new housing, unequivocally. Even Israeli Labour leader Ehud Barak, who is Netanyahu's coalition partner and defence minister, called the move "unnecessary and damaging." Meanwhile Canada's political leaders bob and weave, lost in a fog of their own making.

I wrote a response that doesn't have a chance of being published. I decided to share it here.

While in Israel Joe Biden was insulted by the announcement of a construction project to build much needed housing. On the very same trip PA President Abbas attended the inauguration of a square named after a terrorist who killed 37 Israelis. While an insult to Israel this move didn't warrant any attention from the US Administration.

I am rather baffled by the Toronto Star editorial staff for condemning Stephen Harper and Lawerence Cannon for not following the American lead in over reacting to this minor announcement.

It is likely that Palestinian negotiators have already agreed it would remain on the Israeli side of any border with a Palestinian State. If it doesn't Israel has proven over and over again they are willing to throw their own citizens out of their homes to make peace. Palestinians would get 1600 brand new housing units.

Obama's Administration created an international incident that caused violence without any diplomatic gain. The little more level headedness by world leaders, exhibited by Harper and Cannon would much more practical for creating a practical peace arangement.

Rebuilding Hurva Shul Scares the Arab World

2010-03-16T00:43:00.000+02:00

The history of the Hurva shul in Jerusalem's Old City provides a deep insight into the history of the Jewish people. It was originally built in the 1700s and destroyed a few decades later by the local Arab population. In the 19th century the shul was once again rebuilt. It was a major centre in the Jewish Quarter.

In 1948 during the War of Independence a couple of tactical mistakes lead to the Old City's capture by the Jordanian Army. At the beginning of the battle the Jews captured the most important strategic building as it was the high ground in the area. The building was a church so they withdrew in order to keep the UN happy. The Jordanian's had no problem with using the building. Badly needed Jewish reinforcements did not remain to hold the positions they captured because they were tired from battle and did not have orders to stay. When the local Jews surendered they were given a short window of time to evacuate. As soon as the Jews were gone, the Jordanian blew up the Hurva Shul.

The 8 year project to rebuild the shul is complete and the dedication ceremony was today. Palestinian and Arab world have been outraged by the move. Security has been stepped up throughout the country out of fear of Arab rioting. There were a wide range of excuses for the harsh objection. 1. It is trying to destroy the "Muslim/Christian" nature of the city 2. (Due it's location on a hill) The building is higher then the Dome of the Rock and Al Asqa Mosque. 3. The Jews are going to destroy Al Asqa Mosque. 4. It is built on Occupied Territory, that is to be the capital of the Palestinian State.

The story line fits in perfectly for most people who's knowledge of Israeli history spans no more than 3 days. Israel captured the West Bank through war and all else is irrelevant. The fact that Israel request Jordan to remain out of the 6 day war in 1967 or how and where people lived when there was no artificial borders in the area.

It makes it easy to condemn construction in areas like Hevron or Gush where it's habitant were expelled in 1929 and 1948 respectively. It allows for the telling of the story where Kever Rachel in Bethlehem, for centuries the undisputed sight holy only to Jews has in the past decade become the sight of an ancient mosque. An Arab MK was even willing to overturn his own belief system as decendants of Abraham by declaring that Palestinians are decendants of the original owners of Marat HaMachpela which sold the land to Abraham. The fact that a valid sale would negate the Palestinian claim to the end doesn't even come into play.

Israel continues to deal with the consequences of a political science experiment gone wrong. Every step results in another political crisis. Early this year PA President Abbas tried to gain leverage by threatening to not run in upcoming elections. While milking a crisis for the West he was cancelling elections and strengthening his position in different levels of the Palestinian political structure. The rebuilding of the Hurva shul symbolizes that the Jews will continue to bounce back and lay claim what is rightfully theirs. The only hope for peace is to accept reality that the Jewish people are not going to go away and are not out to destroy the Arab population.

We're Back

2010-03-15T23:51:00.000+02:00

Thanks to my wife for bringing back this blog from Prorogation with a great brand new look and feel. I plan to start blogging a little bit more regularly again.

Who is Israel?

2010-02-07T19:07:00.001+02:00

Not something I would expect to see from Peace Now. Definitely an important message.

Obama Take Note: Israel Outshines American Officials AGAIN

2010-01-19T23:31:00.000+02:00

When Barak Obama took office last year, there was a great deal of hope of what he could accomplish. Hope was so high that he was nominated for a Nobel Prize within days of taking office and eventually won. He ignored the old adage of speak little and do a lot. Instead he set his top priorities as overhauling the health care system and bringing peace to the Middle East.

On the health care file he has a long way to go. The future of the entire health care system could hinge on the Senate election today in Massachusetts. Unfortunatly Martha Coakley has not taken her campaign seriously and is at risk of losing. The Democrats are at risk of losing a seat they have held for over 3o years. It would also mean they lose the 60 seat threshold which gives them the ability to limit the amount of stalling tactics on any final bills. A major strategy change may be neccesary in order to get a new health care bill on the President's desk before mid-term elections. Best case scenario is to replace the broken health care system and replace it with a broken socialized health care system. The most important components of effective health care have been addressed.

Obama addressed to the Arab world from Cairo. He apologized for passed wrong doings and promised to hold off meddling in the Arab world. At the same time he stepped up the pressure on Israel to agree to Palestinian demands and make them happy. The Americans also took Canada's seat on the UNHRC, in order to fix the broken system from within.

The results have been predicatably embarrasing. The UNHRC continues to be used as a platform for condemning Israel while ignoring human rights from the rest of the world. The silence from the White House was loud and clear as ordinary citizens rallied to show support for Iranian protests against a fraudulent election. Iran is still unhindered in their efforts to build a nuclear bomb. The Palestinian Authority is using American pressure to add new pre-conditions to returning to the bargaining table.

The biggest news stories of the past month create an ironic twist on the White House criticism of Israel. Those two stories would be the attempted terrorist attack on a flight to Detriot and the last week's earth quake in Haiti.

TSA has been an embarrasement for how they operate airport security. Shortly before the attempted attack they accidentally released confidential information about operation procedures. After the attempted attack they scrambled to create all kinds of new protocols to insure safty. Meanwhile, the President was overseeing the national emergency while on vacation. In the mean time the media was turning to Israel to ask how to do security. Israel was recognized as the best in the world at maintaining security. People could see through the TSA changes as just more window dressing to make things appear safer then actually protecting passengers.

The earthquake in Haiti has created a major humanitarian crisis. A Belgium staffed medical team was forced to abandon helping people because of saftey concerns. American staffed hospital units are complaining they don't have the resources to help their patients. They are unable to administer life saving treatment. Israel was the first country to set up a field hospital, beating the Americans by days. All American officials can say about Israel responding faster is that they are doing the best job possible. Sounds a little bit like the disaster relief plan in New Orleans.

"So far, 300 patients have been admitted, 92 surgeries have been performed and 5 babies have been delivered (2 were premature). Because of the advanced medical equipment at the IDF field hospital, the UN coordinator has been sending doctors and nurses from other countries to join the Israeli medical staff. Thus far, 8 Colombian and 9 American USC doctors and nurses and 10 British volunteers have joined the IDF field hospital." -- IDF

What lessons can the White House learn from Israel as the President enters his second year in office? Like all countries Israel has it's own domestic issues. Israel has greater challenges then Americans as wars are fought either close to or on home turf. It is nice to declare that if only Israel did X everything would be perfect. Tactical mistakes from this logic cost lives. Israel takes the hand they are dealt and strives to be the best in the world. An appreciation of what Israel has accomplished with the challenges they face. The change of attitude is absolutely necessary if Obama wants to contribute anything to the region. Hopfully he will be able to learn from the disasters of the last month and use them to have a better 2nd year in office.

Not All Walls are the Same

2010-01-12T00:38:00.001+02:00

Last year I participated in a recreational hockey tournament. It was shortly after Operation Cast Lead. There were a few players who had to withdraw because they received their army call up papers and were not released before the tournament.

One of the players had been asked to write and article for a large minor hockey organization in the United States. He was to address three issues in the article; the tournament, hockey in Israel and how it relates to Gaza. I told him to go outside the rink and take a picture of Lebanon. The ice hockey rink in Israel is located Metulah next to the Lebanese border. When the Ottoman Empire collapse it had original fell under the French mandate before being swapped to the British. Hezzbolah does not recognize the swap and considers all land from the original French mandate to be part of Lebanon. Hockey in Metullah has absolutely nothing to do with Gaza.

The Israeli Government decided this week to beef up the border with Egypt. It includes building a wall near Rafah and Eilat. The current government has been proactive in dealing with illegal immigrants. A new unit was created to find and deport those who do not have permission to stay. Tightening the border is just an extension of that policy. While an important project it is not an issue that is newsworthy especially for an International audience.

From the best I can tell the Globe and Mail, National Post and Toronto Star did not feel this was a newsworthy story. CBC and CTV managed to carry very different version of the same events. CTV carried the Associated Press version of the story while CBC decided to blend the story with a recap of other recent events of in the region.

CBC choose to end the article by mentioning the Gaza blockade. A comment from the government spokesman and was put in the last section, instead of the main part of the article. It also has an incredibly brief recap mentioned that an aid convoy had been blocked by Egypt leaving a guard dead.

The Viva Palestina convoy had been stopped by Egypt for not following proper rules and procedures. The entire time George Galloway played victim for not being allowed to have everything his way. Egypt was so annoyed with the convoy that all members including Galloway are not allowed back into Egypt and they will not permit any future convoys. Egypt has also started building an underground fence to stop the smuggling tunnels and finally secure the border with Gaza. An Egyptian gaurd was shot dead by Palestinians on the Gaza side of the border. The top of the article has links to three other articles pertaining to the Egypt/Gaza border battle. The Gaza commentary has resulted in the comment section being filled with comments about Gaza rather than the actual story of Israel trying to deal with illegal immirgrants.

There are no articles relating the government prorogation to John Tory not running as Mayor. No articles linking the Caledonia Occupation by natives to new airport security measures. No articles linking the Vancouver Olympics to the Ottawa Senators 4 game losing streak. The reason is that they have nothing to do with each other. CBC has taken two unrelated events and tied them together because they take place in the same country. It is completly irresponsible for CBC to connect these events, especially when they know their readers will use it to draw further conclusions that are definitely not true.

Should Prorogue Be a Bad Word?

2009-12-30T23:30:00.002+02:00

The ability to prorogue parliament has always been a procedural tool that has always been available to the Government. It is an opportunity for the Government to reset their agenda without calling an election. Last year Prime Minister Harper used it to postpone a confidence vote that threatened to topple the Government that had been elected 6 weeks earlier.

Harper has once again used the tool of prorogation to extend the Parliamentary break until March. The thrown speech will be on March 3rd, immediatly followed by the budget on the 4th. The current break had been scheduled to end on January 25th.

Opposition parties and critics are upset that Harper is once again playing the "take the ball and go home" strategy. He is trying to delay the hearings on the Afghan detainee issues to avoid the truth from coming out. This issue isn't hurting the Conservatives in the polls. It would hardly enough of a reason to prorogue Parliament. There are more important motivations in this decision.

The most obvious reason is the Olympics. No party wants Parliament to be sitting during the Olympics. If anything of importance happens it would either be overshadowed by the Olympics or attract negative attention from the entire world. This is why if you wish to draw attention to a particular cause to be addressed by the Government you don't hold a press conference when Parliament is in session. It is too risky that your issue is overshadowed by a big news day in the Legislature. The focus during the Olympics should be about sports and promoting Canada. Politics can take a back seat for two weeks.

From a strategy point of view the most important reason to Prorogue Parliament comes from the Senate. The Prime Minister in a position to appoint 5 new Senators. This will shift the standings in the Senate to Conservatives 51, Liberals 49. Factoring in the two Progressive Conservative Senators they will have a majority in the 105 seat Senate. For the first time Harper will have minimal concern about the Senate blocking legislation. Prorogation or an election are the only ways to adjust the committees to reflect the new majority. Without the changes they would have an easier time stalling or stopping legislation.

Unfortunately politics is often more about strategy than substance. Harper is taking advantage of an opportunity to improve his ability to do what he was elected to do; Govern. He would not be doing his job if he missed out on this oppurtunity. If the Opposition parties don't like it they can take down the Government on the budget. In the mean time Harper is demonstrating he is a master strategist. He may have a minority Government but his hold on his job is as solid as any other majority government.

The American Gilad Shalit

2009-12-29T00:28:00.000+02:00

Since 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, new forms of terror have become part of the risks of day to day operations for overseas military personal, reporters and foreign workers. Kidnappings and how to deal with them have become a more normal occurrence. The days of beheading for shock value and political gain have been mostly replaced by demands for money. This has extended to the coast of Somalia where pirating is rampant in search of the ultimate ransom.

On Friday a video was released to show that the Americans have a different problem on their hands. Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl was captured in Afghanistan 6 months ago by Taliban forces. US Army officials were upset at the insensitivity of the video being released on Christmas Day and the use of a prisoner for propaganda purposes. The Taliban are interested in a prisoner swap.

How will the United States respond? Will Bergdahl's parents have to travel the world looking for world leaders to take up his plight? Will they have to plead for the Red Cross to demand that his Geneva Convention POW rights of visitations by the Red Cross and contact with his family be granted? Should there be a prisoner swap? What is a fair trade? Is 1000 terrorists for 1 soldier a good deal? What if they have killed American cvilians and/or soldiers? How many need to be released just to confirm he is alive? How about just sending all prisoners from Guantanamo Bay back to their families for a heroes welcome? Will Bergdahl's plight factor in to the Mid-Term Elections? Will Barak Obama hold regular meetings with Bergdahl's parent's to update them on efforts to get their son home? Will the released prisoners kill again? Will there be massive rallies demanding the US Government do more to help gain his release? Are US soldiers leaving graffiti after military operations to let him know that they were there and they were looking for him?

These are ridiculous questions. The story barely made the news. Israel has been dealing with these type questions for 3.5 years over kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. He is being held by Hamas the defacto government in Gaza. He has been denied access by the Red Cross and denied communication with his family. Both are major violations of the Geneva Convention. Shalit's parents have travelled the world trying to build the political resolve to free their son. The price of his freedom still sits at 1000 criminals, including terrorists with blood on their hands. The on and off again negotiations got so serious at one point that Israel released 4 prisoners just for the video tape to prove that he is alive. The entire nation is yearning for his return home. It is the only reason why anyone would even be willing to entertain the prospect of such a ridiculous and potentially dangerous trade.

The United States, European Union and others who enjoy condemning Israel don't understand how important it is for Gilad Shalit to safely return home. If only they put a fraction of an effort into caring about this issue instead of trying to turn up the heat on Israel over petty issues. They would get far more cooperation on issues they see as critical in the region. Those who cannot even relate to this major issue cannot possibly relate to what Israel needs to receive in return to go along with any other peace process. Putting more pressure on Israel does nothing to address these issues. It only strengthens her resolve that Israel needs to protect itself because when push comes to shove nobody else will.

Protesting the Enviornment Protestors

2009-12-09T23:26:00.001+02:00

This week 20 people were arrested for climbing to the roof of the Parliament building in Ottawa to bring attention to global warming. The incident was to coincide with the launch of the world wide enviornment conference in Copenhagen. Protestors had to be physically removed from the House of Commons when they decided to shout down governmental proceedings to protest failure to pass enviornmental legislation before the conference. Greenpeace who was behind the latest stunt has declared it a success because everyone is talking about it and the environment.

A handful of people protesting a cause doesn't warrant much attention. The extremism of these last two stunts may get more attention but it does not help the cause. People are more drawn to the lack of respect for the democratic process (and in this case safety concerns) than the message of the protest. The conference in Coppenhagen is huge. If anything the Greenpeace protest was a distraction from the already heavy media coverage of the event. To try to claim that a few people hanging from a roof accomplished anything is giving them way to much credit. They would have accomplished more by being delegates at the conference.

The enviornmental movement is showing their frustration in as they try to avert what they believe to be a worldwide catastrophe. The truth is that while people care about the enviornment it does not necissarily take priority over other important issues. The fact that the best Green Party candidate could only muster 3% of the votes in the most recent round of by elections shows where Canadians priorities are.

The problem with any world wide agreement is that it puts more emphasis on social and political issues rather than the environment. The Canadian tar sands are being singled out as the most dangerous contributer to global warming. On a per capita basis that may or may not be true but in the big picture shutting them down completely would have a negligible effect on the enviornment. On the flip side countries like China and India who are major contributers due to population size are not seen as major threats to the environment.

Most of the negotiations revolves around the issues of have and have nots. Should level of wealth determine how environmentally responsible a country must be? Another report came out today that the cheapest way to reduce global warming is birth control. Obviously the target would be 3rd world countries with high birth rates. Using current environmental logic it should be the have countries that reduce their populations. This would necessitate immigration from 3rd world countries to sustain current economies and stop poverty around the world. Of course this is a nonsensicle stretch of logic (for now).

The bottom line is the world needs to find affordable alternatives to fossil fuels and other enviornmental issues. In the mean time efforts to reduce the amount of energy consumed and waste generated. Major social-economic policy is designed for just that and will do very little to help the environment (unless the goal is to complete economic collapse).

Will Israel Freeze Aliyah?

2009-12-02T00:51:00.001+02:00

This morning I tweeted this really well done article about the Israeli Government's announcement that there will be a 10 month freeze on all immigration. The article was meant as a satire to reflect the meaning of the Israeli government's complete freeze on Israeli 'settlements'. As the story was not originally labelled cleary enough as a satire many people believed the story to be true. The sad thing wasn't that people fell for it as we have reached a point where the possibility in not out of the realm of belief.

The Israeli Government is serious about enforcing the 10 month settlement freeze announced last week. The Government is claiming it will give the Palestinians an opportunity to return to the bargaining table. Once and for all it will demonstrate that Israel is serious about lasting peace. There must be some sort of deal behind the scenes for top politicians to buy into that argument again. Just like every other concession the reaction from the Palestinian camp and the world community is the same. It is not enough. Repeated calls for East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future Palestinian State from the same countries that refuse to place their embassies in the Israeli capital of Jerusalem.

Israel is already facing another huge sacrifice as the government tries to determine which criminals are pardoned in exchange for the safe return of Gilad Shalit. Deal or no deal it is going to be a major scar on the national psyche.

It is time for world leaders to change tact and demand practical concessions from Palestinians and not just Israel. There have always been facts on the ground that contradict Palestinians have choosen to ignore. The current method of choosing which ones are relavant is just as ridiculous as the Aliyah freeze suggested in the article.

Anti-Israel Boycott Fails Again - This Time Mountain Equipment Co-op

2009-11-30T23:34:00.000+02:00

This passed weekend saw another attempt at expanding boycott efforts directed at Israel across Canada. The latest target was Mountain Equipment Co-op for having an Israeli supplier of under garments and water bottles. The boycotters felt this was in violation of their ethical purchasing standards. A boycott was called for Saturday with the Jewish community responding on Sunday with a buycott. Leading up to the week end the only major publicity was a few newspapers condeming the boycott.

The boycott got no attetion what so ever. It has been reported that the biggest turn out was in Vancouver with 20 supporters. Organizers didn't even bother to set up a protest in Toronto. Considering the amount of attention devoted to boycotting Israel at CUPE and other institutions, why was the campaign such a miserable failure?

One explanation is the protesters carefully examined what they were boycotting. They found that MEC carefully examines their suppliers and have already addressed concerns about the treatment of Palestinians. They realize that the boycott would hurt the incomes of Palestinians more than it will cause any shifts in Israeli government policy. Perhaps they have learned that every boycott rallies the Jewish community and it's supporters. The targeted victims come out ahead by support from the buycott campaign.

The simpler and most likely explanation is that Canadians really don't care that much about the Palestinians issues. There are number of reports from attendees at the boycotts that indicated even the people who showed up giving out pamphlets really didn't understand the issues. They were not interested in engaging in discussions with people with a different perspective.

Israel has a long history even before it became a state. There was a continuous Jewish community living in Hevron before a French flag was ever planted in the New World until they were expelled by the British in 1933. Jewish communities in East Jerusalem and Gush were expelled when they found themselves outside of Israel after the 1948 war of Independence. The demands of a Palestinian State are to have these communities once again free of Jews, while Palestinians can settle anywhere in Israel outside of a Palestinian State.

The Boycott campaign completely ignores the valid goals and concerns Israel is facing. At the same time it hits the Palestinian they are pretending to help the hardest with zero political benefit. It is time for the boycotts to stop and those who really care about the long term interests of the region start pushing solutions that are mutually beneficial to Palestinians and Israelis. Anything less is a waste of time.

Giving it the full 10%

2009-11-25T01:05:00.001+02:00

Under Steven Harper the Conservatives have made a major shift in election strategy. Campaigning is no longer reserved for elections. Controlling their branding with aggressive marketing has insured they are well defined in the eyes of the public. This strategy minimizes the risk of political fallout from a mistake on the short campaign trail. Kim Campbell, Stephane Dion and John Tory have all learned the hard way that campaigns are not the time to discuss major policy shifts. This startegy also allowed the Conservatives to attack Dion at his weakest. The strategy was extra effective as the Liberals did not have the financial resources to proeperly respond to the attacks.

The Conservatives have been using a strategy called ten percenters. This allows an MP to send flyers to other ridings under certain conditions. This Junk Mail strategy has annoyed many but the Conservatives seem to believe they work. The most recent controversy was 10 percenters sent to 5 Jewish ridings outlining the holes in the Liberals Israel foreign policy. The facts in the flyer were technically accurate but did not reflect the complete Liberal policy. There has been debate as to how much the Conservatives meant to imply in their criticism.

A committee is now reviewing the rules regarding the use of the ten percenters. The approach being taken by the opposition parties is that the Conservatives are abusing the system therefore the rules need to be changed. While the Government has spent $6 million on the flyers the opposition parties have spent $4 million. The wrong approach is being taken for meaningful change.

Originally the 10 percenters were designed to inform specific groups of government programs that applied to them that they not be aware of. There is also a secondary consequence. During an election the advantage always goes to the incumbent. They have a track record in government. Government accomplishments are their accomplishments. Plus people don't vote for change unless there is a major reason to. MP send notices to their own riding letting them know the job they as individuals and the government is doing. 10 percenters allows mailings to go out to deliver a similar message even if the riding is currently controlled by another party. They can help balance the playing field already tipped in favour of the incumbent.

The questions that should be asked are in an today's age of communication are mailings really an effective way to MPs to communicate with constituents? What is the balance between communicating with constituents for effective governing versus building on the incumbent advantage? What limitations can be put in place to limit partisan nature of communication with the riding without damaging the ability to represent a riding effectively? Addressing these issues will produce a new set of guidelines to improve the MP to voter relationship. Taking an approach with the intent to simply stop Conservative Party propaganda will simply replace the current system with a different partisan based system.

Palestinian Authority Strategy for Chaos - FAIL

2009-11-15T07:35:00.005+02:00

Palestinian leadership has always taken the same single minded approach into negotiating a peace agreement with Israel. They have always been willing to reach a compromise as long as all of their demands are met. Combining violence and diplomacy they have reached some degree of success with this strategy until this year.

The war in Gaza has acted as a deterrent to rocket attacks. The rockets have not completly stopped but it his reduced it to a minimum. Israel returns fire for every attack creating a tangible cause and effect. A new Israeli Government is now in power with a mandate to protect Israel's interests even if it makes the Palestinians unhappy. Economic conditions have improved in the West Bank as security check points have been removed. All of these developments have forced the Palestinians to have to agree to compromise if they want to move forward plus demonstrate the rewards for living peacefully.

The Palestinians beleived that Barak Obama could dictate Israeli policy. They were so convinced that Obama's declaration that settlements must stop would come to fruition, they made it a condition of bargaining with Israel. Israel responded with a definite no, leaving the Palestinians with the option to back down or put more pressure on Israel. The Palestinian Authority has lost support at home by botching the handling of the Goldstone Report. First they postponed it's review by the UNHRC followed by demanding the UNHRC hold an emergency session to have it passed. They have admitted to not having time to read the report plus they cannot follow up any allegations with the International Criminal Court because they have no evidence outside of the report. Judge Goldstone has admitted that the report does not meet the burden of proof for a criminal trial.

Since Hillary Clinton declared that they are satisfied with the compromise over Israeli settlements, the Palestinian leadership has been playing all kinds of political games to gain world sympathy. Elections have been called for January. Unsurprisingly Hamas has rejected the plan sighting the fact that Abbas should have already faced an election when his Presidential term expired. Abbas has threated not to run in the election. He has taken his threats as far as resigning from all of his positions within the Palestinian leadership and dismantling the Palestinian Authority in the process. He has promissed violence will be result of the leadership vacum. Chief Palestinian negotiaitor Saeb Erekat has come out and said that they are trying to gain support at the United Nations to have a Palestinian State recognized with 1967 borders.

The current strategy is to create absolute chaos. The United States and Israel will bend over backwards to make concessions to prevent them from happening. A Palestinian State as has been proposed this far would be suicide for Israel. Palestinians are not even willing to entertain the possibility of logical land swaps that would create a practical border for both sides. That is probably one of the simplest areas to work out. The only strategy that will work is the one they have been pretending to subscribe to. They must be willing to compromise with a solution that takes Israeli interests into consideration. Until that time the silly games will continue with no results.

By Election Supports Status Quo

2009-11-10T23:56:00.001+02:00

By elections can be a good way to get insight into how voters feel about the current government. As the outcome will not change the balance of power, voters have more freedom to express their political feelings. They are often considered a referendum on the governing party more than a reflection of the outcome of a possible general election. The result of Monday's by elections were the Conservatives picking up 2 seats. One from the Bloc and one Independent (for all intensive purposes this was a Conservative seat). The Bloc and NDP each held a seat and the Liberals came in 3rd in every riding. Each party is trying to put a positive spin on the results.

The Conservative seats demonstrate that the can still compete for seats in Quebec and recent controversies have not hurt them too much. They are now only 5 seats short of a majority government putting them in good position to hold on to power in a general election. This should put to rest election fever that had been gripping the opposition parties at different points during the year. This could also give them a little more leverage as they continue to work in the confines of a Minority Government.

The NDP picked up popular support. While it does not indicate that they are ready to knock out the Liberals for Official Opposition status it shows that they do have support for not pulling the plug on the government. Canadians care more about results then swaying with the most recent poll.

The Liberals failed to compete in ridings that they didn't really have a chance to win. The fact that they didn't perform better does not indicate the party is in trouble. However, a strong showing would have been a huge boost for the Liberals.

The Bloc losing a seat just shows that the province will be wide open in the next election. They may still be able to dominate but they will need to be ready for a tough battle. Losing even a handful of seats could be enough for the Conservatives to form a majority government.

The Green Party could not break 5% in any riding. Considering the amount of attention enviornmental issues and it was a by election they should have put up a strong showing. This does not bode well for the Green Party dream to finally win a seat. They are probably going to need to revaluate their stratgey after the next election.

The message that has been delivered to Ottawa is that Canadian's are content with the current government arrangement. An election will not knock the Conservatives out of power. The NDP are doing an effective job in opposition. The Liberals are holding on based their history then the role they would like to play as Government in waiting. The weakness in Bloc support has been exposed. The Green Party continues to be insignifacant on the political landscape. Combining all these messages together is that the government should get back to work and put thoughts of election fever on the back burner.

US Administration backs down on settlement freeze

2009-11-01T23:14:00.001+02:00

In his Cairo speech Barak Obama declared that Israeli settlements had to stop. The US Administration exerted a ton of political capital to make it clear that stop meant a full and permanent stop everywhere including East Jerusalem and the old city. Obama had broken away from previous understandings with Israel that while they wanted a freeze it was not realistic.

PM Netanyahu was firm in his resistance to the American pressure. Jewish settlements that were being being torn down by the IDF were immediately being rebuilt and named in honour of of the President. The end result was what the US Administration should have been aiming for in the first place. Israel would temporarily freeze new construction, allow construction already in progress to be completed and stick to previous agreements not to build outside of land already allocated for settlements. Construction could continue in Jerusalem.

Last night Hillary Clinton conceded the American position. She recognized that Israel had already made a huge concession and deserved credit. The unspoken flip side is that Israel once again got nothing in return for their change in policy. Clinton once again called for both sides to return to the negotiating table.

The reaction by the Palestinians to the Cairo speach was to make a settlement freeze a prerequisite to future negotiations. This was a brand new demand never imposed before on any other Israeli government. They thought Obama could bring them a major victory without having to give up anything in return at the bargaining table.

Once agian Obama's Nobel Prize winning strategy has backfired. The Palestinians will use this new excuse to avoid negotiations as they wait for more rewards just for showing up. Palestinians will now return to their strategy of sit back and wait until all of their demand are met, no matter how long it takes.

UK protestors want all Israelis charged with war crimes

2009-10-28T23:36:00.001+02:00

On a recent trip to England attempts were made to have Defence Minister Ehud Barak arrested on war crimes. The petition came to the courts, as British law allows a private individuals to bring war crime and genocide charges against anybody irrelevant of normal jurisdictional considerations. The courts had an easy out. They ruled that Barak was a guest of the British government and was entitled to full diplomatic immunity.

While the ruling may have worked for Barak, the same cannot be said about lower ranking politicians and senior military officials, who fear being arrested abroad. The Foreign Ministry has been working closely to make sure they are not arrested on trumped up charges. The Goldstone report gives credability to these charges, even though Judge Goldstone has admitted that his report did not meet the burden of proof for criminal charges. The Palestinian Authority has also admitted that they lack proof outside of the report in order to get indictments from the International Criminal Court.

This week Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon visited the UK. There were protests and calls for his arrest on War Crime charges. There is one huge difference between Ayalon and others who now fear a trip to England. Ayalon was elected to the Government after Operation Cast Lead. He had no more control over the logistics of the war than any other Israeli on the street. Plus it has been years since he has had to do his army service.

Condemning Israel with alleagations that contradict facts on the ground is a common problem. Normally such tactics would reflect negativly on those making the allegations. Normal rules of reason and logic don't apply to Israel.

Guilty until proven guilty

2009-10-21T08:00:00.000+02:00

The world stood by silently as Israel was constantly bombarded with rocket attacks from Gaza. The citizens of Southern Israel were tired of consantly running to their bomb shelters. They were tired of the children's playgrounds with built in bomb shelter, so kids could reach saftey in the 15 seconds they had before impact. The rest of the country sympathized. Israel took military action to stop the attacks.

The world could no longer be silent. The UNHRC held an emergency session to condemn Israeli aggression. They also set the mandate to find evidence of war crimes that Israel had committed. The wording of the mandate was clear that Israel was guilty and it was up to the panel to find evidence. Such a panel could never objectivly determine if the evidence lead to the conclusion they were supposed to find. Canada was the only country brave enough to vote against the resolution.

Judge Richard Goldstone was choosen to head up the panel. Aside from his experience prosecuting war criminals, he had the bonus of being South African and Jewish. Being Jewish was supposed to protect him from criticism of being anti-Israel. Being South African would give him credibility in falsly accusing Israel as an apartheid state. He insisted that he would not take the job until he was certain that he would have the ability to blame Hamas for their war crimes. His comittee composed of others who had publicly expressed Israel's guilt.

The final report was a harsh condemnation of Israeli with a footnotes worth of attention to the pain and frustration that lead Israel to take military operation. The mandate, methodology and analysis of the report were flawed. There has been a ton of analysis done to demonstarte it's flaws.

At the request of the Palesitinians, the UNHRC decided to delay consideration of passage of the Goldstone report until next sessions in March allowing time to come up with a resolution that would allow the added weight of unanimous approval. Jews visiting the Temple mount under a policy that has been in place for years was an excuse for Arab rioting. Israel banned Arabs under the age of 50 and all Jews from the Temple mount. This was the excuse to call an emergency session of the UNHRC to pass the Goldstone report.

The resolution easily passed on Friday. The text of the resolution should eliminate any doubts that the intention of the resolution was political and had nothing to do with human rights. The resolution only passed the recommendations in sections A,B and C leaving out all references to Hamas aggression of rocket fire at civilian populations or the plight of Gilad Shalit. Israel was condemned for not protecting and providing access to Muslim and Chirstian holy sights and the Judaizationing of Jerusalem. Have the Christians ever complained about the administration of their sights in Israeli control? The Arabs have a horrible track record of protecting and providing access to Jewish holy sights. The UNHRC also condemned the non-existant excavation of in and around Jerusalem that posed a threat to Al Asqa Mosque.

The next step is for the report to be handled in UN offices in New York. It should easily be passed by the automatic majority in the General Assembly leading to prosectuion by the ICJ (International Court of Justice). A guilty verdict should be easy to obtain but as an advisory court they don't hold much power. It is unclear if it will be passed by the UNSC leading to prosecution by the ICC (International Criminal Court). This court has some power to enforce their judgements. A guilty verdict here could open the door to prosecution of British, Pakistan, American, Canadian troops for their invovlement in Afghanistan, Iraq and attempts to fighting terrorism. PA officials have asked for patients, as they are not prepared to follow through with the ICC. They have no evidence on their own, outside the Goldstone report. They have no actually gotten around to reading the Goldstone report.

Canada saw the mess that was going to come out of this biased investigation. The UNHRC has once again show they care about attacking Israel and little else. This report and the UNHRC needs to be buried, not because of the problems they pose for Israel but because of the damage it can cause to countries that concern themselves with Human Rights.

How did Obama beat the competition to win the Nobel Prize?

2009-10-13T01:11:00.001+02:00

In a surprising move the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace has been awarded to Barak Obama. Setting aside the fact that he had only been the President for 11 days when nominations closed, there are many world leaders that have made headline news for their efforts to advance peace in the world.

Obama is not getting enough credit for what he has accomplished to date. He was able to get the government to give away billions of dollars in the stimulus package. He has made some great speaches about improving the broken health care system. He told the Arab world the United States would stop meddling in their affairs and told Israel to stop settlement construction. To appease Israel, he would get the Arab world to take steps towards normalization. He has also politely asked Iran and North Korea to stop their nuclear weapons program.

The Nobel comitee may have thought this was enough to make him a Nobel Prize Laureate. The worthiness comes into question when considering the results. The health care bill becoming so watered down that by the time it passes, it will make little difference in fixing the system. The Palestinians have used the Cairo speech to make new demands on that must be met before entering negotiations with Israel. Israel has continued to operate in her best interests, despite American demands. The Arab world has laughed at the idea of normalization with Israel. Iran and North Korea continue to develop their nuclear programs.

What about the other world leaders who have promoted peace in 2009.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - Iran - Re-elected as President in a landslide victory, he was able to get voter turnout of over 100% in some districts. Protesters against the clear democratic victory were arrested and tortured. This week death sentences were issued for 3 protestors. More are sure to follow. Ahmadinejad was the keynote speaker at the Durban II Anti-Racism conference. Despite world pressure Iran has continued their 'peaceful' nuclear weapons program while promissing wipe Israel off the map.

Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi - Libya - After Obama his speech at the recent meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was the most covered in the meeting. He was introduced as the King of Kings before delivering his 95 minute speech. The fact he was allowed to go over his 15 minute time limit shows how important his message is. He had much criticism for how the West treats the 3rd world, suggesting changes to make the United Nations more fair to all nations. He arranged a hero's welcome from the Lockerbie bomber upon his return to Libya under humanitarian grounds.

Mahinda Rajapaksa - Sri Lanka - The Sri Lanka military was succesful this year ending their 25 year civil war with the Tamil Tigers. Lack of access by NGOs and media sparked fears that there was truth to the rumours that genocide was being commited against the Tamil population on top of what was necessary to end the civil war. The UNHRC (UN Human Rights Council) stepped in to deal with these issues by having Sri Lanka write the resolution to state what a great job they were doing in bringing life back to normal.

Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir - Sudan - Genocide in Darfur has been a minor distraction for the UNHRC. Since being indited he has found support among the Arab world including freedom to travel without being arrested. Sudan has secured the nomination to take a seat on the UNHRC.

Bill Clinton - United States - He was overlooked for his involvement in the Oslo accords, where all of the other major players won the award. He has been involved in a ton of charity work since leaving office. He took a trip behind enemy lines to secure the release of two reporters being held in North Korea.

Obama has brought hope to many Americans. This hope and the fact that he is not George W. Bush help land him this lucrative award. Instead of being an award for achievement it is an attempt to put more weight behind his lofty goals. Just as his empty words have not been heeded with the lucrative prize they will not be heeded with it. The Nobel committee should have been patient and waited to award it when Obama has proven to be deserving. In the meantime there are plenty of other candidates who were worthy in 2009.

Poll puts Conservatives in majority territory. Is it time for a coalition?

2009-10-08T22:22:00.003+02:00

The latest poll by Strategic Counsel put the Conservatives in majority territory.

Conservatives: 41 per cent (+6)
Liberals, 28 per cent (-2)
NDP: 14 per cent (none)
Green Party: 9 per cent (none)
Bloc Quebecois: 9 per cent (-3)

Someone in on Canadian politics community suggested that the Liberals and NDP should run in the next election with the intent of forming a coalition. Their logic was a Liberal/NDP government would be better than what there is now and 41% Conservatives is one point less than 42% support for Liberals + NDP. Below is my response.

Without getting into the merits of a coalition government the reality of FPTP make this a poor decision for the Liberal and NDP.

First of all it would require an efficient ABC campaign where every vote in every riding is dedicated to a candidate that would beat the Conservatives.

It would require Iggy to campaign on the fact he can't beat Harper. This is a sign of weak leadership that would be unappetizing to voters.

A major problem in countries with pure PR and guaranteed coalitions government, is that voters never know what they are voting for. The issues that draw a person to a party may be the ones that get bartered away in the quest for power. While this is the current state of the Liberal platform, the differences between the parties should become cleared during an election. Voting for the ABC candidate takes away the ability for a voter to express their preference for differences Liberal or NDP policy.

The right side of the political spectrum were unable to defeat the Liberals due to vote splitting. Their merger helped put them on equal footing with the Liberals. A formal Liberal/NDP merger or the collapse of the BQ are the only realistic way to win an election on the basis of "We don't like the Conservatives" How important are the differences between the two parties? That is a strategic decision for the parties to make.

The Gilad Shalit Pre-Trade

2009-10-06T14:42:00.003+02:00

From time to time, in minor league sports a player will be trade for a bag of balls, hockey pucks or other sporting equipment. Often these trades have more to do with contract technicalities than skill. From time to time the player can even go on to have a successful professional career. Israel has been staring down the prospect of an unattractive trade. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped 1199 days ago.

On Friday Israel traded a video of Shalit in exchange for 20 female prisoners. Assuming this was a pre-trade to bring about Shalit's freedom the price was relatively minor. In a world where perception is more important than facts, the drawbacks of this deal could have far reaching damaging results.

The positive results for Israel are clear. Providing the general public proof that Shalit is alive helps avert fear of a repeat of the Goldwasser and Regev trade. Israel did not know in advance if the soldiers they traded for were not alive. It adds to the burden of Hamas to protect Shalit. A number of times Hamas has taunted Israel claiming they didn't know if he was alive or dead. He is now beyond a shadow of a doubt their responsibility. The video can easily be spread to help put pressure on the world to help pressure Hamas to release him. It can also bring comfort to the Shalit family. He has been denied communication with his family and visitation by the International Red Cross as required by International law by the Geneva convention.

In practical terms Israel did not sacrifice a lot for the video. Most of the prisoners had already served 2/3 of their sentences and were due to be released soon. In Canada they would have been eligible for parole. Others had not been convicted and were still awaiting trial.

Unfortunately, Hamas gains are Israel's loss. The details of the prisoners are unimportant. All that will be remembered is 2o prisoners is worth a video tape. How much more will Israel have to sacrifice in order to get Shalit home. Any deal provides incentives for more kidnappings. PA elections are supposed to be coming next year. The West Bank under Fatah has prospered. Israel has been lifting economic restrictions and road blocks as the threat of terrorist attack have decreased. Hamas has brought nothing but suffering by engaging in attacks against civilians in Southern Israel. A tangible reward for their terrorist efforts could help their quest to stay in power.

The leaders of Israel have some very important decisions to make. I am no where need qualified to even begin to suggest what the correct decisions are. Gilad Shalit needs to come home and the saftey of all Israeli citizens needs to be protected. The Government has demonstrated that they are working hard towards these goals. It is possible that a final resolution may be close at hand. We can only hope and pray they will make the right decision.

Quebec Superior Court Dismisses case to Stop Construction in Modiin Illite

2009-09-24T07:55:00.004+03:00

The Palestinian town of Bil'in has tried to stop construction in Modiin Illit by turning to the Quebec Superior Court. The town tried to claim that since the construction company Green Park is based out of Montreal the Quebec courts should order a halt to the construction. They wanted to claim that the mere construction of the homes is a war crime.

The reasoning behind the ruling was that the jurisdiction belongs to the Israeli courts and should be taken there. The Israeli courts have handled hundreds of claims dealing with Palestinian complaints regarding land claims. The route of the security fence has been altered many times as a result of these law suits.

The courts were wise in avoiding making political decisions across the ocean. The construction is located in the neighbourhood of Kiryat Sefer. This Haredi community has full autonomy over their religous life including an approval committee for new residents. It is a community that takes no interest in the political aspirations of the nation. They simply want a place where they can raise their families according the way they see fit.

The construction is located just below the boundaries of where the current housing is already built. It is the most logical place to put more housing to provide for a growing community. The land is located a mere 1/2 km from the Green line. The commonly held belief is that any final status agreement will have Israel borders redrawn to include this community in exchange for land that would be better suited to a Palestinian political entity somewhere more practical. Palestinians have repeatedly rejected any land compromise. Palestinian leadership would rather have hundreds of thousands of Jews kicked out of their homes rather than take include land settled by Palestinians in Israel proper to be included in a future Palestinian State.

Issues of settlements are part of a comprehensive political solution. Israel has proven that they are willing to expel citizens for political gains. Forcing Israel to make concessions on final borders without the benefits of negotiation and compromise only undermines the whole process. Israel has already tried the focus on small issues and has received terrorism in return. The bigger problems must be solved first and then everything else will fall into place. Anything less is unacceptable.

Loyal versus Effective Opposition

2009-09-23T23:40:00.001+03:00

During Stephane Dion's reign as the leader of the Liberal Party the NDP lay claim to the title of "Effective Opposition". They opposed government confidence no matter what. They even declared their intention to vote against the budget without even reading it. This forced Dion to explain why he was going to be against legislation he would allow to pass. At the same time Liberals were digging through old closets for scandals, the NDP were bringing up current issues that were relevant to the current Government.

Michael Ignatieff was supposed to bring change with the Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition performing their duties to keep the government in check. With the threat of an election as the spring session wrapped up, the Liberals reached a deal for government compromises on EI in order not to take down the government. Things appeared to be back on track.

With the return from summer break the Liberals were not satisfied with the promised changes and Ignatieff declared they would bring down the government at the first oppurtunity. It seemed like a simple turning the tables on the NDP to make them look bad the same way they had been battered by the NDP.

Jack Layton turned the tables on the Liberals by declaring their support for the EI changes. They would keep the government afloat until they are delivered. Other government funding would not face being lost in the shuffle of another election. By voting in favour of popular legislation they have once again demonstrated they are able to be the effective opposition. Canadians have noticed as the Liberals have once again started dropping in the polls. In the long run effective government will trump a constant change in government. Ignatieff better tread carefully or he may find himself on the losing side of an election he could have avoided.

Change of Tact, Pressuring Hamas to Free Shalit

2009-09-16T07:45:00.004+03:00

It has now been 1179 days since Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. This week his family is once again stepping up efforts to put pressure on the government to have him return home. Their latest move takes a tactical change putting pressure on Hamas, instaed of just the Israeli Government.

This week a Rosh Hashannah care package for Shalit has been travelling the country. Later today The families of 1000 Palestinian prisoners will hold a rally in Gaza. Simultaneously a rally to free Shalit will take place in Israel near the Gaza border crossing. The care package will then be delivered to Gaza in the hopes of making it to Shalit. When the Shalit family is satisfied he has received the package, 1000 care packages are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow to Israel and distributed to the prisoners.

The Palestinians families lost their ability to visit their family members as a direct result of the Shalit kidnapping. The rally on the Gaza side has Palestinian placing blame on Hamas for their suffering. Delivering the package would bring some comfort to a young man about to spend his 4th Rosh Hashanah locked away in captivity. Refusal to deliver the package is a further example of how Hamas would rather let their thousands of their own suffer, rather than bring comfort to one lonely person.

On Tuesday Hamas said they will make sure Shalit does not get the package. Hamas is once again letting their true cruelty show. This time it is obvious to all of the Palestinians involved. This is probably just an isolated incident, but Hamas is losing some support with elections scheduled to take place next year. This has the potential to eventually grow into something bigger with the Palestinians finally rejecting Hamas rule and possibly having Shalit return home. We can only hope.

New Employment Benefits Target Older Workers

2009-09-14T23:19:00.000+03:00

The last session of Parliament ended with the threat of another election. The reason for going to the polls would have been the Government's refusal to reduce the qualifying period for unemployment benefits to 360 hours. Instead an agreement was reached between the Liberals and Conservatives to use the summer to come up with a solution.

The Government announced their plans for temporary changes to employment insurance. Benefits will be extended by 5 to 20 weeks for people who have been working 7 of the last 10 years with limitations based on if they have collected benefits during that time. A ways and means motion on Friday will determine if this will be approved or if Canadians will once again go to the polls.

The Liberals and NDP took the approach of focusing on the benefits for people unable to hold jobs for a long period of time. The Conservatives have focused on older workers who have been in the work force for a long time. This demographic tends tend to have the hardest time adjusting to unemployment. The extra time may be enough to make the difference between time to retrain properly or jumping back into the job market. If all it takes is a few more weeks for upgrading skills the entire economy benefits.

Election fever has hit Ottawa once again. It will be hard to sell why this improvement is worth bringing down the government. The NDP and Liberals have an inverse relationship in terms of when is best for them to go to the polls. They target many of the same voters, the Liberals want a majority government and the NDP want a minority Liberal government. This leaves the Conservatives in the best position to serve up legislation that the opposition parties will have no choice but to vote down. That will not happen until the polls put them in clear majority territory. When you are playing a game of chicken, anyone can lose. The best scenario for Canadians is to hold of on an election and have the government get some work done, followed by a majority government to put an end to the election fever games.

Will Voters Choose Turnip or Change

2009-09-13T22:37:00.000+03:00

It would not be hard to think that Dalton McGuinty is on route to be remembered by history as one of Ontario's greatest Premiers. He was first elected on a campaign of no tax increases. He then brought in a health premium, which he had to apologize later and admit it was really a tax. When Toronto was collapsing under the financial burden of cost down loading, he came to the rescue by giving Toronto new taxing powers.

His re-election campaign framed him as the "champion of education." He demonstrated that he brought labour peace to the education by locking up contracts until after the election. This time he promised, no new taxes.

His second term has seen a York University strike. Student living in fear of losing their entire year waited until the last possible moment for the Province to step in. Toronto swimming pools have been endanger of closing because they happened to have been built in schools instead of community centres. A year ago, when he could have got concessions from the federal government to bring in the HST, he was against it. Now that the economy has tanked and the feds have nothing to offer he is in favour of another tax grab. Plus the Afrocentric school that did not fit in his narrow view of education, is now open in Toronto. Smart Hydro Metres have been brought in which guarantee price increases for almost everyone. Not to metion a summer filled with scandals of mismanaged government programs.

There is a theory that the Liberals could run a turnip in Toronto and win an election. That theory will be put to the test on Thursday. A by election in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's will take place with Sue-Ann Levy, as the challenger to the Liberals unchallenged reigns.

The attacks on her during the first few days of the campaign were disturbing. She was attacked for being high profile, Jewish, Lesbian candidate. She was a decoy, designed to check off riding demographics. Liberals could use this strategy because that is what they represent. A Conservative candidate must some how be a decoy because the Conservative Party could not possible represent the interests of these groups.

Sue-Ann Levy is a highly qualified candidate. As a Toronto Sun reporter she has been successful at exposing the many problems that exist in city hall. She understands how politics works and what needs to be done to improve the system. She would be a tremendous asset to the job that needs to be done at Queen's Park. A win would also send the message to the Liberals that they need to tighten up under understand that unlike last time re-election will be based on their performance.

Marking Turning Points in History Wolfe vs. Montcalm

2009-09-11T10:50:00.002+03:00

This weekend Quebec City will be marking 250 years since the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The battle turned the French colony over to the British. The British decided not to interfere with the existing system of law, language or culture. That decision has defined Canadian culture until this day and still remains a point of conflict in French/English relations.

One of the events planned for tomorrow was to reenact the battle. In elementary school late 1700s early 1800s was my favourite time period to learn about. I had a teacher who did reenactments. He played a part in reacting a battle in a made for TV movie and took a week off of school to reenact the Battle of Waterloo. He was my teacher when we took a class trip to Quebec City, including visiting the Plains of Abraham. Battle reenactments are a great way to make learning about this time period more fun and interesting.

The plan was cancelled because some Quebecers found it offensive. The official reason was that there was the possibilty of protests becoming violent. Instead the anniversary is going to be marked at the same venue, by reading the FLQ manifesto. The FLQ wanted Quebec independance. They planted bombs, kidnapped and murdered Government officials. Their actions resulted in the 1970 October Crisis. The War Measures Act was implemented suspending civil liberties and giving police powers for mass arrests.

This is becoming a common theme around the world. If a group is capable of violence than governments will bend over backwards to try to accomodate their point of view. Groups that will not be violent do not require the same kind of appeasement. In some cases the victims are criticized or even charged for inciting the violence.

Government officials may feel proud that they have protected the safety of their citizens by avoiding violence. The truth is they have just set the stage for the next battle which will mean a choice between violence or further concessions. It is important to be mindful of viewing the world from different perspectives. If threat of violence determines public policy instead of priniciples and public discourse, all of society loses.

Anti-Israel Boycott Reaches Toronto International Film Festival

2009-09-07T07:50:00.002+03:00

This past year, In Toronto, the best way to guarantee success is to be the victim of an Anti-Israel boycott. The Boycott of an LCBO in April, saw their Israeli wines sold out in 15 minutes, with other kosher wines sold as a substitute. The jump in sales in other stores. A Palestinian attempt to usurp the Dead Sea scrolls brought about similar results where they are being displayed at the ROM.

This year the Toronto International Film Festival choose Tel Aviv to be the feature city. Tel Aviv has been celebrating their 100th anniversary, plus Israel always brings the type of open thought that film festivals are supposed to bring. A film has already been withdrawn in protest and there are a bunch of people in the industry supporting the boycott. There will be a big conference on the first day of the festival to bring maximum attention to the call to boycott.

Cameron Bailey decided that this issue was important enough to respond. In a letter he defended TIFF decision to choose Tel Aviv as the feature city. Towards the end he the protest by saying

"John writes that his protest isn’t against the films or filmmakers we have chosen, but against the spotlight itself. By that reasoning, no films programmed within this series would have met his approval, no matter what they contained. For us, the content and form of films does matter. In fact, when I met with a number of the signatories earlier this week, I encouraged them to see the films before passing judgment on the programme. Regrettably, they chose a different route. We know some of them to be veterans of Toronto’s battles against censorship -- all the more surprising to watch them denounce a film series without seeing the films in it."

If he had stopped here, he would have gaurenteed a sold out festival. He succinctly pointed out how silly it is that people recalibrate their moral compass when Israel is involved. The Jewish community would have cause to rally around the festival. Just an other example of out of touch with reality celebrities buying into the the nothing good can possibly come from Israel attitude.

Unfortunatly, Bailey choose to add a final paragraph to his letter.

"We recognize that Tel Aviv is not a simple choice and that the city remains contested ground. We continue to learn more about the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. As a festival that values debate and the exchange of cultures, we will continue to screen the best films we can find from around the world. This is our contribution to expanding our audiences’ experience of this art form and the worlds it represents."

Bailey has managed to find a backhanded way to try to show support while claiming that the film festival should be exempt. Tel Aviv is the city where all the world's embassies are because they refuse to recognize Jerusalem in any way shape or form as part of Israel. Anyone claiming Tel Aviv as contested ground is either incredibly ignorant or sees the only solution for the Palestinians is the elimination of Israel. A perfect rebuke ruined by the need to keep everyone happy.

A Plea for Gilad Shalit

2009-08-26T00:40:00.002+03:00

To: Harper, Stephen (Right Hon.)
CC: Kenney, Jason (Hon.) , Kent, Peter (Hon.) , Cannon, Lawrence (Hon.) , MacKay, Peter Gordon (Hon.) , Ignatieff, Michael, Rae, Bob (Hon.) , Cotler, Irwin (Hon.) , Layton, Jack (Hon.), Chow, Olivia, Dewar, Paul

Right Hon. Prime Minister Harper,
I am a proud Canadian citizen that moved to Israel last year. A large factor in the move was the Ontario Government's decision that not all religions are equal when it comes to education. I still keep a close watch on the Canadian political scene. During the last Federal election, I received dozens of phone calls regarding eligibility and how to cast a ballot from over seas.

I am proud of the Canadian Government's record when it was a member of the United Nations Human Right Council. Consistantly Canada would try to focus on Human Rights issues from around the world, instead of the narrow minded focus often taken by the UNHRC. Canada was a leader in trying to focus attention on the crisis in Darfur. When the UNHRC stood up and voted against resolutions that were unfair or biased. Many countries preferred to abstain instead of standing up for what their beliefs. Sometimes this meant standing alone. Even at the very end of the mandate, Canada tried to stop Somalia from receiving immunity from human rights abuse investigations by the UNHRC.

With the lead of the new administration in the United States, the Israeli/Palestinian issue has become a front and centre issue on the world stage. There is one issue that casts a shadow over any efforts to find a long term solution. An issue that is sometimes mentioned in passing but never treated as of critical importance. That issue is the plight of Gilad Shalit.

Shalit is about to spend his 4th birthday in captivity. In that time he has been a victim of gross violations of the Geneva Convention designed to protect his basic human rights. He has been denied access to the Red Cross. He has been denied communication with his parents. To add to the cruelity Hamas frequently releases statements suggesting hemay or not be alive. Before Operation Cast Lead, Hamas held a play performed before thousands of cheering spectators. An actor playing Shalit pleaded to be returned home to his Mommy and Daddy. This summer Hamas had summer camps for children where they reenacted the kidnapping. The entire country feels pain for the suffering of Gilad and his family.

The terms of his release are designed to cause more pain and suffering to Israelis. Since Shalit was kidnapped they have been demanding a 1000 for 1 trade including 450 prisoners serving life sentences. Some of the prisoners they want make the likes of Paul Bernardo look like a petty criminal. They include Ahlam Tamimi. She is serving 16 life sentences for her roll in the Sbarros Restaurant bombing. That attack included 5 members of one family including children aged 14, 4, 2. She has never expressed any remorse for the families she has destroyed. Also on the list is Abdallah Barghouti who is serving 67 life sentences for his role in bomb making in various attacks. Marwan Barghouti is serving 5 life sentences. He is has used his time in jail to position himself as possibly becoming the next leader of the 'moderate' Fatah party.

I urge the Canadian Government to take a more visible and proactive role in bringing Gilad Shalit home. As long as he suffers, the nation of Israel suffers. Please help bring him home safely and unconditionally.

Thank you for your help in dealing with this issue.

Watering Down Terrorism Hits Pan Am Flight 103

2009-08-21T00:14:00.001+03:00

It has been 20 years since Pan Am Flight 103 went down over Lockerbie, Scotland. 270 people lost there lives in the terror attack. To date Al-Megrahi isthe only person ever sentenced for the bombing. After serving 8 years of a life sentence, he will have the opportunity to spend the end of his life on his death bed at home with his family.

Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill gets full credit for taking responsibility for his decision. His simply applied of Scottish law that allows prisoners within 3 months of their death bed can be granted the chance to live out their lives at home with their families. He was addament that the decision to let him go had nothing to do with any considerations that he was wrongly convicted. He also denied any political considerations. The US Administration was against the decision. The fact the Muslim prisoner was released on the eve of Ramadan must have been purely coinicidental. Another important fact MacAskill pointed out was that there was some sort of custody arrangement. It sounded like he will have some form of house arrest enforced by Libyan officials.

Some people are outraged that comopassion is being shown to someone who's crime had none for others. Those who support the decision are buying into the compassionate grounds arguement or the belief that Al-Megrahi is the victim of miscarriage of justice. Has it reached the point where terrorism is scene as a form of political expression as opposed to one of the most despicable forms of murder.

When Karla Holmolka was let out of jail, there was outrage that she served out her entire 12 year sentence. Paul Bernardo is technically eligible to apply for probation next year. Any attempts to be released on bail would be met with equal outrage. This murderer/rapist would not recieve any compation to enjoy the end of his life even on his death bed.

Next week Gilad Shalit will spend his 4th birthday since being prisoner. He has been denied the most basic level of human rights under the Geneva Convention. He has been denied access by the Red Cross and communication with his family. Hamas frequently uses his captivity to taunt Israelis. World leaders have at most paid minimal lip service for his freedom.

The price for Shalit is well known and unchanged. Approximatly 1000 Palestinians serving various sentences for crimes against Israel. So far Israel has balked at including prisoners that have commiteted terrorist attacks similar to those of Al-Megrah. They are serving multiple life sentences in some case dozens for the number of Israelis they have been convicted of killing. Hamas is willing things out until they get the deal they want.

When Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up it was considered an unforgivable crime. The very notion that someone could kill 270 people and be released from jail was inconceivable. Now being a murderer does not have the same stigma, no matter how much damage was caused. They are subject to the same mercy as other who have commited much lesser crimes.

Justice Secretary MacAskill may sleep well tonight proud of his ability to show compassion to others. His decision just reaffirms that terrorism is no different than other serious crimes. Taking the stigma out of being a terrorist just makes it that much easier for the perpetrators of future attacks to not fear being brought to justice.

Bibi is Master of the House

2009-08-06T07:45:00.002+03:00

The challenge of any government is the ability to guide legislation through parliament into law. Government's that are unable to pass legislation becomes dysfunctional and useless. A government that can ram through any legislation they want with little to no opposition comes close to the brink of a dictatorship. The balance between the needs of the majority and caring for the minority fall somewhere in the middle .

Two weeks ago Benjamin Netanyahu fell into the embarrassing situation of being unable to pass key legislation. He has been trying to overhaul the entire system for land ownership and had to move some huge hurdles with different organizations such as JNF. When it came time for the key vote, members of the government were hiding in the lunch room to avoid voting against the government. The legislation had to be pulled in order to not be defeated on the Plenum floor. The political maneuvering used up time preventing the Mofaz Bill from being passed.

On Monday an extra session of Knesset gave Bibi a second chance to show he was in control of the Prime Minister's chair. He was able to get enough MKs on board to pass both pieces of legislation. Even the opposition parties gave up on taking full advantage of the time allocated for a full blown fillibuster.

The land transfer legislation is very complicated. The challenge is to correctly guess which of the unintended consequences are going materialize. There is plenty of reason to be concerned. Hopefully in practise this will turn out to be mostly an administrative change with little impact on Israeli society.

The Mofaz Bill is intended to give the Prime Minister more flexibility to hold power. Before this law was passed it took 1/3 of MKs from any party to cross the floor. The Mofaz Bill allows a minimum of 7 MKs to cross the floor for parties with 21 or more MKs. In a political system with little to no individual accountability to the voters this hurts the democratic process. It makes it easier for MKs to abandon those who voted for them. Placed high enough on the party list and they could keep their jobs despite political backlash. The unintended consequence of this law, that it is also easier for a faction to abandon the government. All coalitions are so fragile that such a move would collapse the government.

For better or for worse the legislation has passed. Bibi has once again shown he is a skilled politician. As Prime Minister he will take the country in the direction he sees fit, despite the opposition. Let's just hope he is taking it in the right direction.

Strike Aftermath. Will the Stench Dissapear with the Garbage

2009-08-05T23:36:00.000+03:00

The 39 day Toronto inside and outside worker strike has been over for almost a week. The clean up has become as residents try to salvage the rest of the summer from services that were unavailable for the first part of the summer. When the garbage is all cleaned up and life is back tomorrow how long will the stench remain?

There are a number of interesting questions that will be forgotten in the next few weeks. At the start of the strike sources on both sides predicted a 6 week strike. The City found a way to allow the Gay Pride Parade to go on despite the strike. The strike was settled on the eve of Carribana. Both events are major money makers for the City. Did the strike really prove anything for either side or were workers and citizens just pawns in a game with a mostly predetermined outcome?

Voters will forget the stench of the strike when the garbage is gone. If they could only remember the frustration of the last 6 weeks, when it comes to election day. It would be great news for the City. History has shown that it is unlikely to happen. Perhaps that is what the major players in the strike were counting on.

Schreiber Finally Lands in German Jail

2009-08-05T00:46:00.001+03:00

Karlheinz Schreiber is a master at deception. He is willing to spin any story with contradictory twist and turns to serve his own needs. By dragging others like Brian Mulroney into his legal troubles he has managed to avoid facing the consequences of his own actions. He avoided being sent to Germany for almost 2 years to build a case against Mulroney. He even managed to be allowed out on bail and enjoy the hospitality Canada has to offer.

Sometimes it is better late than never. The 75 year old has finally been extradited to Germany. This time the courts are not granting bail as they consider him to be a flight risk. The German Authorities have waited a long time to get their hands on him. They will not let him off the hook so easily. He will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Before he left, his lawyer Eddie Greenspan indicated that Schreiber plans on returning to Canada. He will either be cleared of the charges and return as a free man or will request spending the rest of his life in a Canadian jail cell.

Schreiber has manipulated the justice system for too long. It is time for justice to be served. He has already milked all he can out of Canada. Hopefully, German authorities will choose to keep him.

Anti-Israel Protest Losing Momentum

2009-07-23T07:09:00.000+03:00

The anything to do with Israel is evil campaign has been continuing. The most recent attack is report of alleged IDF abuses during Operation Cast Lead. The reporta had no way of validating the truth behind the allegations or even verifying that the testimony was more than just hearsay. The British have revoked licenses to supply the Israeli Navy with ammunition for their boats.

Despite these moves, support for the protests against Israel has been fading fast. A combination of gerneral apathy, more interesting world events and a proper response by the Jewish community have all softened the blow in attacks against Israel.

The BDS (Boycott) campaign against Israel had been hailed as the ultimate way to collapse the Israeli economy the same way it helped bring change in South Africa. The biggest hole in the campaign was to focus on certain companies, rather than holding to true moral values. The Jewish community has brought another major hole to the BDS campaign by offering financial support to those exposed to boycott efforts.

There have been a number of boycott failures this year. A call to boycott Israeli wine in Toronto resulted in the targeted store being sold out in 10 minutes and the small group of protestors overwhelmed by support for Israel from the Jewish community. A call to boycott and deshelve Israeli products at Trader's Joe got such a poor turnout, the organizers didn't bother publicizing the event happened. The Dead Sea Scrolls now being displayed at the ROM in Toronto. Palestinians leadership cried foul, declaring the Scrolls to be part of stolen Palestinian heritage. This sad and desperate claim once again rallied the Jewish Community, driving up ticket sales. It also exposed the Palestinian pitfall of trying to claim ownership on anything that helps their cause.

Free Gaza is an organization that runs celebrity filled boats to run the blockade to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. They like playing the hero. How the aid is delivered is far more important than the aid reaching the intended recipients. The fact that over a hundred truck loads of aid pass through Israel into Gaza each day, (far greater than what they can get on their boats) is not relevant to their cause.

Their most recent run lead them into some public relations mistakes. They originally filed their travel plan to Cyprus authorities, as heading to Egypt. It was only after being out to sea that they changed their course to Gaza. The ability to change course is legal, but they never had any intent of going to Egypt. They may not have even recieved permission to leave port if they were honest with local authorities. They seemed shocked that Israel has control over Gaza waters. Egypt gave up claims to Gaza long ago and it is not like they tried to coordinate with the Palestinian Authority. They claimed to be in mortal danger after the Navy threatened to open fire on them. They didn't even receive a wanring shot. Their first mate said that they would be boarded and arrested. That is exactly what happened. No surprises, no real danger.

Throughout the ordeal they did their best to cry foul. They tried claiming they had no desire to go to Israel. Their manifest of the aid they were bringing kept changing. One report said they each carried a bag of cement while, their Twitter account said they only had a symbolic bag of cement. There cries for media attention fell mostly on deaf ears. When the British deportees were returned to London, they got out maybe a dozen supporters and zero media coverage.

There have been a lot of world events taking the focus off of Israel. The defeat of the Tamil Tigers in Somalia, Health Care Reform in the United States, Garbage Strike in Toronto, Michael Jackson's death and the election results in Iran. Iranian officials have even found a way to blame Israel for the protests in Iran.

Barak Obama has been pumping up the pressure on Israel, while the world focuses on more relevant issues. Some of the apathy can be attributed to other world events. If even some of the public has noticed some of the inconsistancies with criticism towards Israel. It makes the world a better place for Israeli's and Jews around the world.

Double Voting on Knesset Plenum Unethical

2009-07-20T22:36:00.000+03:00

It only took 6 years but MK Ronnie Bar-On has finally been reprimanded in a double voting incident. The Knesset uses an electronic voting system. The results of all votes can be tabulated quickly and accurately. The system is fast and effective when it is not being tampered with.

Bar-On had decided after voting for himself he would also vote on behalf of MK Inbal Gavrieli. The evidence of the case suggests that he probably voted how she would have voted. He may have even had permission to cast the vote. As this was only an ethical breach without any apparent harm done there will be no further punishment.

It is every MKs job to be present in their seats for voting. If they miss a vote than it is their own responsibility. The ethics committee was correct in handing down a harsh rebuke over the incident. The Knesset already has a long standing reputation for corruption. The Israeli electoral system does not leave very much room to hold politicians accountable for their individual actions. The rebuke is welcome. Hopfully it will serve as a warning to others to act on behalf of themselves and their constituants.

Attempt to Downgrade Bet Shemesh from Israeli City to Illeagal Settlemen

2009-07-15T07:55:00.004+03:00

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

2009-07-14T22:54:00.001+03:00

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

2009-07-14T00:26:00.002+03:00

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?

2009-07-09T00:49:00.000+03:00

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

2009-07-02T23:55:00.000+03:00

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

2009-06-30T21:55:00.000+03:00

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

2009-06-25T07:00:00.002+03:00

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.

Over 100% Voter Turnout, the Envy of Any Democracy

2009-06-23T01:10:00.000+03:00

When the protests in Iran started, there were some questions about the goals of the protesters. Were they angry about losing an election, voting fraud or the entire political system. The Iranian Government claimed that with over 85% voter turn out Iranians unquestionably believed in the system.

The election results have been officially certified twice before the Guardian Council investigated the allegations of fraud. They have found 50 cities where the voter turnout was more than 100%, bringing into question the validity of 3 million ballots. Voter turnout in democratic countries has been on the decline for centuries. Governments have tried all kinds of electoral reforms to try to increase voter turnout. Now that the 85% number has been proven false, it can no longer used as a ringing endorsement of Iran's political system.

The Council is taking the approach it is not enough ballots to change the results and therefore insignificant. They are not willing to consider that there may be even more problem they have not investigated or uncovered. From the beginning the Council worked to minimize the number of irregularities they would look into. This guaranteed that no matter what they found they would not have to consider over turning the election results.

The election fails all democratic principles of open and fair elections. It is up to the leaders of the world to call them on it. Unfortunately, the United States has there own issues of voting irregularities determining the outcome of the Presidential Election. Even with the new information President Obama will continue to sit on the sidelines until he can safely pick the winning side.

Iran's version of democracy is a farce from top to bottom. From the process of picking candidates, to interference by religious leaders, to stuff ballot boxes. The question is still unclear if protesters are upset with possibly being cheated out of the rightful President or frustrated by the system that only provides the illusion of democracy.

Iran: What Happens After the Green Revolution?

2009-06-21T23:50:00.000+03:00

The revolt in Iran has been by far the biggest news story over the past week. The story has many different angles to draw the interest of the world. The underdog Iranian people are standing up to their own government after under taking efforts to prevent a free and fair election. The use of Twitter as the main source of news and coordination allows the average person to feel like they are making a difference by change the colour of their computer screen. President Obama has stepped into major quicksand with his new approach to foreign policy. He is trying not to move too much to avoid being sucked in before the dust settles. Will the world see long term political changes or thing returning to normal?

The President of Iran has a very limited amount of power. The Ayatollah is the Supreme Leader, who also has a council of religous clerics to keep the government in line. Approval must be obtained to run for President which eliminates the possibility of candidates that want to make signifigant changes. There was very little difference between Ahmadinejad, Mousavi in regards to major policies such as the development of the nuclear program.

Weeks ago, Obama had apologized for too much interference in the Islamic world. His hands are tied as he tries to walk the fine line of respecting the choices Iran makes for their leadership and objecting to human rights abuses directed protestors. The result is a weak position on both issues and with the hope that the dust settles soon. Too much commentary will result in the loss of goodwill he thinks he generated from one speech.

A lot of attetion is being focussed on the protests in Tehran with Twitter as the main source of information. Twitter may be a useful tool but it is not as widespread in Iran as countries whose citizens are following the events. Reporters have been observing that the protests are coming from every segment of society. It is not limited to students or upper class urbanites as reported at the begining of the protests. If this is a mass movement why are there not protests not spreading to other regions of the country? It would make it much harder for security forces to clamp down and contain reporters covering those events. It could be as simple as the people outside of Tehran are not aware of the events in the capital. The movement is realitivly small without some sort of ground support.

The Irananian government is taking all aggressive steps to put down the rebellion. Mousavi could face exile, life in prison or death. Protestors are being rounded up and efforts are underway to minimize the amount of information that gets to the outside world. Blame has been placed on Israel, United States and United Kingdom. This serves as justification for ignoring the voices of the people.

The Ayatollah as threated death to those who continue to protest and the death counts support a willingness to follow through. The world is going to be witness to another Tianamen Square. The world was horrified. Then they moved on. Iran is already dealing with sanctions for the nuclear ambitions. Putting down the rebellion will not add more sanctions, especially with a United States firm commitment not to interfere. Many protesters will serve lengthing prison sentences and possible death. Then it will be business as usual in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Parliament Ready to Pack up for the Summer

2009-06-17T23:32:00.000+03:00

Parliament has been busy wrapping up the summer. The last major order of business was the Federal Government Economic Update report which will be voted on Friday before Parliament rises for the summer. As it is a budget it is a monetary issue it is subject to a confidence vote.

The opposition parties did not like what they saw. None of them are in a favourable position to go to the polls. The question was how to avoid an election without sacrificing any future political capital. The BQ and NDP came out against the government before reading the report. This scores points with those who don't like the government and would like to see it changed as soon as possible. The Liberals have been eroding their support so an election may change the government at the expense of their own parties.

The Liberals are climbing in the polls. Taking down the government on the economic update would force the focus of their campaign to be on the government is not spending enough money, the defecit is too high and the EI eligibility should be given to people before they have worked passed their probation period (360 hours). These are not issues to grap voters attention in the middle of the summer, when an election was not wanted in the first place. The Conservatives have very little to gain from an election. It is not likely they would get a majority government and there is a risk they could lose. The longer they wait the better their chances are as the economy recovers.

All the parties played the game of chicken threatening an election. The only logic choice was for the Liberals and Conservatives to work out an agreement to avoid an election. The parties will work together over the summer on how to improve the EI system. In case they cannot come to an agreement the Liberals have been given an opposition day in September where they can table a non-confidence vote.

This is how minority governments are supposed to work. There will be some sort of agreement on how to best help Canadians the same way an agreement was made on the budget. Aside from being unwanted an election would also have frozen some of the funds that the opposition has complained is not being distrubted fast enough. For now this is a good arrangement for all Canadians.

Bibi's Vision for Peace

2009-06-16T00:08:00.001+03:00

Solving the Palestinians problems has become the holy grail of international diplomacy. Most politicians leave it until the end of their careers to tackle. They leave such lofty goals to a time when they are focusing on legacy building and marking off their page in history.

President Obama has seen the failure of leaving the biggest challenges to the last minute and has decided to make it a primary goal of his mandate. After failing to get his own party to pass legislation that would close Guantanamo Bay, he turned his focus to the Muslim world. Betraying a friend to pacify an enemy is an easier task than trying to keep both happy. Obama showed his willingness to betray Israel for the mere hope of capturing the holy grail.

On Sunday, Israel responded with an excellent speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu. While Obama has the luxury of treating the conflict like a giant chess game, Israelis do not have that option. The conflict is a reality where we understand our lives and our nation are on the line. Bibi took this tone and set the record straight on issues that reflect the lives of every single Israeli.

He gave a history lesson, reminding the world that Arabs attacking Jews in Israel was a problem long before the creation of the state. Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people. The connection goes back thousands of years and is not simply a result of recent Jewish suffering. If Israel can absorb thousands of refugees from the Arab world, a home can be found for Palestinian refugees outside of Israel. In context of the history of Israel it is not settlers that pose a threat to peace. It is those who wish for Israel to be destroyed. Israel has tried different strategies to try to appease Palestinian demands. Such moves have been received with more terrorism and demands for even more. He even threw in the plight of Gilad Shalit who was kidnapped 3 years ago by Hamas. He has been denied access to the Red Cross, which is a war crime by any standard that does not bother the anti-Israel lobby.

The bottom line is that the government is willing to recognize Palestinian self rule or even possibly a state on condition that the entity is not a threat to Israel. Land for peace on condition peace is received in the exchange is a reasonable expectation. Having the Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist should be an easy step forward towards peace.

The condemnation of the speech from those who usually attack Israel was swift and harsh. The message from Syria and Egypt was that a Jewish state is racist while an Arab or Islamic State is not. Any goodwill gesture is not enough unless it meets all of the Palestinian demands. Even the highly touted 2002 Arab Peace initiative calls for Israel to meet all of the original demands in exchange for 'normalized' relations with the Arab world. Israel already has a full out peace treaty with Egypt. Aside from a lack of war and some diplomatic channels the treaty has done little to improve relationships between the two countries.

Obama has set out his dream vision for peace. Israel has set out a realistic, yet unattainable visions for peace. When is the Palestinian Authority going to make their speech to the world of how they see their future country shaping up? They won't because they don't have any sort of vision outside of destroying whatever Israel has. Peace can be attained. It requires leadership who truly care about the lives of the Palestinian people. Until then Obama will fail just like all of the others in his quest for the holy grail.

Ignatieff Takes Time Deciding to Topple Government

2009-06-12T00:34:00.000+03:00

The Conservative Government released the quarterly Economic Progress report. The reports were started in exchange for Liberal support for the 2009 budget. The report is an update as to how well the Government is doing at distributing the economic stimulus package.

The BQ and the NDP were quick to condemn the report during question period. Michael Ignatieff has decided he will wait until tomorrow to make a final decision. This gives him time to read the 234 page report. He has also promissed not to leave Canadians hanging by making a decions on Friday.

"What they expect of me is to do my job properly and I'm trying to do it properly. So I'm going to look at the report tonight if I get a minute and tomorrow, and then we'll make a decision," he said after giving a speech to Quebec business leaders.

Ignatieff gets full credit for not jumping to a decision. Either he has basically made a decision already or he better get his priorities in order and clear his schedule to give this more thought. Taking the time to make the right decision instead of jumping to conclusions or at the very least not playing with an open hand is an improvement under Dion's leadership.

The Liberals are climbing the polls and the economy will probably be on it's way to recovery if they wait to pull the plug on the Government. On the other hand this would be 4 elections in 5 years. The Liberals have been complaining the government has not been spending enough money while the deficit is too high. They also want to reduce qualifications for unemployment insurance to a bare minimum. These are not strong planks for building an election platform.

Hopefully the Liberals will take more time to rebuild before jumping into another election. The party needs to build itself up on principles and solid policies. Voters can sense opportunism and it will hurt them in both the long run and in the short run.

UNHRC Turns Back Humanitarian Crisis

2009-06-06T23:33:00.001+03:00

An emergency session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). An army battles an insurgent group of 'resistance fighters' that have been fighting for Independence for decades. The resistance fighters are considered terrorist by many countries for their use of suicide bombers and children soldiers. Many people were killed including civilians. Human Rights Groups, Humanitarian Aid NGOs and reporters have been blocked access. Accusations of genocide, human rights violations and war crimes. Sound familiar?

Sri Lanka was the country in question over their war with the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) and treatment of the Tamil community. As the experts of the events in their country they took the task of writing the UNHRC resolution. The 12 point report acknowledge that they were doing a great job and encouraged Sri Lanka to continue to wish them success in handling the humanitarian crisis. Any criticism against Sir Lanka was written off under the principle "respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and its sovereign rights to protect its citizens and combat terrorism," On May 27th the resolution was approved.

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 29 to 12, with 6 abstentions.

The voting was as follows:

In favour: Angola, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Uruguay, Zambia;

Against: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

Abstaining: Argentina, Gabon, Japan, Mauritius, Republic of Korea, Ukraine].

There were no calls to let in Humanitarian workers. There will be no War Crimes investigations. There was no pronouncement of guilt before the facts were investigated. No calls for any interference by the UN unless requested by the Sri Lanka government. This may have come as a shock to members of the Tamil community. They fail to meet the UNHRC most important criteria for considering the plight of their people. They are not Palestinian and there is no way to blame Israel for their suffering.

Whenever Israel is taken to task for protecting their citizens against terrorism the UNHRC reacts quickly and harshly. The calls for cease fire are immediate and resolutions take minimal consideration into the facts that prompted a military response. Pronouncements of guilt for war crimes are pronounced before proper investigations can be carried out.

The UNHRC cares about condemning Israel over and above any other consideration. This Tamil community is learning the hard way, just how important they are to what is supposed to be the most important Human Rights Organization in the entire world.

US vs Islam, Obama Delivers the Speech

2009-06-04T23:19:00.001+03:00

President Barak Obama delivered his long awaited speech to the Islam world in Egypt today. He was expected to lay out his plan for bringing peace and solving all the problems in the region. Instead of a plan he painted more of a Utopia picture of how he would like to the world to be. Everyone has legitimate grievances and if everyone would just forgive and forget the past his perfect world could emerge.

His speech was long and covered a lot of different areas from different perspectives. If you wanted to be positive you could read in the points on the topics of interest. If you wanted to be negative he provided just as much to attack, especially if you were to read between the lines of what he could have or should have said. His acknowledge of the Islamic world was refreshing for those who generally have a negative attitude towards the United States even if his facts were not always 100% accurate. His claim that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States and that there are 7 million Muslims in the United States appear to be off base. Some of his claims of Islamic inventions could also be challenged be historians.

The most likely response from the Arab world that he is trying to appease is to ignore the criticism of themselves. They will push Obama to take action on the things the care about like attacking Israel and do nothing to address the improvements that they have been challenged to undertake.

In the Arab world Obama is putting a more palatable face on foreign policy. It may help with some of the more moderate countries. It is the hardliners that are not willing to give an inch (including the Palestinian Authority) that are the big problems. A little bit of sugar coating is not going to overturn an entire ideology bent on harm and destruction. The question is how will he try to force is fantasy onto to other countries.

The Aftermath of War - Peace in Sderot

2009-06-02T22:44:00.001+03:00

Last week I did something, I was not even willing to consider doing 6 months ago. My family went on the hour drive to the town of Sderot. We did some shopping at a local grocery store and went to a restaurant for lunch before returning home.

In 2005 the government deciding the best way to deal with rocket attacks was to abandon Gaza. Jews were forcibly removed from their homes. They left behind completly intact Green Houses that had produced the best vegetables in the entire country. The Palestinians were handed an opportunity for economic growth and a chance to prove they could form their own nation on a silver platter. From their point of view it was not perfect. Instead of making the best with what they had they destroyed it all. Sderot became the front line target for missle attacks.

Citizens of Sderot had 15 seconds to find shelter from the time an air raid siren went off until it would land. The death toll was light but you never knew which siren was the one that could put your life and your property in danger. Unlike the Palestinians, they made the best of a bad situation and stayed. Children's playgrounds were built with protective shelters. There are random concrete walls all over the place, designed to provide extra protection. The owner of the restaurant I was at explained he told his 6 year old that it was a game. If he got to the bomb shelter first he won.

Operation Cast Lead was a response to the cries of the citizens living in Southern Israel. They were tired of the constant air raid sirens, the constant threat of danger. The rest of the country had sympathy and demanded the government to take action. The response was 3 weeks of military action where most of the people killed were those trying to harm Israel. I can now feel safe enough to take my family to Sderot without the fear of falling rockets.

The United States has been delivering the message that the path to peace is to remove Jews from their homes. The only path to peace is to take away the enemies ability to cause harm. If Obama fails to recognize this reality on Thursday he will find that is plan for peace is nothing but a unfounded fantasy.

Bulldozing Jewish Homes brings peace, bulldozing Arab homes prevents peace.

2009-06-01T23:10:00.000+03:00

A few dozen Jewish families living in a trailer on the hilltops that they legally purchased. In some cases their building permits failed to get final approval due to political posturing. They are a threat to the entire peace process. The should be physically removed from their homes and their houses destroyed.

Arabs build homes and ignore the entire building permit process. In some cases they build on land owned by others or public land that has already been allocated for other purposes. Enforcing these building codes is an obstacle to peace, that the world is ready to quickly condemn Israel for.

Barak Obama is undertaking a very dangerous game in order to fail in a different way then is predecessors. He is trying to befriend the United States enemies by betraying long time allies. In the end Obama will find he the enemies will not changes sides and selling out Israel will not help reach any American foreign policy goals. There is still time to turn around. Is Obama ready to face reality and make the right decision.

A Question of Loyalty

2009-06-01T10:57:00.000+03:00

Israeli society has major divisions in society. Some of the major tension points are Jews/Arab, religious/non-religious, left/right, those who do army service and those who don't. Yisrael Betaynu ran on a platform of unifying some of the divisions focussing on the goals of the state. The loyalty oath law was rejected by the cabinet on Sunday.

The downside of this plan received a lot of attention world wide. It called on all Israelis to take a loyalty oath towards the state in order to receive citizenship. Failure to take the oath would lose the benefits of social assistance and other government programs.

It is a strange scenario where individuals who are so set against the country they live in, have no problem reaping the benefits from the government. Every country in the world requires some sort of citizenship oath and loyalty to the country they choose to live. This law is supposed to create the same type of atmosphere that in order to recieve citizenship you need to believe in some degree in the values of the country and desire for the continuation of the country in wich you live. Those who would not accept the oath would likly be in the category of prefering Israel not to exist.

The desire for this oath is understandable. The problem is opening the door for the government to decide the line between loyal citizen and loyal citizen who disagrees with government policy. This aspect of the bill accomplishes very litte with the potentional to open many undesirable, unforseen consequences.

Unfortunatly one of the best aspects of the Yisrael Betaynu platform was also rejected with this bill. Currently every Israeli is obligated to do Army services. Arabs are exempt and there is also a religous exemption. Girls are allowed to do Shirut Leumi (National Service) instead of the army. This means that they do some sort of community service, so that they still serve their country in a non-military way.

The bill tried to do away with the exemption by requiring all citizens to do some sort of community service. Arabs would do service within their own communities and something similar would probably be worked out for the Haredi communities. This proposal is at the forefront of labelling Yisrael Betaynu as a racist party. This is a classic case of the label covering up the facts.

Israel has a mandatory draft. It is only fair that people who are not going to be putting their lives on the line to defend their country, to find a way to serve in a manner acceptable to one's own personal beliefs. In Ontario, community service hours have become a mandatory part of the high school curriculim. Community service helps society as a whole and brings valuable experience to those who participate. Putting the same goals into the context of Israeli society balances the playing field for everyone, while helping make the country a better place to live.

In the face of enemies both from outside and within there is a natural reaction to reject those who want to take from society but are not willing to contribute and in cases willing to destroy. Making the system of who has to serve the state and how would have been an excellent way to bridge many gaps in Israeli society. Unfortunatly this idea adds extra obligations to those who get a free ride. Combined with some political spin and the optics are that it is aimed to opress the Arabs. The purpose of trying to balance society is completly lost. Combined with the loyalty oath and the bill had no chance of being passed. The positive idea with have to wait for another time to be considered again.

Cutting to the Heart

2009-05-26T23:13:00.000+03:00

The most popular news story today seems to be Canadian Governor General Michelle Jean. With her term as GG coming to an end next year she had decided to take a 5th and final visit up to the Arctic. Her daughter has even taken the week off of school to be on the trip.

The Inuit don't play a large role in federal politics. Between the 3 territories they have a total of 3 MPs. The population is sparse and the weather is less then ideal, even by Canadian standards. The Inuit are still Canadians and deserve attention for their local interests. Arctic soverignty is a major issue for all Canadians.

The current major issue for the Inuit is the European ban on seal products that is starting to go into effect. The seal hunt is a major source of income. The celeberaty campaign against the seal hunt has more to do with baby seals being cute than anything else. Whale hunting and other types of meat consumption don't come under the same attack. The Inuit have abandonded using clubs which was the most objectional method of hunting. The European decision is going to have a major impact on communities that have very few options for additional sources of income.

Michelle Jean decided to show her support to the Arctic community. At an assembly with seal carcasses from the hunt, she cut out a heart and ate it raw. Most people could not bring themselves to eat something worthy of an episode of fear factor. Not only did she do it but she liked it. She said it tasted like sushi and was high in protien.

In one simple act she showed that she cares for all Canadians. She demonstrated she cares for a group that can easily be forgotten. Hopefully the next Governor General will be just as compassionate for the people they represent.

Government to Offer Training Assitance for EI Recipients

2009-05-25T22:58:00.001+03:00

The Federal Government announced changes to the EI plan to help unemployed workers retrained to reenter the work force. The benefactors of the $500 million that was allocated in the budget are those who have been on a career track for a significant period of time which is now a deadend. Extra benefits including, extended time frame will be granted to those who enter the training program.

The best way to get the economy moving again is to get people back to work. Any moves that help make it easier for people to find jobs is a step in the direction. Those who are willing to put the time and effort to help themselves deserve the extra little boost to help make their career jump a reality.

The Liberals and NDP have focussed in on the minimum qualifications to receive EI benefits. Currently, the number of hours works varries from 420 - 910 depending on unemployment rates and other factors. They would like to have the number reduced to 360 hours.

360 hours for most full time jobs is 9 to 10 weeks. A standard probabtion period for a new job is 3 months. The idea that someone can qualify for a full year of EI benefits without even complting the probation period. This creates an oppurtunity for someone to bounce from job to job and collecting full government benefits. This is not the type of employee the government should be focusing on to get the economy back on it's feet.

There are still problems with the current EI system. A universal system of qualification would stream line the system and allow workers facing unemployment to easily figure out what they are entitled to as they adjust for the job search.

The government is demonstrating an effort to help people find employment. The opposition parties are focusing on the wrong areas to criticize the government. The workers that have been employed for a longer period of time are in more need of assistance. The EI system could still use major improvements. Attacking this plan for additional support to the unemployed as a means to force an election would be a mistake by the opposition parties.

Tamil Tigers (LTTE) Finally Defeated

2009-05-17T22:54:00.000+03:00

For years the Tamil community around Toronto has tried unsuccessfully to get support for their civil war against the Sri Lanka Government. In recent months as they were showing signs of losing the war the protests got bigger. This past week they got even more attention as they blocked off roads and even the Gardiner Expressway. They took notice that the blocking traffic and inconveniencing others was getting them lots of attention. This fit in with their belief that all that was needed was for people to hear their story and they would have support.

Throughout the protests the flags of the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) were waived proudly. These were the fighters in the struggle for independance and to the rest of the world simply a terrorist organization. They used powerful weapons such as suicide bombers and kidnapped children which were sent to the front lines. They ran exhtortion rackets to collect money for the war effort. Even their flag is a tiger surrounded by bullets and two rifles in the back ground. Hardly the symbol for a group that wants to live in peace.

The demonstrations over the past week showed that the Tamil community didn't care less how their actions effected others as long as they helped their own self interest. This is the same type of attitude that justifies the use of child soldiers and suicide bombers in order to bring about political objectives.

The Tamil Tigers have been defeated. Sri Lanka will now transfer into a rebuilding period of peace and hopefully prosperity. If the Tamil community accepts the new reality and would like help in supporting their former homeland, Canadians may be will to offer their sympathy and support. If they continue to blame Canadians and the world for not joining in their fight, they will remain outsiders of a political system that has the ability to help with the rebuilding and healing process.

Counting Armed Civilians

2009-05-10T23:13:00.000+03:00

Israel is still taking a lot of criticism for Operation Cast Lead. People simply look at the number of dead and automatically conclude Israel is guilty of war crimes and mass genocide. Some will go as far as to look at the number of civilians killed. The IDF reported that they killed 709 fighters. PCHR reported the number of fighters killed as only 275.

The IDF report has two major flaws. The first is that it is the IDF, which for many people automatically marks it as biased and inaccurate. The report is classified and cannot be independantly verified. The most relied on source of information by the media is the PCHR (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights). As an NGO they automatically receive a certain degree of creability. They also publish lists of the victims name in status.

A small group of bloggers has decided to challenge PCHR conclusions. They have reviewed the names on the PCHR list have found absolute proof of militants being counted as civilians. To date their research has put the number of militans classified as civilians closing in on the numbers reported by the IDF. Here is the summary of what they have found to date.

There are two major points that deserve special attention. First is the record of the bombing of the UN School that has been mentioned here a number times. The initial report was that Israel bombed the school. It took over a month for the United Nations to admit that Israel had fired outside the school and nobody inside the school were hurt. The immediate reports were that 27 were killed in the attack. Eventually the number was reported as more than 40 killed. This number is still being reported in the mainstream media and on the CUPE Ontario website.

The IDF reported that only 12 people died in the attack and that 9 of them were militants. The examination of the PCHR list only has 12 people killed in that location. They have not taken any efforts to publicize the correct number or explain how the originally reported information was obtained.

The second interesting incident was on a monthly report on deaths by natural causes blamed on the occupation. With all of the complaints of the IDF preventing people from receiving medical attention, that number should have increased drastically. Instead there was a sharp decrease in the number of deaths during the month of January.

The truth is out there and shows that Israel took great care to minimize civilian deaths. Those who wish to bash Israel will continue to use the numbers that have been proven to be false. Knowing the truth changes the perspective on all of the other issues facing Isael in the Palestinian conflict.

Egypt Slaughter Pigs to Prevent Farmers from Slaughter

2009-05-04T00:37:00.000+03:00

The Egyptian Government has taken advantage of the irrational fear of Swine flu to slaughter the countries entire pig population. The majority of the pigs are raised by the poorest of the poor Christians to feed their families. This move will destroy the livlihoods of thousands. It is not surprising that they are using everything they can to stop the government from destroying what little they have.

The optics of the situation look like the government is taking an opportunity to prosecute the minority Christian population. The fact there is no scientific support that slaughtering the animals will help prevent spread of the flu in Egypt lends credibility to this theory.

Egypt has had their own problems dealing with Islamic fanatics. They have had terrorist attacks. They have been trying to stop terrorist organizations like Muslim Brotherhood. They have closed their border to Gaza out of fear that Hamas will get a foothold in Egypt. They have not demonstrated a desire to supress Christians to cater to these terrorist groups.

Egypt is well aware of what would happen if they do get a case of the Swine Flu. It would not take long for riots aimed at the Christian farmers. By destroying the pigs now they are appeasing those who would be angry at caring more about Christians then pigs. In the eyes of the violent ignorent they have been proactive at helping the situation.

If they get no cases of Swine all they have done is take away the livlihood of a forgotten segment of society that nobody really cares about. If there is a case, there will be no pigs to blame on the spread of the disease. They may prevent attacks against the farmers and possibly the right to raise pigs altogether. They have absolved themselves of blame from the group of society most likly to take advanatage of the situation to destabalize the government.

There is no logical health reason to slaughter the pig population. The government should have acted according to logic and reason to take the proper course of action to take real steps to protect the health of their citizens. If they really are looking ahead to worst case scenarios, their course of action may be wrong but does not seem as far fetched.

Death for Peace

2009-04-30T22:52:00.000+03:00

Benjamin Netanyahu decided to appoint Avigdor Lieberman as the new Foreign Affairs Minister despite objections from around the world. Lieberman's first day on the job was perceived as a major policy shift. He promissed to honour all previous agreements with the Palestinians with the exception of the Annapolis process.

He also showed his ability to be diplomatic by speaking nicely about the Egyptians that he would need to work closely with. He had previously been in trouble for being rude about the fact that Egyptian officials never hold meetings in Israel. Egypt has been sending mixed signals if they would boycott him. So far it seems to be business as usual in practical terms.

The Annapolis process is the last agreement between former PM Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority. It has even been endorsed by the UN. The previous government did not want the details to be public because they feared it would hurt them in the election. Tthe agreement was hidden from the Israeli public. The government they elected has every right to say if voters had an oppurtunity to reject it they would have and therefore they would pursue the logical course of action.

This week Palestinian President Abbas reconfirmed his position on negotiations with Israel. Israel was to return to 1967 borders not one centimetre more and not one centimetre less. This solution ignores the events after Israel established it's original borders. There were Jews who left Egypt and Jordan to live in Israel. Arabs left Israel to live in refugee camps and become political pawns to the Arab world. Palestinians wish to ignore the Jewish evictions by establishing a state free of Jews. However they want all Palestinians to be able to choose to live in Israel rather than the Palestinian state they claim to want to help build. Land swap offers to minimize the physical transfer of people and place Jews in Israel and Palestinians under the authority of a Palestinian state have been vigourously turned down.

This week a Palestinian was sentecned to death by hanging by the Palestinian Authority. His crime was selling his property to Jews. While this story has been picked up in Europe I have not been able to find any references to this story in the Canadian media.

Israel always finds themselves on the condemnation end from Human Rights groups. Some how Palestinian violations almost always get a free ride. A look at the overall picture shows that Israel they are being condemned for a sense of self preservation and not an attempt to harm minority groups living within Israel's borders.

Durban II is Racism. Why are People Surpisred?

2009-04-20T23:45:00.000+03:00

Racism is a major problem around the world. Taking proactive steps to help stop racism and have all people around the world treated equally is a noble goal. The first United Nations anti-racism conference in Durban turned into United Nations favourite past time; condemning Israel. Should there have been any expectations for Durban II to be different?

There is a basic formula that needs to be followed for accomplishing any significant agreement on the world stage. First the problem needs to be identified with proper working definitions. Targets need to be set with benchmarks for determining success or failure. Then an action plan needs to be drawn up and implemented based on the working definition. This allows for the establishment of principles that could be applied to unforeseen future circumstances of the same situation.

Durban II took the opposite approach. The planners of the conference had already decided which issues they wanted to condemn and work from their. Israel, American slavery, banning criticism of Islam were some of the targets of this year's conference. At the same time Darfur is being overlooked after receiving full support from Arab countries to avoid prosectution from the International Criminal Court. Just like Durban I, people who are real victims of discrimination will be forgotten.

Canada saw the writing on the wall a year ago when they decided they would not attend. Israel held out hope that this time would be different before withdrawing. Even with Barak Obama on the scene the United States was unable to steer to conference towards it's original noble goals.

Organizers have sought to steer clear of the controversies that marred the Durban meeting, but have run into many of the same contentious issues. Italy, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Poland and New Zealand all had the foresight not to bother to attend. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was very upset about the no shows. Is it possible that this small group of countries were the only ones who could see what was coming next.

Iran is in no way a beacon to the world for their human right record. They are the only country that has openly called for the elimination of another UN member. Somehow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was chosen as the keynote speaker for the opening of the conference. He said nothing different from what he always says prompting a mass walkout of his speech. Ban Ki-Moon had to offer a condemnation afterwards, explaining that he had met with Ahmadinejad and told him to take a different approach when addressing the conference. What in the world possessed Moon to think he would listen to him. France and England had already announced their diplomats were prepared to walk out if necessary. What were the others countries thinking?

Durban II has only just begun. It has already turned into a conference which will lead to more racism around the world. Nothing tangible will result in the efforts to stop racism. Just as the United States and Israel walked out last time, there will be growing pressure for other countries to do the same this time around. The conference is only going to get worse as the week progresses.

Afghan Men Not Having Enough Sex

2009-04-13T23:58:00.001+03:00

A political storm has been brewing when it was reported that the Afghanistan government has passed a law regarding how women must act. The law gives more power to men to control when their wives are allowed to leave the home. It also allows them to demand sex from their wives every 4 days. There is an approved list of excuses for limiting these demands.

These laws put into question the whole purpose for Canadian troops to be giving their lives to defend a society that is so disconnected from the Canadian view on basic rights of women. The Federal Government is saying that there are still rooms for changes to the law to make them more palatable to the International community. There are also reports coming out of Afghanistan that it is a done deal and the law is impossible to be amended.

This narrative seems very similar to history of the region some 2400 years ago. The Jewish Holiday of Purim commemorates events that happened under the Persian Empire that is recorded in the Megilat Esther. The Persian Empire extended from Ethiopia to Afghanistan and beyond. It was made up of 127 different countries amalgamated into one empire.

In the story of Purim there are 3 laws that are passed that get special attention. King Achashverosh orders his Queen Vashti to appear before him wearing nothing but her crown. When she refuses she is executed. The King's advisers are concerned the act of rebellion will be inspiration for women throughout the kingdom to rebel against there husbands. A law is drawn up and distributed stating that "each man will be the ruler in his own house and the family should speak his language." Many commentators feel that the first law was so ridiculous it would set the tone for the public reaction to the other two laws.

The second law passed was that all of the Jews in the kingdom were to be wiped out on a predetermined date. When the plot against the Jews unravelled the King wanted to undo the law. However once a law is declared it cannot be undone. Instead a third law was declared allowing the Jews to defend themselves from attack.

Are Afghan men that desperate they need a law to convince their wives to have sex with them? Are women going to comply to their husbands requests because there is a law on the books? Would a man be able to overcome the embarrassment and report his wife to the authorities? Any man who needs this law in his marriage does not have a good marriage. Taking advantage of the law will just further destroy other aspects in the relationship.

There is an important lesson from this episode. The west has assumed that bringing democracy to the Arab world will solve the cultural conflict with the West. There is more that goes into building a society than how the rulers are chosen. Democracy alone will not bring changes to the general social fabric of Arab society. This incorrect assumption is very dangerous. Often the approach taken is that they will react to a situation with values they clearly do not hold. This blinds one to believe that they will agree to things that they fundamentally oppose. This false assumption is the basis for people assuming that if only X approach is taken to Iran, Afghanistan, Palestinians etc... that everyone will live in peace and harmony. By looking at the world from their point of view it is clear that it is simply not true.

SCC Agrees Garbage not Protected by Privacy Rights

2009-04-12T19:44:00.000+03:00

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that garbage is exempt from privacy laws. The case involved drug charges, where evidence was taken by police from his garbage. The 7-0 ruling was based on the fact that since anyone could have accessed his garbage, privacy laws did not prevent the police from doing so.

Jewish law is a lot stricter on the rules of ownership then Canadian law. A lost object found on the street does not automatically transfer to the 'finder'. A reasonable amount of effort and a significant waiting time are required in order to attempt to return the object to it's rightful owner. On the flip side someone can declare an object to be owner less making it fair game for whoever passes by.

When somebody puts out their garbage, their intention is for the city to come and take it away. The garbage has no value and there is no intention to recover the contents of the garbage. This makes the garbage free for anyone to take.

The Supreme Court ruling is an extension of basic logic. When someone throws out their garbage it is because they no longer want it. The Supreme Court was correct to quash the argument and concerns from privacy rights groups.

Government Pushes Procrastination Legislation Through Major Filibuster

2009-04-08T17:27:00.001+03:00

Yesterday morning, the Israeli Government pushed through 2 pieces of legislation despite the opposition parties putting up a 21 hour filibuster in an attempt to block it. One piece of legislation extends the 45 day time period for a newly formed government to pass a budget. The second implements a budget being passed every 2 years.

Budgets are very important. They allocate funds for government services and form a benchmark for evaluating performance. In the business world budgets can be matched against revenue for a true picture of success or failure. Preparing budgets 2 years in advance is a mistake that will further restrict the government's ability to adapt and implement government policy in the future.

The motivation for these changes is based on the fact passing budgets are hard. A government that cannot pass a budget automatically collapses. Small parties use this pressure to have a level of influence on the budget to be significantly greater than the amount of constituents they have. With the government being formed so close to going into the Passover vacation period the amount of working days before the original deadline was very tight. This legislation should have made some sort of consideration for the holiday seasons. The blanket extension is going to become a major problem at some point in the future. Tzipi Livni has said she would try to bring down the government on the 2010 budget. She will not have the opportunity until 2011.

The last year has proven that governments around the world need to be able to adapt to fast changing economic climates. Having a 2 year budget may be great for stability of the department for planing upcoming years but it does not mean that they will be receiving the funding they need. Over funding and underfunding become bigger issues as things move towards the end of the new budget cycle.

The government has still not passed the 2009 budget. Departments are running on a funding formula based on what they have received in the previous two years. With a 2 year budget the same scenario could with even more serious consequences. Departments could end be running on budgets that had been past almost 3 years earlier. Governments are already short sighted enough when setting policy. They don't have a chance of having enough foresight to properly plan for 2-3 years down the road.

Olmert Finally Replaced as Prime Minister

2009-04-02T01:15:00.000+03:00

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likes to portray himself as a right wing political leader. A major key in his rise to power was in his objection to the Gaza pullout. He had supported all of the legislation that made the pullout a reality until it was too late. He justified having the first crack at being Prime Minister even though he had less seats then Kadima on the premise that the right wing parties had more votes. During the election he said he would reach out to Kadima and Labour to form the government. Once given the opportunity he put in a considerable amount of effort to get them on board eventually settling with Labour in the government.

He has managed to put together and incredibly stable government. He managed to work out a compromise between religious parties Shas and UTJ with Yisrael Betaynu on begin to reform marriages laws, so that everyone who lives in Israel may eventually have the opportunity to get married in Israel. National Union is the only right wing party that was left out of the government. It seems to be as much their fault as anything Netanyahu did.

Bringing half of Labour into the government was brilliant. He has successfully divided the party as they try to figure out what direction the party should go in the future. The MKs who decided not to join the government cannot run under Labour in the next election if they vote against the party. They will be sitting out a lot of votes. For votes that require a fixed number of votes to pass, their abstention is equal value to them sitting in the government. The extra members means Yisrael Betaynu is the only party that holds the balance of power.

Netanyahu paid a heavy price to get his government. He had to give out all of the good jobs to his coalition partners to convince them to join, leaving scraps for his own party. He already has problems inside of Likud as his campaign against right wing candidates cost Likud greatly at the polls. He is now has a bloated government with 30 ministers some without portfolios and some as valuable as Minister of Twiddling Thumbs or Minister of Toilet Paper in the Knesset bathroom. Keeping everyone happy will be his biggest challenge. This is a big change from trying to keep the government alive, which is how most coalitions are built.

It is too early to tell which direction this government will end up taking. The built in stability will make it more difficult to be taken over by small minded special interest issues. Hopefully it will not be as bad as the last one.

Accusations of Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing

2009-03-31T23:07:00.000+03:00

Any discussion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict quickly turn to a lob of accusations at Israel. These accusations include, ethnic cleansing, genocide, apartheid Gazacaust and maintaining the world's largest open air prison (concentration camp) in the most densely populated place on earth. These accusations recall horrible atrocities. The juxtaposition helps to create images that makes it difficult to examine facts that apply to the Israeli conflict.

If Israel is trying to commit ethnic cleansing of Palestinians they are doing are really bad job. During the 3 week Operation Cast Lead where 1300 Palestinians were killed there were approximately 3500 births. The IDF had a self imposed 3 hour ceasefire to allow humanitarian convoys into Gaza while Hamas kept firing at Israel.

The response to the fact that Israel has been unsuccessful at genocide is that they want it to be slow so nobody notices. The back up to this argument is the blockade that Israel has on the Gaza strip. Sanctions and blockades have been used around the world to bring rouge states back in line with the international community. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq suffered heavily from sanctions. The oil for food program was designed so that civilians would not starve.

The embargo on Gaza is designed to put pressure on the Palestinians to stop firing rockets at Israel and to block supplies that could be used to kill Israelis. Israel has allowed enough food and supplies to keep the people of Gaza fed as shown in this report. The release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit (who is being denied his basic human rights of visitation by the Red Cross and other violations) are necessary steps to having the border fully open to regular commerce. Gaza is not the most densly populated place on earth, Manhatten is.

The accusation of apharthied is also a favourite for attacking Israel. Israeli society is on constant vigilance for the possibility of the next terrorist attack. This resulted in Israel to set up the security fence and check points to help save Israeli lives. For the most part the strategy has worked with most recent terrorist attacks coming from Arabs living in Israel proper. Sympathisers can only see how inconvenient these security measures are for Arabs (and Israelis) who need to travel through these check points.

In a bid to ease the inconvenience two check points near Jenin were recently removed. On the very same day, Israeli police officers were ambushed and killed. While not confirmed it is possible that it could have been possible to reach the point of the attack travelling where the check points used to be without going through any other check point. What is the proper way to respond to such a major concern?

There also seems to be an assumption that a Palestinian State would automatically have open borders with Israel. Algeria and Morroco temporarily opened their border for the first time in 15 years to allow the George Galloway convoy through. Will the difficulties Israel is being blamed for being any less should Israel not have open borders with a Palestinian state.

The most troubling question is why doesn't anybody want to live in a Palestinian State. Palestinians want to negotiate for the full right of return to live in Israel outside of the land currently being demanded for a Palestinian State. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was labelled a racist and a bigot for suggesting that land claimed by Palestinians with Jewish populations be directly swapped with land being lived on by Arabs in Israel proper. The Arabs in Israel have protests and the world support seems to be for these people to remain in Israel.

The accusations against Israel are intentionally over bloated in order to demonize Israel and ignore their considerations. Palestinians want an independent but would prefer to live in horrible Israel rather than their national homeland. Israel is supposed to bend over backwards to accommodate all of these contradictory opinions. Israel is more than happy to live in peace with it's neighbours. Giving away land in order to bring the weapons of those who want to destroy Israel is not peace.

Court Upholds Decision to Keep George Galloway Out of Canada

2009-03-30T23:41:00.000+03:00

A Canadian Federal Court has upheld the CBSA decision to prevent British MK from entering Canada. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was the only person with the power to overturn the decision agreed that Galloway should not be allowed into Canada.

For many Canadians this is a case of free speech and punishing a person for sending aid to the Palestinians. From this angle it appears that the government is carrying out a gross injustice in an attempt to silence it's critics. What could possibly be wrong with providing humanitarian aid?

First step is to exam how he choose to deliver aid. The aid convoy started it's 3 week journey in London, crossed through Northern Africa before arriving at the Egyptian border. The size of his convoy at the beginning was just slightly less than the amount of aid Israel was allowing into Gaza during the 3 hour ceasefires during Operation Cast Lead. Israel was letting the aid through despite the fact that Hamas did not hold by the humanitarian cease fire.

The convoy was stopped at the Egyptian/Gaza border for 4 days. Egyptian officials said the aid was not urgent and some of it would have to go through Israel. Galloway refused insisting that the entire convoy together because he "would not accept any special favour from Israel." While claiming victory he let the Red Crescent bring in some of the aid. The Red Crescent makes all of their crossings thorugh Israel.

While waiting at the border his followers did have a clash with police with a couple of injuries. The night before they finally crossed their convoy was stoned and vehicles spray painted with anti-Hamas graffiti. While he supports Palestinians right to throw stones he was unhappy about being on the receiving end of the welcome. He did decide to avoid bringing up the embarrassing incident.

While in Gaza he happily met with the leaders of Hamas giving them $45,000 in cash. He was also photographed with Hamas in front of their map of the Middle East. That would be the one that does not include Israel.

Every other country in the world sends their aid to the Palestinian people through Israel via United Nations organizations. It is the only way to guarantee that aid gets to the Palestinian people instead of being siffened off to buy weapons to attack Israel. Even then the UNRWA had problems with Hamas hijacking their trucks. Galloway choose the slowest most inefficient method for delivery the so called emergency help. The entire convoy was a huge publicity stunt in order to show his support for Hamas.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization in Canada. This means their assets in Canada are frozen and it is illegal for a Canadian to provide them with funding. Galloway argued that his only intention was helping the Palestinian people and that meant giving money to the legitimate government of the Palestinian people. The fact they happen to be the same party as a terrorist organization is irrelevant. It is clear he wanted to legitimize Hamas as much or more so than he was concerned where the aid would be delivered.

The second argument was making this an issue of free speech. On two occasions Galloway was on the record in full support of the British government to ban politicians from visiting England. It is hypocritical to make the free speech argument when he is on the other side of the coin.

Galloway gave cash directly to a terrorist organization. His intention of the cash transaction was to legitimize the terrorist government. These actions would be illegal if done by a Canadian. Therefore they constitute grounds for refusing his entry into Canada.

Taxing Together in Perfect Harmony

2009-03-29T23:05:00.000+03:00

The PST and GST seem like similar sales taxes to the average consumer. Aside from which items are exempt there is a huge different in the way they are structured.

The PST is a tax on a goods sold. Items that are considered basic needs are exempt from this tax. If a business is buying a product for resale they are exempt from paying PST on the purchase. The exemption must be applied at the point of sale. Their is no mechanism to recuperate over payment of PST.

GST is a general tax on everything. The cost of basics is factored into a tax credit that is distributed based on income. The big difference is businesses can use GST collected to pay for their GST expenses, with only the balance going to the government. This can help with a companies cash flow. In general as long as a business is profitable, their customers will be paying all of their GST expenses. It is a much more favourable system for businesses.

When the Federal Government was implementing the cut in the GST from 6% to 5%, it was suggested that the Ontario government should harmonize their PST with the GST. The PST would be collected by the Federal Government and follow the same rules as the PST. It would have the benefits of less bureaucracy with a single tax collector plus businesses who want to upgrade their equipment. The draw back would be the numerous items that are not subjected to PST would be subjected to the harmonized tax.

Although the Ontario Government did not want to admit it, the economy was already showing signs of decline. Harmonization could help out the struggling manufacturing business by allowing them to upgrade their capital equipment with the new tax break. They also had the opportunity to use leverage to exchange support for the GST cut with the Federal Government agreeing to waive the GST on some items that are already PST exempt. At the time the Government decided it was not a good idea and passed on trying to take advantage of the opportunity.

Last week the Ontario government announced the budget with the plan to implement a harmonized sales tax. They will get all of the benefits as stated above. The cost of some items that were considered basic in Ontario will immediately rise 8% to reflect the new tax structure. The government is giving out cash to try to ease the burden of the tax increase. They would have been in a much better position if they choose to make the same decision earlier. This is a missed opportunity that Ontario tax payers will keep on paying for.

Standing up for your beliefs, even when you don't know what they are

2009-03-27T15:05:00.001+03:00

CBC articles on Israel are quite frequent, to the point I am waiting for the article about the fact a politician sneezed. No matter what the topic, the comment sections breakdown into the same circle argument of Israel is evil and should it have a right to exist. The anti-Israel posters almost always get the most agreed upon comments.

I was amused by one of the comments this week.

"Boycott Israel. Google ......... to see why"

This was around the same time a friend had a job interview with Google Israel.

I wonder how many people who are calling for the boycott, actually put their so called beliefs into action.

Illeagal Construction in Israel

2009-03-23T22:44:00.000+02:00

I opened a Twitter account for use at work. Last week, I had some Palestinian News account following me. I decided to post a whole bunch of articles about what things are really like in Israel. I also sent them a note asking how they found my account and why they were interested in following it. Just as quickly as they appeared on my account they disappeared. Today's post is dedicated to them.

I checked out their website. Their main story was about the horrors of the IDF bulldozing a Bedouin home. Taking into account some the realities around the issue of illegal construction I will try to figure out the most likely scenario in the story they reported.

The first thing is it was amazing the lack of detail in the story. They put in some geographical markers at the very end, which could have easily been made up. The family didn't have a name. There was a picture of the alleged bulldozed home. It could have been very easily any one of the many construction sights around the country. There was a pile of rubble with a clean bright pink phone on the top. Did the family remove all of their possessions ahead of time and forgot their phone, which miraculously survived the bulldozing to fly through the air and land in a pile completely unscathed? This technique of adding props to sell the story has been well publicized since the 2006 Lebanon War.

I found more interesting the claims of the family. They said that they had received all of their building permits from the Palestinian Authority, while the Israeli authorities said that it was completely illegal construction. Israel stays out of the day to day operations of territory controlled by the PA. It is possible that the PA did authorize the building permits in an area, where they have no jurisdiction. Israel is then faced with the problem of allowing illegal buildings to stand or look like the bad guys for undoing illegal construction.

Over the weekend Jerusalem Mayor Barkat spoke about the problem of Palestinians building on public land that the city had intended to use for other purposes. Aside from causing massive infrastructure problems, such as sewage they block the government from appropriating land as they originally intended.

In Toronto a tent city was set up as a place to protest homelessness and provide a place to live. The problem was that the land was owned by Home Depot who wanted to exercises their rights to their land. Despite protests from homeless advocacy group Home Depot eventually evicted the people and took possession of their land.

Israel is in their full rights to crack down on illegal construction by both Jews and Arabs alike. If Arabs are going to ignore Israeli authority and build on land that they do not own, how is Israel supposed to respond?

Immigrants Need to Learn the Official Language

2009-03-22T22:32:00.000+02:00

There is a great deal of concern regarding the amount of Canadian Immigrants who are not able to speak English or French. Not having basic skills in your Country's official language can cause a great deal of difficulty in functioning in society. Many of these people end up in low paying customer service jobs, causing even more frustration and resentment towards the immigration population. There was a case last year where a nurse was not hired even though she was bilingual because she could not speak the language of the local immigrant population.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has expressed concern about this issue. He said that he had sat in on immigration interviews were the applicant was not able to carry out the interview in either English or French. This includes people who have been living in Canada for 10 - 15 years. The interview stage is designed to review applicants who failed the 20 question multiple choice test. He suggested that he is considering adding a language requirement to the application process.

The problem with such a proposal is that it is not easy to learn a new language. It harder as you get older, especially if you are struggling to put food on the table. While bringing in basic language requirements is a good idea, it needs to be implemented in a way that would also address these concerns. There are also concerns that it is possible to be a good citizen without the language skills.

In Israel, every new immigrant is entitled to up to approximately 500 hours of free language training. Plus their is some financial assistance during the first 6 months while people are getting settled. Canada could easily take some ideas from this system.

The Canadian government should require a minimum amount of language skills. They should also make language classes affordable to those who need it. The end result would be immigrant who are better able to function in society. The cost would be minimal compared to the benefit of a well functioning society. People need to be able to speak the official language. This is just a practical solution.

The Winner Still is Ehud Olmert

2009-03-22T07:15:00.002+02:00

It has been 236 days since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that he would not run in the Kadima leadership race to replace him. This decision should have taken away his moral authority to lead the country and shift to a caretaker roll until he was replaced.

When Tzipi Livni took over as chairman of the party he refused to step down as Prime Minster. Instead of taking over as Prime Minister she was forced to form her own government. Taking advantage of her difficult situation she was unable to form a government and elections were called 3 months later. President Shimon Peres gave the nod to Benjamin Netanyahu to have 6 weeks to from a new government. The original deadline is at midnight. A two week extension has been granted as Labour will be deciding on Tuesday if they wish to join the government. In the unlikly case that Netanyahu fails to form a government, Livni would be given the oppurtunity or elections could once again be called.

During this time the world has been a fairly busy place. The world economy has collapsed with governments around the world printing hundreds of billions of dollars to keep the ecoonomy moving. Russia invaded the Ukraine. The United States elected adn installed a new President. The Canadian government called elections, installed a new government, progoued parliament and passed the budget which has already been passed by the Senate.

Olmert has tried to create his own legacy and tie the hands of the next govrenment to his vision for the future. He activly tried to get a peace treaty signed with Syria. He sent the IDF to Gaza to try to stop missle attacks that he had been ignoring. He tried and failed to release Gilad Shalit who has been a Hamas prisoner for 1001 days. He also failed to pass the budget for the fiscal year that began on January 1st.

Olmert's role as Prime Minister can be described as a failure. It is time to stop with the legacy building and move on to the government that is looking into the future. Hopefuly everything will fall into place so that after Tuesday a new governernment that will be effective can be formed.

World follows Canada's foreign policy example

2009-03-19T23:57:00.000+02:00

The first ever United Nations Anti-Racism conference in Durban South Africa was a complete disaster. Instead of dealing with improving living conditions and preventing racism around the world it became a massive Israel bashing session. The conference accomplished nothing productive.

Durban II is scheduled to take place next month. Canada out of concern that it would be a repeat embarrassment of the first conference declared their intention to boycott. Israel eventually followed suit.

The United States sent a delegation to try to have the objectionable language removed from the conference. They had a few major concerns. Once again Israel was going to be the only country singled out for Human Rights violations, by countries who have enough problems granted human rights to their own citizens. Another issue was to make it a human right violations to criticize another religion. This would justify the riots following the publication of the Muhammad cartoons as response to a human rights violation. It also flies in the face of free speech which is highly regarded in the West. A demand for reparations for slavery were also on the table. The United States announced their intention to boycott if the text was not changed.

Italy became the first European to announce their intention to boycott. It is interesting that it was an Italian reporter that went to Gaza and said that the humanitarian situation was not that drastic. England then expressed reservations about the conference, followed by a possible boycott by the EU.

The text has now been changed. It will probably be enough for most countries to call of the boycott. Although, there is still a great deal of concern that all the elements are in place to still have a repeat of the last conference. Canada has not announced they have changed their mind about attending

Canada was the first country to stand up to this pending injustice. The world has fallen suit. Even if the conference does turn into a disaster the actions of Canada, United States, Italy and EU have minimized the amount of damage that can be done.

Raising the Bar on Electoral Reform

2009-03-16T21:53:00.003+02:00

Canadian Parliament has all of the ingredients for a long term stable government. Elections campaigns are short with the new government sworn in a short time later. Politicians are held directly responsible for their actions. Individuals not affiliated to main stream parties can be elected to represent their constituents. Governments have enough political power to direct their government according to the mandate they were given. When the writ is dropped Parliament is dissolved limiting the power of the outgoing government. The major parties tend to cater to the same group of voters. This allows for consistant expectaions from the government, even when there is change in government. It is not perfect but it works really well.

The Israeli system is quite the opposite. There is no individual accountability. Even if a party is punished by the electorate the key decision makers are high enough up the list to keep their jobs. Government changes can take a long time. Ehud Olmert has been on his way out for quite some time. First his party had to run a leadership race to replace him. Once he was replaced as party leader he refused to step down. This left his succesor Tzipi Livn with 6 weeks to form a government with the possibility of a two week extension. When that failed elections were called for 3 months later. In the after math of the election Netanyahu was given 6 weeks to form a government. With the deadline looming he also has the oppurtunity to request a two week extension.

While all this was going on, the Knesset failed to pass a budget by the December 31st budget. The government has to work on a formula based on previous budgets, that do not account for the economic down turn. Olmert has taken Israel to war without much to show for it in terms of tangible results. He is desperatly trying to engineer a prisoner swap to bring Gilad Shalit home after almost 1000 days of captivity. His major bargaining chip is that his deal will be better than anything the new government will offer. Olmert doesn't have a clue about the fact he lost his moral authority to make major government policy decisions after elections were called.

As election results were coming in their was a feeling that major electoral change needs to be brought in. Unfortunatly, as with all electoral reform it needs to be brought in by the parties that will likely lose the most from the change. Small cosmetic changes are likly to be approved than the changes that are required.

One idea is that Israel should join the rest of the world and increase their minimum vote threshold from 2% to 5%. This would encourage smaller parties to merge with bigger parties and form a more central approach to government. Right now parties with 3 or 4 mandates have the same clout as parties with 11 mandates. This forces the ruling party to give away most of their principles in order to keep the smaller parties happy.

Here is a look at how the government would have looked if these changes had been applied to the recent elections.

First column is with the current 2% threshold, second column is 3%, third column net change.

Likud 27 29 (+2)
Yisrael Betaynu 15 16 (+1)
Shas 11 11 (no change)
UTJ 5 6 (+1)
Bayit Yehudi 3 0 (-3)
Ichud Leumi 4 5 (+1)
Kadimah 28 30 (+2)
Labour 13 13 (no change)
Chaddash 4 5 (+1)
National Arab Party 4 5 (+1)
Balad 3 0 (-3)
Meretz 3 0 (-3)

The way things stand it looks like the government will consist of Likud, Yisrael Betaynu, Shas, UTJ, Bayit Yehudi, with a total of 61 seats. Ichud Leumi is similar enough to Bayit Yehudi that the considered going into negotiations as one party and decided not to.

Increasing the threshold to 3% would eliminate Balad, Meretz and and Ichud Leumi. The government could simply replace Ichud Leumi and add an extra mandate to their coalition. Ichud Leumi and Bayit Yehudi could merge to maintain a strong voter base. Meretz is a far left party that needs to regroup as they has seemed to lost thier purpose. Balad is the party who's leader went to Lebanon to help with strategy during the 2006 Lebanon war. Although he is wanted in Israel, he is still collecting his Israeli pension.

First Column 3% threshold, Second Column 4% threshold, Third Column net change.

Likud 29 33 (+4)
Yisrael Betaynu 16 18 (+2)
Shas 11 13 (+2)
UTJ 6 7 (+1)
Ichud Leumi 5 0 (-5)
Kadimah 30 34 (+4)
Labour 13 15 (+2)
Chaddash 0 (-5)
National Arab Party 0 (-5)

In this scenario National Arab Party, Chadash (Arab/Jewish) and Ichud Leumi would be eliminated. It is not a desirable result for the Arab parties not to have representation in Knesset. To be fair they do have representation from some of the main stream parties. A merger leaning towards a more tolerant position towards Israel could keep the parties in the Knesset. As stated above Ichud Leumi merging with Bayit Yehudi could keep their political clout. Likud and Yisrael Betaynu alread have a coaltion agreement in place. With the exception of UTJ they would be able to form a government with one other party. Netanyahu would not be in the position he is today selling out his party just for a couple of more mandates to stay in power.

First Column 4% threshold, Second Column 5% threshold, Third Column net change.

Likud 33 35(+2)
Yisrael Betaynu 18 19(+1)
Shas 13 (+2)
UTJ 7 0 (-7)
Kadimah 34 36 (+2)
Labour 16 (+1)

UTJ is a merger of the 3 Haredi parties. Their core support is from people who take orders from their Rabbi's how to vote. In order to stay relevant they would need to be able to cater to the electorate outside of their close knit community. Shas is also a Haredi party that also appeals to the Sephardic community at large. This is how they have been able to be so succuessful in the world of politics. In this scenario, forming a stable government with 3 parties would be fairly simple. The coaliton would probably be able to hold itself together to fulfill an entire mandate before going to the polls.

Raising the minimum voting threshold is a bandaid solution to the problems in Israeli politics. It would create stable governments, which could be an important first step to needed electoral reforms down the road.

Does the Shoe Fit?

2009-03-13T00:49:00.000+02:00

In Canadian politics there have been many incidences that could have been major issues. They range from a pie in the face, to a Prime Minister being defended in his own home by his wife with an Inuit statue, to a pie in the face, to people eating their electoral ballots. The Canadian psyche has been to downplay the significance of these events. No harm, no foul and good for a laugh.

The case of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who through his shoes at George Bush would have fallen into the same category. The fact that shoe throwing has become a popular form of protest around the world adds to the amusement factor. Even George Bush was willing to shrug it off when it happened.

Then the lawyers and the courts got involved. All of a sudden they are dealing with serious charges. Someone attempted to physically assault a foreign dignitary, who happens to be the President of the United States. This is the frame of mind the court took when the handed out a 3 year jail sentence. It appears that the courts only showed leniency because of his clean record and age rather than in reality it was really a minor incident.

The arguments put up by his defence team are quite disturbing. What is more disturbing is that these arguments have been picked up around the world and are being used to justify other acts of violence. He told the judge that it was a natural response to the occupation. This seams to be a growing trend. Any action can be justified by blaming the situation around them. It is amazing that in the entire country he is the only one who was forced by the occupation to throw his shoes at politicians. It is still better than bombing civilians or military personal. In some cases Aboriginal groups in Canada have turned to blockades to fight for their land claims. They seem to be getting more violent. Can they now blame the 'occupation', if they choose to attack police officers or others that stand in their way? How far can society go with 'natural responses' until enough is enough. Why can't people take responsibility for their own actions.

The most unusual argument was that Bush was not on an official visit and therefore just an ordinary visitor (who happens to be President of the United States). If his actions were motivated by the occupation what difference does it make if an official invitation was issued? Is it normal to throw shoes at other people?

The most ironic argument was that his actions should be protected under freedom of speech. Tariq Aziz was sentenced to 15 years in jail for his role in the execution of 82 merchants. They were guilty of price fixing. Without, the liberation of Iraq Aziz actions would have gone unpunished. Sadam Hussien tested chemical weapons on his own people and was executed for murdering 148 people in response to an assassination attempt. Does al-Zeidi really believed that his freedom of expression would have been protected if he decided to throw a shoe at Saddam Hussein. The death sentence would have been carried out quickly.

This incident was relatively minor and the court should have taken that into consideration. His justifications for his actions should not be used to condone what he did. He should have never done it. This incident is minor enough to justify a more lenient sentence.

Good Bye John

2009-03-09T01:06:00.000+02:00

In Canada, politicians are often given a second chance in order to prove themselves. Party leaders are often given two kicks at the can before they are turfed. Even Bob Rae has been given an opportunity to recover from his brutal run as NDP Premier of Ontario, to become I high ranking member of the federal Liberal party. On the flip side leaders who fail miserably on their first attempt are quickly removed from ever having that second chance. Joe Clark, Kim Campbell and Stephane Dion are the prime examples of this second group.

John Tory should have also been placed with the group of one time failures. It speaks to his honesty, integrating and generally sense of caring that allowed him for this rare second chance. He seemed to have all the qualities we claim to want in a politician. During the provincial election, while McGuinty pre-screened every person he made contact with, Tory had camera crews follow him on door to door campaigning not knowing what issues he would be forced to confront. It took 18 months until he finally had his oppurtunity to regain a seat at Queen's Park. Despite running in a safe Conservative riding that won the election by over 10,000 votes, he fell short on his second chance. He has done the right thing by stepping down from the party leadership.

Tory was a succesful businessman, before venturing into politics. He lost the bid for Mayor of Toronto, he was an advisor on the Kim Campbell campaign where the Conservative Party was left with only Jean Charest and Elsie Wayne to rebuild the party. McGuinty and the Liberal Party were vulnerable and he failed to take the oppurtunity.

Tory has the qualities of a good legislator. Unfortunatly they are not necessarily the same qualities for winning votes. Hopefully he will be able to find a home in the public sector where he can contribute to society, without the drawbacks necessary to be popular enough to win.

Ignatieff Continues with Rebuilding

2009-03-02T22:50:00.001+02:00

Stephane Dion is just a tiny blip on the history of the Liberal Party. His most notable accomplishment was "The Clarity Act". It is supposed to be a clear guideline of how the question should be asked, should Quebec separatists decide to hold another referendum. Just like Stephane Dion's hopes of becoming Prime Minister, hopefully there will never be a need to apply this legislation.

Michael Ignatieff has brought an immediate change of course to the Liberal Party. He has announced that the Green Party will not get any kind of free ride from the Liberals in the next election. He believes the environment plank of their platform will be able to stand on it's own. He also acknowledged that the Alberta Oil sands are an important part of the Canadian economy. He will not alienate Western Canada. This a change from Dion who tried to make them the major target of his environmental plan.

Ignatieff has earned respect from Harper because he is willing to stand up to the government if ti is the right thing to do. This change of course continues to take the Liberal Party on the path as being a viable alternative to lead the country. Governments are more in tuned with the public, when they are battling to keep their jobs. A strong Liberal Party is good for Canada whether they are in the government or sitting on the opposition benches.

Sid Ryan, Where are You?

2009-03-01T22:26:00.000+02:00

On Saturday a Grad rocket from Gaza landed in a school in Ashkelon. It completely penetrated the fortifications that had been added to the school. They were designed to protect students from Kassam rocket attacks. Any other day of the week, there would have been a tremendous amount of casualties. Since the ceasefire there have been 100 rockets that have landed in Israel. On Sunday all of the schools in Ashkelon were open with the exception of the one that was bombed. The government choose to ignore fears that the schools may no longer be a safe place from missile attacks.

Sid Ryan has decided to make bringing peace to Israel his pet project. He is a big supporter of the Right to Education Project, aimed to help Palestinian children. What about Israeli children? Where is Sid Ryan to condemn this attack? Where is the outrage that an entire school is no longer usable? Where is the concern that once again all schools in the area may be forced to be closed because they are not safe from Palestinian rocket attacks?

CUPE Ontario still has on their website the alleged incident of Israel bombing a school housing refugees. The United Nations have publicly updated their information on the attack because it didn't happen. Why hasn't CUPE Ontario? When Israel bombed the University in Gaza it was being used as a launch site for attacks against innocent civilians. IDF soldiers discovered schools booby trapped which could have killed IDF soldiers or innocent children. How can the attack on this school be justified?

Why hasn't Sid Ryan rallied his 200,000 strong membership to condemn this attack. We hear the silence loud and clear. The silence says more then any half hearted boycott ever will.

CUPE Ontario endorses Israel Academic Boycott

2009-02-23T23:36:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, CUPE Ontario approved Resolution 50, a plan to carry out an academic boycott against Israel and further along their divestment program. The resolution now needs to be endorsed by the 200,000 membership at the annual convention in April. CUPE Local 3903 at York University who were just ordered back to work after a lengthy strike are fully commited to backing Israel Apartheid Week, next week on York's campus. The motivation behind this boycott can only be based on pure feel good emotions rather than an honest attempt to holding by true values and convictions.

This new boycott was propsed during Operation Cast Lead when IDF forces attempted to stop the daily barrage of rockets on Isaeli civilians. During the 3 week war Hamas used schools, hospitals and civilian homes for launching attacks. The initial inspiration of this round of the boycott is when Israel bombed the Gaza University. CUPE choose to leave this fact for the very bottom of their webpage explaining the reason for the boycott.

In their explanation of the boycott section they site the case of "On January 7^th, Israeli forces killed over 40 Palestinian civilians who had taken shelter in a United Nations school. " One would expect a boycott lead by the highest level of acadamia would be able to have their facts correct. The incident they are refering to took place on January 6th. The United Nations has already issued a correction that Israel never bombed the school. An Israeli shell landed outside of the school. All of the victims were outside of the school. Even the casualty count from this incident is in dispute. When the dust settles it will probably be revieled that the casualty count is at least 25% less then reported. Of course this will be burried into some report that goes unnoticed by most of the world.

CUPE is claiming that their actions are as champions of human rights. Of all of the incidents in the world why have they choosen this one to be their champion cause? Gilad Shalit has been held hostage by Hamas for over 3 years. He has been denied all of his Human Rights of allowing visitation by the Red Cross and letting his family know if he is alive. CUPE has been silent. Hamas has commited numerous war crimes. They fired thousands of missles into civilian populations, striking schools and kindergartens. CUPE has been silent. Hamas has fought out of uniform and even in stolen IDF uniforms. CUPE has been silent. This is just to name a few, not to mention when Hamas violently removed Fatah from Gaza and tied Fatah supporters to chairs and threw them off of buildings. CUPE has been silent. They have used the fog of war to shoot the legs of Fatah supporters out of fear Fatah would retake control of Gaza after Operation Cast Lead.

There are other conflicts in the world. Darfur, Ethopia, Sri Lanka and more. CUPE Ontario is silent. Ontario has been condemned by the United Nations for providing full funding to schools belonging to one religion and providing nothing to others. When John Tory and his Conservative Party came up with a solution to this inequality, CUPE Ontario was front and centre in condemning the proposal. Tory was the only political leader banned from speaking to the various union groups at their conventions. One can only reach the conclusion that this boycott was not chosen simply out of moral conviction.

The York student government (YFS) was recently overthrown by the students for supporting CUPE 3903 in their strike. The outgoing YFS members blamed the Jewish student population for their dismial. They refused to acknowledge they were turfed for betraying the interests of the students they were supposed to represent. Now CUPE is openly supporting an anti-Israel week on the campus with the largest Jewish population. Instead of fostering an enviornment of acceptance and learning, Jewish students have to deal with a week of intimidation and fear. It would not be surprising if this year someone got hurt.

If CUPE Ontario really wants to divest from Israel they should enable their members to fully boycott all companies that do business in Israel. Coca Cola, Pepsi, RC Cola, Sports Illustrated, Kellogs, Nestle, IBM, Intel, McDonalds, Burger King for starters. They should boycott the Vancouver Olympics for not banning Israeli atheletes. The Canadian Armed Forces just began using Israeli drone planes to help keep soldiers in Afghanistan safe. This should draw immediate protest. Blocking University assistance for Israeli military technology is directly targeted under the ban.

CUPE Ontario sites hundreds groups that they would normally have nothing to do with who support the boycott. Some the boycott Israel websites bring attention to the successes of their boycotts. They site examples of businesses withdrawing from doing business in the Arab world under pressure of the boycott, causing losses of millions of dollars. The same businesses have not closed up shop in Israel. They also claimed a victory in blocking as shipment of Valentines Day flowers at Heathrow Airport. Early that week the Israeli government gave permission to ship flowers from Gaza to the European market. They were probably stopping of shipment of flowers from Gaza and hurting the Palestinians they claim they are trying to help.

Resolution 50 is as hypocritical and backwards as the strikes that have now become a routine part of life at York University. Hopefully the general membership will choose to closely examine both sides of the conflict and vote down this rediculous resolution.

Netanyahu will be Prime Minister, Who will join the coalition?

2009-02-19T23:17:00.002+02:00

Tzippi Livni chances of becoming Prime Minister have all but officially been eliminated. President Shimon Peres has been meeting with all 14 parties in the government to seek their recommendation for Prime Minister. The entire right wing block including Yisrael Betaynu has given their support to Netanyahu while, Meretz, Labour and the Arab parties have refused to endorse anybody.

The one glitch is that Yisrael Betaynu made their endorsement on condition that Kadima joined the government. Livni once again stated she would rather sit in the opposition rather than be in a right wing coalition. Peres will host a meeting tomorrow to try to convince both parties to form a National Unity government. Yisrael Betaynu's condition will be meaningless should they fail to agree.

Yisrael Betaynu leader, Avigdor Lieberman has made the argument that the country is best served with a government of Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Betaynu because it would be stable. He is right in that the three parties hold 68 seats on their own. Other parties would be welcome to join the coalition and add further stability. Netanyahu's natural right wing block is 11 seats shy of being able to form a government. Only Labour, Kadima and Yisrael Betaynu can fill the gap on their own. Labour has been ruled out and so are the other Left Wing and Arab Parties.

Yisrael Betaynu has a lot to gain with Kadima in the government. The religious parties are against his major platform planks. They are against reforming the system of marriage and conversions. They are against mandatory national service, which targets the misfeelings towards the Haredi community for their army/national service exemption. In the past Shas has held up attempts at electoral reform. They would lose power in any system that helps deliver more seats to the bigger parties. UTJ is a merger of 3 parties and went into the election with tons of internal fighting. They could only muster in 5 seats. They would also be hurt by most forms of electoral reform.

Yisrael Betaynu still holds a lot more power then people are giving them credit for. Any statements since the election have been to strengthen their influence on the government and their ability to bring in the vision that made them the third biggest party in the country. The Haredi parties need to compromise somewhere to hold a right wing government together. Livni has failed to get any other part to endorse her as Prime Minister. It is time for Kadima to spend some time in the opposition.

What will happen when all the dust settles? It is still too early to be certain.

Who will form the Government?

2009-02-18T00:16:00.004+02:00

I received an e-mail today expressing concern about the rumoured deal of Kadima agreeing to terms of Yisrael Betaynu on a possible coalition agreement. I had argued that Yisrael Betaynu would do a better job anchoring Netanyahu to the right then the right wing supporters in his party that he managed to bury far down on the list. Here is my response:

While I share your concerns, I do not read the situation the same way. Under our system, the government is going to be formed based on backroom bargaining. Not knowing exactly what you are voting for is one of the major flaws in the system. Clarifying what might happen after the elections, was one of the main inspirations of having the debate. Anything that may or may not happen before a government is formed is pure speculation.

I believe that Bibi is going to be Prime Minister. Even if Livni gets the tap on the shoulder from Peres she has simply burned down too many bridges during and after the election campaign. Bibi has two options for forming a government. He can build on his right wing block. He could stick to his election campaign and try to form a National Unity government. Yisrael Betaynu, Shas and Labour are the only parties big enough to hold up a Likud/Kadima coalition on their own. If Likud came in with 33-36 seats (which is around where they were polling at the beginning of the election) he could have easily walked away with the promised unity government without any outside help.

I am greatly concerned about the political influence of Gimmel and Shas. The Likud/Shas alliance was well publicized in the closing days of the election. These special interest Haredi parties have a greater level of influence on government policy than their supporters justify. We recently had a Haredi coup on our mikvahs. There is still confusion of the outcome. There have been reports that the Israel Beit Din is refusing to recognize conversions of the Toronto Beit Din. The Toronto Beit Din is known far and wide for their strictness. These are all results of political influence yielded by Shas. Yisrael Betaynu promised to uphold Daati Leumi, Zionist values. I think they have a chance at slowing down the hard right religious shift, that is causing so much controversy. For myself this was a very important but overlooked election issue.

Bibi was given ideal conditions for running away with this election. He now has a lot of unhappy people inside the party that he has to answer to. Hopefully he will use this as an opportunity to refocus on what is important to his party and to Israel. If he had taken 35-40 seats in this election he would not have taken the time to try to fix his broken right wing.

Electoral reform is badly needed. It is the only way to force parties to focus on Israel's greater needs and prevent messes like this form happening in the future. Hopefully this will be the message the new government will learn from this election.

Here comes the Soldiers Votes

2009-02-12T12:30:00.002+02:00

The way the election stands right now Tzippi Livni has beaten out Benjamin Netanyahu by 36,321 votes and is up by one mandate. The are all kinds of scenarios being discussed in terms of who will take over the government.

If President Shimon Peres follows tradition he will give Livni the nod to try to form the government. 3 months ago she was unable to form a government which forced the elections in the first place. She has used the election to burn down bridges making it impossible to form a government. If she fails to form the government after six weeks the oppurtunity would than be given to Netanyahu. The winner in this scenario is Olmert. We just can't seem to get rid of him.

At the moment Peres is left with a dilemna of who to choose. If he chooses Livni and the scenario plays out as expected he will have further delayed the forming of a new government, and the worst decision ever for a position that is supposed to be mostly ceremonial. If he goes to Netanyahu right away he abandons his own personal convictions as a member of Kadima, beleiver in all Peace Agreements. He also sets a danger prescedent on the use of Presidential powers.

Relief may come this evening by way of the ballot boxes. Soldiers, diplmats and hospital votes are being counted and results will be released this evening. These 150,000 votes could influence as many as 4-5 mandates. Generally, soldiers tend to be more likely to vote right. It is almost mathematically impossible for Likud to catch Kadima on total votes. It would require at least 75% of the votes to be for Likud if Kadima were not getting any. It is possible the Likud will pick up one more mandate to pull into a tie with Kadima.

Should Kadima and Likud and up in a tie, Peres should take the gift and declare Netanyahu Prime Minister. It is the easiest and most practical escape from this political quandry.

Israel Election Results

2009-02-11T02:36:00.000+02:00

Here are the latest election results as of 02:25. This does not factor in any of the vote sharing agreements. There is still a lot of room for fluctuation.

Labour אמת 12
Bayit Hayehudi 4 ב
Agudah/Degel HaTorah 5 ג
Balad ד 3
Chaddash 4 ו
Ichud Leumi 4 ט
Kadimah כן 28
Yisrael Betaynu 15 ל
Likud מחל 27
Meretz מרצ 4
National Arab Party 4 עם
Shas שס10

Improving Israeli Political Culture

2009-02-08T11:48:00.001+02:00

I have been frustrated with some aspects of the political culture in Israel. I have expressed some of these frustrations here before. With 34 parties participating in this election, an all party debate is unrealistic. There is no reason why the major players don't debate each other to further clarify their positions and clear up misconceptions. With polls showing 30% of voters undecided a few weeks before the election I decided to help voters with their decision.

I decided a debate was needed. I teamed up with Rafi G who worked really hard to pull everything together. An online debate between was published this morning on his blog between Danny Hershtall for Yisrael Betaynu and Ariella Cottler for Likud.

This looks like it is going to be a very close election. I am hoping that this will help make a difference.

Israel needs Electoral Reform

2009-02-08T08:45:00.002+02:00

The Israeli electoral system is in dire need for change. Elections are supposed to be held every 4 years. The last time a elections were held 4 years apart was 1988. The last time a Government lasted for 4 years under the same Prime Minister was Menachem Begin 1977-1981. As the government is constantly struggling for survival it is unable to focus on long term goals of the country.

Another problem is that it is nearly impossible to get rid of the less productive politicians without bring in criminal charges. Party lists are designed to protect the top party brass making them immune to the shifts in voter accountability. Benjamin Netanyahu was able to push his rival Moshe Feiglen from an almost guaranteed spot in the Knesset to a spot on the list where he had an outside chance of getting. He then fumbled the election campaign which insure he is out of the Knesset until the next election.

Kadimah faced a similar type of challenge getting rid of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. It took a long time to engineer the leadership review. Then they had to convince Olmert not to run. Once Livni took over as chair of the party, she had 28 days to form a government. When she failed to do that elections were called for 3 months later which falls out on Tuesday. During this time Olmert has taken the country to war and tried to negotiate peace treaties that would be binding on future governments. He also regularly made statements that contradicted and undermined where Livni was trying to take the party. The fact that he no longer had the moral authority to continue to govern was completely irrelevant.

Last week, Livni took time to express her support for electoral reform. She specifically pointed out the idea to raise the amount of votes on a non-confidence motion from 61 (out of 120) to 80. She believes that this will allow the Prime Minister to focus on governing and to serve out a full term.

Apparently Livni has not learned from efforts to oust Olmert from the Prime Minister chair. A government needs to the confidence of the Knesset in order to govern. If they are unable to pass legislation because they cannot get a majority of support, it does not matter how many votes are need to oust the Prime Minister. Israel would still be left with a lame-duck Prime Minister unable to accomplish anything because their hands have been tied by the Knesset. Taking away the mechanism of an election to correct such a stalement weakens the Prime Minister.

Israel has the lowest threshold of support in the world for getting into government. It only takes 2% of the popular vote to gaurentee a spot. This allows single issue parties to hold the balance of power in government. Eliminating the smallest extreme parties will allow the main parties to build towards governing from the centre of the political spectrum. Is there really a need for two marijuana parties? The Green Leaf Party and the Green Leaf/Holocaust Survivor party should have enough in common to operate as one party. Raising the bar to 5% would create much more stable government.

Cabinet Ministers are another major sticky point in electoral reform. Minister positions are given out as rewards/incentives for parties to join the government. Cabinet Ministers don't need to be MKs. Yisrael Betaynu has a policy of resigning Knesset seats in order to sit in the cabinet. The empty seats are replaced by those next in line on the party list. Current ideas to reform the system include limiting the amount of cabinet posts and the Norwegian law.

Limiting the Prime Ministers ability to use patronage appointments to suit political means. This lays the ground work for the possibility of a more honest government. The Norwegian law forces all members of the cabinet to resign from the Knesset. This makes the executive branch completely accountable to the legislative branch. Under most political climates this would not be beneficial. Once a bill has been passed through the cabinet there is tremendous pressure for MKs to rubber stamp it through. Forcing legislation to come up through the Knesset helps relieve the pressure.

While it is good that changing the system is important, the biggest issue has not been addressed. Voters need to have the ability to hold their leaders accountable for their actions. In a straight Proportional Representation system it simply cannot happen. Ontario rightfully rejected a form of Mixed Proportional Representation in the last election. It was a system where there are two ballots one for an MP and one for a party. Israel and Mixed Proportional Representation would be a good fit. Combined with raising the minimum popular vote to 5%, we could finally one day see political stability. A stable government helps the government resolve the major issues that have been plaguing Israel for decades.

Israel did NOT Bomb UN School

2009-02-05T15:24:00.003+02:00

For almost a month the United Nations has been crying out about that Israel bombed one of their schools in Gaza that was protecting over a thousand civilians from the war. The UN criticized Israel stating that they had provided Israel with GPS coordinates and it should not have been targeted. Israel stated that their troops had responded to be under attack. The UN took extreme offence to that accusation that they would allow attacks to be launched from their property. The mere suggestion that a school would be bombed brought about a tremendous amount of backlash against Israel and Jews around the world.

After repeatedly making the claim that the school was bombed by Israel the UN snuck in a correction to one of their field update reports:

Clarification: While correctly reported on 6 January that Israeli shells landed outside an UNRWA school in Jabalia, resulting in an initial estimate of 30 fatalities, the Situation Report of 7 January referred to ‘the shelling of the UNRWA school in Jabalia.’ The Humanitarian Coordinator would like to clarify that the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school. According to UNRWA, the number of fatalities is over 40, many of them among the 1,368 people who had taken refuge in the school.

The UN had to know that the school was not bombed and they choose to run with the story anyways as it suited their purposes. While the UN put a lot of effort into publicizing the original story, the same cannot be said for the correction. The people who knowingly aloud the false information to be spread should no longer be employed by the United Nations.