Not All Walls are the Same

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.

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

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.