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Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Well done
The previous Liberal government talked a good talk about fighting terrorism but outside of sending soldiers to Afghanistan, there wasn't that much action. The Conservative government of Canada today announced that no more taxpayer dollars would go to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas refuses to renounce violence and recognize Israel.
The Hamas response?
"I think the Canadian position is hasty and shows obvious bias," newly installed Palestinian Information Minister Youssef Rizka told The Associated Press in Gaza City. "What we need from the Canadian government is that it ask the Israeli authorities to admit that they are occupying Palestinian land."
Good one. Way to stay on point.
Read on.
Posted by Steve Martinovich on March 29, 2006 in International Politics | Permalink
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Comments
That one's easy:
"Rizka makes a good point. Canada demands Israel remove all forces from the Nation of Palestine. Of course, there is no such place as Palestine, so that speeds things up a lot."
Posted by: Feynman and Coulter's Love Child | 2006-03-29 2:34:05 PM
There's a bit of good news. First country in the world to side with Israel on "cutting off financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority since Hamas won the legislative elections in January."
Looks like I agree with Mr. Harper again, and Mr. MacKay too this time.
Posted by: Vitruvius | 2006-03-29 2:38:30 PM
Great Decision
Hopefully this will also mean a move towards making it illegal in Canada to raise finances for terrorist organizations within Canada (now done under the guise of being "humanitarian/aid" groups - or whatever other label)that had been acceptable to the Liberals).
Posted by: calgary clipper | 2006-03-29 2:45:16 PM
Certainly no "dithering" on that decision. Canada steps up to the plate in a lead off role and hits a home run.
Posted by: Servant | 2006-03-29 2:54:38 PM
I like this decision if they don't fold under the guilt that is bound to be heaped up on Harper et al.
Also there is a bias ... at least on my part. I am biased about giving aid to the enemy.
And because there Palastine/Isreal fued is about 3000 years old, it is impossible to figure out who has the greater claim on that turf.
Best solution ... get the Muslims/Palastinians to stop the hate ... cut a deal with Isreal and get a life. On the other hand they can continue being bombed, shot, living in squallor and sending their little hate-filled children to blow up real good on buses and ice cream parlors.
Posted by: Duke McGoo | 2006-03-29 3:21:14 PM
Duke,
The "feud" is far more contemporary than three millennia. And if the "feud" were treated like a Stanley Cup final, most would reckon the Israelis swept the series in four games straight.
Posted by: Paul Canniff | 2006-03-29 3:42:56 PM
Yes, I am curious to know how Foreign Policy under Harper will change. So, this decision makes me believe that Canada's image in the world will be changing signficantly. And, I'm merely saying this from an academic standpoint.
Whether or not there is a "nation" of Palestine or a nation of Quebec is debatable. Now, perhaps you are referring to the fact that there is no State of Palestine. There is no State of Palestine because the land was given to form Israel by Britain. But, it is pretty normal for groups to fight for independence from a State they feel oppresses them. It's also evident that the Palestinians were living somewhere prior to decononization.
Revolution is a part of liberal thought. Modern Conservatism is based on classic liberalism (maybe witih Burkean restraint but it doesn't seem to be that way anymore).
With modernization it seems that there is very little legitimate means to rebel against an oppressive or illegitimate state.
Posted by: William McCullough | 2006-03-29 3:56:06 PM
Well done indeed. It is a pleasure to see the new government take affirmative action against terroists, and their supporters. My messeage to the Conservative government, "Thank you for showing real leadership, and taking real action against those who threaten our very way of life."
Posted by: Dave | 2006-03-29 4:18:42 PM
Well said, Dave. I agree wholeheartedly that it is great to see leadership from the Canadian government. First time in a long time.
Posted by: Mad Eye Moody | 2006-03-29 4:30:32 PM
Good decision by our government and of course Canada's position is biased. Biased against terrorists as it should be. Finally after 13 long years of lib-left-weenie rule we've got a government willing to take action that we can be proud of!
Posted by: Proud to be a redneck | 2006-03-29 4:31:19 PM
My congrats are tempered by the fact that we are still going to support Hamas to the tune of 22 million in our tax money through the discredited UN and NGO's.
Let Hamas look after the people who voted them in.
Perhaps they should be made to divert their money from their propaganda and terrorist activities towards the needs of the population.
If stopping all aid to these terrorists causes them to collapse - what more could we hope for?
Posted by: Javahead | 2006-03-29 4:50:52 PM
William, there is no "State of Palestine" because the people who call themselves "Palestinians" are actually misplaced Jordanites and Lebonese.
"Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is one people and one land, with one history and one and the same fate." so said the late King Hussein's brother Prince Hassan in 1970.
The Palestinians could have a home tomorrow if their "brothers" merely LET THEM COME BACK.
Posted by: Feynman and Coulter's Love Child | 2006-03-29 5:27:43 PM
People seem to forget that "Palestine" does not exist. It was created by drawing lines on a map by the British after world war I in territory taken from the defeated Ottoman empire. "Palestinians" are simply Arabs who happened to live in what was one ancient Israel, and the label Palestinians was only applied to them after the Brits drew that line on the map. The persecuted remains of the Jewish race throughout Europe fought the British for the right to live in their ancestral lands, and only after they gained national status as Israel (through the UN, pushed for by the USA) did the Arabs living in the dissolved "Palestine" start calling themselves Palestinians and demand the Jews leave (because of course the Koran orders all muslims to destroy the Jewish race). Therefore, to say this is a millenia old conflict is pure ignorance, seeing how "Palestine" was invented in the last 100 years. I am not Jewish, and of the non-jewish people I know, none know what Israel and Palestine means, who these people are, or how they got there. Also, public school systems do not at all cover the history of that area, despite its critical role in shaping modern world politics. Instead they teach endlessly about Canadian "history", and for a country not much more than a century old, it manages to dominate subject matter for the majority of school years. Other areas of the world with much more real history get little or no attention in school. I can only hope that someone has the resolve to ignorant teachers from the schools, and get some people who can teach relevant and accurate world history and politics.
Posted by: Big Makk | 2006-03-29 6:23:05 PM
Whew, I need to use paragraphs next time... sorry all.
Posted by: Big Makk | 2006-03-29 6:24:10 PM
The same argument could be made that the Jews living in Israel are mostly displaced Europeans, or Quebeckers living in Canada are displaced French from France. It doesnt really matter what Prince Hassan said. All it takes to feel you are a nation is some sort of sentiment. I mean, we've argued here that Taiwan is legitimate but aren't they the same as Chinese people?
I believe your comment has oversimplified history. If it were really that simple there would be no conflict. Let's just face it, Israel and "Palestine" are land(s) of displaced people.
I think a new prophet needs to come and set things straight...based on some people I have worked with, the hate for the Jews is so deep in their bones no rational thought will ever get through...."my way or the highway" attitudes never lead to progress (unless many die).
It's also strange that arabs and jews have lived together in peace in the past, yet seem unable to now.
Posted by: William McCullough | 2006-03-29 6:24:29 PM
This is great news and a definite step in the right direction!
If Islam is going to "moderate" it will have to drop its crazy ideas about Jews - in this case, that the Jews came along and stole "Palestine" from them and now they can't help what they do because they are all just poor helpless victims of Zionism.
Posted by: ex-liberal | 2006-03-29 6:26:09 PM
William,
before the modern state of Israel existed, Jews lived in Arab/Muslim lands as dhimmis, second class citizens, without equality before the law.
from Myths and Facts:
In the early years of the Islamic conquest, the "tribute" (or jizya), paid as a yearly poll tax, symbolized the subordination of the dhimmi.
Later, the inferior status of Jews and Christians was reinforced through a series of regulations that governed the behavior of the dhimmi. Dhimmis, on pain of death, were forbidden to mock or criticize the Koran, Islam or Muhammad, to proselytize among Muslims, or to touch a Muslim woman (though a Muslim man could take a non-Muslim as a wife).
Dhimmis were excluded from public office and armed service, and were forbidden to bear arms. They were not allowed to ride horses or camels, to build synagogues or churches taller than mosques, to construct houses higher than those of Muslims or to drink wine in public. They were forced to wear distinctive clothing and were not allowed to pray or mourn in loud voices — as that might offend the Muslims. The dhimmi also had to show public deference toward Muslims; for example, always yielding them the center of the road. The dhimmi was not allowed to give evidence in court against a Muslim, and his oath was unacceptable in an Islamic court. To defend himself, the dhimmi would have to purchase Muslim witnesses at great expense. This left the dhimmi with little legal recourse when harmed by a Muslim.
Muhammad, the founder of Islam, traveled to Medina in 622 A.D. to attract followers to his new faith. When the Jews of Medina refused to recognize Muhammad as their Prophet, two of the major Jewish tribes were expelled. In 627, Muhammad's followers killed between 600 and 900 of the men, and divided the surviving Jewish women and children amongst themselves.
The Muslim attitude toward Jews is reflected in various verses throughout the Koran, the holy book of the Islamic faith. "They [the Children of Israel] were consigned to humiliation and wretchedness. They brought the wrath of God upon themselves, and this because they used to deny God's signs and kill His Prophets unjustly and because they disobeyed and were transgressors" (Sura 2:61). According to the Koran, the Jews try to introduce corruption (5:64), have always been disobedient (5:78), and are enemies of Allah, the Prophet and the angels (2:97-98).
Jews were generally viewed with contempt by their Muslim neighbors; peaceful coexistence between the two groups involved the subordination and degradation of the Jews. In the ninth century, Baghdad's Caliph al-Mutawakkil designated a yellow badge for Jews, setting a precedent that would be followed centuries later in Nazi Germany.
At various times, Jews in Muslim lands lived in relative peace and thrived culturally and economically. The position of the Jews was never secure, however, and changes in the political or social climate would often lead to persecution, violence and death.
When Jews were perceived as having achieved too comfortable a position in Islamic society, anti-Semitism would surface, often with devastating results. On December 30, 1066, Joseph HaNagid, the Jewish vizier of Granada, Spain, was crucified by an Arab mob that proceeded to raze the Jewish quarter of the city and slaughter its 5,000 inhabitants. The riot was incited by Muslim preachers who had angrily objected to what they saw as inordinate Jewish political power.
Similarly, in 1465, Arab mobs in Fez slaughtered thousands of Jews, leaving only 11 alive, after a Jewish deputy vizier treated a Muslim woman in "an offensive manner." The killings touched off a wave of similar massacres throughout Morocco.
Other mass murders of Jews in Arab lands occurred in Morocco in the 8th century, where whole communities were wiped out by the Muslim ruler Idris I; North Africa in the 12th century, where the Almohads either forcibly converted or decimated several communities (and drove out Maimonides and his family); Libya in 1785, where Ali Burzi Pasha murdered hundreds of Jews; Algiers, where Jews were massacred in 1805, 1815 and 1830; and Marrakesh, Morocco, where more than 300 Jews were murdered between 1864 and 1880.
Decrees ordering the destruction of synagogues were enacted in Egypt and Syria (1014, 1293-4, 1301-2), Iraq (854-859, 1344) and Yemen (1676). Despite the Koran's prohibition, Jews were forced to convert to Islam or face death in Yemen (1165 and 1678), Morocco (1275, 1465 and 1790-92) and Baghdad (1333 and 1344).
The situation of Jews in Arab lands reached a low point in the 19th century. Jews in most of North Africa (including Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Morocco) were forced to live in ghettos. In Morocco, which contained the largest Jewish community in the Islamic Diaspora, Jews were made to walk barefoot or wear shoes of straw when outside the ghetto. Even Muslim children participated in the degradation of Jews, by throwing stones at them or harassing them in other ways. The frequency of anti-Jewish violence increased, and many Jews were executed on charges of apostasy. Ritual murder accusations against the Jews became commonplace in the Ottoman Empire.
The danger for Jews became even greater as a showdown approached in the UN. The Syrian delegate, Faris el-Khouri, warned: "Unless the Palestine problem is settled, we shall have difficulty in protecting and safeguarding the Jews in the Arab world."
More than a thousand Jews were killed in anti-Jewish rioting during the 1940's in Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria and Yemen. This helped trigger the mass exodus of Jews from Arab countries.
Posted by: ex-liberal | 2006-03-29 8:30:30 PM
Canada rocks! It's about time. Finally a country that demonstrates respect to Palestinians - instead of the usual fawning media attention heaped on Palestinians because they're a bunch of losers. This is democracy in action - Palestinians vote for terrorism and life gets tougher for them, it's a lesson for them and it should be a lesson to others in Western countries too. There's no quicker way to moderation.
Posted by: infidel | 2006-03-29 9:15:10 PM
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