Another refugee issue

Before the state of Israel was re-established in 1948, there were almost 1 million Jews in Arab lands; today there are around 5,000. Jewish refugees, writes Danny Ayalon, were pushed out of the lands that they had lived in for thousands of years, predating even Islam.

Canada will boycott UN conference

Canada is the first country to announce it will not attend  a UN conference on racism, known as "Durban III", scheduled to occur in 2011.

“The original Durban conference and its declaration, as well as the non-governmental activities associated with it, proved to be a dangerous platform for racism, including anti-Semitism,”said Canada's Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. “The General Assembly has now chosen to repeat and even augment the mistakes of the past.”

Ottawa conference on combatting anti-Semitism

"Harnessing disparate anti-Semitic, anti-American and anti-Western ideologies, [anti-Semitism] targets the Jewish people by targeting the Jewish homeland, Israel, as the source of injustice and conflict in the world, and uses, perversely, the language of human rights to do so."

Excerpt from a speech by Prime Minister Stephen Harper ... more.

Canada in the Middle East

Canadian member of parliament and cabinet minister Peter Kent visited Israel and the West Bank. Canadian and Israeli columnists comment.

Canada and the Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1954 several thousand fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls were purchased by McGill University. They never arrived. Now the story of this purchase is told in Canada's Big Biblical Bargain: How McGill University Bought the Dead Sea Scrolls ... more.

Canadian-Iranian blogger may be executed

Hossein Derakhshan is an Iranian who moved to Canada and became a blogger. His on-line publication, sometimes critical, sometimes supportive of Tehran, taught Iranians, domestic and ex-patriate, how to blog in Persian. In 2006 as a Canadian citizen he visited Israel. In 2008 he returned to Iran and was arrested. Now he faces a possible death penalty ... more.

Update:  For “conspiring with hostile governments, spreading propaganda against the Islamic system, spreading propaganda in favor of counterrevolutionary groups, blasphemy, and creating and managing obscene Web sites,” an Iranian court has sentenced Mr. Derakhshan to 19.5 years in jail ... more.

View from Havana

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should stop slandering Jews and denying the Holocaust and Tehran should acknowledge the "unique" history of antisemitism and understand why Israelis fear for their existence. So says Cuba's retired President Fidel Castro.

Rebuilding trust

Peace between Israelis and Palestinians is "within our grasp" writes Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.  The biggest obstacle is psychological.

Surprise move

Samuel Segev, columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press reports on a new French diplomatic initiative aimed at mediating Israel's conflict with both Syria and Lebanon.

Gay, pro-Israel and fed up

Kelvin Browne comments on the nature of prejudice in Canadian society.

Critical care

Accompanied by his mother, a four-month-old Palestinian baby suffering from a rare immune deficiency goes from Gaza to Israel’s Tel Hashomer hospital for lifesaving bone-marrow treatment. Thomas Friedman describes what happens next.

Tipping point

Point de Bascule, or Tipping Point, is a Montreal-based French language webmagazine dedicated to exploring and exposing Islamist activities in Quebec ... more.

Palestinians and the Arab League

The Arab League advises Arab states to deny citizenship to Palestinians. Robert Fulford explains.

Politics of resentment

Salim Mansur visits Ramallah and files this report on the political mood of Palestinians.

Historical perspective

"Everything that makes a nation state legitimate – bloodshed, soil tilled, two millennia of continuous residence, international agreements – argues for Israel’s right to exist, yet that is still denied by the Arab League." So states historian Andrew Roberts in this speech to the Friends of Israel Initiative in the British House of Commons.

A Canadian Muslim visits Jerusalem

"The ease with which I moved," Salim Mansur writes "— alone and without restrictions — from the inner sanctum of the Muslim sanctuary to Judaism’s holiest site, embracing both, is a testimony to the openness of Israel as a Jewish state and democracy."

Attention shoppers

A new shopping mall has opened in Gaza City. It advertises “air conditioning, a parking lot, security guards, a full-service supermarket and a food court.” Columnist Lorne Gunter reports.

Palestinian rights

A vote on extending the rights of Palestinians in Lebanon has been postponed.  At present, they are denied the right to own property, do not qualify for health care, and are banned by Lebanese law from working in a large number of jobs. 

Update: Lebanon's parliament has passed a law which will allow Palestinian refugees to work legally, but they will still be unable to work in the public sector or in professions such as medicine, law or engineering. They will also continue to be denied access to Lebanese state medical and educational facilities, and will be unable to buy property.

Uncertain cargo

A Canadian group wants to sail to Gaza. In this editorial, the Calgary Herald examines their motive.

The Gaza flotilla

From a National Post editorial: "When the first team of helicopter-borne commandos arrived on the deck of the flotilla’s lead vessel, they were immediately set upon by dozens of knife- and axe-wielding attackers. Some soldiers were thrown off the ship’s main deck. One was shot in the abdomen. Three were taken prisoner inside the ship (where they overheard heated arguments between the boat’s martyrdom-minded activists and the more pacifistic variety). It was the 'activists,' not the commandos, who initiated the use of deadly force."

Pride without prejudice

Dow Marmur writes, "A week ago, I overcame my aversion to marches and demonstrations by walking in Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade. It was my way of responding to the antics of the group that calls itself Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), which had again been allowed to participate in the parade." ... more.

Current affairs

A financial disagreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority is the cause of electrical shortages in Gaza.

Israel admitted to OECD

Last month Israel was admitted into the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a club of the world's most developed economies, despite protests by the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern groups.

Europeans for Israel

European leaders have a reputation of being quick to place responsibility on Israel for the conflict with the Palestinians, and willing to overlook the aggressive actions of Palestinian and neighbouring Arab leaders.

Now, a group of non-Jewish European leaders, headed by former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, is looking at the conflict differently. Their initiative is called Friends of Israel.

Anti-Israel or anti-Semitic?

In e-mails, postings to media web-sites and letters to the editor, the Vancouver Sun encounters accusations, often in anti-Semitic language, that it is an agent of Israeli policy. Columnist Stephen Hume replies. (Update: The article is no longer available on the Vancouver Sun website.  A copy is available here.)

Rex Murphy: UN condemns Israel first, investigates later

Rex Murphy has his own acerbic look at the inconsistencies in the UN vis a vis Israel

Pilar Rahola and the Lunatic Left

A voice from Spain - not herself Jewish - who sees the inconsistency in how Israel is treated relative to Palestine and other 'hot spots' around the world: Pilar Rahola

The Real Problem in Gaza

Most of the world seems to believe that the problems Gaza's citizens would be solved if Israel allowed ships to enter Gaza freely. This article explains that Gazans' real problem is the total control, poor distribution and general misue by Hamas of all the supplies that do enter Gaza.

The Best Defense

This article in Commentary Magazine clearly lays out the hypocrisy of Turkey's involvement and reaction to the flotilla incident and, intriguingly, what it would look like if Israel turned the tables and went on the offense.

Celestial and earthly Jerusalem

In an open letter to President Obama, published in American newspapers, (read it here) Elie Wiesel urged the President not to press too soon for a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian differences regarding Jerusalem. A group of prominent Jewish academics and activists residing in Jerusalem responded by publishing this angry letter. Rabbi Dow Marmur comments and adds a Canadian perspective.

Disproportionate criticism

Dan Henninger in the Wall Street Journal compares the massive world outcry over a small naval incident to the relative lack of concern by the international community about much more serious situations.

Here's a quote: "But if the world's powers unload like this only on relatively small, isolated nations like Israel, then clearly the keepers of the world order find it easier to be blowhards than statesmen. And that means we have a problem."

The Trouble with Turkey

One of the most troubling and disappointing aspects of the flotilla incident is the extent of Turkey's participation in its preparation, and the viscious and hostile criticism of Israel in its aftermath. Thomas Friedman explains the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Israel and Turkey.

Gaza dilemma

Why does Israel maintain a blockade on the Gaza Strip and subject itself to international outcry? Simply put, writes Akiva Tor, the Israeli consul general in San Francisco, we don't have much choice.

Law of the Sea

Did Israel violate international law when it boarded the Gaza flotilla? Ed Morgan, professor of international law at the University of Toronto examines the question.

War disguised as aid

Evidence is mounting that some "human rights activists" on board the Gaza flotilla had anything but human rights on their minds. Canadians should ask some hard questions.

Why the Gaza blockade?

The activists aboard the Gaza flotilla may believe they were forcing Israel to address a moral issue, but David Makovsky (writing in The Christian Science Monitor) says the situation is more complex.

Activists or pacifists?

Israel likes to conduct its anti-terrorist operations in a measured, deliberate fashion. But that's difficult in the close confines of a crowded ship, where combat takes place at the range of a few metres--especially, in the case of the Free Gaza flotilla, which was populated by a diverse mob spanning the gamut from naive Jewish grandmothers to full-fledged Islamist radicals.

Gaza restaurant report

International media have been full of stories about activist boats sailing to Gaza carrying desperately-needed humanitarian aid and building materials. What they won’t tell you about, reports Tom Gross, are Gaza's fancy restaurants, the new olympic-sized swimming pool, the wind surfing competitions, or the Strip’s crowded shops and markets.

Campus report

Is it fair for university presidents to allow Israel Apartheid Week on campus? "I will eat my hat," writes Barbara Amiel, "the day any of them allow an Anti-Islamism Week or even an Anti-Taliban Week." ... more.

Encouraging the young

Dalal Mughrabi led the worst terrorist attack on civilians in the history of Israel. In the last two years Palestinians have named a computer centre, two high schools for girls, two summer camps and a soccer championship after her. Robert Fulford comments.

From Lake Winnipeg to the Sea of Galilee

Manitoba has joined forces with Israel to explore the best way of managing water resources.

"Occupied" or "disputed"?

In an essay in the Wall Street Journal, Danny Ayalon writes that the land generally described as the "occupied territories" should  more accurately be called the "disputed territories". Moshe Yaroni, writing in Zeek, finds the distinction unimportant; "occupied" or "disputed", Israel's political obligations in the terrritories remain the same.