Discrimination

Ten things I did not see (or hear) during my recent 3 week trip to Israel/Palestine

Map of Israel/Palestine

On this map you can see many of the places I just visited during a 3 week tour to Israel/Palestine: Tel Aviv/Jaffa, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron, the destroyed bedouin village of al-Araqib, and Canada Park, (itself built on top of 3 Palestinian villages destroyed in 1967).

Together with 7 other curious Canadians on a “come and see tour”, I met with 27 Israeli and Palestinian NGO’s, as well as international organizations. We visited the Knesset and various historical sites. And we also got to talk to many individual Palestinians and Israelis.

We saw a lot, heard a lot and learned a lot. But sometimes its instructive to reflect on what you didn’t see or hear.

Here are 10 significant things we did not see or hear, while we were there.

(more…)

Does it matter if Homeland is “the most bigoted program on TV”?

HOMELAND (Season 4)

The American television series “Homeland” is wildly popular in Canada. Hundreds of thousands watch CIA agent Carrie Mathison in her continual fight to save western liberal democracy from evil Arab forces motivated by hate and religion. Does this matter to those who want Canada to have a balanced policy with respect to Israel/Palestine? You bet it does. See my article.

(more…)

Anti semitism in Canada – is it really growing?

On CBC’s “Sunday Morning” today (January 19th), Michael Enright had a long interview with American academic Daniel Goldhagen, author of “The Rise of Global Anti-Semitism”. Mr. Goldhagen argues that anti-Semitism is a latent and endemic condition in the Christian world, always there, ready to press forward from time to time. He adds to that what he calls the Muslim Anti-Semitism of the Arab world. This anti-Semitism, while today often directed against Israel, is much more deep rooted than that. The attacks on Israel are solely “a new form of anti-Semitism”.

Goldhagen’s argumentation is the basis, of course, of Jason Kenny’s thesis that the world is awash in the “new anti-Semitism’ and that Canada should struggle against it.
(more…)