Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 11, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba Comment editor Gerald flood 697-7269 a13 Winnipeg free press Friday August 11, 2006 and beyond Quebec and the jews War in Lebanon awakens ancient demons in la Belle province q Xebec has a Long and ambiguous relation ship with jews. The recent Large Demon stration in Montreal purportedly in support of peace in Lebanon is seen As the latest expression of that troubled past. One need not look far for the skeletons of anti semitism in Quebec. A recent biography of Pierre Trudeau for exam ple unearths the fascist sympathies he adopted along with Many other sup Posedly enlightened Quebe cers while nazis were rounding up the jews of Europe for eventual extermination. In the 1990s, historian Esther Delisle became a pariah in Quebec intellectual circles for documenting the proliferation of anti jewish politicians and religious leaders who influenced several generations of average Quebe cers. Delisle a treatise was a godsend of objective research for author Mordechai Richler for one who regularly railed against the sickening anti semitism he said was prevalent in Quebec society throughout his lifetime. More recently a storm arose last year Over the Charest governments initial plan to expand fund ing to jewish private schools. The uproar and the governments Retreat said As much about under lying attitudes towards jews As it did about the actions of the government. There is ample evidence either anecdotal or academic to suggest some Quebe cers have issues with jews Judaism zionism Israel or All of the above. While the rest of Canada is by no Means innocent in this regard ? holocaust deniers for example seem to come from elsewhere in the country ? in the current context of terrorism and War such attitudes take on a More sinister mean ing. A series of commentators have expressed alarm at How Quebec leaders specifically the blocs Gilles Dueppe and Premier Wanna be Andre Boisclair of the parti sub Cois have appeared to ally themselves with supporters of Hezbollah the terrorist organization embedded in Lebanon. The Montreal demonstration in which Dueppe and Boisclair marched claimed to be broadly based with a sprinkling of reportedly anti zionist orthodox jews in the crowd. However the Abun dance of Hezbollah flags and the decidedly anti Israel tone to the demonstration cast doubt on the intent of what was billed As a March for peace. Naturally Domestic political motives Are suspected in Dueppe and Boisclair a Solidarity by association with the anti Israel crowd. With both leaders fates hinging to varying degrees on the popularity of Stephen harpers conservative government and its pro Israel stand there May be some growth potential in currying the Large mus Lim Community in Montreal. The attendance of Arch federalist and Muslim vote dependent Liberal my Denis Coderre a sup Porter of party leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff also raises questions and typifies his party a brewing falling out with its traditional jewish backers. Nominally the support of the sovereignty and leftist movements in Quebec for non israeli ele ments of the Middle East struggle can be interpreted As Solidarity with the palestinian Peoples quest for statehood. Presumably the argument goes that just As the palestinians Are oppressed by an aggressive foreign Power and denied an Independent Homeland so too Are Quebe cers. Where though does one draw the line Between sincere sympathy for the palestinian Muslim cause and endorsing the motives of the Leader ship of the cause notably Hezbollah Hamas and the like critics wonder what values embraced by these groups Appeal to certain Quebec leaders. Beryl Wajsman and Nathalie Elgrably of the Institute for Public affairs of Montreal wrote a piece this week that examines that question. They note that Hezbollah for example when its not suicide bombing israeli civilians or kidnapping soldiers is opposed to labour unions Freedom of speech Gay rights female Equality and civil lib erties All Core beliefs of the Quebec left indeed Western society in general. Quebec a tendency to take a different stance than the rest of Canada on global issues is Well known. Some account for that divergence As a left fuelled aversion to anything remotely associated with the presidency of George w. Bush. But As far As the seeming anti Israel tilt leaders like Boisclair and Dueppe have adopted by associating themselves with a rally Rife with Hezbollah supporters that would seem to go beyond Mere distaste for Bush. The president has Only been around for six years ? five of them leading the response to the september 11, 2001, terrorist attacks ? whereas Quebec a questionable relationship with jews has very deep roots indeed. Peter Black is a Csc producer in Quebec City. Israel fighting for the right to exist by Rhonda Spivak and Haskel j. Greenfield i n his article Israel a bombs test the limits of loyalty free press aug. 3warren Goldstein an american jew claims that nothing justifies Israel killing innocent civilians in the Hope of taking out a rocket launcher and Calls for the killing to Stop now notwithstanding the fact that the israeli Public seems unusually United in favour of the current we Are Canadian jews one of whom spent the first month of the War in Israel and one of whom leaves for Israel shortly for the next month. Both of us will have had to ready our bomb shelters and be prepared to have our Young families in them if need be. We too regret the loss of life of innocent civilians both israeli jewish and israeli Arab and lebanese but cannot agree with your criticisms of israeli conduct. It is Well known that Hezbollah deliberately places its rocket launch ers in civilian areas in order to use civilians As a defensive shield. If Israel cannot attack those areas for fear of unintended civilian casualties then How else can it properly and rightfully defend its citizens Why does to or. Goldstein write to sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and politely Tell him that next time he sends Hezbollah terrorists to murder and Kidnap israeli soldiers and Rains Rock ets on Northern Israel Israel wont go after any of his rocket launchers As Long As they Are hidden in civilian areas somehow we Don to think that this kind of policy will deter Hezbollah. On the contrary it will Only embolden it to get More rockets and launch them with greater Force on Israel. For the past six years since Israel withdrew from Lebanon unilaterally no one has done anything to enforce the United nations Resolution to Dis Arm Hezbollah. During this time Hezbollah has been allowed by the International Community to stockpile its arms develop a sophisticated sys tem of bunkers and function unabashedly As a state within a state. Or. Goldstein refers to the fact that the israeli Public seems unusually United in favour of the current maybe someone should explain to or. Goldstein Why that is. Its because israelis see this As a fight about protecting their right to exist As people in a secure Homeland. It is an essential Issue that everyone in the country agrees on. For israelis this in to about an attempt to make claims to a greater Israel or any suggestion about trying to permanently occupy another people. This is about whether the residents of Haifa and Tiberias and Northern Israel More than one million people must live alongside an armed terrorist entity committed to its destruction. Its also about whether the rest of the israelis in the country have to live with the fear that they Are the next to be targeted and there will be nowhere in the country left to flee. Its about whether israelis can Ever be allowed to live a Normal life As the likes of or. Goldstein can afford in the comforts of the United states and from where they can criticize decisions about Israel a Security from the safety of the bosom of a superpower. Its also about whether the Palestin Ian extremists in Gaza and the West Bank will be further emboldened to use longer Range rockets and missiles to hit deeper into Central and Southern Israel. Should we Tell the extremists in Gaza and Lebanon that Israel will restrain its response so that no inno cent civilian is accidentally killed if these rockets Are knowingly launched from civilian neighbourhoods is it fair for or. Goldstein to seriously suggest that Tel Aviv can be fairly targeted in War but that Israel cannot respond in a Way that potentially injures civilian life no country at War would or can accept this limitation to its deterrence Power. Until Hezbollah is disarmed we Hope that or. Goldstein would to mind Trad ing places with his israeli Brethren by living in the hot Claustrophobic bomb shelters or in Homes on the Border with Lebanon until he is satisfied that Hezbollah has disarmed. Or. Goldstein could let an israeli family needing a respite stay in his Home in the United states until this whole thing is sorted out. Maybe then or. Goldstein will better understand Why most israelis deem it essential to provide the Citi Zens of their country with a More secure future if they Are to remain in Israel As opposed to seeking visas to North America or elsewhere. After All if it was so easy to disarm Hezbollah does to or. Goldstein think that the lebanese government would have tried to do it by now rather than tolerating an Independent army within its Borders one of the main reasons that the lebanese government has to disarmed the Hezbollah is because the terrorist group has the support of a substantial segment of the lebanese people As Well As neighbouring Syria and of course Iran. In conclusion it is frightening to read or. Goldsteins anti Israel Dia tribe. It is frightening because it is an historical perspective ? it completely ignores history. We would have imagined that he As a professor of his tory would respect the lessons of his tory. Instead he asserts that they Are not relevant. There has been a major shift in recent israeli politics from a majority support for disengagement less than a year ago to support for military action in Lebanon and Gaza. Nowhere in or. Goldsteins article does he make reference to the fact that Israel unilaterally withdrew from Lebanon six years ago and Gaza less than a year ago. Nor does he refer to the fact that the week before the recent crisis Israel a prime minister was in the capitals of Europe propos ing a further set of withdrawals in the West Bank. Israel a Reward so far for its withdrawals Over the past six years has been an increased stockpiling of weapons by its enemies a second Intifada perpetual attempts by suicide bombers to blow up innocent civilians incursions into Israel along All Borders and incessant rocket barrages across into pre-1967 Israel. One cannot but be struck by the obvious historical relationship Between israeli withdrawals and perceptions of weakness and stepped up military action by its enemies. This is the lesson of history that or. Goldstein has failed to learn. Rhonda Spivak is a member of the Manitoba and israeli bar associations. Haskel j. Greenfield is a professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Manitoba. America plays by its own code of conduct f or those interested in politics and Public policy nationally and internationally the weekly British news Magazine the economist comes close to being required Reading. All Over the world it is one of the most widely read and widely respected periodicals in the eng Lish language. Founded in the Middle of the 19th Century it has a Well earned reputation for its intelligence in both sense sits thoroughness and the Quality of its writing. Above All perhaps it is admired for the clarity of its analysis and opinions which almost invariably arise from thorough and balanced discussion and a judicious assessment of the pertinent facts and arguments. One May not always agree with its conclusions but it is rare in my experience to come away from an economist article or editorial feeling that their conclusions were skewed by a selective approach Ous concern for facts and logic is often laced with dry wit and Subtle Humour. In its political Outlook it is As it was in the beginning Liberal in the classic 19th-Century sense. In our time it tends to be internationalist on global issues Liberal on social questions and conservative in economics. It has also tended in modern times to be broadly supportive ? if not always uncritically ? of the United states and of much of americas general approach to International and bilateral issues. It was All the More interesting therefore to read in a recent Issue of the economist a news Story seemingly written More in sorrow than in anger dealing with yet another Case of the . Apparently applying a differ ent Rule for itself than it would apply to others. The Issue involves three British former Bankers flown to hous ton to face fraud charges relating to the collapse of the Energy trading giant Enron. The three Are accused of having advised their own Bank to sell off part of an Enron company at less than its real value. According to the economist american prosecutors accuse the Trio of then leaving the Bank buying into the firm themselves and subsequently Selling it off at a sub Stantial profit. The Story goes on although the crime if there was one took place in Britain the government insists that under the terms of a Bilat eral extradition treaty agreed to in 2003 and a subsequent act of the British parliament incorporating its provisions the men must face Justice in the economist notes that the three in question Are not the first to be extradited under the new arrangements 13 others having been handed Over earlier but that they have attracted enor Mous Public support. There is a growing sense of injustice Over the terms of the treaty which make it easier for America to get its hands on suspects in Britain than vice versa and the fact that America has not bothered to ratify the treaty. A lurking resentment of americas Power and the belief that the British government is in Thrall to it has contributed to the not surprisingly the economist editorially dissents somewhat from this View but it does fault the British government for generally failing in its duty to its own citizens by agreeing to extradite without proper evidence for doing so. The idea of a British government agreeing to arrangements that Are not reciprocal and then compounding that lapse by failing to protect the rights of its own citizens ought to resonate in Canada. We have our own Case study its con text is provided by the free Trade agreement with the United states and the Case itself of course is softwood lumber. Canada like Britain entered into an agreement with the United states and in this Case both countries ratified it. But in the Canadian Case the United states has refused to be bound by the dispute settlement mechanisms provided under the agreement ? unless of course the adjudicator supports american claims. On soft Wood most of the appeals ended in support of the Canadian position and in a refusal by the americans to comply. In april the Harper government announced that an agreed upon Solu Tion had been negotiated with the United states. However under this solution $1 billion of the $5 billion Worth of countervailing duties illegally imposed by the . Will remain in american hands they will in Short be rewarded for doing something that was wrong to begin with. Moreover the new agree ment touted As bringing peace for seven years turned out to have an escape clause inserted at american insistence that would allow the agree ment to be terminated in two. And the new agreement also makes provision for quotas being imposed by the . ? a provision illustrating the proposition that we have neither free Trade nor fair Trade ? and which is a matter of substantial concern to Many in the Canadian lumber Industry. Both the British and Canadian cases provide Clear examples of american exceptionalism ? the notion that Aris ing from its unique origins evolution and lofty ideals the . Is not subject to the same imperfections constraints or rules As the rest of humanity. This delusion alas is one to which the Blairs and harpers of the world Are willing to play ? and pay. Maybe its the Best they think they can do but lets be Clear about that this is no More about fair Trade than our being in Afghanistan is about democracy in both cases we Are bending to the imperatives of american Power. ;