The Z-Files

Drop Fees - End Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:55:00 +0000

Last Thursday, November 5th was a good day for a demonstration. The weather was shifty, from sun, to rain, to cloud, to hail and back again. I guess one could argue it was symbolic since the students of Toronto and social justice networks marched despite the constantly changing and challenging weather.

This year the CFS (Canadian Federation of Students) has began a campaign of "Drop Fees for a Poverty Free Ontario"; rather than simply doing the singular "Drop Fees" campaign that it's been doing for years, this time they have opted for a more holistic approach, tying issues of lack of access to education to poverty issues. Having grown up in the general Jane & Finch area, I've seen so much potential in people who could not pursue their gifts and talents in the way they could have because of their economic situation. Through easily accessible education society as a whole can benefit greatly.

At York University itself the YFS (York Federation of Students) enjoys extremely high support, having won a general election last year of a nearly 2 to 1 difference againts a rival, more right-wing slate, the YFS is sure to play a pivotal role in the forming student movement. Helping to mobilize York students, I have heard many diverse viewpoints on this issue. When people doubt I always recall the situation that took place a few years ago in France when the then right-wing government attempted to enact legislation that discriminated directly against youths and students. Students proceeded to take to the streets and occupied them for days until the government had to retract that offending legislation. This example, where a student movement was allowed to grow free of apathy and complacency, shows how potent and useful a strong student movement really is.

http://www.dropfees.ca

Jane-Finch Action Against Poverty

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:25:00 +0000

Daily Show : Palestine

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:32:00 +0000

Here is the interview with Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer, an American Jewish activist on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Unfortuantely there was no option to embed it on this blog, here are the links to the full extended interview you couldn't see on the actual show:

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/exclusive-interviews/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart---anna-baltzer-and-mustafa-barghouti-interview-extended/#clip229121

http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/exclusive-interviews/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart---anna-baltzer-and-mustafa-barghouti-interview-extended/#clip229122

Anna Baltzer has said that this would not have been possible just a short few years ago. Time's truly are changing.

Anna Baltzer - Witness to Palestine

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:22:00 +0000

I just recently came across this amazing young Jewish American activist. Here is a sample of her work in these 6 videos. I know it's long but I really hope you watch them. If you are unfamiliar with Israel/Palestine issues it is must see videos. She is appearing on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart alongside Mustfa Barghouti this Wednesday, Oct. 28th. Catch it! I'll try to post it on here after it's released on the comedy central site. I think it's great that this point of view is finally becoming more mainstream and that non-Zionist Jews are getting the courage to come out and tell the truth:

York U faculty and student correct misrepresentations

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:58:00 +0000

*just came across this. It is a statement done by 200 or so faculty and students at York University that deny the claim by government and media that York University has become a hotbed of anti-semitic activity, explaining how most of the supposed anti-semitic activity is concocted by media and pro-Zionist groups. These groups have an interest in making it seem like it is such a hotbed for a number of reasons. Here is the statement and the names of witnesses verifying the inauthenticity of these statements, many of whom are Jewish.*
http://www.straight.com/article-266050/york-university-professors-and-students-reject-claims-antisemitism?awesm=fbshare.me_Wvf
York University professors and students reject claims of antisemitism
By Staff
Nearly 200 York University faculty members and students have signed a petition rejecting a claim by Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and others that the campus has become a hotbed of antisemitism. Their petition appears below:

Faculty and students reject the smearing of York, and uphold the
University’s mission to promote public debate

Over the course of the past year, York University has been targeted in
various public spaces as a site where antisemitism is rife. In a
September 12, 2009 advertisement in the National Post, B’nai Brith
Canada offers a “checklist” of antisemitic incidents likely to occur
on university campuses. Jewish students are told they can “expect ...
harassment ... intimidation by your professor or teaching assistant
... Swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti all over campus”.

Concocted accounts of “violent anti-Jewish riots at York University”
(in the words of the Jerusalem Post, February 15, 2009) have become
widespread.

Federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney was quoted just a
few weeks ago (Thornhill Liberal, September 11, 2009) as describing
what was going on at York as resembling “pogroms”.

The use of such inflammatory language cannot any longer be ignored and
allowed to fester. Its implications could be seen when the National
Post ran a piece earlier this year (Matt Gurney, February 13, 2009)
that actually called for York to be “purged of its hateful elements".

The fact is that representations of the York campus--and indeed
university campuses generally--as hotbeds of antisemitism are simply
untrue.

The B’nai Brith “checklist,” like the allegations of
“antisemitic” acts at York, let alone “riots’ or “pogroms”, are
entirely inaccurate, if not libelous, and amount to nothing but
fear-mongering. Notably, the B’Nai Brith advertisement featured a
photo of a rally in York’s central hall in which some Palestinian
national symbols could be seen, but no antisemitic imagery whatsoever.

As teachers and researchers at York, Jewish and non-Jewish, we do not,
and will not, tolerate antisemitism or any other forms of racism or
discrimination on this campus. But at the same time, we strongly
defend our university’s long-cherished mission to promote public
debate, including debate on contentious political issues.

We deplore attempts to use misinformation and fear, let alone the accompanying call for “purges”, to stifle academic freedom.

Signatories:

Faculty:

1. Adrian Shubert, Professor, History

2. Alan Simmons, Professor, Sociology

3. Allan C. Hutchinson, Distinguished Research Professor, Osgoode
Hall Law School

4. Allan Greenbaum, contract faculty, Social Science and Sociology

5. Allyson M. Lunny, Assistant Professor, Law & Society Program,
York University

6. Amanda Glasbeek, Assistant Professor, Social Science

7. Amnon Buchbinder, Associate Professor and Chair, Film

8. Ananya Mukherjee Reed, Associate Professor, Political Science

9. Anna Zalik, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies

10. Arun P. Mukherjee, Professor, Department of English

11. Barbara Cameron, Associate Professor, York University

12. Barbara Godard, Professor Emerita and Senior Scholar of English,
French, Women's Studies, Social and Political Thought; Historica Chair
in Canadian Literature Emerita.

13. Barbara Rahder, Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies

14. Bonita Lawrence, Associate Professor, Coordinator of the
Undergraduate Degree Program in Race, Ethnicity and Indigenous Studies

15. Bonnie Kettel, Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies

16. Brenda Longfellow, Associate Professor, Department of Film

17. Bruce Ryder, Associate Professor and Assistant Dean First Year,
Osgoode Hall Law School

18. Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair, Associate Professor, Film

19. Carl Baar, Adjunct Professor, Political Science

20. Carla Lipsig-Mumme, Professor of Work and Labour Studies.

21. Carlota McAllister, Assistant Professor, Anthropology

22. Claudio Durán, Senior Scholar

23. Colin Mooers, Professor and Director, Graduate Program in
Communication and Culture

24. Craig Scott, Director, Nathanson Centre on Transnational Rights,
Crime and Security, and Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

25. Cynthia Wright, contract faculty, School of Women's Studies

26. Daniel Drache, Professor, Political Science, and Associate
Director, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies

27. Daphne Winland, PhD, Associate Professor, Graduate Program
Director, Social Anthropology, Chair, Human Participants Ethics Review
Committee

28. David Langille, Course Director, Division of Social Sciences

29. David McNally, Professor, Department of Political Science

30. David Mutimer, Associate Professor of Political Science, and
Deputy Director, York Centre for International and Security Studies.

31. David Shugarman, Professor, Political Science

32. David Szablowski, Assistant Professor, Social Science

33. Dawn Bazely, Associate Professor of Biology

34. Dayna Nadine Scott, Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
and the Faculty of Environmental Studies

35. Douglas Hay, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School and Department of History

36. Douglas Young, Assistant Professor of Social Science

37. Derek Hrynyshyn, Adjunct Faculty, Political Science

38. Eduardo Canel, Associate Professor, Social Science, and Director,
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean

39. Elizabeth Lunstrum, Assistant Professor, Geography

40. Enda Brophy, Postdoctoral Fellow, Political Science

41. Esteve Morera, Associate Professor Department of Philosophy and
Department of Political Science

42. Gail Fraser, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

43. Gamal Abdel-Shehid, Kinesiology, York University

44. Gene Desfor, Professor Emeritus, Environmental Studies

45. George C. Comninel, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of
Political Science

46. Gerald Kernerman, Associate Professor, Political Science

47. Greg Albo, Associate Professor, York University

48. Gus Van Harten, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

49. Haideh Moghissi, Professor and Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal
Arts and Professional Studies

50. Harry Glasbeek, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Osgoode Hall

51. Himani Bannerji, Professor, Department of Sociology

52. Howard Daugherty, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

53. Ilan Kapoor, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

54. J. David Wood, Prof. Emeritus, Geography

55. J.J. McMurtry, Assistant Professor, Business and Society Program

56. James Laxer, Professor of Political Science, Department of Equity Studies

57. James Sheptycki, Professor, Criminology

58. Janet Owens, Contract Faculty, Social Science, and Environmental Studies

59. Janice Newton, Associate Professor, Political Science and School
of Women's Studies

60. Janine Marchessault, Canada Research Chair in Digital Media and
Globalization, Faculty of Fine Arts

61. Jennifer Foster, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies

62. Jennifer Hyndman, Professor, Social Science

63. Jody Berland, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities, and
Editor, Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies

64. Joe Sheridan, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

65. John Greyson, Associate Professor, Film

66. John S. Saul, Professor Emeritus, Social Science and Political Science

67. John Simoulidis, Contract Faculty, Social Science

68. Jon Sufrin, Adjunct Professor, Humanities

69. Jonathan Nitzan, Associate Professor of Political Economy,
Political Science

70. Judith Adler Hellman, Professor, Social Science and Political Science

71. Karen Murray, Associate Professor, Political Science

72. Kevin Moloney, Contract Faculty, Deptartment of Languages,
Literatures & Linguistics

73. L. Anders Sandberg, Associate Dean and Professor, Faculty of
Environmental Studies

74. Laam Hae, Assistant Professor, Political Science

75. Lee Lorch, FRSC,Professor Emeritus, Senior Scholar, Mathematics

76. Leesa Fawcett, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

77. Leo Panitch, Distinguished Research Professor, Senior Canada
Research Chair, Political Science

78. Lesley J. Wood, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology

79. Liette Gilbert, Associate Professor, PhD Coordinator and
Associate Dean, Faculty of Environmental Studies

80. Liora Salter, FRSC, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

81. Lorna Erwin, Associate Professor of Sociology, York University

82. Lorna Weir, Professor, Department of Sociology

83. Louis Lefeber, Professor of Economics and Graduate Program for
Social and Political Thought (emeritus)

84. Luin Goldring, Associate Professor, Sociology

85. Malcolm Blincow, Associate Professor, Anthropology

86. Marcela S.Duran, Community Practicum Coordinator, Concurrent
Program, Faculty of Education

87. Marcia Rioux, Professor, School Health Policy and Management and
Director, York Institute for Health Research

88. Maria Legerstee, Professor, Department of Psychology

89. Marilyn L. Pilkington, Associate Professor and former Dean,
Osgoode Hall Law School

90. Marion Werner, Researcher, Gender and Work Database Project at
York University

91. Mark J. Goodman, Department of Sociology and Coordinator, Human
Rights and Equity Studies, Department of Equity Studies

92. Mark Thomas, Associate Professor, Sociology

93. Martin Breaugh, Assistant Professor, Political Science.

94. Martin J. Bunch, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

95. Martin Thomas, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and
Administration

96. Mary Jane Mossman, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

97. Michael Mandel, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

98. Michael Nijhawan, Associate Professor, Sociology

99. Michael Ornstein, Associate Professor, Sociology

100. Nalini Persram, Associate Professor, Social Science

101. Nick Lary, Emeritus Professor, Humanities

102. Nicola Short, Associate Professor, Political Science

103. Norene Pupo, Director, Centre for Research on Work & Society

104. Obiora Okafor, Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

105. Patricia Wood, Associate Professor, Geography

106. Paul Antze, Associate Professor, Department of Social Science

107. Penni Stewart, Associate Professor, Sociology

108. Peter Vandergeest, Associate Professor, Geography

109. Peter Victor, Professor, Environmental Studies

110. Radhika Mongia, Associate Professor, and Director,
Graduate Program in Sociology

111. Raju J Das, Associate Professor, Department of Geography

112. Ravi de Costa, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies

113. Ricardo Grinspun, Associate Professor, Economics

114. Richard Saunders, Associate Professor, Political Science

115. Robert Latham, Associate Professor, Political Science, and
Director of the York Center for International and Security Studies

116. Robert MacDermid, Associate Professor, Political Science

117. Robin Roth, Associate Professor, Geography

118. Rodney Loeppky, Associate Professor, Political Science

119. Roger Keil, Professor, Environmental Studies, and
Director, The City Institute and The Canadian Center for German and
European Studies

120. Rosemary J. Coombe, Senior Canada Research Chair in Law,
Communication and Culture

121. Sabah Alnasseri, Associate Chair, Professor, Department of
Political Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies

122. Saeed Rahnema, Professor, Political Science

123. Sam Gindin, Packer Visiting Chair in Social Justice,
Political Science

124. Sandra Whitworth, Professor, Political Science

125. Scott Forsyth, Associate Professor, Film and Political Science

126. Sergei Plekhanov, Associate Professor, Political Science

127. Sergey N. Krylov, Professor, Canada Research Chair in
Bioanalytical Chemistry, and Director, Centre for Research on
Biomolecular Interactions

128. Shubhra Gururani, Associate Professor, Anthropology

129. Stanley Jeffers, Associate Professor Emeritus, Senior
Scholar, Department of Physics and Astronomy

130. Stefan Kipfer, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies

131. Stepan Wood, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

132. Stephanie Ross, Assistant Professor, Coordinator, Labour
Studies Programme, Division of Social Science

133. Stephen Hellman, Professor, Political Science

134. Steven Tufts, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography

135. Susan Drummond, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

136. Tania Das Gupta, Chair and Associate Professor, Department
of Equity Studies and Department of Sociology

137. Teresa Holmes, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology

138. Terry Goldie, Professor, English

139. Wenona Giles, Professor, Centre for Refugee Studies,
Anthropology Department, Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies

Students:

1. Aaron SanFilippo, Student

2. Adam Hilton, MA Political Science

3. Adrienne Roberts, PhD candidate, Political Science

4. Aidan Conway, Doctoral Candidate, Political Science

5. Albert R. Gaudio, MA Candidate, Political Science

6. Andrea Hopkins, MA Candidate, Political Science) and York
Centre for International and Security Studies Graduate Researcher

7. Andrea Sellinger, Political Science, MA Student

8. Baris Karaagac, PhD Candidate, Political Science

9. Brad Bauerly, PhD Candidate, Political Science

10. Bryony Halpin, PhD Candidate, Environmental Studies

11. Chris Vance, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science

12. Claire Major, PhD Candidate, Geography

13. Cory Jansson, Phd student, Political Science

14. Dan Freeman-Maloy, PhD Candidate, Political Science

15. Daniel Moure, PhD Candidate, Political Science

16. Dave Campanella, Student, Environmental Studies

17. Derek Maisonville, Doctoral Candidate, Political
Science/Researcher, York Centre for International and Security Studies

18. Diana Abraham, PhD Student, Environmental Studies

19. Gabriel Levine, Doctoral student, Social and Political Thought

20. Genevieve LeBaron, Doctoral Candidate, Political Science

21. Graham Potts, PhD Candidate, Social and Political Thought,

22. Ian Hussey, PhD candidate, Sociology

23. Irina Ceric, PhD Candidate and Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School

24. Isaac Asume Osuoka, Canada Vanier Scholar, Environmental Studies

25. Janine MacLeod, PhD Student, Environmental Studies

26. Janna Promislow, Adjunct Professor and PhD Candidate, Osgoode
Hall Law School

27. Japji Anna Bas, PhD Candidate, Environmental Studies

28. Jasmin Mujanovic, Political Science Graduate Student

29. Jesse Ovadia, PhD Candidate, Political Science

30. Jessica Parish, Phd Candidate, Political Science

31. John Carlaw, PhD Candidate, Political Science

32. Jordan Brennan, Tutorial Instructor, Political Science

33. Jordy Cummings, Student, Graduate Department of Political Science

34. Kathleen Mullen, MFA Student

35. Kaushalya Bannerji, Ph.D. Candidate, Law

36. Kole Kilibarda, PhD candidate and Teaching Assistant, Political Science

37. Mazen Masri, PhD Candidate, Osgoode Hall Law School

38. Michael Skinner, Researcher, York Centre for International and
Security Studies

39. Natasha Jerome, Undergraduate Degree Candidate, Honours Double
Major: Philosophy & Political Science, Faculty of Arts

40. Nchamah Miller, B.A., M.A. (york Alumni), Visiting Professor,
Institute of Philosophy of University Havana

41. Nicole Cohen, PhD Candidate, Graduate Program in Communication and Culture

42. Nishant Upadhyay, PhD Candidate, Social and Political Thought

43. Noaman Ali, MA Student, Social and Political Thought

44. Pablo Vivanco, Student, MES

45. Peter Brogan, PhD Candidate, Geography

46. Rade Zinaic, Social and Political Thought

47. Roxana Salehi PhD Candidate, Environmental Studies

48. Ryan James, PhD Candidate and Teaching Assistant, Anthropology

49. Ryan O'Neill, PhD Candidate, Environmental Studies

50. Simon Granovsky-Larsen, Ph.D. Candidate, Political Science

51. Simon Tremblay-Pepin, PhD student, Political Science Department

52. Sonja Killoran-McKibbin, PhD Student, Environmental Studies

53. Sophie Voegele, Graduate Student, Sociology

54. Stu Marvel, Chair, Graduate Law Students' Association, Osgoode
Hall Law School

55. Tania Hernandez-Cervantes, PhD Student, Environmental Studies

56. Teresa Abbruzzese, Doctoral Candidate, Environmental Studies

57. Tod Duncan , PhD Student/Teaching Assistant, Social and Political Thought

58. Tyler Shipley, Doctoral Candidate, Political Science

"I am a racist" - Jason Kenney

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:22:00 +0000

*I am borrowing this post from No One Is Illegal. http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/

I hope they don't mind. I have great admiration for this organization considering what they are up against.*

"I plead guilty, I'm a racist." -- Jason Kenney

Jason Kenney confronted and disrupted in Montreal

October 23, 2009 -- Migrant justice activists and organizers, with their McGill allies, confronted and disrupted Jason Kenney -- Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism -- before and during a closed function with Conservative McGill.

At least 50 protesters, in an action called by No One Is Illegal-Montreal, were able to surround Kenney in the Arts Building as he tried to enter the private event. For about one-minute, Kenney was asked about the report in today’s Toronto Star that a Mexican woman, who twice tried to apply for refugee status to Canada, was found murdered in Mexico (article is linked below). Kenney brushed off the question and didn’t answer.

Kenney was also asked explicitly about his party’s blocking of a refugee appeals division, and again he didn’t answer.

When Kenney was told by a member of No One Is Illegal that his policies scapegoat migrants and pander to racists, Kenney replied (with a hint of sarcasm): “I plead guilty, I’m a racist.” At that point, Kenney’s handlers and security pushed through protesters to get Kenney inside the venue.

For the next hour and more, protesters chanted and made noise to disrupt the event from outside. The protest was partially a teach-in as demonstrators gave speeches about Kenney’s track-record, highlighting in particular:

- the murder in Mexico of Grise, a woman who twice tried to claim refugee status in Canada but was refused
- the Conservatives continued refusal to implement a refugee appeals division;
- the recent treatment of Sri Lankan migrants who are currently detained in British Columbia;
- Kenney’s introduction of visas for Mexicans and Czechs while falsely misrepresenting their refugee claims as bogus;
- Kenney’s role in US-style mass raids on migrant workers in Ontario this past April;
- Kenney’s unapologetic defense of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and Lebanon;
- Kenney’s attack on free speech by preventing the entry of George Galloway into Canada;
- Kenney’s involvement in cutting the funding of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF);
- Kenney’s proposed changes to the status of migrant workers, which makes their situation more precarious;
- the trend under Kenney and the Conservatives to push migrants into temporary worker categories;
- Kenney's defense of Conservative policies justifying rendition to torture and security certificates;

- the lifting of the moratorium on deportations to Burundi, Rwanda and Liberia, while making it harder for other migrants to make refugee claims;
- Kenney’s record of comments that pander to racists, by inaccurately portraying migrants as abusive of the immigration and refugee system.
- and more (!).

Members of Solidarity Across Borders, active in support work with local migrants facing removal, also spoke to the day-to-day reality of deportation and detention in Montreal, citing examples of local individuals and families fighting for status, in defiance of removal orders.

At one point, two members of Conservative McGill – Gregory Harris and Derek Beigleman -- began chanting “We love Kenney, we love Kenney.” Protesters stayed silent for at least a minute, and then asked the Conservatives about their view on the murder of Grise, as well as Conservative immigration and refugee policies that allowed the tragedy to happen. The two Conservatives laughed throughout the narration of Grise’s deportation and eventual death.

During the picket, protesters also spoke in solidarity with No One Is Illegal Vancouver’s picket today demanding the release of Sri Lankan migrants who are currently detained after arriving in Canada last Sunday, as well as this evening’s migrant justice assembly by No One Is Illegal-Toronto.

No borders, no nations, stop the deportations!
-- No One Is Illegal-Montreal

Israeli Lobby's Bullying of Campuses

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:35:00 +0000

In a bit of a follow-up from the last blog below I wanted to post this article by Tikkun, a major progressive Jewish organization that is very critical of Zionist ideology and the ongoing occupation. It is too long to post here, but I really recommend it as it is of key importance. The article is on the Israeli Lobby and it's activities on campuses throughout the U.S. Canadian campuses are not mentioned here, but the lessons from this article are as true in Canada. I know this from experience. Please read: http://www.tikkun.org/article.php/sept_oct_09_goldberg_makdisi

The Last Bundist a borrowed posting

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 01:56:00 +0000

*I felt the need to post it. It's from the blog : http://syds-blog.blogspot.com/2009/10/last-bundist.html (hope ya don't mind, Sid!) Times are really started to change, finally.

Marek Edelman dies last week. He was 90. He was buried on Friday.Marek Edeleman was the last surviving member of the Warsaw Ghetto. He was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and its last commander - after Mordechai Anelewicz was killed. The President of Poland spoke at his funeral, held in the old Jewish cemetery of Warsaw.

Two thousand people attended the grave-side ceremony. But no one from the Israeli government attended - though Israel's former ambassador to Poland, Shevach Weiss, attended in a personal capacity. No official representative of any international Jewish organization attended either: not even from the Holocaust memorialization organizations. As far as I can tell, neither the Jerusalem Post nor Ha'aretz ran a story when Edelman died, nor any sort of eulogy. (Haaretz did run a short AP wire story about his funeral.)

Why is Edeleman mostly ignored while Anelewicz is lionized? (I lived for a year on Mordechai Anelewicz St. in Jerusalem, there is a kibbutz Kfar Mordechai named after him, his name and story is taught in every Israeli school, and in most Hebrew Schools around the world.)Perhaps because he remained a firm anti-Zionist all his life. In pre-war Poland he was a leader of the "Bund" - the Jewish Socialist Party, that advocated for a "multi-cultural" solution for Jews within a socialist Poland. It dreamed of a thriving Yiddish based Jewish culture within a secular, multi-ethnic Poland - where significant minorities - like Jews and Ukrainians - would have cultural autonomy. The Bund was a significant party within the Polish Parliament of those years, and there where as many supporters of the Bund as there where Zionists among polish Jews of the 1930s.

After the war Edelman remained in Poland, became a noted doctor, and later was active in the Solidarity movement that brought down Communism in Poland. In the 1990s, he served in the Polish Parliament. In 2002, in the middle of the second intifada, Edelman wrote a letter to Palestinian resistance leaders. Though the letter criticized the suicide bombers, its tone infuriated the Israeli government and press.

According to The Guardian, "He wrote in a spirit of solidarity from a fellow resistance fighter, as a former leader of a Jewish uprising not dissimilar in desperation to the Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories." He addressed his letter to "To all the leaders of Palestinian military, paramilitary and guerrilla organizations - To all the soldiers of Palestinian militant groups". This set up a howl of rage in the Israeli press, especially that Edelman had consciously used the terms that described the structures of the resistance movement in Warsaw.

I am struck by Edelman's consistency throughout his life. He believed that Jewish liberation could only come through the liberation of the people among whom they lived, and he opposed Zionism as an escape from the Jewish responsibility to help liberate all people. He was too much of an anti-Zionist to move to Israel, and too much of a socialist to move to America. He also felt a responsibility to the few Jews remaining in Poland, and to the memory of all those who perished there. He saw no reason for a Jews to move in order to solve "the Jewish problem". He believed that Jews should fight for their rights (and those of others) wherever they lived. He believed that a Jewish life could be lived anywhere. He remained a Bundist to the end.

Governor General's Gaffe?

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 23:46:00 +0000

To paraphrase a particular puppet dog that once enraged Canadian MPs: "Do you hear that? It's the sound of No One Giving A Shit!" Well, apparently some people give a shit. But do people give a shit about them?

Ok, so, Michelle Jean, our Governor General, has recently described herself as the Head of State. Read more about this gaffe in today's Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/708390--head-of-state-c-est-moi-some-are-not-amused

Both the Prime Minister's Office and The Monarchist League (they exist?) scolded the GG. No, the GG is not the Head of State, apparently, the Queen of England is.

From the article:

"It is an attempt to elevate the office into something it is not and never was intended to be and all at the expense of the Queen," said league chair Robert Finch. "The evidence is overwhelming that the governor general is not the head of state ... you don't have to be a constitutional scholar or a legal expert to grasp that concept."

Here is a picture of Mr. Finch.

Parents had Moon-Landing; I have Moon-Bombing!

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:24:00 +0000

NASA: Buoyed by India's Chandrayan I findings, NASA have been prepared to bomb Moon in search of water on the planet. The US space agency will start bombing on moon in this evening to measure the quantity of ice in the lunar soil. The NASA has followed the ISRO's footstep to estimate the water in the planet. According to the sources, the space agency will launched two spaceaircrafts of 2,305 kg at a velocity of nearly 8,000 kmph.

The Nasa spacecraft Centaur will slam onto the south pole of the Moon with such force that it will throw up 350 tonnes of lunar soil and debris and create a 13-feet-deep crater. The 6.6 metres crater will be one-third the size of a football field. Just four minutes after the crash of Centaur, another spacecraft Shepherding will fly in the same path through the cloud of debris and crashland on to the Moon's surface, throwing up another 150 tonnes of material at a point close to the previous crater. If the space agency succeeds in its mission it will be a landmark achievement for human being.

The space agency will eager to get the findings of today's Moon bombings as it has planned to set up lunar base on Moon to study Mars and other Solar System. A sufficient quantity of Ice will pave the way for NASA to go ahead with the plan. Earlier, ISRO's first moon Mission Chandrayan I has sent first pics of water in the Moon. After getting the pictures, NASA has intensified its mission. The Moon bombing is scheduled for 5.00 pm IST.

Harper: Canada no colonialism

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:54:00 +0000

"We also have no history of colonialism. So we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them." - Stephen Harper, Sept. 25, G20 summit Pittsburgh.

What is wrong with this guy??

NDP on Mark

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:20:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted anything on the current situation in Ottawa, especially from a NDP supporter's perspective. If you haven't read this brilliant article yet here it is again:

On many vital issues, the NDP have been on the mark

Lawrence Martin
Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2009 06:21PM EDT

What party is getting it right? Not on the political scoreboard, which is the journalistic obsession, but on the criteria that really count – policies that affect the country.
On that note, the question of track record, has anyone been looking at the NDP's performance? There have been several developments in the past week alone that bring the third party to mind.

First was the government's decision to amend the employment insurance system. The New Democrats were highly instrumental in that call, a decision that, as a healthy byproduct, prevented the onset of an unwanted election. In aligning with the Conservatives on the issue, they also turned the coalition debate and all its attendant paranoia on its ear.

No credit came their way. Nothing new here. In big media precincts, the knees started jerking, as they often do when the left rears its unshapely head, and the NDP move was denounced as a politically motivated act of desperation. Out came the machine guns. Bang! Bang! Down went the guys in orange ties.

But be that as it may. It's well known that the Dippers have no media proprietors in their philosophical corner. It's well known that counterculture journalism is a bygone thing. There was obviously political calculation in what the party did. But on what matters, the EI issue, a policy advance was made.

The past week was also notable with regard to Afghanistan. The war has reached such a point of deterioration that even the generals are no longer issuing the types of public-relations pronouncements that have sucked in so many for so long, in so many wars. Even the military brass are down on the war's prospects. And, since we're on the subject of track record, we should ask which party was the most skeptical about this war from the outset. Which was the party that said the war couldn't be won militarily, that pushed for negotiations and that, for its efforts, had its leader denounced as Taliban Jack?

The past week saw Barack Obama's cancellation of the missile defence system for Eastern Europe. Canada's most vocal opponent of missile defence, going back a long way, has been the NDP. The idea of putting up a system that might not work and that alienated Russia, in places like Poland, was at best bewildering. One had to presuppose (A) that Iran would be allowed to get nuclear weapons, (B) that Iran would risk retaliatory annihilation in deploying them and (C) that the Iranians would choose Krakow as a target.

The past week saw the arrival of a film sardonically titled Capitalism: A Love Story. The New Democrats are not as far out there as Michael Moore, but they are the party that took the strongest stance against the excesses of capitalism, excesses that torpedoed the world economy. They warned against the dangers of deregulation. They pressed the government on the need for an auto sector strategy, on a backup plan for pensions. They led the charge in demanding billions in stimulus spending.

The New Democrats have their own long list of ill-advised excesses on economic policy and other aspects of their platform, but there are times when the party's activism is in order.
They have been the most vocal opponents of foreign takeovers of Canadian companies. That got them labelled as antediluvian nationalists. But as our crown jewels continue to be sold off, you don't hear that criticism as much. Even some Conservatives are now wondering if the hollowing-out trend has gone too far.

The Dippers were early environmental warriors. Their warnings on income inequality – check the ugly stats on the current gap between rich and poor – have turned out to be highly credible. On the native peoples file, they were the ones who pressed the government to make the emotional residential schools apology.

Politically, the New Democrats are not getting much traction. It's tough when you have no control of the airwaves. They are still stereotyped by an image tethered to decades past. But they can take comfort in knowing that on many of the vital issues, they've been on the mark. Never mind the political score. On what really matters, vindication has come their way.

*from Globe & Mail
Bolded letters were done by me, save the title of course

Clean Train

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Saturday, September 26th saw a major community mobilization in the West End of Toronto. The proposed rail, that was initially meant to be from Union Station to Pearson International Airport, but has been considerably cut down to a few stops. The rail is set to bisect many communities through the Georgetown-Weston regions, mostly low-income communities. To make matters worse the trains would be diesel fueled rather than electric.

It is estimated some 400-450 diesel run trains, spreading out harmful carcinogens, harmful to ashtmatics and including many cancer-causing agents, would be running up and down this corridor each day. Metrolinx is a company that is run at arms length of by the McGuinty Provincial Government. Sept. 26th was a massive day of action, a human train moving along the proposed corridor from 8:30am to 4:30pm, collecting people at various 'whistle stops'. By the end more than a thousand or so people attended.

We collected at a park where various representatives and other notable figures were present, includiong the NDP's Rosario Marchese, Peggy Nash, Olivia Chow, Cheri DiNovo, to name a few, including some progressive city councillors. Gerrard Kennedy was present from the Federal Liberal Party. Kennedy, for those who don't know used to be a member of the Provincial Liberals. He publicly stated that he was against the diesel trains, but then made the mistake of going on about how the officials in McGuinty's Government were ok and such, recieving some cat calls and light boos. He then started to point the finger at Harper's Government, but most people saw through his attempt at focusing the shift away from the McGuintites.

This day of action was a success and I hope it stirs up sh*t in McGuinty's Government. There is a really disgusting classist element here. Would Diesel run trains be going through Rosedale, or the Bridlepath or Willowdale? It seems people from low income communities are affected first and worst by environmental degredation and pollution. It seems working people have to stand up for ourselves, as our government, Liberal or Tory, does not seem to act in the interests of most people.

HAHAHA!

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Dispatches from Frontlines

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:28:00 +0000

Just some random thoughts on politics in the past few weeks...

I was doing some volunteering at the St. Paul's by-election the past few weeks. I came across a rather peculiar flyer from the Libertarian Party of Canada. The gentleman (name now forgotten) was running in this by-election for the Libertarian Party in order to 'stop Big Brother' so to speak. I havne't had too much experience with the ideology of Libertarianism, but have met quite a few in my travels and activism. They say the difference between a Libertarian and an Anarchist is this: Libertarians have money.

The guy's flyer admitted that it is probably futile to run (something you never admit in a campaign no matter what) and that he was running for his grandson. He then describes how he's going to cut taxes (which he considers theft more or less) in every aspect, while dreaming of good schools and such. The only place government should spend money, in his opinion, is in police services. So, more or less I got this from it. Cut, cut, cut, don't tax anybody, cut back all public services but fund police to deal with the long-term consequences of cutting up public services.

So, kids are born into poverty? You can't go to a good school or get healthcare more or less. It sounds like he is running for his grandson, born with a silver-spoon in his mouth, at the expense of most other people's grandsons. This underlines the perile, selfish motive of the Libertarian. A Libertarian may see No Smoking By-Laws in Public Places as an infrginement of rights, uncaring if your child has asthma and is brought to an early death. Libertarians go against human social instincts and are ideologically quite dangerous in my opinion.

On another note, to broadly sweep another party into a category, I was flyering for the NDP at York. I approached a kind young woman who waved her hands when I approached and said "Nope, I'm Liberal!" as if it was an established and unchangeable fact. She had me thinking at that moment that she was some active member of the party or something. So I proceeded to ask if she really thought Michael Ignatieff was a good leader to which she replied: "Who's that?"

Most Liberals, now this is my personal opinion and experiences, are merely Liberal out of convenience. Liberals are the I-POD of Canadian Politics, shiny and trendy, but nothing in substance, made to be merely consumed. Most so-called Liberals when pressed as to why they are Liberals, simply do not know why. It is the party of political apathy and complacency, with a complete lack of the in-depth.

Now, the big issue this past by-election was on HST, the Harmonized Sales Tax, which will be detrimental, particularly to working people in this province and country. It is ironic that the NDP is always being demonized by media and nutjobs (sometimes both at once) for being all about making new taxes or increasing taxes. Here we have a new tax being promoted by both the provincial Ontario Liberals and the Federal Conservatives. Oh, and GST? Not our idea either. Truly ironic their doublespeak when they try to turn it on us.

Just some random thoughts from the frontlines...

Leftards

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Ahhh...so good to be back at York U. Gonna write a lot during the election, but here's a blog on a topic that has been bothering me for years now...

Being an activist I've taken part in so many political demonstrations, activist meetings and movements. Over the years, solidifying my Leftward politics, I've met enough far, far Left groups at these demos and I still cant help but laugh at the dynamics they bring. At the same time I find them so frustrating and counter-productive it gets depressing.

Now, what I am referring to is those small, uber-Left-wing Socialist groups that protest on the streets, give out their newspapers and have a load of opinions (coupled with almost nil social skills). Often these groups are formed of a few individuals, rather than being an actual movement. The people believe in extremely narrow, stringent, almost religiously obeyed views, some calling themselves Trotskyist, Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, Revolutionary Socialists, etc. etc. Now, I'm on the Far Left of what is considered politics (at least in Canada), I mean, I'm in the NDP, but I am also on the far left-wing spectrum of the party, but even I gotta laugh at these guys, which I shall now dub Leftards.

I remember one time my buddy and I were at a demo and a member of a small group called 1917 sold us a paper. We were then followed by someone from an Internationalist Socialist group who was trying to pursuade us to buy his paper instead, denouncing 1917 for making an attack on them in their paper. So, these groups more or less spend more time fighting one another than the capitalists or the powers that be.

I remember a few months ago I was helping out a group, just volunteering and learning, that is a Left-leaning force within the NDP and during our small conference two other groups, 1917 and Spartacist showed up, trying to discredit the group and one another. They'd get into fights over their 'particular' brand of socialism. One guy came up to me, started talkign at me, showing me this thick binded book he'd written on how to make a revolution and overthrow capitalism, giving exact steps to do so, criticizing those who would deviate slightly from HIS perscribed formula. Now, is it just me or with many of these groups is it more about their individual egos than really helping people?

The worst of these groups is Spartacist. If you are ever in a demo or any other political action and Spartacist members approach you, I'd recommend you ignore them. They wrote an article I read once trying to justify groups like NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association), thus justifying child molestation, citing rules like the age of consent being bourgeouis morals imposed on the proletariat. Ok...they are nuts. So yeah, they dont realize how much they are in actuality hurting the Left.

I remember a while back I was at sit-in at York University during the strike. I was mentioning the NDP and my involvement in it, when some of the students present (only a few) started bashing the NDP for not 'being Left enough', since the NDP's brand of social democracy simpy wasn't enough for them...turns out more people there supported the NDP afterall, but it was ironic because in the end of the strike the NDP was one of the few mainstream voices defending the union.

Sure, you can criticize those on the Left who are in the NDP instead of one of these tiny useless pseudo quasi-religious Leftard groups...but at the end of the day, at least we are actually doing something positive in the lives of working people, rather than just sitting and talking about it in our tiny little clubs.

Socialism, and Left-wing politics in general, is meant to be about people uniting and working together no matter our differences to achieve a better standard of living for all, not breaking off and fighting one another over tiny things like the wording of our ideal, or the exact methods of achieving change. These tiny groups will always be a laugh and will be unproductive in every way but turning people away from radical politics and new ideas.

To the Far, Far Left-Wing splinter group members...grow up, get over yourself and join the rest of us struggling for real change!

Fighting Anti-Semitism in Canada

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:20:00 +0000

*I just read this right now, had to post it. I've been thinking this for years. I love this guy already!

Dr. Yakov M. Rabkin

Canada's parliamentarians have formed a committee to fight antisemitism.
All initiatives to combat racism deserve praise, provided this work benefit Canadians, rather than serve the interests of foreign powers. One such power is the State of Israel for whom antisemitism provides its raison d’être.

According to the Israeli author Tom Segev, the founder of Zionism Theodore Herzl considered antisemites «our friends and allies»: antisemites want to be rid of Jews while Zionists want to gather them to Israel.

Many Jews realized this and opposed Zionism from its very beginning in the late 19th century: they saw that Zionists played into the hands of their worst enemies, the antisemites.

Indeed, the Zionists’ cooperation with antisemites was usually harmonious. Thus, in the 1930s, Zionist emissaries in Germany established a smooth working relationship with the Nazi authorities.

In the opinion of Howard Sachar, American historian sympathetic to the Zionist movement, Adolf Eichmann, who was then in charge of Jewish emigration, “dealt cordially and cooperatively with Zionist representatives from Palestine. When the Zionists sought permission to open vocational training camps for future emigrants [to Palestine], Eichmann willingly supplied them with housing and equipment”.

Ever since 1948, when the Zionists unilaterally declared independence against the will of Palestine’s non-Jewish majority, Israeli leaders openly worry about Jews becoming again a minority in the Holy Land.

To counter this spectre, they encourage immigration of Jewish citizens of other countries. Since most immigrants have moved to Israel under the threat – real or perceived – of antisemitism, rather than for ideological reasons, antisemitism has served Israel’s interests.

The former head of Israel’s intelligence services Y. Harkabi warned a few years ago: “It would be a tragic irony if the Jewish state, which was intended to solve the problem of antisemitism, was to become a factor in the rise of antisemitism. Israelis must be aware that the price of their misconduct is paid not only by them but also Jews throughout the world.”

Nowadays Jews in Canada and other countries are increasingly associated with Israel’s bomber aircraft, gun-toting soldiers and Zionist settlers that fill the TV screens of the world.

However, Israeli authorities are not concerned that their policies towards the Palestinians breed antisemitism around the world. To the contrary, the rise of antisemitism supports their claim that only in Israel can a Jew feel safe.

At the same time, “vassals of Israel” (a term coined by the former Israeli ambassador to France Elie Barnavi for individuals often mistaken for Jewish leaders), not only proclaim their loyalty to Israel, they defiantly fly Israeli flags at the entrance of Jewish institutions, including old-age homes and hospitals.

This irresponsible conflation of Israel and Jewish Canadians provokes antisemitism and invites hostility. The standard Zionist claim that Israel - a distant and bellicose state most Jews neither control nor inhabit - is "the state of the Jewish people” implicates innocent Jews in Canada into what Israel is and does. This is what foments antisemitism in our country.

Ironically, while these “vassals of Israel” contribute to the growth of anti-Jewish sentiment in Canada, they hurl accusations of antisemitism at even the most moderate critics of Israel. It is this heavy-handed tactic that generates resentment and feeds antisemitism.

Conversely, Canadian Jews who speak against Israeli abuses of power – such as Independent Jewish Voices – profoundly undermine antisemitic beliefs. They embody the diversity of Jewish life – “two Jews, three opinions” – that flies in the face of the antisemitic canard of the world Jewish conspiracy.

In the wake of the Holocaust, many prominent Jews, including the philosopher Martin Buber and the political scientist Hannah Arendt, warned that establishing an ethnic state for Jews would plunge the entire region into incessant violence.

They believed that only a pluralistic state for all inhabitants of Palestine would ensure peace. Since then, over a million Israeli citizens have left their perennially threatened ethnocracy for liberal democracies elsewhere. Many more Israeli Jews have settled in Canada than Canadian Jews who have left their country for Israel.

Canadians mean well when they associate Jews, who suffered in the Holocaust because of their ethnicity, with the state of Israel, which has assured this ethnic group a monopoly on power.

Thus they uphold the myth according to which Israel represents the Jews around the world and constitutes their natural homeland. This does not help to fight prejudice.

To fight antisemitism, it is crucial to dissociate Jews and Judaism from the State of Israel and its behaviour. Our parliamentarians should affirm the right of all Canadians to criticize Israel like any other country in the world, without the fear of being labelled antisemitic. This would be a sure way to rid Canada of the scourge of antisemitism, new and old.

Dr. Yakov M. Rabkinis Professor of History at the University of Montreal.

His recent book, A Threat from within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism (Fernwood), has been translated to eight languages and nominated for the Governor General Award.

Cops in Schools @ Jane-Finch?

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 20:35:00 +0000

I was working for a Jane-Finch youth oriented program this summer. It's given me a lot of perspective on my roots in the general area and J-F community. Here is an initiative to assure that police officers wont be in high schools in the area, where those funds can be used to revitalize the community properly and make programs for the youth. I attended C.W. Jefferys myself and due to cutbacks we had no programs, sports teams or even soap in the washrooms...funding makes that huge difference, as the school got progressively worse and less safe over time.

3rd World

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:11:00 +0000

Going into 4th year International Development in a week, thought this track was appropriate...

I will never stop my activism no matter what happens...

SPP DEAD?

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:23:00 +0000

from www.rabble.ca

The SPP is dead, so where's the champagne?
By Stuart Trew August 19, 2009

"The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) is no longer an active initiative and as such this website will act as an archive for SPP documents. There will not be any updates to this site." -Disclaimer from the U.S. government's SPP website.

In October 2007, Globe and Mail reporter John Ibbitson predicted that a then two-year-old effort to deepen and expand NAFTA called the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) would die unless North American leaders put some backbone into it.

Too much of the discussion was happening behind closed doors, wrote Ibbitson, himself a big supporter of the SPP and one of the only journalists to ever write about it in the Canadian media. "If you're going to negotiate freer trade," he said, "sing it from the rooftops. Keep the media informed. Make it a Big Deal."

Well governments didn't sing (or not loudly enough), barely informed the media, and it fell to alter-globalization and social justice movements in Canada, Mexico and the United States, including the Council of Canadians, to highlight its many flaws. As a result, the NAFTA-plus agenda died in Guadalajara, Mexico last week. We killed it. And we should be singing it from the rooftops.

So why the stage fright? Maybe it's because things don't feel all that different. Many of the SPP's underlying principles -- integrating energy and electricity markets, jointly policing the continent against Osama bin Laden and other common perceived threats, and cutting regulations to help businesses make more money -- remain in place as official North American priorities after Guadalajara.

The lack of media attention might also be killing our buzz. But should we really let this oversight, from a tri-national press corps that missed the SPP's corporate conceptionin 2003, its official birth four years ago, and almost every major initiative since, stop us from dancing in the streets?
Maybe we're distracted by the odd persistence of the name "Security and Prosperity Partnership" in Liberal Party press releases, and desperate statements from corporate lobbies trying to keep the SPP agenda alive. But let's try to see the former as grief (the SPP was a Liberal creation) and the latter as a sign of perhaps our most significant victory: the end of the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC).

Before Guadalajara, there was a lot of speculation whether Barack Obama, Stephen Harper and Felipe Calderón would extend another invitation to the NACC, that blue-chip panel of powerful North American CEOs, which had for the past two years submitted reports to leaders directing them on where to take the SPP dialogue.

The NACC was institutionalized in June 2006 "so that the work will continue through changes in administrations,"said former U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. And "directing" is not too strong a word to describe the panel's relationship to the SPP process. Access to information requests by Saskatchewan blogger Joe Kutchta in early 2008 uncovered proof that the Canada Border Services Agency was under pressure to respond to business sector priorities for the department.

Unfortunately for the CEOs, neither the SPP nor the NACC could survive a change in U.S. administration. Perhaps still waiting for an invite to Guadalajara, and clinging desperately to a powerful but now useless moniker, the NACC meekly offered North American leaders one last five-page report about the evils of protectionism.

"We and the business communities we represent trust that our advice to date has assisted Leaders in choosing priorities and driving progress," it said. "Going forward, the NACC stands ready to offer our ideas and expertise, and we hope the three governments will continue to consult with the NACC."

The NACC may continue to exist. It might even meet every now and then to dream up new priorities for the three North American governments. But we have successfully robbed these CEOs of their privileged spot inside North American summits. Heck, our leaders even opened the door a crack to wide public consultation on annual summit priorities.
There was a legitimate concern prior to Guadalajara that Obama would simply continue the SPP under a different name. One authoritative report from the Brookings Institution even recommended it. And we know that some NAFTA/SPP working groups will continue to operate. An example is the North American Biotechnology Initiative to develop a common regulatory environment for genetically engineered crops.

But the fact remains that the SPP as a venue for North American integration, like the Free Trade Area of the Americas as a venue for hemispheric integration before it, has perished.
This presents challenges and opportunities for human rights, environmental, civil liberties, farmers, unions and social justice organizations that had come together, often across borders, to fight the anti-democratic Security and Prosperity Partnership. We may not have a big target to thump away at anymore, but the separation of trade and security policy under the Obama administration helps us shed more light on the injustices perpetuated by both.

The delinking of Mexico from the Harper government's vision of North America also opens up room for targeted solidarity work with Mexican groups fighting the militarization of drug and border enforcement under the Merida Initiative. (Harper's contribution, announced in Guadalajara, of RCMP training for Mexican police, on top of the new visa requirements for Mexican travellers, makes this solidarity work even more important.)

Furthermore, a new space has opened up for a reinvigorated civil society push to renegotiate NAFTA.

Obama has, in a way, only gone back on his promise to enter into discussions about renegotiation within 100 days of being elected. If you read carefully his statement before Guadalajara, the President says he still wants to strengthen the labour and environmental side agreements by possibly bringing them into the body of NAFTA, but that now is not the time to do it. We can't give up that space so quickly, even if we know deep down that now is the perfect time to renegotiate NAFTA, when the old "free trade" model bares so much responsibility for the current economic downturn.

Finally, as Canadians, the death of the SPP (and the change in administration that preceded it) forces us to focus more on our own government. Former U.S. President Bush provided a convenient target to embody all the evils of NAFTA expansion through the SPP. In the new dynamic it's Harper and Calderon playing "free trade" bullies to Obama's more pragmatic approach to economic development -- an approach that encourages investment in America's local and national economies even at risk of appearing "protectionist."

It's time to regroup and rethink, for sure. But please let's do it with a bottle of champagne -- even if it's one from the cheap shelf. The SPP is dead and we killed it.Let's recognize what we have achieved and then get back to work.

Stuart Trew is trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians.

Tutu to Haaretz

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:12:00 +0000

*been doing nothing but posting articles lately, sorry, but end of summer, chill time until classes start...

Tutu to Haaretz: Arabs paying the price of the Holocaust

"The lesson that Israel must learn from the Holocaust is that it can never get security through fences, walls and guns," Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa told Haaretz Thursday. Commenting on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement in Germany Thursday that the lesson of the Holocaust is that Israel should always defend itself, Tutu noted that "in South Africa, they tried to get security from the barrel of a gun. They never got it. They got security when the human rights of all were recognized and respected."

The Nobel Prize laureate spoke to Haaretz in Jerusalem as the organization The Elders concluded its tour of Israel and the West Bank. He said the West was consumed with guilt and regret toward Israel because of the Holocaust, "as it should be."

"But who pays the penance? The penance is being paid by the Arabs, by the Palestinians. I once met a German ambassador who said Germany is guilty of two wrongs. One was what they did to the Jews. And now the suffering of the Palestinians."

He also slammed Jewish organizations in the United States, saying they intimidate anyone who criticizes the occupation and rush to accuse these critics of anti-Semitism. Tutu recalled how such organizations pressured U.S. universities to cancel his appearances on their campuses. "That is unfortunate, because my own positions are actually derived from the Torah. You know God created you in God's image. And we have a God who is always biased in favor of the oppressed."

Tutu also commented on the call by Ben-Gurion University professor Neve Gordon to apply selective sanctions on Israel. "I always say to people that sanctions were important in the South African case for several reasons. We had a sports boycott, and since we are a sports-mad country, it hit ordinary people. It was one of the most psychologically powerful instruments. "Secondly, it actually did hit the pocket of the South African government. I mean, when we had the arms embargo and the economic boycott."

He said that when F.W. de Klerk became president he telephoned congratulations. "The very first thing he said to me was 'well now will you call off sanctions?' Although they kept saying, oh well, these things don't affect us at all. That was not true. "And another important reason was that it gave hope to our people that the world cared. You know. That this was a form of identification."

Earlier in the day, Tutu and the rest of the delegation visited the village of Bil'in, where protests against the separation fence, built in part on the village's land, take place every week. "We used to take our children in Swaziland and had to go through border checkpoints in South Africa and face almost the same conduct, where you're at the mercy of a police officer. They can decide when they're going to process you and they can turn you back for something inconsequential. But on the other hand, we didn't have collective punishment. We didn't have the demolition of homes because of the suspicion that one of the members of the household might or might not be a terrorist."

He said the activists in Bil'in reminded him of Ghandi, who managed to overthrow British rule in India by nonviolent means, and Martin Luther King, Jr., who took up the struggle of a black woman who was too tired to go to the back of a segregated bus. He stressed his belief that no situation was hopeless, praising the success of the Northern Irish peace process. The process was mediated by Senator George Mitchell, who now serves as the special U.S. envoy to the Middle East.

Asked about the controversy in Petah Tikva, where several elementary schools have refused to receive Ethiopian school children, Tutu said that "I hope that your society will evolve."

Fishy . . .

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:55:00 +0000

Action now on wild salmon

Given that other West Coast sockeye runs have thrived this year, as have catches of some other salmon species, there is clearly a problem for the Fraser run in particular.
But what is the cause?

No one knows -- least of all DFO. The salmon commission points to "poor ocean survival," since healthy out-migrations of fry from the river were observed four years ago when the run left the Fraser, but that rather generic term does little to isolate the reason for the shortfall.
Environmentalists have charged that the commercial fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago, which the young salmon pass on their way to the ocean, might have infected them with parasitic sea lice. Despite attempts by fish farm operators to reduce the impact of sea lice on passing wild salmon, studies have indicated a correlation between the operations and infection of wild stocks.
Other theories have suggested climate change could be affecting the sockeye's food supply or that rising temperatures in the Fraser could be a factor.

More studies are needed, but immediate, serious work on a transition to closed-containment systems in the fish farms is clearly desirable, both to eliminate escapes of farmed fish and to reduce levels of sea lice, antibiotics and other undesirable side effects. Yet almost three years after an all-party legislative committee called for a provincially supported closed containment pilot project, little has happened.

A Supreme Court decision in February transferred responsibility for fish farms from the province to the federal government. That decision, pending an appeal from one aquaculture company, set a deadline of next February for action.

DFO should not wait that long. A moratorium on fish-farm expansion and work on transition to closed containment should be in the works now, along with studies to determine if other factors we can control are to blame.

Salmon represent more than just dinner -- they are a vital part of the ocean ecosystem and a keystone to our marine economy. We must do everything in our power to understand the forces threatening their populations, and fix them where we can.

By falling short in that part of its mandate, DFO is failing both salmon and the British Columbians who depend on the Fraser fishery. The department must do more before it's too late.

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2009

I spent some time out in British Columbia, on Vancouver Island, some of it volunteering at a fish hatchery. Out there so much of the economy depends on the annual salmon run. The idea of saving these fish isn't just some tree-hugging abstract concept, afterall I eat salmon and take salmon oil pills every morning...it's people's jobs and the ecosystem as a whole that we are dependent on, whether we admit it or not, that matter in the end. Towns all over BC will be experiencing a horrendous depression if the salmon keep dissappearing (they already are in so many places).

I remember at the fish hatchery myself and two other volunteers, one from BC and another from Quebec were driven around the local rivers and streams to grab some male fish to make sure we have a 'diverse gene-pool' so to speak. We ended up at one point on this guys huge lawn over a tiny brook where we caught a fish, with a scar given by a black bear no doubt, and the Quebecor...uh...milked the fish so to speak, collected it in a packet and then continued on. (3rd base with a fish?) Let's just say when we got back to the fish hatchery and I got a mug of coffee I was more careful than usual of where I got the cream from.

At one point I remember my group went down to a river that was a graveyard. The mature salmon had made the run from the ocean and back to the rivers where they first spawned, bred and then died. Birds and bears and other critters got their remains. It was early winter on Vancouver Island, their bones partially frozen in the river. It hit home the precious balance of nature and life that we, as humans, are just as affected by as anyone else. Here's a petition site to voice yourself no matter where you are from: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/411080873

Libby in Gaza

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:02:00 +0000

One thing I noticed, and quite happy to see, at the NDP Convention was a talk on the situation in Palestine hosted by none other than Libby Davis. Unfortuantely I couldn't attend as it was Sunday at 7:30am in Halifax and I was staying in Sakcville, some ways away and couldnt get there in time, no help that I had 4 hours of sleep and was partying at Alexander Keith's historical Brewery the night before. Oh, and on top of that I was struck with some strange sickness, the less said of that the better. Anyway, my kafiyah had to remain wrapped up in my travelling bag and I couldn't attend, but the fact that this talk was going on is a great sign that people are not being afraid in the party or in Canada to discuss this. For acknowledging the humanity of Palestinians Libby (like so many others) has been labelled an 'anti-semite' by right-wing Zionists, a label that is getting more and more tiring and unconvincing as each year goes by.

I wanted to briefly share one of her blogs from her site to showcase the committment to human rights she is doing. She recently arrived back from Palestine, including both the West Bank and the Gaza strip. For info check out her blog at http://www.libbydavies.ca/

24 hours in Gaza

August 13, 2009 Blog entry

It has been an intense 24 hours in Gaza - so intense and busy that I didn't have time to write there. But a 24 hours that has been worth every minute. The ridiculous and lengthy wait at the Rafeh border on the Egyptian side (both coming and going) has faded from my mind, but I will make a quick observation ....border crossings can be horrific for people and the less status/money you have the more you are the mercy of systems and petty bureaucrats who love the power they wield. And in case we think Canada is superior in this regard, let's not forget about Mr. Robert Dziekański.

The first person we meet at the Rafeh crossing trying to get into Gaza was a Canadian Palestinian from Edmonton trying to see his sick father. He was quite surprised to see two Canadian MPs next to him. I am pretty sure he did not make it thru, having come that long way. He may have ended up going in via tunnels (more on that later).

Once inside (and "inside" is a more apt description than you'd think, as in a jail like setting), you are struck by the beauty of the Gaza strip nestled beside the Mediterranean Sea. In past years, it was a popular holiday destination for people in the region and there are echoes of grand houses and villas overlooking the sea. But now, a million litres of sewage spills out into the sea, 80% of the roads are badly in need of repair, and the cosmopolitan air of Gaza city is reduced to a crumbling infrastructure. Further north, whole neighbourhoods are flattened and shelled.
Gaza once had a vibrant agriculture industry and the remains of rows and rows of greenhouses are evident. We hear that the strawberries were delicious and always awaited in Europe in December (like Canadians await the treat of mandarin oranges). But the blockade means no replacement for the canvass covers that rip in the wind, no glass, no seeds, no supplies, no tools, and no building supplies; useless.

Well at least there's the sea - abundant. But that too is "contained". When we meet with the fishers at 5:30am, the sun rising atop the minarets in the east, and the graceful wooden fish boats coming in from the nights catch, there isn't much to unload. Sardines - and small they tell us. Israel restricts the fishing limit to less than 3 miles (much less than outlined in the Oslo agreement) and so the once robust fishing industry that used to export to Israel is gone. The fishers scrape out a living and load the containers of sardines onto flat-bed carts driven by horse or mule. Only 20% or the boats are used now. And once out to sea they keep a wary eye open for IDF gunboats that fire warning shots.

The more you ask, the more you don't want to hear, but must hear, to register the impact of the more than 2 year siege of Gaza and the 22 day war.

You never know in advance what it is that will get to you, so I am surprised that for me, it’s the Karni industrial area. It’s not the parliament building, a cascading wreck of concrete, nor the shelled and bombed houses, nor the horrendous refugee camps (800,000 of Gaza's 1.5 million population are refugees) that have existed for ever. Nor is it the garbage, dead animals here and there, and the vacant empty buildings with broken windows and doors hanging off. It’s this industrial area in the north-east part of the city - flattened and obliterated by exiting forces of the IDF. In the last 48 hours of the war they left via this area and destroyed it on their way out. There were 4000 factories and industries. Now there are 250. Gaza was famous for its furniture making. There were biscuit factories, ice cream factories, and machine and industrial enterprises, to name a few. Almost all gone, almost as a parting shot on their way out. It’s only then that I begin to get it - we are so used to the messages that the war was about destroying terrorists. But this was about destroying the economy and livelihood of the whole of Gaza society.

We met a number of local business people. They patiently explain what they are facing. You can tell they have explained it many times, but will continue until they are heard.
"We are not all Hamas or Fatah, or anything, but just people who want to live".
"We are human beings looking for a good future"
"We did business with Israelis, we had imports, exports, and good workers".
"But we have nothing called the economy now".

These are some of the things the business people say as they describe the devastation of their economy and society. But the one that sticks in my mind is one the man who says, "The last neighbour you want is someone with nothing to lose".

It is chilling and real in many ways. And maybe that feeds into the stereotype of the terrorist threat. But it is also thoughtful and full of concern about what has happened and could still happen.

Every single person we meet, NGOs, doctors, aid workers, fishers, young women, and families, say there must be peace and a Palestinian state. Every single person we meet wants a normal life and an end to physiological, physical and political warfare. And they have hope for this. Every single person wants to come and go, just like other people, and not be subject to forced containment. If you're in you can't get out(with a few exceptions) and if you're out you can't get in.

And on it goes, only getting worse. ...

Returned From Halifax

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:14:00 +0000

What a Convention and what a trip. The East is beautiful. Some friends and I Greyhounded across the country to reach our destination at Halifax. New Brunswick and Eastern Quebec are of especial beauty, with rolling Appalachian mountains and green valleys as far as the eye could see. Halifax, small as a city, had the rich history and the feel of a big city nonetheless and was, surprisingly to me, multicultural.

Thankfully the name change issue never came forth onto the resolution floor. I, for one was thankful, I think it was all just a superficial distraction. The right side of the party suffered a defeat in this. Finally, I'd like to draw attention to a resolution that both passed and I opposed. I am one guy and dont propose that my opinion is gold or whatnot, but it was an issue that came up that I'll always remember.

The resolution in question is 2-22-09 and was put forth by Trinity-Spadina NDP. IT calls for a 'moratorium on further tar sands development'. As environmentalists most NDPers present supported this, but there was something that changed my own perspective. Linda Duncan, MP for Edmonton-Stratchcona suggested that this resolution be amended and put to a council debate before being officially approved as it included nothing written on establishing consultations with indigenous communities and outlining how they have been affected. I full-heartily agreed with this. Aboriginal communities, it seems, are at the front line of every injustice, misfortune and harm in this nation. I was right with her. The young woman beside me, who I just met that day, agreed.

Some of the members wanted to just push this resolution forth as the party does not have an official position on this yet. Another woman member went up to mic and said something along the lines of: "We are all Canadian and shouldn't be more concerned with any one ethnic group". That statement is ignorant and culturally insensitive on so many levels and I expect it from Tories or maybe Liberals, but not from an NDPer. Many natives do not consider themselves Canadian, as indigenous people they have a specific case and situation, relations to their lands and desire for recognition of self-determination and sovereignty. Pushing First Nations into the category or 'another ethnic group' does not take this into account. So, only I and that other young woman sitting beside me, ended up voting against it.

Some people looked at us like "what's wrong with those Earth-haters?" It wasn't a matter of that. It was a matter of principle. It's something that is hard to have, it seems, but needed.

Farewell Halifax

noreply@blogger.com (blueguy) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:08:00 +0000

Today I start my trek, by bus from Halifax, to Toronto...should be fun. For the most part I feel good about this convention. I'll write more about it when I am back and fully energized,