There is nothing useful on this web site.
Even though the internet is the source of all truth, the only truth here is that everything else is a lie.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.- Oscar Wilde
There was another War on Gaza last month, a little more than a week the after the US presidential election.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (Bibi) must have been hoping for and anticipating a Mitt Romney win so he could unleash a wholesale massacre against Gaza, like his predecessor did after the previous US presidential election.
But Romney did not win, and Netanyahu had to scale back the plans. The week long conflict ended with a cease fire. The good news is the death toll: Gaza 174, Israel 6, was much lower than last time. The Canadian lamestream media applied their usual bias.
A good link is here, from the Belfast Telegraph. The Irish know more than most about conflict. A quote:
On one side you've got three generations of a family wiped out. On the other, a woman's got to ring Autoglass. And we act like this is battle whose fate is in the balance
There are few Canadian links that offer any balanced analysis, so we'll rely on picture pages instead.
The first is from the National Post. It contains a remarkable video from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Guided missles with cameras zooming in on small targets and then ka-boom. It could have been a scene from either Syriana or Munich, to name a couple of movies-could-be-documentaries.
The next two links are from the Atlantic, a hi-res photo album website. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you can read this novel in 10 minutes. There are pictures of the damage inflicted on both sides. Note the difference.
These are not pictures of burning olive trees or bandana covered teenagers throwing rocks at colonists settlers armed with assault rifles. It gets a little more serious, at least in Gaza.
But somewhere in Israel, 
a couple are clearly in need of a kitchen renovation.
And a pothole in a parking lot has to be repaired.
The deaths of two Israeli civilians by a rocket attack on Nov. 15, which followed a laser guided missile assassination of a Hamas freedom fighter militant leader in Gaza the day before, is deplorable.
But let me be clear, Israel has the right to defend itself.
It was reported in an Israeli newspaper that some of the rockets from Gaza had the warheads removed. A lighter load means those homemade freedom fighter roman candles can travel farther, maybe to Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Who cares if they land in an open field? It's a statement.
Some Gaza rockets lack warheads, say Israeli officials
Palestinian militants stripping weighty explosives off shorter-range rockets to make them fly farther, according to security sources: 'They're pipes, basically;' Gaza militant group dismisses allegation.
Israeli deaths from Gaza rocket and mortar deaths are actually quite rare. Comparing this number to more common statistics, like the Israeli homicide rate or the motor vehicle fatality rate, reveals that, in Israel, the chances of being killed traversing an intersection or by another Israeli who is mad at you is actually more likely than being killed by a rocket from Gaza.
But let me be clear, Israel has the right to defend itself.
On Nov. 29th, Canada was one of the only countries to vote against a United Nations general assembly motion that overwhelmingly supported granting Palestine non member observer state status.
Canada, in opposing the motion, now stands proud with other nations of influence like Micronesia, Nauru, and Palau.
Since the UN vote, Israel has announced plans to approve 3000 new settlement homes in a highly disputed area and has revived plans for another 1600 settlement homes that has been shelved.
Israel also decided to divert $120 million of Palestinian Authority tax revenues that it collects and use the money to pay Israeli companies for services thus rendered.
What do Canada's Members of Parliament have to say have to say about these recent events? Well, nothing actually, with the exception of the Bloc Quebecois.
If you visit the OpenParliament.ca website and enter the word Gaza or Palestine into the search box, you might be surprised at how few recent references there are on this topic.
The only recent statements from any MP displaying any intelligence, courage, or moral fiber have come from the Bloc Quebecois: the first during the week long Gaza war, the second, after the UN vote on Palestine.
Canada's official Mid East foreign policy has probably been best described by the Jerusalem Post.
The (Jerusalem) Post described Canada as "the gold standard" of support for Israel. "There is not a government on the planet today more supportive of Israel than Harper's Canada."
This has become an international embarrassment and disgrace.
Canada was slow to voice any opposition to the new plans for settlement expansion, taking four days of diplomatic consultations to muster up the word "unhelpful". There was also the magnificently magnanimous decision NOT to suspend existing aid Canada had pledged to Gaza.
Canada's major opposition parties and their leaders have displayed an appalling avoidance of the issues, asking no questions of substance in Question Period during this whole time.
In Canada, it is becoming a crime to criticize Israel. This is called the new anti-semitism.
Spray paint the words "End Israeli Apartheid!" on a bus shelter in Calgary and expect a nationwide arrest warrant to be issued. You will be caught, expect to pay.
So what did our federal politicians have to say about all of this? The honorable Bob Rae, leader of the Liberals, stood up in Question Period on Nov. 19, at the height of the war, and lobbed this puffball, after two questions about Calgary infrastructure programs...
Can it tell us exactly what it has done with regard to the extremely sad and tragic events in the Middle East to encourage a ceasefire in Gaza in the battle between the Government of Israel and Hamas.
I think it is important for Canadians to know exactly what the government has done to achieve a lasting ceasefire.
A friendly question that just begs for a vacuous answer. Peter MacKay was happy to provide one. He is very good at that.
Had Bob Rae's question come from a Conservative MP instead of an opposition leader, nobody would have been surprised.
The NDP, who have traditionally been the conscience of Canada when it comes to Palestine and Gaza, have been very silent on the whole issue. There is nothing on their website about the UN vote, Gaza, or Palestine.
It was not until Nov. 28th, the day before the historic vote at the UN, that any mention of Palestine was made on the House of Commons. After plugging her own fairy tale private members Bill of free humanitarian aid (C-398), Hélène Laverdière said this...
Tomorrow, the world will gather at the United Nations to consider a resolution on Palestine's status within that organization. A number of our allies are working on this resolution to ensure that it will kick-start Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
In the meantime, what has Canada done to encourage—
After she was heckled into silence, Foreign Minister John Baird thusly responded...
Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, Canada has encouraged both parties to stop negotiating about the negotiating and to sit down at the negotiating table and try to work toward establishing a lasting peace. That is exactly what Canada has been doing. We are working in concert with our allies to make this happen.
An exchange then follows between Paul Dewar (NDP) and Baird.
Is it possible to water down this debate any more? Why not just ask "When will this government start to care about peace in the middle east?" Jack Layton would be proud.
After Baird states his intention of personally delivering a NO vote to the UN General Assembly, then flipping a cheapshot innuendo at the NDP, he finishes with this steaming pile of bullplop...
I was watching this live on the internet and wondered what the hell Baird was blathering about. More than seven different accords and resolutions? Tell us more!
The answer to that question was published the next day by a Liberal MP in this ridiculous article in the National Post.
Irwin Cotler likes it to be known that he is an emeritus professor of law at McGill. His wiki page claims he an expert in international law and human rights. I think Cotler wrote his own wiki page, but that is just my opinion.
Cotler comes off sounding off like some dickhead lawyer explaining to us common folk "if you just read the fine print, it is quite clear the airline is not responsible for any luggage that is lost in flight"
Cotler's nine point memo overlooks a few things -- like the continuing expansion of illegal settlements. He also neglects to mention that he is Jewish and an Israeli (Canadians are allowed dual citizenship). The hypocrisy and duplicity of this dirtbag politician is really something to behold.
Who are you speaking for here Cotler? Israel or Canada? Gets confusing, don't it? No conflict of interest here folks, just move along.
Do us all a favor Cotler and STFU. You can go look that acronym up in the archives of the International Court of Public Opinion (ICPO). Since you are a lawyer and trained to ignore the obvious, we will restate this in legal terms: recuse yourself, you have no legitimacy here.
The Honourable John Baird is a special guy.
He does not mind the sound of the one handed applause from our eight allies in the UN Assembly. He can deliver outrageous lies statements of foreign policy and still look at his face in the mirror the next morning and smile.
His address to the UN began with...
Canada opposes this resolution in the strongest terms because it undermines the core foundations of a decades-long commitment by the international community and the parties themselves to a two-state solution, arrived at through direct negotiations.
While we understand a final resolution remains elusive, Canada has long opposed unilateral actions by either side as these are unhelpful. The outstanding issues are too intricate and too complex to be resolved by symbolic, unilateral measures.
Baird then goes through a quick review of all significant events since 1947, expanding on those fallacious legal arguments from his Liberal MP buddy.
Baird also fails to mention those illegal settlements. He concludes his UN address with this stinker (emphasis mine)...
We call on both sides to return to the negotiating table without preconditions. Canada will be there to offer its good offices and support.
Thank you.
No doubt this UN address was followed by more one handed applause by all nations present before the air was fit to breath again.
In the twisted logic that defines the new Canadian foreign policy, demanding that Israel stop the illegal settlement expansion and theft of land appears to be one of those preconditions that hinders the precious 60 year old peace process.
Let me be clear, John Baird has many clever talking points. He is not afraid to stand alone (with Israel). He upholds the right of Israel to defend itself, to steal land, to commit war crimes and, in general, to be accountable to no one.
And John Baird speaks for the Government of Canada now, and, right or wrong, on behalf of all Canadians. Better get used to it.
Although the US has strongly objected to Israel's response to the UN vote, and countries that offered only tacit support to Israel by abstaining from voting (like Australia and Britain) are now calling their ambassadors home to protest the actions of Israel. Canada says mostly nothing. Instead, Canada recalls their envoys for a discussion on the best way to punish the Palestinians for their uppity attitude.
As Canada's inter- national reputation circles the great white porcelain bowl, what do our major political parties and their leaders have to say about this appalling turn of events?
Hear those crickets? Nothing to discuss here folks. You don't have to scratch very deep into the anodyne surface of Canada's political establishment to discover how many Israeli nationals have their hands on the cheque books levers of power.
Canada's major political leaders have more or less unanimously agreed that Canada'a best friend in the world is Israel, a country which also qualifies as the most criticized and hated nation on the planet, sometimes for very good reasons.
Now may be a good time to replace those luggage tags - the ones with the Canadian flag on one side? - with something a little more discrete. And it's probably a good idea to remove any Canadian flags attached to those backpacks. No sense having a bull's-eye on your back.
Expect more hassles and less respect if you travel and carry a Canadian passport (unless you are traveling to/from Israel). And let's hope you have a Conservative member of parliament to call if you land in a spot of trouble.
Canadians share common principles. Canadians share common values. Canadian values and principles are now Israeli values and principles. They are one in the same.
If you don't share those values, buddy, let me be clear, you are on your own.
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