When Canadian citizens are being imprisoned and tortured by Syria… by Lebanon… by Saudi Arabia… the Canadian government sees fit to stay quiet and uninvolved. But when a Palestinian-Canadian terrorist suspect is arrested and merely interrogated by Israel, for involvement in a Hamas plot to target Jews in the US and Canada, then of course Bill Graham is the first to rush to his defense:
Graham told [Israeli ambassador Haim] Divon that comments about Jamal Akkal’s citizenship and guilt or innocence are inappropriate, a spokeswoman said. The low-key meeting took place during a diplomatic forum which drew a variety of ambassadors, including Divon.
On Friday, Foreign Affairs said Divon would be called on the carpet Monday over the case of Akkal, a Canadian citizen of Palestinian extraction.
The Israeli government has said Akkal confessed to being recruited by the terrorist group Hamas to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Canada. Foreign Affairs complained the comments pre-judged Akkal.
Graham told the ambassador that Canadian considers the presumption of innocence is sacred, Isabel Savard said Monday.
[ . . . ]
Akkal, a 23-year-old who lives in Windsor, Ont., has complained of prolonged interrogations and sleep deprivation.
Jamil al-Qhateb, Akkal’s lawyer, has said his client admits he was approached by Hamas to carry out attacks in North America but said he never agreed to do so.
Sure, and OJ was innocent too.
It’s not as if a Hamas terrorist is going to admit the Israelis were right for picking him up. The standard line on torture sounded so far-fetched that even his lawyer amended it to “prolonged interrogations and sleep deprivation”.
In the meantime, Akkal is being elevated into some kind of hero status. He may be innocent until proven guilty, but he’ll be proven guilty. And the Canadian government has no business censoring the Israelis for trying to explain how they picked this guy up to prevent terrorist attacks – on our soil, no less.
It is our business. Akkal is a Canadian, just like you and me, Sari. It’s the job of the Canadian government to make sure that we are treated fairly.
As for a fair trial, as I said on my own blog, the government of Israel has been doing a great deal to make sure a fair trial is impossible.
Ikram, I think it’s a case of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t”. If Israel didn’t publicly make its case, the world would accuse it of using secrecy to arrest an “innocent” Canadian citizen. No matter what Israel does, there will always be those who maintain that Akkal cannot get a fair trial there… despite the fact that Israel’s justice system is more advanced and just than those of 99% of the regimes attacking it.
So should Israel release a terrorist and just let him go back to what he was doing, simply because there are those in the world who think that there’s no legitimate way for the Israelis to put him on trial?
“He may be innocent until proven guilty…”
But?
“but he’ll be proven guilty.”
“Sure, and OJ was innocent too.”
“It’s not as if a Hamas terrorist is going to admit the Israelis were right for picking him up.”
Innocent until assumed guilty?
No, Eric, innocent until proven guilty. That’s why there’s a trial. But for Canada to assume that Israel shouldn’t even have the right to arrest a suspected terrorist and bring him to trial?
No, Sari, Canada should assume thet a the executive branch (Ariel Sharon) should not pronounce on the guilt of the accused before the trial. Remember the Jean Charest resigned from the Tory government over something much less than this.
However, I’ve been told that Israeli PM’s often declare an accused guilty before a trial, and the courts still manage to acquit the accused. Fair trials work differently over there. They don’t have the same democratic norms that we do, they have different democratic norms.
They don’t have the same democratic norms that we do, they have different democratic norms.
Name one other country in that part of the world that has any form of democratic norms.
And do you really mean to tell me that John Allan Mohammed wasn’t “pre-judged”? That Timothy McVeigh wasn’t “pre-judged”? They still got trials. Public opinion was overwhelmingly against them, but that doesn’t mean they should have been set free.
I’m not saying the Israeli government assumes he’s guilty, I’m saying YOU assume he’s guilty.
Yep. So I guess if I was a juror they’d have to excuse me for cause. I’m biased, I admit it. Do you have an opinion on Kobe Bryant? On Michael Jackson? On OJ Simpson, like I said? I’m not sitting on the jury; I’m entitled to my opinion.
You’re absolutely right. You are indeed entitled to your opinion. I just find it amusing that you claim we should all be considered innocent until proven guilty, but then, in the same breath, go on to say that this person (who has NOT been proven guilty) is OBVIOUSLY guilty 🙂
Eric, there isn’t a contradiction.
For the purposes of a fair trial, etc., we should treat Akkal as if he was innocent, until proven otherwise. (I.e, don’t just throw away the key on Shin Bet’s say-so.) However, Sari is entitled to her opinion on whether he is guilty or not. Not being a judge or juror, she may make her mind up before the trial. Why not?
Sari — Your main line argument, be ‘Israel is better than Syria”, is not really much of an endorsement. I don’t think the slogan “Israel: It’s like Syria with Jews, and a little nicer” will get general approbation.
The standard I would hold Israel to, as well as holding thwe US, France, India, and any other country, is the Canadian standard. Of course, foreign countries don’t have to be identical practices as Canada, but they have to wind up in the same place in the end.
(And even Canada fails to meet the Canadian standard sometimes. Though with human rigths activist Irwin Cotler as our new Justice Minsiter, we should expect good things.)
Sari, promise me this: you’ll never use the line of argument “Israel has a better justice system than Syria” again. As a supporter of Israel, I find it very offensive.
But of course, Israel does have a better justice system than Syria. I mean, it actually has a justice system, which is a lot more than Syria has at the moment.
A better justice system for some of its citizens and certainly not for all its inhabitants.