Segacs’s World I Know

Jean Charest caved under pressure and retreated from his plan to increase subsidies to Jewish schools:

After discussing the matter with his cabinet for the first time, Charest acknowledged that the plan was doomed to fail without the backing of the population.

[ . . . ]

“With the Marguerite Bourgeoys school board not wanting to pursue this and with the very strong reaction within the population of Quebec, this initiative is not one that’s going to be able to succeed,” Charest said.

If all 15 schools had signed on, the program would have cost $10 million a year. The seven schools that signed agreements will still get a portion of that total for the remainder of the school year before the program is abolished. Charest has authorized Reid and Citizens Relations and Immigration Minister Michelle Courchesne to work with the school boards and cultural communities to find an alternative.

Worse than a leader people disagree with is a spineless leader. Charest will likely find that retreat with his tail between his legs is much more politically costly than an unpopular plan in the first place.

Ironically, there’s no public outcry against the Greek schools who receive this funding model. Greeks, I suppose, are less politically objectionable than Jews.

At least one prominent person has the courage to tell it like it is:

Marcus Tabachnick, chairperson of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, said the project should have continued.

Stressing that it was his personal opinion and not necessarily that of the board, Tabachnick said the controversy hinted of anti-Semitism.

He said he’s been asked by at least one reporter for the origin of his last name and his religion.

“I’m disappointed,” Tabachnick said. “I think in the last few days we’ve seen the ugliest side of Quebec.”

Unfortunately, his is one of the only voices making that argument. A Leger poll suggested that 90% of the population of Quebec was against the initiative.

At times like this, I’m reminded of something I’ve said before: If an opinion poll was held in Quebec, asking people if the Jews should pay more tax than everyone else, the initiative would overwhelmingly be favoured.

I guess this proves that point.

Update: Judging by Tommy Schnurmacher’s tirade on the subject, he agrees with me… and then some. Not that I’m too surprised.

Charest is angrily denying allegations that his government’s decision to increase funding to Jewish day schools was motivated by fundraising for the Liberals by the Jewish community:

Far from a last-minute decision made behind closed doors, Charest said, allowing Jewish day schools to form an association with public school boards and boost their secular funding is an idea that has been in the works for more than 10 years.

The premier angrily denied reports the decision was related to financial contributions to the Quebec Liberal Party by members of the Jewish community.

“There is absolutely no link between political financing and the decision taken by the government,” Charest said at a late- afternoon news conference. “If some people want to piece together events to say there is an appearance, they can always try to do that, but I am here to say clearly that’s not the case.”

Sounds liek a standard-issue denial. But there’s much more than simple political criticizing going on here.

First of all, the decision had initially been approved by two public schoolboards, who signed on:

And Reid was acting with the approval of the two school boards involved, the Lester B. Pearson School Board and the Commission Scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys, which voted in favour of the deals at their own meetings and passed the requests up the line, Charest said.

Both schoolboards would also get additional funding for participating. But little attention is being paid to that.

Also, there’s a clear double-standard at play, since Greek schools in Montreal are already 100% funded:

Charest said that despite criticism the government is creating a precedent, the Greek community already has associations with school boards that entitle its schools to more funding. The Liberals had decided to give private Jewish schools associated status as early as 1994 but lost power to the PQ, which did not implement it.

[ . . . ]

[Former PQ education minister Pauline] Marois added that in the nine years the PQ was in power, the government refused just such a request from Jewish leaders for reasons of fairness and because the government wanted to get away from the religious aspects of education as part of the transformation from religious school boards to linguistic ones.

“My biggest fear is that this has the reverse effect sought by the Jewish community and by the minister, that it raises the objections we see today and it leads to intolerance between one group and another,” Marois said.

“The minister is creating a climate of tension, insecurity, and is not acting in the interests of all.”

Marois admitted, however, that despite her criticism of the deal with Jewish private schools, the PQ did nothing to reverse the same associated status the Greek schools enjoyed when the PQ was in power.

So funding Greek schools does not create a “climate of tension”, but funding Jewish schools does. That’s crystal clear, I suppose.

Marois even went so far as to suggest that the Jewish schools should refuse to sign on for the plan, ostensibly to avoid being criticized by the likes of her party.

Anyone notice a pattern here? When people “suspect” the Jews, it’s beacuse we brought it on ourselves by doing things that “create a climate of tension”. Marois’ comments were a bit more subtle than Parizeau’s infamous “money and the ethnic vote” speech… but not much.

I knew when I heard about this that it was bound to blow up in someone’s face. And of course, it has: Jean Charest’s plan to boost subsidies to private Jewish day schools – like the ones I attended – has become the latest political controversy seemingly overnight.

The plan is simple, on the face of it. Jewish schools, previously getting 60% of their funding from the government, will now get 100%. In exchange, they sign a deal promising “cultural exchanges” with public schools, in order to foster better community relations and understanding.

But Charest’s government would never escape scrutiny for this move. Any sympathy for the Jewish community’s added financial burden of providing security for schools in the wake of the UTT firebombing has long faded. Reverting to type, the Quebec public sees a potential scandal involving Liberals, Jews, and money… and smells blood.

This from the Gazette’s Don Macpherson:

But, as everyone but apparently the government could have predicted, the increase is likely to worsen relations between Jews and non-Jews.

Other than the government, Jews and other religious groups using it as a precedent, nobody supports the decision. As the chief editorialist for the usually Liberal-friendly La Presse, Andre Pratte wrote yesterday the government managed to fan not one controversy but three: public funding of private schools, public funding of ethnic schools and the place of religion in publicly funded schools. And it awoke “the old demon” of anti-Semitism. The title of the editorial was an incredulous single word:”Incomprehensible!”

In other words, it’s bad policy because it gives fodder to the antisemites.

Now, Charest’s government is being attacked by the PQ for supposedly granting this extra money as a payout for the Jewish community’s support of his party:

Quebec Opposition leader Bernard Landry demanded Tuesday that Premier Jean Charest reconsider his decision to increase the funding of private Jewish schools from 60 to 100 per cent, which is the same as public schools.

Landry and Parti Québécois education critic, Pauline Marois, also called for Education Minister Pierre Reid to step down from cabinet because of his poor management of the education portfolio.

Landry said that Charest must make public his reasoning behind the decision in order to eliminate any appearance of a conflict of interest linking major contributions from the Jewish community to the Quebec Liberal Party.

Bernard Landry went on camera and called for Pierre Ried’s resignation. Never mind that there’s zero foundation. Never mind that the PQ has a long history of taking care of its friends (metro to Laval, anyone?) or that the Jewish community has its own reasons for supporting the Liberals and doesn’t require a cash incentive. Never mind that there are no ways to prove the allegations.

The Societe St Jean Baptiste is calling for an inquiry into the matter because it may have been “politically motivated”. Anyone who knows the SSJB knows how ridiculous that is.

Personally, I think an increase in public education funding should have been a higher priority. But I also know from experience that most of the Jewish day schools are desperately cash-strapped. Far from the stereotypical “posh” private schools, most of the buildings are falling apart, the facilities are in urgent need of replacement, and the textbooks are so old that my grade 10 history book had only 9 provinces listed in Canada. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating… but not by much.

Many families who send their kids to Jewish school can’t afford the tuition, and the schools work out financial aid for any family who needs it. Given all that, I can’t imagine any of the Jewish schools turning up their nose at more money.

The problem isn’t the added cash. It’s the fact that the government can pour money into union coffers, other ethnic communities, rural communties and just about anyone else’s pockets without people batting an eyelash. After all, we’re the most heavily-taxed province in Canada and there’s no shortage of people getting handouts. But the minute a dime goes to the Jewish community, it’s an “appearance of conflict”.

Sleiman El-Merhebi, who was convicted of the firebombing of UTT St-Laurent’s library last April, has been sentenced to 40 months in prison, for a politically-motivated crime that the judge called “terrorism”:

Last month, El-Merhebi told the court he was driven to the crime by news of Israeli attacks on Palestinians. The arson “was an emotional response,” he said. “I was reacting to acts of violence in the Middle East that I saw on television.”

A note left at the scene of the blaze claimed the attack was in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.

Sure, blame the media. Blame Israel. Blame anyone but himself. This time, that strategy won’t work, because El-Merhebi is in jail now where he belongs.

The latest threats from Iran:

“We are able to say that we have strength such that no country can attack us because they do not have precise information about our military capabilities due to our ability to implement flexible strategies,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Shamkhani as saying Tuesday.

“We can claim that we have rapidly produced equipment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent,” he said, without elaborating.

Elaboration isn’t really necessary. We get the point. And none of us is fooled by the “deterrent” nonsense either.

The real question is, who will do anything to prevent Iran from going nuclear? The US is posturing but it’s doubtful if they will be able to get the support to mount a military intervention. The rest of the world probably either doesn’t care, or supports Iran’s ambitions. As for Israel – who has more motivation than anyone – a repeat of Osarik is unlikely if it puts Israelis at serious risk.

This is not good news.

Today was clear, sunny… and a balmy minus 22 degrees centigrade with a windchill of minus 33.

Damian, I sympathize. I really do. But look on the bright side: at least by you, it’s warm enough to snow.

Israel has cut ties with Abbas in light of a Palestinian terrorist attack that killed six Israelis:

“Israel is severing all planned contacts with the Palestinians on all levels, from security to government leadership,” spokesman Assaf Shariv said, a day after the assault that defied Abbas’s calls for non-violence.

“Everything is canceled until they take steps against terror, so we can see there is not only talk but also action. Abbas knows who carried out the attack, so he will be the one to stop them. It’s very easy,” he said.

Sharon has known all along that Abbas is no “moderate”. He had to give it the old college try for the record, but it certainly didn’t last long for Abbas to muck it up.

As far as mideast politics is concerned, looks like we’re back to regularly-scheduled programming.

Most of the donations that have been pouring in so far for Tsunami disaster relief have been motivated by genuine shock, empathy and desire to help.

But in case those reasons don’t seem quite cynical enough for you, if you’re American, Dubya has a selfish reason to give:

President Bush (news – web sites) said U.S. aid efforts following Asia’s killer tsunami would improve America’s image in the Muslim world.

[ . . . ]

“In … responding to the tsunami, many in the Muslim world have seen a great compassion in the American people,” Bush said in an interview with ABC News to be aired on Friday.

The president, initially criticized for a slow and limited U.S. response to the tsunami, said he was “very impressed … by how quickly we have responded” to deploy military equipment and personnel for the international relief effort.

“I’ve got to tell you, our military is making a significant difference,” he said.

Bush has been accused of many things, but genius has never been one of them. Nevertheless, you’d think at least someone on his senior staff might realize that it doesn’t look so good to use a natural disaster that has killed over a hundred and fifty thousand people as a PR opportunity.

Sheesh.

In the cool link of the day department, 43 things offers the opportunity to make a gigantic to-do list for your life.

Hat tip: Elana, who wants more people to read her blog… so this post is kinda helping her accomplish one of her goals.