Segacs’s World I Know

A touching tribute in today’s Gazette to George Balcan, whose voice animated the mornings of Anglophone Montreal on CJAD radio for over 30 years:

For many anglophones, allophones and even francophones, Balcan was Montreal’s morning man. Breakfast was Balcan plus a cup of coffee.

Generations of Montrealers woke up to him – for excellent reason. He was part of all our families. He helped soothe by getting us through the rough spots. He helped celebrate our good fortune. He helped bring us up to speed on developments here and around the world. There was virtually no subject – culture, sports, economics, politics – that he wasn’t able to converse about intelligently and sensitively.

Balcan passed away yesterday after losing his battle with cancer. He was 72.

CJAD itself has faltered recently, and despite trying to replace Balcan with high-profile announcers (for example, Terry DiMonte) after his retirement, the station has been on a downhill fall since Balcan’s retirement. His was one of the most well-known and recognizable voices in the city. Now that voice has fallen silent, and the city won’t be quite the same.

Any murder is wrong. To take the life of another human being for no legitimate purpose is sick and disgusting and never justifiable.

But when the murder victim is a child, it tugs on our heartstrings even more.

Meryl has angry words for the murderers of Meirav Hatuel, aged two, and her pregnant mother and three older sisters:

Meirav was two. She and Rebecca have something in common. They’re both Jewish. Meirav lived in a town in the Gaza Strip with her three sisters. Rebecca lives here in central Virginia with her three brothers. Rebecca giggles a lot, and dances a lot. I’ll bet that Meirav giggled and danced, too.

Meirav was two. She was killed by palestinian terrorists while strapped in her carseat in the back of her mother’s car. Meirav’s body was riddled with bullets. The terrorists shot Meirav, her nine-months-pregnant mother, and her three sisters at close range. Then they ran up to the car and shot each of them in the head — to make certain they were dead.

[ . . . ]

Meirav was two. PA radio hailed her murderers as “heroic martyrs.”

Meirav was two. The palestinians celebrated throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Worse still, the murderers brought a video camera and recorded the deaths of the mother and children.

This is why I loathe them. This is why I don’t believe they want peace. This is why I have slowly but surely lost any sympathy I once had for the palestinians.

Rebecca is two. She is Jewish. If she were living in Gaza or the West Bank, she would be considered a legitimate target by the palestinians.

Meirav was two.

This was no case of an “innocent bystander” getting in the way. This was not an accident. No, this was a cold-blooded, deliberate attempt to murder an innocent woman and her children. I’m with Meryl on this one.

Update: Israpundit posted the e-mail address for anyone who wishes to send condolences to David Hatuel on the loss of his wife and daughters:

Expressions of sympathy for David Hatuel of Katif, whose wife and daughters were murdered by Palestinians, can be sent to him via his neighbor, Irit Ben-Aryeh, whose email address is abirit @ zahav.net.il

Hebrew preferred, but English would still be very much appreciated.

What’s blue and white and is off to the golf course?

Ariel Sharon’s plan to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza was soundly defeated in today’s referendum in Israel, with exit polls indicating 60% of votes against and only 39% for:

In an initial response to the resounding defeat of his disengagement plan in a Likud Party referendum on Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that while he and the Israeli public were disappointed with the results, he would respect them.

[ . . . ]

“I know that much of the Israeli public supports my plan. I know that they feel, as I do, disappointment with the results of the referendum. We have difficult days before us where difficult decisions need to be made,” Sharon said in a statement.

This could put Sharon’s job in jeopardy, although initially he said he would not resign. In fact, he vowed tonight to continue pushing the plan. Still, few politicians recover from this kind of defeat, and what will happen in the days and weeks ahead remains to be seen.

Results and reactions are, of course, mixed, as they tend to be with any controversial result. I’m not an Israeli Likudnik, so my opinion really doesn’t matter… but for the record, my reaction is more of a qualified disappointment. Disappointment that a plan that seemed like it might have a real chance of success will probably not have a chance to be put into place… but qualified because the terrorists will interpret any unilateral withdrawal as a sign of weakness.

What next? We’ll have to watch and see, I suppose.

Speaking of birthdays, to the anonymous “Happy Reader” who sent me a book off my Amazon wish list, thank you very much to whoever you are!

Yes, I’m another year older today. And it seems like this past year flew by. Where does the time go?

This overshadows even Russell Crowe’s gesture:

The kids come from Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Turkey and China. They’ve experienced famine, war and death. They know hatred when they see it.

When students from the All Rights Committee (ARC) and the Student Parliament at the Islington Junior Middle School [in Toronto] heard about the firebombing of the United Talmud Torahs (UTT) library in Montreal earlier this month, they responded quickly and collected $440 and 250 books to help UTT rebuild.

[ . . . ]

When the UTT arson happened, “we wanted to show the Jewish people that we care and that we think it should stop,” Sarah Gaikwad, 13, says.

The article says that every class in the school contributed something, as much as they could. These are the kids who are being taught the right values, and they should be applauded for their help.

In other Israeli news, seems Israel is having better luck at basketball than we Montrealers had at hockey this season, as the Maccabi Tel Aviv team claimed a decisive victory yesterday in the Euroleague final. (Via Allison).

Today is the Israeli referendum on Ariel Sharon’s disengagement plan. Sadly, the occasion will be marked not just by ballots, but by violence, as terrorists coldly murdered a pregnant mother and her four daughters as she went to vote:

A pregnant mother and her four daughters were shot dead Sunday after two terrorists opened fire at Israeli cars traveling near the Kissufim Crossing at the entrance to the Gush Katif settlement bloc in the Gaza Strip.

The dead were identified as Tali Hatuel, 34, eight months pregnant and her daughters Hila, 11, Hadar, 9, Roni, 7, Merav, 2 all from the settlement of Katif. Details of the funerals have yet to be finalized

Two soldiers and an Israeli civilian were also wounded in the attack and were evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheba.

The IDF said that both of the gunmen, who arrived at the area by car, were killed in an ensuing firefight.

The Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees claimed joint responsibility for the attack, saying it was to avenge the assassinations of Hamas leaders Sheikh Yassin and Rantisi.

The newspapers are all discussing the strategic implications, speculating that Sharon’s plan will be defeated and that this latest attack will only help widen the margin of defeat. From the perspective of the Palestinian terrorists, they’d love to see the plan shot down and Sharon’s government embarrassed, so their motivation isn’t so hard to question.

But for an innocent woman and her children, none of that matters now. They were just the latest victims of disgusting terrorism… and though everyone seems to have a different idea on how to react to the terror, no vote or political plan can bring them back to life.