Peter e-mailed me about this one: PETA is upset about the use of a donkey in a suicide bombing attack. Apparently, after a botched Palestinian terrorist attack against Israel, in which a bomb was strapped to a donkey and detonated, PETA wrote to Arafat to ask him to please leave the animals out of it. Kerry Dougherty of the Virginia Pilot is not amused:
PETA, the group that never before expressed concern about the carnage in Israel, is suddenly outraged.
All because a donkey died.
Never mind that, according to the Israeli embassy, which keeps track of such grim statistics, 729 Israelis have perished in terrorist attacks since September 2000.
It took the death of a donkey for PETA to find its voice.
Leave the animals out of it, they cry.
[ . . . ]
“If you have the opportunity,” Newkirk beseeched Arafat, “will you please add to your burdens my request that you appeal to all those who listen to you to leave the animals out of this conflict?” In other words, Newkirk seems to be begging the Palestinians not to stop the slaughter, but rather to find a different delivery system for their bombs.
[ . . . ]
The Washington Post this week asked Ms. Newkirk if she had “considered asking Arafat to persuade those who listen to him to stop blowing up people as well” as animals.
Her response should be required reading for all would-be members of PETA:
“It’s not my business to inject myself into human wars,” Newkirk told the Post.
How does one respond to such moral ambiguity?
What she said.
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Hamas has issued a statement that it is prepared to take over the Palestinian leadership from Yasser Arafat.
Mahmoud Zahar, a leader of the Hamas political wing, told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday that his group is “absolutely” prepared to lead the Palestinian people now. He said Hamas has the infrastructure to take over leadership “politically, financially (and) socially.”
Lest we panic, remember that all this would mean, even if it did happen, is that one terrorist would be exchanged for another. At least Hamas openly admits its aims and activities, unlike Arafat who tries to earn world sympathy by pretending to condemn terrorism while all the while funding and encouraging it.
If the Palestinian people want to be led by Hamas, they’ll be led nowhere but to more misery, dispair, and death.
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Just got home from an amazing Our Lady Peace concert at the Bell Centre. My ears are still ringing. What a show!
But then Raine Maida had to interject a comment about how he wishes our prime minister “would get some balls and tell the US to stay the fuck out of Iraq!” The band then proceeded to play a cover tune (Drive, by the Cars – which seems to have no relation whatsoever to Raine’s political commentary). I’m not sure if all the people who cheered at that comment agreed with him or were just cheering because they’d scream at anything he said. Not that it matters.
Of course, he’s entitled to his opinion. And I guess I’ve known for a while that he and his wife (Chantal Kreviazuk, whose music I also love) have been involved in organizations to end the sanctions on Iraq, and other related activities. But I filed that away someplace at the back of my mind, figuring it shouldn’t affect my enjoyment of OLP’s music.
As it well shouldn’t. Except that I was really enjoying tonight’s concert as a form of escapism from everything. And just at a point when I was most into the music, this threw a bucket of wet sand on everything. Suddenly, it was an in-your-face challenge: how to scream and cheer for music sung by someone who just lost all my respect from a political point of view.
This is what’s wrong with celebrity politics, in a nutshell. I can’t stop listening to all music or watching all movies by musicians and actors with whom I disagree politically . . . or else I’d have nothing left to listen to or watch. But it does present a challenge.
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There appears to be a glitch with the site comments. Haloscan has a short message saying that they’re working on their server. In the meantime, I just want to inform all readers that any missing comments are the result of this server problem and not censorship.
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The following letter in today’s Gazette questions the neutrality of the UN:
The consensus of opinion around the world is that no action should be taken against Iraq until such time as the UN arms inspectors uncover proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction. But can we trust the UN’s “neutrality” in this situation?
The UN has just appointed Iraq to chair its disarmament conference in Geneva next month (Gazette, Feb. 4). It appointed Libya to chair the Human Rights Commission. It allowed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, a known terrorist, to address the General Assembly while openly carrying a weapon.
Where is the UN’s credibility as a neutral body supposedly promoting peace on our planet?
Aaron Muscott
Dollard des Ormeaux
Well, unfortunately, the UN has never had any credibility as a “neutral body”. This is old news. From the countless one-sided General Assembly resolutions against Israel, to the twisting of the concept of “human rights” to mean “rights for select humans”, the UN lost its credibility decades ago.
The problem is that most people seem unaware of this. The world is pressuring the United States to get UN approval before attacking Iraq, as though a rubber-stamp from the UN would mean that the attack is legitimate.
The UN needs to clean up its act – fast.
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An e-mailed article from Hasbara Israel asks the question: Do you agree with those who say that the Palestinians are doing a better job than the Israelis on the public relations front?
Professionally trained and disciplined Palestinian spokespeople usually present themselves as a ragtag bunch of amateurs. They meet Western reporters in modest Jerusalem or Ramallah hotels or against the backdrop of refugee camps. This tactic has been very successful in reinforcing the stereotype of their side as the aggrieved underdog. An interview with a Palestinian in an alleyway with burning tires and bullets flying overhead captures the imagination of editors who place a premium on entertainment value–the human drama unfolding.
In contrast, when foreign correspondents meet with Israeli officials, they are often greeted by slick government spokespeople at fancy hotels, state-of-the-art media centers, or modern offices. Israeli spokespeople labor under three false notions: first, that formal, professionally packaged P.R. is persuasive; second, that lengthy explanations of the history of the conflict will be more effective than sound bytes in convincing the public of the rightness of their cause; and third, that the moral correctness of their action and cause is self-evident to any rational, fair-minded human being. Along these lines, Israel’s Foreign Minister Shimon Peres once said: “Good policies are good P.R.; they speak for themselves.” Unfortunately, Peres was wrong. A lie can be more powerful than the truth, if you market your lie well enough for people to believe it.
The Q&A that follows is a chilling look into the infrastructure of deceit that has made the Palestinians the media darlings of the decade. Quite a chilling read. I’ve posted the rest of the article up so have a look.
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I’m having a stressful day. Just needed to vent. See? I knew blogging had a purpose!
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Look out America, Canada’s coming!
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Dr. Sari Nusseibeh is going to be speaking at McGill University on Wednesday.
I wonder if they’ll riot this time . . . after all, Nusseibeh has publicly called for an end to Palestinian violence. Then again, MIB calls him a “prominent intellectual voice of reason calling for peace between Palestinians and Israelis”, and I think that’s going a bit too far. After all, he called “martyrdom operations” a form of resistance and refused to condemn them.
Most people have listened to Nusseibeh’s statements in Arabic and interpreted them, and concluded that he only plays the moderate. He’s been given that role, in order to make it seem like there are dissident voices in Palestinian society. But he’s just play-acting, and it seems like the Montreal Jewish Community is buying his act hook, line, and sinker.
Still, I somehow don’t predict any riots.
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