Perezhogin signed a one-year deal. Yet another case of young talent being locked in for the short-term only. What will things look like at this point next year, I wonder?
Harper is under attack for his “pro-Israel stance”… at least, according to Reuters:
The decision by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to take a pro-Israeli stance is unwise and could cost him votes in the next election, particularly after seven Canadians were killed by an Israeli attack, political observers and commentators said on Monday.
Harper’s Conservatives, who took power in February after 13 years of Liberal rule, have a fragile minority and rely on support from other parties to govern.
Harper is widely expected to call an election in the first half of next year but to win a majority he will need to start winning seats in major cities like Toronto and Montreal, both of which have large ethnic Arab populations.
“A lot of Lebanese voted Conservative (in the last election) because they were tired of the Liberals,” said Mazen Chouaib, executive director of the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations.
“Those who would have been swayed to vote Conservative will not do so (next) time,” he told Reuters.
Note how the article only vaguely refers to “commentators”, before quoting a clearly biased interested party that makes no sense on the key issue because most Arab-Canadians didn’t vote Conservative in the first place.
This is nothing more than a thinly-veiled editorial disguised as news. I can sleep well at night knowing that such a high quality of journalim exists.
Seven Canadians were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon today.
Oy. No matter what the facts of the matter are, the average headline-level informed Canadian is going to automatically side against Israel now.
From an MSN conversation last night between a local friend and her friend in Haifa (paraphrased):
“How are you?”
“I’m great!”
“Great? How can you be great?”
“Seeing a new guy and he’s amazing!”
“But how are you with what’s going on in Haifa right now?”
“A bit nervous… let me tell you about him though. I really think he’s ‘the one’.”
In the meantime, more rockets have hit Haifa and this time, there were injuries and fatalities. Not to mention the constant barrage of rockets that keeps raining down on the north. People have got to be scared.
Here are some reactions from Israeli bloggers on how they’re coping:
Allison wonders how to go on with daily life:
The government tells people from Tel Aviv northward to “be alert.”
OK, so I’m alert. Now what?
I’d love some specific instructions. Let the kids go play at their friends’ house or not? Go grocery shopping or not? Dentist appointment?
I guess I’m supposed to keep doing it as normal, but ALERTLY. Fat lot of good alert will do me if I’m in the dentist’s waiting room and hear a siren for a one-minute warning till a missile hits.
Meanwhile, Harry can’t tear himself away from the news:
Today was a bad day. I got ZERO work done today. Eight dead in Haifa. Fifty wounded. The bodies of the three missing sailors were found. And more and more missiles landing. Over 800 missiles and mortar attacks thus far.
Spent pretty much every second of the day reading news sites and blogs and watching television. I know I’m not the only one. A friend of mine who works at a fairly large corperation here IM’ed me earlier that everyone at his company must be surfing and not working because the network keeps crashing. Another friend’s company’s entire customer support system sits in Carmiel and the company is backlogged with hundreds of customer requests.
I went out briefly for some shwarma. Lots of people were out and about. Everyone of course was talking about the situation but the sense of detachment still exists. It’s just too surreal for people around here. I’m sure that will change as the missiles land even more south.
Lisa, who is angry about the whole thing, blogs about the absurdities of this war:
We watch each other’s television broadcasts, we talk to one another, and then…we bomb each other.
This morning a friend of mine called from Gaza. He’s not a journalist, not a politician – just an ordinary Palestinian guy in his twenties. He lives down the street from the offices of Hamas’s Ministry of the Interior in Gaza, which was bombed a few days ago by an Israeli fighter plane. He has about two hours of electricity a day in his house and about as much running water. But he called me to ask if I was okay, after he saw on Al Jazeera television that Nasrallah was threatening to bomb Tel Aviv. “I’m worried about you,” he said.
And late, late last night I chatted via Instant Message with this Lebanese blogger, while he sat on the roof of his apartment building and watched Israeli fighter planes bomb Beirut.
Speaking of which, here’s a post from the Lebanese blog that Lisa linked to:
A week ago, I might have told you that my heart broke because my favorite World Cup team lost – I almost cried. Now I would do anything to watch my team lose – and bring down my sense of disappointment to that level again.
What I feel now, as a citizen, and what everyone feels is disappointment, anger, anxiety, frustration. We’re scared and locked up at home. War came in a day. War in one day.
Of course, there are thousands of personal accounts from Israeli and Lebanese bloggers “from the ground”. I was only highlighting a few from some of my regular reads. But things are getting worse, and all I can do is watch in fear and hope that people stay safe, somehow.
Momentary time-out from the tension of the Middle East to note that today was a banner day for the Habs. Not only did Gainey secure the netminders by signing both Danis and Aebischer (despite widespread speculation that Aebischer would be traded), we also signed free-agent Sergei Samsonov, adding a key player up front.
In other big news, Zednik won’t be back next season; after a disappointing year, the Z-man is off to Washington.
This afternoon, while baking in the hot sun waiting to get into Parc Jean-Drapeau to see Bon Jovi, we received a panicked phone call from a friend whose entire family lives in Israel. “They’re attacking Haifa!” She calmed down a bit after speaking to her family and being assured that everyone was safe, but the fingernail-biting nervous tension didn’t exactly dissipate.
Nor, I fear, will it for a while.
To say that the matzav has heated up would be putting it mildly. Nobody was injured in the Haifa attack, but sadly, in the North, people weren’t so lucky; rocket attacks killed 2 people and injured at least 120. Meanwhile, Israel is attacking Beirut, targeting Hezbollah stronghold areas. Israel may be after Hezbollah, but it’s Lebanon and Israel that are now engaged in what can only be called war.
Even as things escalate with the Palestinians, Hezbollah, and Lebanon, it’s not ending there. Hezbollah’s primary backers, Syria and Iran, are dancing close to the flame as well. Iran is threatening to retaliate if Israel strikes Syria. Meanwhile, Israel claims it has intelligence that Hezbollah is trying to transfer the kidnapped Israeli soldiers to Iran, which, of course, Iran is denying. The chances that Syria and Iran could get dragged into this mess are looking high.
Nor can Israel count on the unqualified backing of the United States. Bush is giving his cautious support even while Condi Rice is urging “restraint” – an all-too-familiar ploy that will end with Israel being falsely painted as the aggressor even by its allies.
Tonight, my friend’s family is doing the only thing they can: bunking down, biting nails, and waiting. Millions of Israelis and their friends and loved ones around the globe are doing the same thing tonight, and, I fear, for far too long to come.
This isn’t a song and dance about how war is never the answer. I’m not urging anyone to sit down and sing kumbaya. Israel needs to defend itself, and everyone here knows I support her actions 100%. But I can’t help the fear, the trepidation, the sense of dread. Unlike Israel’s enemies, who go straight into every war joyously envisioning wiping the “Zionist entity” off the map, Israel has never and will never go into war happily. Every war fought by Israel has been because there was no other choice, and every decision made by the Israeli government primarily considers the safety and security of the Israeli people. All I can do is echo the statements made in editorials and on blogs around the world: Israel will win because there is no other choice.
But I can’t help being afraid.
They’re celebrating and dancing in the streets of Lebanon, because they’ve kidnapped Israeli soldiers and fired rockets. They see all-out chaos in sight, and they’re celebrating.
In Gaza, Hamas is thrilled that they have more “martyrs” and more fodder for inciting hatred. They’re stepping up their attacks as Israel is caught fighting on two fronts.
In Israel, nobody is celebrating. Olmert is talking and reacting tough against Lebanon; Bush is including Syria and Iran in his warnings.
The powder keg is simmering, and appears to be nearing a boiling point.
Lynn asks, is it war yet?
If it is, I have no doubt that Israel will stand strong and do what is required, but I cringe nonetheless. Anxious parents with sons and daughters in the IDF know that the country will not cave or yield, but it doesn’t make the situation any easier. I fear this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets any better.
In his own words, here’s Ehud Olmert addressing the world media:
The main purpose of the Israeli operation in Gaza is twofold: One, is to take measures in order to allow the release of the Israeli kidnapped soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, and the other is to stop the Kassam missiles from being shot at Israeli civilians in the south part of the country. Since about ten months ago, Israel pulled out entirely from Gaza back into the territory which is recognized by the international community as part of the State of Israel.
In other words, there are not any occupying forces in Gaza since August of last year. And since then, there wasn’t one day of rest for the people of Israel that live in the south part of our country. Almost on a daily basis, there are missiles shot at them, with one purpose in mind of those who are doing it. This is to kill innocent Israeli civilians in schools, or in their homes or in the streets as they are trying to do every day. This is something that is entirely intolerable. Israeli people like every other people, deserve to be protected.
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