You have to love it when the Vice President of a nation visits an “ardent ally” which receives virtually all of it’s military aid from said nation and then has the audacity to completely railroad him.

I wasn’t at all surprised by the ‘all smiles’ pro-Israeli rhetoric that Biden spewed when he first arrived in Israel – becoming the most senior member of the Obama Administration to visit the country – just that he might have tempered his exuberance before he let the Israelis turn him into the joke of the week.

A day after he arrived, and kissed their proverbial ass, the Israelis announced that they would be building 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem to house ultra-Orthodox Jews, a move that is in direct violation of international law. It was quickly condemned by a stunned Biden, Britain, France, the EU, and the Arab League, which, of course, means absolutely nothing to the Israelis. Though the Israelis claim that the announcement was not timed to coincide with Biden’s visit, there’s little doubt that it was, as the planned development has all but frozen the possibility of restarting peace talks.

March 10, 2010

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve read that headline I’d have a shitload of nickels. In truth, every time I read it I wonder if the reason that it never succeeds is due to the fact that the United States is the number one purveyor of arms in the region.

October 31, 2009

Sometimes, a crack of light is all that it takes to get to daybreak…

“If a single person deserves the title of serial thorn in the side of the Israeli state, Uri Davis, a professor of critical Israel studies at al Quds University on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, might be the one to claim it.

The crowning moment for Dr Davis arrived last weekend when he became the first Israeli Jew to be elected to one of Fatah’s governing bodies, the Revolutionary Council.

It is a public relations breakthrough for Fatah – which held its sixth congress last week, this time under occupation in the West Bank city of Bethlehem – in which Dr Davis clearly takes some pride.

His presence on the 120-member council, sometimes referred to as the Palestinian parliament, is unlikely to make a significant difference to Fatah’s policies, which will continue to be largely dictated by Mahmoud Abbas, the president, and his inner circle. But it does have huge symbolic significance.

His polling in the 31st place for one of 80 seats contested by more than 600 Fatah members, he said in an interview, challenged Israel’s suggestion that the Palestinian people and its leaders regard the Jews as their enemies.”

August 23, 2009

A friend of mine, and Member of Parliament for Vancouver East (Libby Davies), is just finishing up a trip to Gaza at the invitation of the United Nations Works and Relief agency in Palestine (UNWRA). I’m a little late on mentioning this given that, for some bizarre reason, I received all of the email updates about the visit this morning in one lump sum. That aside, you can visit Libby’s website (linked above) to read about the trip. Below is her last entry from Gaza…

700 Tunnels

“On our last morning in Gaza we visited the tunnels in Rafeh, a 100 meters or so from the border. Driving along a dirt road there are mounds of earth on each side and makeshift tents, each with a small group of men.

We stop and get out to look. A F16 drones above. The tunnel hole is maybe 1.2 square meters wide, reinforced with wood and drops vertically maybe 20 feet. You can barely see the man standing at the bottom in the dark. A metal hoist sits in the middle.

There were a 1000 tunnels, but bombings have reduced that number to approximately 700, we are told. The recent bombing of an adjacent tunnel has left a small crater, as evidence. We are told the tunnel sizes vary, from crawling, to crouching to walking. Some are long and take 40 plus minutes and some are short and take much less time to get through. Payment is anywhere from $500.00 to $2000 per one way trip. Not cheap but desperate times cost. Almost anything goes thru the tunnels; washing machines, cows, machinery, car parts, wedding dresses, and of course, people. There is even an oil pipeline. The Israeli’s allowed some gas to come in about a week ago, but there hasn’t been much pick up, as the tunnel price is a better deal. Even hair conditioner (one of the items banned for import into Gaza) makes it through. Local folks cannot understand why hair conditioner and Pampers aren’t allowed in “above ground”.

The tunnels are dangerous; they can cave in, and of course face bombing. The sound of an F16 passing high above, a clear reminder of the dangers of this business.

Other members of our group are very interested in the tunnels themselves, but I am interested in who controls them. This is hard to find out, and info is very vague. Various individuals “own” them, and I wish I could find out more, but there is not enough time, as we ourselves, have to get back quickly to the “other” crossing and navigate the anticipated delays there. I remember one of the Palestinian business men warning – “when you come back, I may not be here. It will be the Mafioso sitting here, not me”. He desperately wanted the tunnels gone and regular trade mechanisms set up.

So – we leave – a short but highly informative visit to Gaza and I feel that we have done what we set out to do……see the disaster first hand and help advocate for change.

Back at Rafeh we pass through the Gaza side quickly. But the Egypt side takes forever, again. It is airless, hot and dirty in the arrival hall and we wait and wait, as others do, (not because its busy, but because there are so many layers of clearance to go through), until finally our passports are stamped. Such limited access for people, into Gaza, mostly denied, is a huge issue and I’m glad we went through Rafeh to see it firsthand.

Now we begin the long drive back across the Sinai Peninsula and over the Suez Canal, back into Cairo, back to Amman, back to London, and finally to Halifax, where the NDP Convention is already underway. My brain is working hard to switch gears. Were times different, our alternative route could have been a drive of an hour or so to Tel Aviv, and a direct flight to Canada.

I would like to thank the good folks in the Canadian Mission Office in Ramallah, who provided our delegation with excellent support, information and assistance to our mission in the West Bank. They are great people! This past Canada Day, in lieu of their stat holiday, the staff in the office in Ramallah organized and worked on a big clean up and fix up of a local children’s park in Ramallah. Now that is a fine example of true Canadian friendship and support.

I must also thank CODE PINK for their wonderful help in organizing this mission. Kim, Ehab, Jase, and Sara, are terrific travel companions. This was their second, and for some, 3rd time to Gaza. They did what DFAIT wouldn’t do in Gaza, they supported our mission, made it work, got us in and out safely, and paid their own way and expected no thanks, other than a hope that this mission will draw attention and that we’ll keep the pressure up. We will.”

August 17, 2009

What sort of people wait while others are forcibly removed from their homes and then immediately move in while the possessions of the dispossessed are still in the street?

I have spent some time this morning pondering that question and no matter the angle, arrive at the same conclusion – individuals of no conscience, no dignity, and more than both, no humanity.

I want to state upfront that I don’t care for any of it. Zealots on both sides are equally ignorant, equally despicable, and equally deserving of each other. What I do care about is those caught in the middle that just want to lead their lives in relative peace and with some semblance of normalcy.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote: “Emancipation is the demand of civilization. That is a principle; everything else is an intrigue.” Emerson’s statement is an absolute. In the realm of human freedom no gray area exists – and that applies to us just as much as it does those that are denied what we consider freedom. At its core, true freedom is the utmost demand of any decent civilization. Mind you, that then begs the question as to whether or not a truly decent civilization has ever even existed.

Following the arrival of Europeans in North America, the native inhabitants of this continent were subjugated by those that that claimed themselves civilized. In doing so, civilized individuals displaced and killed millions. In truth, the native peoples of the United States and Canada got off relatively light compared to those in Central and South America, who were both slaughtered outright or enslaved during the early period of Spanish and Portuguese expansionism. Africans, too, were subjugated, with countless numbers kidnapped and sold into slavery for centuries. All of these things were the undertakings of supposedly civilized people, their actions setting the stage for a chaotic future that is still evident in many parts of the post colonial world today.

History is relative. Many parts of the world that we consider troubled or backward are examples of post colonial vacuums. After centuries of foreign interference, such inevitabilities were a foregone conclusion, and yet we have the audacity to view them without the inclusion of historic relativism.

Once, long ago, the Lenape, or Delaware, were the original occupants of what is now Manhattan. They, like countless other aboriginal peoples, were eventually stripped of their lands, became dependant on trade with foreigners, and were ultimately diminished. That being the case, what if descendents of the Lenape arrived in New York City next week and demanded it back? After all, their claim on the land is much older than that of the Europeans that settled what would become known as New Amsterdam and, eventually, New York City.

So let’s suppose that next week they arrive in New York and begin negotiating a settlement with the government of the United States to reclaim a part of Manhattan based on their historical rights, leaving a portion of it to those that currently reside there. Following that, the General Assembly of the United Nations votes to recognize the state of Lenape and, despite the fact that the majority of the 1.6 million inhabitants of New York City overwhelmingly object to the vote’s outcome, the island of Manhattan is transformed into something that looks like this…

After the mandate takes affect, those residents that live in what has become Lenape are forced to move to parts of the city still under US control. Under the terms of the deal, the financial district becomes a UN administered area. So, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are forced to leave their homes and either resettle in other parts of the country, or in what remains of the US controlled parts of Manhattan.

Obviously, this example lacks a variety of complexities that are, without question, engrained in such a monumental happening. But at its core, it provides a very simple example of what the Israeli precedent means with regards to the reacquisition of ancient homelands. While the movement to create a Jewish state in Palestine pre-dates the 20th Century, the horrific reality of the Holocaust is what ultimately played one of the most significant roles in the creation of Israel. That said, how is one supposed to view the illegal displacement of Palestinians by Israeli Settlers in the West Bank? Even more, how is one to stomach the reality that as Palestinians are being removed from their homes, Israeli settlers are immediately moving in with such ease and such a sense of entitlement?

Holocaust denial is, of course, utter lunacy. So is disregarding the history of Jewish oppression. There is no question that there are those in the Persian and Arab worlds that promote the denial of such history, propaganda quite obviously aimed at demonizing Israel. But that, as I have said, is lunacy, and only betrays the ignorance of those that would even attempt to spread such falsehoods. The ultimate irony is that Palestinians and Israelis have something in common – the endurance of suffering. Why that commonality cannot be seen by many on both sides is quite beyond me. Even more, that as a people that were long persecuted abroad, some Israelis fail to realize that the actions of Israeli hardliners besmirches the legacy of those trials faced, and that to not embrace a collective compassionate view is a betrayal of the millions that were victims of gross, compassionless, inhumanity.

Calling for the destruction of Israel is found only in the voice of stupidity. The oppression of millions of people that have, for over 60 years, lived in limbo is equally the province of stupidity.

In the end, the truth is that the Lenape probably wouldn’t want Manhattan returned to them. Any resemblance to what was once their ancestral homeland has vanished, replaced by skyscrapers and monuments to heroes that through the tempered employment of villainy helped lay the foundation of the new world. Palestine, a land of ancient memory, is filled with ruins built atop ruins, of temples built upon temples, of the forgotten bones of Arabs, Jews, Romans, Greeks, Persians, Europeans, Ottomans, and a host of others all buried beneath its sand and soil. Who then owns the earth? Even more, given the blood that it has swallowed, who would ever dare claim ownership of it?

In the realm of human freedom no gray area exists. Either we are all free or we are all in chains, no matter perceptions to the contrary.

August 2, 2009