" No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices." Edward R. Murrow
Today, the House of Commons formed a virtual lynch mob demanding the resignation of NDP MP Libby Davies' resignation for saying that the Israeli occupation began in 1948. She was punked by a phoney blogger who was trying to trap her into saying something unacceptable. Libby has been an outspoken critic of Israel since she visited Gaza and saw the horrors that Israel is inflicting on the people there. In her usual quiet courageous way, Libby is one of the few members of Parliament speaking for Palestinian rights and representing the thousands of Canadians who believe that Israel does not deserve the support of Canada.
It is a matter of debate whether the occupation started in 1948 or 1967. If you are of the view that the expulsion of the Palestinians from their homes when Israel was founded was unacceptable, then the occupation began there. If you agree with the foundation of the State of Israel whatever the costs to the Palestinian people, then you think the occupation started in 1967. Believing that the foundation of the state of Israel was unjust does not mean that you think the state of Israel should not continue to exist. I believe that the foundation of Canada was unjust but I don't call for the dissolution of Canada; although I am starting to consider it.
I am Jewish and have always opposed Zionism. It was a debate among Jews. It is a legitimate debate. Libby, however, is not of the view that the state of Israel should not have been founded in its current form. She made a mistake and that was clear on the video. Yet she was publicly criticized by her leader Jack Layton, ferociously attacked by her colleague Thomas Mulcair and is now under sustained attack in the House.
And for whom are they speaking? In a recent BBC poll, only 23 percent of Canadians had a positive attitude towards Israel and 52 percent had a negative view. Libby is speaking for the majority of Canadians on this issue.
Libby is one of the best Members of Parliament. She is firmly rooted in her community, one of the poorest in the country. She stands up for what's important and, in these days of the rightward slide of the NDP, she is usually on the right side of most issues. She is also a wonderful person and doesn't deserve this shit.
So why the lynch mob? There is a campaign against freedom of speech on Israel. Under McCarthyism, it wasn't only Communists who got attacked, it was friends, families and associates of Communists, it was anyone who didn't think the capitalist system was the cat's meow. And it's the same with Israel. Anyone who proclaims their solidarity with the people of Palestine is persona non grata with this government and now, it seems, with the Opposition as well.
Please write to Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff to tell them that you are outraged by their attacks on Libby Davies. Libby has spent decades speaking up in the House for the issues we all care about. Now it's time to speak up for her.
On June 17, a coalition of organizations are holding a press conference to raise their concern that democracy itself is threatened in Canada. The attack on Libby, the creation of a police state in Toronto in preparation for the G20, the cuts to funding for any group supportive of Palestinians, the embrace by our government of some of the worst human rights abusers in the world -- all of these are signs of the erosion of our democratic rights.
Speak the fuck up. It's time.
Would someone please inform
Would someone please inform me as to what exactly are Israel's official boundaries.
in support of truth
this whole thing calls for a huge march and rally in support for the MP in downtown . people who support this MP should hold a demonstration to put really show how much they care
you
You self-identify as a Jew.. "I am Jewish" and "I have always opposed Zionism" I guess that "badge" works for you somehow. Maybe you like chicken soup with matza balls. Don't know... anyone with 10 minutes of bible study, history, archeology etc. discovers the link between Judaism and Eretz Israel. The haters like you, just don't like the idea of the Original Aboriginals. Being a Jew is being connected to Eretz Israel at the most fundamental level, but for you it must be you identify with something "Jewish" like kinds of food maybe corned beef, or maybe Jewish hairstyles, or Jewish names, or other people who are Jewish, maybe like like Woody Allen. Suggest you get off your soapbox for an hour and read David Mamet's book "The Wicked Son" then decide to support your tribe in some way, and on some level, or stop identifying as one of us, because YOU are giving our people a shitty name. Self-identify as something else please.
Judaism can be labelled as
Judaism can be labelled as many things: a religion, an ethnicity, a culture, a historical background... but it cannot be equated with a political ideology. Zionism is a political ideology. It is one thing to "be connected" to Eretz Yisrael- to recognize the history and the holy sites there, and to feel a spiritual connection there (which I also don't think is a pre-requisite for self-identifying as Jewish). It is quite another to believe that the founding of the State of Israel was just, and an even farther thing to support the Israeli government's current treatment of Palestinian people. Those things are not Judaism, they are political beliefs.
to be true to justice is never wrong
As Israel gets more and more desperate and makes mistake and war crime one after another, her supporters become more and more shrill.
The occupation of Jordanian, Syria and Eygption territory is now 43 years and counting. Israel and those who love her should be working to solve the problem but instead attacks are thrown around at anyone who dares to suggest peace for land.
The end result of this intransigence will be a single secular state where all citizens have equal rights regardless of ethnic origin. If Israel want to remain an ethnically pure state it will make peace before world opinion turns against it. The US military now consider Israel a liability and the estrangement of Turkey is a terrible blow to US world policy and Israel's incompetent interception of the aid convoy is to balme.
Zionist can yell and threaten people all they want - the truth will come out.
Occupation is wrong
Settlements on others land is colonialism which is wrong.
And many people in the world jewish community are descended from converts. What does that do to the right of return?
The 1967 boarder is one all
The 1967 boarder is one all nations can agree on but one. No one said it shouldn't be there, but it has been aggressive since the start and should rightfully return to it's pre-aggression boarders.
i'm jewish, from oesterreich not a badge
ask my grandfather, a Russian Jew who suffered with the rest of the russian jews before we all came to Canada in 1956, some of us refugee status. i self-identify as a human being who loves her jewish family, recognizes jewish roots, & would not impose a 'hitler' on anyone because i know how it feels. That to me is the meaning of 'never again' - that genocidal actions should never again be used and that my responsibility is to ENSURE that. statements like yours above INFURIATE me you are not one of my people YOU self-identify as something else. PLEASE...
Way to go, Judy!
Excellent post!
Email Link
Oops!
http:// laytoj@parl.gc.ca, info@jacklayton.ca/
is incorrect. It should be
mailto:laytoj@parl.gc.ca,info@jacklayton.ca
Jack Layton
Same with http://%20Ignatieff%2EM@parl.gc.ca/
it should be mailto:Ignatieff.M@parl.gc.ca
Michael Ignatieff
Speak the fuck up?
Judy,
I would suggest that YOU shut the fuck up. You speak as if you have facts. You do not. You are guilty of what you accuse others if doing.
facts?
so back that up - where is Judy wrong, what facts do YOU have?
In defense of Libby
Libby is correct.
Israel is an illegal occupier and has no right to exist. Anybody know when she's leaving for her own historical homeland and giving up living off the spoils of past conquest and the illegal occupation of the Downtown East Side?
The Americans have Sarah Palin and we have Libby Davies. Their supporters are vocal in support of whatever ridiculous nonsense, however unsupportable by historical or scientific fact these two air heads let loose with. Sarah wants to invade Iran and Libby wants Israel to end it's illegal occupation.
My question for Libby is, "If we give Ireland back to the Irish where does she stand on giving Lapland back to the laps?"
Libby Davies
MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS ISSUE MEDIA RELEASE ON LIBBY DAVIES REMARKS http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-15-2010-muslim-organizati...
would all the hateful people
would all the hateful people get out of the debate now so the majority of us can move forward and work on trying to solve complicated issues among people who feel they have been wronged, or feel insecure, or are struggling for justice or for the sharing of power and land.
i send that comment out both this Islamophobic commentator and to those who actually would put most of their activist energies to trying to delegitimize Israel rather than trying to move forward from the reality of the moment - practice over theory.
we in canada live on stolen land and it is being stolen every day. i hope you are not using the palestinian struggle to appease your conscience over the fact you have no Aboriginal people as friends and don't know the least history of the land you are living on.
Decolonize all relationships today, including to yourselves!
Occupation Debate
Your comment "It is a matter of debate whether the occupation started in 1948 or 1967." is way off base... If Israel has been occupying since it's existence then they have no right to exist... An occupier has no legal rights to the land they occupy, so if Israel has been an occupier since 1948 which is when they came into existence, then they have no legal right to exist...
You can say how they came into existence was unjust, but once you call them an occupier you claim they have no right to exist... You need to learn what being an occupier means before you attempt to spin this...
Also note, that just because I have a negative attitude towards Israel based on their occupation of post 67 borders and treatment of the Palestian people does not mean that Libby speaks on my behalf in saying that Israel has no right to exist... I have a negative attitude towards America and their foreign policies, that doesn't mean I think they have no right to exist or that the president of Iran speaks for me either...
Note that when asked she was
Note that when asked she was uncertain of when they began boarder expansion through aggression. She got the year wrong, not everyone known the dates. She made a mistake on that and has never changed her viewpoint that while it should be a state it should not be beyond it's original boarders as they were gained through aggression.
Re: democracy itself is threatened in Canada
The biggest issue with respect to democracy in Canada has been underreported, and misunderstood by most - Parliamentary Supremacy.
While individual acts like barring George Galloway from speaking in Canada, and interrogating Amy Goodman on the border about what she was going to speak about are outrageous, the biggest issue is that parliamentarians have let the government executive defy a Parliamentary Order since December.
Parliament makes the rules, not the executive. If Harper continues to succeed in breaking Parliaments rules, then I am afraid that we do not live in a representative democracy anymore. Rather we live in a 5 year term authoritative regime.
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