Galloway's Toronto Speech

Below is a link to the FULL speech given to the Toronto audience:
World Press Network

Enjoy!!

I'd pay a good sum to see him debate Kenney and Harpercrit!

Welcome to Canada Israel North, No Not You Mr. Galloway!!

Well, it's totally confirmed now - as if there was any doubt.

Israel controls Canada's policies. Period. End of Line.

What a fracking joke.



I am outraged and ashamed of our pitiful politicians and in this case the spineless judge, Luc Martineau. No doubt he received a phone call or visit from our dishonourable friends at the JDL!!

What did they give you Judge? What did they threaten you with? Hmmmm? Here are some of his weasely words:

The judge noted there is some evidence that may back Galloway's claim the matter had been "prejudged" and the result of "external lobbying" and "political influence," but he declined to overturn the decision "which is alleged to be one made in bad faith and politically motivated."

Evidence that 'may' back Galloway's claim?? May?? Good grief, the JDL was slapping itself on its back for achieving this!! They are a bloody terrorist organisation according to the CIA and FBI! Both B'nai B'rith and the CJC applauded it!! Holy crap can this judge be any more idiotic? Not able to use common sense??

The judge said if Galloway chooses to further challenge the federal government's decision, a court will likely have to grapple with the question of whether his participation in the aid convoy or any personal financial support for the convoy should be considered "engaging in terrorism" or whether it "simply represents a symbolic gesture and political statement made by pacifists through the provision of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people of Gaza."

Well - what does he think? Honestly, if Mr. Galloway were 'engaging in terrorism', how then could he still hold a seat in our sister parliament in England for crying out loud??

I hope he takes this the whole way through the courts! I am truly dumbfounded by this, and I sure hope other Canadians are too!! We admit Bush, Israeli War Criminals and the like, Suharto for instance - but not Galloway?




Here's some links to various reports:
Judge denies British MP Galloway's request to enter Canada - CBC

Judge denies Galloway's bid to enter Canada - Toronto Star

Galloway has no criminal record and has never been denied entry to any other country. Last week, he delivered a speech at New York's Columbia University in which he called for a single-state option in the Middle East.

British Lawmaker barred from Canada - JTA

I'll throw in this one, even though Penny already has it up, but it gushes like the above, and speaks to the judge's comment on 'political motivation':
Jewish group proud of role in barring Galloway

And just in case you missed it, the Jewish Defense League of Canada. Pay them a visit - it's worth it. These people are Kahanists - Mier Kahane was even considered a terrorist by Israel herself!!

How embarassing to be Canadian today.


Our new flag?

Decision Today on Galloway

Just a quickie:

Judge to rule whether British MP can enter Canada

Here's hoping for some sanity to prevail.

But I'm not holding my breath.

It sure feels wonderful being the JDL's lackey!!

Care About Free Speech?

DEFEND FREE SPEECH

Website from Rivero's broadcast today.

Canada should be ashamed! Kenney must be polishing his jackboots!

What will it take for people to wake the F*** up????

Galloway - Comment

Comment

This a link to Galloway's PressTV's show where he takes questions from all over the world in various media and kvetches for a while.

I was stuck filing today and doing end of month stuff... yawn... so I gave it a listen. He always manages to bring a smile to my face, and hope to my heart.

If only we had an MP so outspoken and brutally honest as he.

Enjoy!

Blind Man hit by School Bus

I know this isn't my usual kind of 'story', but it has hit close to home. I know this man.

Blind man struck by school bus

Though some of the 'facts' in the article are not correct, I sure hope that Rick will be okay. Though, I have my doubts after seeing the amount of blood splattered all over the road. The street was closed off for almost 5 hours.

In the above piece, it mentions his guide dog saying it died a year ago - uh no, Ben a beautiful golden retriever passed away many years back now - over five at least perhaps longer. I felt so sad for Rick, as Ben was such a part of his life, and already so old that often I think it was Rick leading Ben towards the end rather than Ben leading Rick.

And yeah, Rick did build a wrap around porch - by himself! That and watching him years back on a ladder stringing up Christmas lights was enough to make my heart almost fail. My neighbour and I offered our help, but being the independent soul he was, he politely refused it. We stuck around that day anyway.

I guess what I'm saying is that Rick never played the 'victim'. He mowed his own lawn, albiet he missed some blades - but really so what? He took care of himself and didn't cry for sympathy, I was always in awe of that.

My prayers are with him, I truly hope he can recover.

Now, about this bus driver, who says the light was red. Well, if it was and this is not another mistake in the article, then she was clearly at fault - as she was turning left onto Haig where she slammed into him at the crossing - right in the crossing actually. I feel for her too, in the sense that she now must live with this the rest of her life. That said, it's pretty clear she was at fault.

I'll try to keep some tabs on this, he was my neighbour afterall, and truly not a bad sort of fella. It's been a tough winter for him, as I've seen the paramedics at his house on a few occassions in the last month.

Well Rick - use that iron fortitude of yours and get better, the neighbourhood won't be quite the same without you.

God's speed for a lasting recovery.

***

Rick died today.

I hope his soul finds some freedom.

I hope this woman is never allowed near a motor vehicle again, never mind a school bus holding our precious children.

It's a sad day.

Toronto 18, Er... 11?? Penny - this is for YOU!

Guilty verdict stands in Toronto bomb-plot trial, judge rules

A youth found guilty of terrorism-related offences was not entrapped by a paid RCMP mole, and the verdict will stand, a judge in Brampton, Ont., ruled Tuesday.

The decision in the case of the first person to stand trial among the so-called Toronto 18 means a finding of guilt now becomes a conviction.

"My conclusion is that there has not been entrapment," Ontario Superior Court Justice John Sproat said in his 51-page decision. "There has not been an abuse of process."

The youth, who was 17 at the time of his offences and cannot be named, was found guilty in September of helping, and taking part in, a terror-related organization.

Sproat said at the time that evidence the terrorist group existed was "overwhelming."


I put this up for Penny, who is wrapped up in American Pie right now, but hopefully she can do something with it on her blog, a she has already compiled alot of info about this fake terror cell.

This is such a joke, it would be laughable if peoples lives were not concerned.

Crazy - carpets you say?

ugh.

Netanyahu - No Surprises

Well, seems that bibi has aligned himself with some outright fanatics by inviting and accepting the Shas party to join his 'coalition'.

For a reminder of the type of fundamentalism these folk prescribe to, here's a little blurb from the Guardian:

Jewish 'ultras' defend morals with menace

Four months ago in the middle of the night, six men dressed in wide-brimmed black hats, black coats, white shirts and black trousers burst into the Jerusalem apartment of a young Jewish woman and taught her a lesson.

Mikhail, who is reluctant to give her full name, had scandalised members of her ultra-orthodox Jewish community by leaving her husband and embracing a secular lifestyle. The men, all members of the theologically conservative Haredi branch of Judaism, tackled her to the ground, slammed her head against the floor and tied a rag around her mouth. One assailant sat on her head as the others kicked her while demanding to know the names of the men she was seeing.

They also threatened to kill her if she did not leave the neighbourhood, which contains many secular as well as religious residents. 'A woman is only OK if she has a family, kids and a husband,' said Mikhail with a sigh.

Welcome to the new, increasingly orthodox, Jerusalem. The attack on Mikhail, although exceptionally brutal, was only the latest in a string of assaults over the past two years against Jewish women accused of immoral behaviour in the city.

In relative terms, Orthodox Jews dominate Jerusalem to a greater extent than in any other city in Israel. More than 30 per cent of its Jewish residents are Haredi while only 22 per cent are secular. Of the remaining 47 per cent, 14 per cent say they are religious and 33 per cent say they are traditional Jews.

Wonderful, some more extremists added to the mix, so everyone will just keep on fighting and feeding the beast.

More George Galloway

There's a petition everyone can sign here at Canadians for Peace and Justice in the mideast.

Meanwhile, I can't get over some of the comments on the CBC newsite. It seems the JDL and others have their hasbarfa agents out in full tilt!!

CBC News - British MP says decision to ban him from Canada was inappropriate

They're using all the usual tricks too.

Sheesh...

Canada Bans Galloway

It seems that my country is slipping faster and faster into the realm of Zionist controlled fascism. I certainly knew of the bias, and have been writing about it and commenting for years now. Still, I am surprised that our government would ban an elected MP, from entering Canada solely because the Jewish Defence League and her partners in suppression B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress told them too. That of course, speaks volumes in and of itself.

Canada sadly is complicit in the current crimes against Humanity occuring in besieged Gaza and the Occupied West Bank. Our leaders, lacking anything resembling a spine, have caved to the Lobby's pressures.

Truly I am disgusted. I will write my reps, but of course I am old enough to know that a response will NOT be forthcoming, as my own MP is firmly in thier pocket. So much so that he darn near ran away from me during the last campaign (his wife certainly pulled a vapourisation act, while his sons stood a few meters away looking embarrassed and giggling).

Here's an interview, of course it's NOT Canadian:



Now, considering the Jewish Defence League itself has been branded a 'terrorist' organisation in the past is this not rather ironic?

Why are we listening to this Mr. Weinstein's threats? Pray tell what does Hitler and the bloody Holocaust have to do with the slaughter in Gaza? The slaughter in Lebanon? The sabre rattling against Iran? Outside of being a diversion, to evoke some kind of misplaced sympathy for Israel and to stop all REAL debate, there is NO reason to mention it. It's old, it's tired and it's really HOLLOW.

I would much prefer if Mr. Weinstein packed his bloody bags and made aliyah already. We don't need him here.

Horray for the Law!!

Well, it's been a while.

And things are, of course, no different. The wagon is still careening off the cliff and no one seems to have packed parachutes.

I finally decided to meander through the many posts that didn't make it.

I found this one and thought of the soldiers now coming forward and telling of the atrocities they did commit while invading and occupying Gaza for a month. They, themselves are coming forth - and now it's in the news, now it's being listened to - it sure didn't when it was happening.

Is this thier out? Is this the 'legal' way to conclude, given the outright testimonies of both solider and civilian, that war crimes were never committed?

It could well be.

Hence, I'm throwing this up out of the memory hole:
(Yes it's the full piece - because this is exactly the kind of stuff that gets flushed).


Consent and Advice

On the first day of Operation Cast Lead, the air force bombed the graduation ceremony of a police course, killing dozens of policemen. Months earlier, an operational and legal controversy was already swirling around the planned attack. According to a military source who was involved in the planning, bombing the site of the ceremony was authorized with no difficulty,but questions were raised about the intent to strike at the graduates of the course. Military Intelligence, convinced the attack was justified, pressed for its implementation. Representatives of the international law division (ILD) in the Military Advocate General's Office at first objected, fearing a possible violation of international law.

"This was a very large group of people who at that moment were ostensibly civilians and the next day would become legitimate military targets," says an operational source. "You take these dozens of policemen and put them in your gunsights. That certainly came up in all the discussions and soul-searching."

Over the course of several months, the operational echelons, particularly Military Intelligence, kept up the pressure on the army's legal staff. In the end, ILD authorized the air strike as it was carried out. The "incrimination" of the policemen (that is, justifying an attack on them) was based on their categorization as a resistance force in the event of an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip; not on information about any of them as individuals.


"Underlying our rationale was the way Hamas used the security forces," says a senior ILD figure. "Actually, one can look at the totality as the equivalent of the enemy's armed force, so they were not perceived as police. In our eyes, all the armed forces of Hamas are the equivalent of the army, just as in the face of the enemy's army every soldier is a legitimate target."

Experts in international law term the justification for the bombing raid problematic. "In a properly run state, attacking policemen as though they are soldiers is prohibited," says Prof. Yuval Shany, who teaches public international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "When we are dealing with a government like Hamas, in which the boundaries between the different forces are not clear, the police force may have a combat role. But if you follow that line, there is not much that differentiates them from [Israeli] reservists or even from 16-year-olds who will be drafted in two years. You have to draw the line and restrict attacks to those in active service. This is not the only case in which the IDF offered a flexible interpretation of the law. The army attacked the infrastructure of the Hamas government and hit ministries. But unless you can show that there was military equipment in those offices, an attack on structures that do not serve a military purpose is a violation of the rules of war. The buildings are civilian sites and must not be attacked."

However, after entertaining initial doubts, ILD authorized the bombing of Hamas governmental targets. "As we understand it," says a senior figure in ILD, "the way Hamas operates is to use the entire governmental infrastructure for the organization's terrorist purposes, so that the distinctions are a bit different. We adjust the targets to the case of a terrorist regime."

Civilian on the roof

The ILD is based in a neglected building in the Kirya, the defense establishment compound in Tel Aviv. The unit consists of about 20 officers who hold a legal education. The department has existed in its present form and name since the start of the 1990s. Until then the unit was known as the International Law Branch, or 'Debil' in the Hebrew acronym, a word that means imbecile, until a senior officer in the unit demanded a change of name.

ILD takes pride in the influence its officers exerted on the character of the war in Gaza. For example, the unit induced the IDF to warn people before their homes were bombed by means of a procedure known as 'knock on the roof'; echoing the 'knock on the door campaign' in Israel in which funds are raised to fight cancer; in which munitions are fired harmlessly at roof corners. Sources in the unit say they tried to draw lessons from the warnings that were given in the Second Lebanon War. According to human rights organizations, the civilians in Lebanon were not told which places were safe and the roads on which they fled were bombed and became death traps. Once a warning is issued, say senior ILD officers, a strike against civilians who are bodily defending a structure can be validated as though they were combatants. Other legal experts dispute this. Among them is Colonel (res.) Daniel Reisner, who headed ILD until about five years ago. In his view, as he told Haaretz after Operation Cast Lead, such civilians retain their civilian status. I don't think you can incriminate someone who is standing on a roof just because he is there," Reisner said. "Possibly the attack on him will be considered legitimate -collateral damage," but he will not be a target."

A senior ILD figure explains: "The people who go into a house despite a warning do not have to be taken into account in terms of injury to civilians, because they are voluntary human shields. From the legal point of view, I do not have to show consideration for them. In the case of people who return to their home in order to protect it, they are taking part in the fighting."

What about a civilian who positions himself in front of a tank?
"If someone stands in front of a tank in order to block its progress, he is participating in warfare." But he says that in practice, the IDF does not attack civilians in such cases.

ILD's permissive posture comes as no surprise to jurists who monitor the unit's legal opinions. According to one of them, the unit is considered -more militant than any other legal body in Israel, and is ready to adopt the most flexible interpretations of the law in order to justify IDF operations." Pressure from operational elements and an understanding of their considerations on the part of ILD appear to affect the unit's legal opinions. "The army knows what it wants. For the operational echelon things are very clear," says an IDF operational source. "When the legal advisers thought something was objectionable or problematic, they definitely came under pressure to produce a positive bottom line."

"Our goal is not to fetter the army, but to give it the tools to win in a lawful manner," says an ILD officer. Reisner, the unit's former commander, says he understands why it has acquired a reputation for permissiveness: "We defended policy that is on the edge: the "neighbor procedure" [making a neighbor knock on the door of a potentially dangerous house], house demolitions, deportation, targeted assassination; we defended all the magic formulas for dealing with terrorism. In that sense, ILD is a body that restrains action, but does not stop it. The army says, "Here is a magic formula, is it within the bounds of what is possible? To which I will reply, I am ready to try to defend it, but I am not sure I will succeed. If it's white I will allow it, if it's black I will prohibit it, but in cases of gray I will be part of the dilemma: I do not stop at gray."

The dilemma of the gray areas and ILD's attempts to discover untapped potential in international law may perhaps explain the unit's great enthusiasm for providing legal advice to the army and the glint in advisers' eyes when certain terms roll off their tongue: 'proportional equilibrium,' 'legitimate military target,' 'illegal combatants.' 'What we are seeing now is a revision of international law,' Reisner says. 'If you do something for long enough, the world will accept it. The whole of international law is now based on the notion that an act that is forbidden today becomes permissible if executed by enough countries. If the same process occurred in private law, the legal speed limit would be 115 kilometers an hour and we would pay income tax of 4 percent. So there is no connection between the question 'Will it be sanctioned?' and the act's legality. After we bombed the reactor in Iraq, the Security Council condemned Israel and claimed the attack was a violation of international law. The atmosphere was that Israel had committed a crime. Today everyone says it was preventive self-defense. International law progresses through violations. We invented the targeted assassination thesis and we had to push it. At first there were protrusions that made it hard to insert easily into the legal moulds. Eight years later it is in the center of the bounds of legitimacy."

Did the attacks of September 11 influence your legal situation?

"Absolutely. When we started to define the confrontation with the Palestinians as an armed confrontation, it was a dramatic switch, and we started to defend that position before the Supreme Court. In April 2001 I met the American envoy George Mitchell and explained that above a certain level, fighting terrorism is armed combat and not law enforcement. His committee [which examined the circumstances of the confrontation in the territories] rejected that approach. Its report called on the Israeli government to abandon the armed confrontation definition and revert to the concept of law enforcement. It took four months and four planes to change the opinion of the United States, and had it not been for those four planes I am not sure we would have been able to develop the thesis of the war against terrorism on the present scale."

Individual approach

One of the core reasons for ILD's permissive approach may be its desire to preserve a modicum of relevance and influence in periods when the atmosphere in the General Staff and the territorial commands is particularly militant. A former senior commander notes that in the period when Daniel Reisner; an articulate, charismatic officer; headed the unit, its staff, and above all Reisner himself, acquired a respected status within the IDF officer corps. By the same token, the influence of the current staff, under the command of Colonel Pnina Sharvit-Baruch, is not self-evident. Sources involved in the work of Southern Command note that the commanding general, Yoav Gallant, is quite suspicious of the advisers and is known as a 'wild man,' a 'cowboy' or a 'sheriff' in terms of the importance; meaning lack of importance; he attaches to legal advice. The legal adviser to Southern Command was not invited to the situation appraisal ahead of the Gaza offensive and was excluded from smaller planning forums. Yet it was actually Operation Cast Lead that led to something of an improvement in relations between ILD and Gallant.

****

Ahh well, read it and weep. This is their out.

Twist and shout!

Ron Paul - Great Speech

A great person. No matter how many issues I may disagree with him on, which isn't too many, a truly honourable man.

The Shit hits the Walls

Amira Hass has written a disturbing piece in Haaretz. None of the 'news' in it is of course, new. I recall seeing a similar scene in John Pilger's Palestine is Still the Issue, where he is visiting a recently attacked cultural building in Palestine, where Israeli troops had smeared shit everywhere.

Aside from the horror of being bombed into oblivion, watching as family members are shot, dismembered and torn to pieces, this may seem small, yet it adds another dimension to some of the depravity rampant within the troops (can we call them that?) of the Israeli Defence Forces.

Pots of urine, feces on the Walls, how IDF troops vandalised Gaza Homes

In the midst of all of this were plastic bottles of urine and many closed bags - in some houses, olive-colored ones - of excrement. People assumed that the commanders stayed there. There are houses where excrement was smeared on the walls, or where dry piles of it were found in corners. In many cases, the smells indicated that soldiers had urinated on piles of clothing or inside a washing machine. In all the houses the toilets were overflowing and clogged, and there was filth all around. When the Abu Eidas returned to house No. 5 in Jabalya, they discovered pots of urine and excrement in the refrigerator.

There is something wrong with anyone who would do this. Seriously mentally wrong. Of course we are talking about the 'most moral army in the world' whatever that means, so I guess it can all be forgiven. And of course - this is NOT reported here in North America, as spinning this would be just too much work. Reading the comments section on this story opens eyes even further, as I find reading comments on most news sites does. How anyone could defend such disgusting practice is beyond me. The soldiers themselves should be forced back and made to clean it up, without gloves and using their own toothbrushes.

And one other thing - what it is with the fascination with feces? Really?

**

Edited to add: I had a chat with my dear old Dad on this. He fought in the second World War, he saw many horrid things. I asked him whether or not when they took over areas of Germany, he saw any soldiers doing these sorts of things in the homes of these peoples, or whether he heard of anything of the sort. His emphatic answer was no. For some idea of what my father felt of allied behaviour, he has always condemned the Brits and the Americans for wanton bombing runs serving no purpose other than to terrorise the local populace. He has no problem being critical of the actions of the allies, and he was a career military man.

So where does this sort of behaviour come from?

IAW and Censorship Alive and Well

I'm sorry I missed this and just caught it at Norman's blog:


CBC News at six reports on IAW poster from Amr Gafar on Vimeo.

Needless to say, this is the one time I wished I'd watched some 6 o'clock news. Kinda made me wish I was still at the uni too.

Clearly the administration at both Ottawa and Carleton Universities were given their marching orders. Considering the tax-deductible donations they have received over the years this is no surprise. Though I must say, things were far more open when I attended my own courses as a student.

I guess there must be our own version of Campus Watch up here too.

Rosanne Ruente (the blonde above in the video) - "The fact that I listened to you is the fact that you were heard."

Could this woman be more condescending? Talk about an absolute dismissal with zero comment, cowardly to say the least. Shameful too, for a person of her status.

Shame on both Ottawa and Carleton Universities.

Us and Them

:)

Not a Swammi, but I saw this coming...

We used to have a little TV station here, competing with CJOH (CTV) and CBC, they were bought out by 'A' channel. Leaving the stupid name aside, there was quite a turnover of staff at the time, and of the old folks who worked at CHRO few remained. This station served much of the Valley, and had a wonderful local, small town feel to it. I recall at the time thinking, how long will this last?

Well, seems they are now scaling back and will no longer offer 'evening news'.

'A' channel cuts jobs, drops local newscasts

The current monopoly of Canadian media is a crime - a crime against differing viewpoints and crime against opinion.

What a joke, but not a funny one. By concentrating media into the hands of the few (the Aspers) we as Canadians suffer, we suffer because we don't get a balanced view from 'journalists'. We also suffer because a large part of the audience is left out in the cold. At least the A channel did cover local events, tractor pulls, Valley news and the like - who will do it now? Who will serve the community's interest? Well, likely CBC will help out, but hey they've had their own budgets slashed and really there isn't that much local programming.

I guess it's just easier to produce fluff and stick a tape into the machine than to actually provide REAL news to the viewers.

Ahhh to live with blinders on!

Sad.

Lev Leviev in the news again

Well it seems that dear old Lev's building in Tel Aviv will not be used by the British Embassy afterall! This is a good thing of course and shows what a little spreading of knowledge and a good public petition can do:

U.K. embassy nixes move to building of company behind West Bank construction

good good and good again.

That said, still no word whether the Quebec Supreme court will hear the charges against him and his company brought by the city of Bi'lin. We can cross our fingers.

Congratulations Naomi!!

Our dear Ms. Klein has just won the Warwick Prize for Writing, a new literary prize for her recent book, The Shock Doctrine - The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

I like Naomi, I'll admit that off the bat. I don't always agree with her, but that isn't a pre-requisite for liking someone. I admire that she will speak truth to power, she is not afraid to tackle some of the more 'touchy' subjects and she does it well.

Naomi's Site

Under my thumb

Under my thumb, a land that was once free and proud....

Well not any more:

Canadian Politicians get more free trips to Israel than anywhere else

Canadian parliamentarians accepted more free trips to Israel last year than any other country.

Israel outnumbered other destinations nearly two to one, with 74 sponsored trips, beating out Taiwan as the previous most popular country.

A report by Canada's ethics commissioner shows the Canada-Israel Committee paid more than 160,000 Canadian dollars to send 24 federal politicians on trips to Israel, often with their spouses.

Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Canada-Israel Committee, said the trips enable parliamentarians to better understand Israel's geopolitical situation.

****

Well, there you have it! This explains alot doesn't it? I mean our country's fealty to the Israeli Regime. To top it off - did anyone read this in our msm? Of course not!! Just as with the Security treaty, the free trade agreements and so forth - our politicians don't tell us about what they do behind closed doors with their Israeli buddies... could it be the Israelis have some kind of info about what our politicians themselves do when doors are closed?

It's enough to make a person ill.