Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Harper gags Canadians with their own money

From the Real News Network:

There is a North-America wide strategy to take away the right to mass protest.

The New anti-Semitism: criticism of Israel

From Aljazeera English, a commentary on the quasi-Parliamentary committee's report about the supposed rise of anti-Semitism in Canada.

Anti-Semitism will always be with us because stupid, bigoted people will always be with us. But to attempt to change a definition of an abomination like anti-Semitism to fit political, evangelical or Christian Zionist ends is dangerous and profoundly stupid.

There is an element in the Canadian government who wish to support Israel, no matter what it does. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. It also sounds like treason. The Harperites are trying to change the definition of that, too.

Canada clamps down on criticism of Israel

While the CPCCA's final report does contain some cases of real anti-Semitism, the committee has provided little evidence that anti-Semitism has actually increased in Canada in recent years. Instead, it has focused a disproportionate amount of effort and resources on what it calls a so-called "new anti-Semitism": criticism of Israel.

Indeed, the real purpose of the CPCCA coalition seems to be to stifle critiques of Israeli policy and disrupt pro-Palestinian solidarity organizing in Canada, including, most notably, Israeli Apartheid Week events. Many of the CPCCA's findings, therefore, must be rejected as both an attack on freedom of speech and freedom of protest, and as recklessly undermining the fight against real instances of anti-Semitism.