Sometimes an email is particularly illuminating and prompts thoughts not to be denied…Since this is the era of the great internet discourse, when one can speak to the world not sure if anyone is listening, some thoughts, with apologies to no one…
Gary Keenan, I find, to be among the most trenchant and consistent voices for the just cause of the Palestinian people. I don’t know who he is but in my books he is a straight shooter…If you are not on his list serve you may want to consider joining.
Keenan has caused me to reflect on liberal-democracy that holy of holies…that big tent where every scoundrel that ever was loves to hid and huddle in self-righteousness…wearing reinforced leather pants to straddle the fence…
In this open letter Keenan exposes one of the most objectionable of all of the Israeli apologists in Canada, that unctuous liberal-democrat, Bob Rae (the former Ontario NDP “friend of labour”). Rae along with the likes of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (another social democratic “friend of labour” and architect of the Bush war in Iraq), Hillary Clinton US Secretary of State another liberal-democrat and women’s rights advocate no less– (so long as the women are not Gazan), Lawrence Cannon, another “democrat”, formerly a Liberal, who jumped to the Conservatives and now as Foreign Minister works with another liberal-democratic luminary Irwin Cotler as loyal Canadian MP’s no less, promoting the anti-Palestinian policy of the Israeli Government inside the Parliament of Canada.
The liberal-democratic NDP Federal Parliamentary Caucus and its advisors, cowed by ex-banker Thomas Mulchair, another liberal democrat, joined with Prime Minister Harper a neo-con in an unseemly pillorying and bullying of NDP MP Libby Davies, one of the few remaining brave voices in the NDP caucus who dares to speak publicly in defense of the just cause of the Palestinian people. Libby Davies rose from the ranks of people’s struggles in East Vancouver and deepened her conviction about justice as a candidate of COPE. She has been to Gaza twice.
Jack Layton’s timidity and complicity in all of this sordid Liberal-Conservative deference to the rogue behavior of the State of Israel, following the Israeli military attack in international waters on the Gaza Flotilla, during which many unarmed people were summarily executed by Israeli commandos, just because they were acting in solidarity with the people of Gaza, should be cause for an immediate NDP leadership review. Layton has gone too far this time…In my view he has nowhere to go but out…
As it stands now, Layton by falling to his knees, begging the Israeli Ambassador and the Israeli Parliamentary lobby’s forgiveness for NDP MP’s presuming to have a point of view different from that of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, is not only unseemly and demeaning, it hasn’t won a single vote among the pro-Israeli supporters in Canada. Harper has all of those votes. What has been lost, irrevocably, are NDP votes among labour, peace and genuinely democratic voters who are not afraid to denounce Israeli state terror when they see it and expect the NDP Caucus to do likewise.
Probe a little deeper in all of this amoral liberal democratic politics and one will find that most of the aforementioned Canadian liberal-democrats, including Liberal Irwin Cotler, the Harper Conservatives and at least one member of the NDP Caucus all together supporting the anti-Communist “Tribute to Liberty” project. This is the group of Canadian WW2 revanchists, that laments the defeat of Hitler and disparages the role of the red Army in defeating Nazism in WW2 and seeks to write the Soviet Union out of the history of WW2.
We leave it to the pro-Israeli lobbyists to explain their association with the modern day inheritors of the legacy of those forces who in WW2 collaborated with Hitler, and were complicit in assisting the SS to round up Jews for Nazi death camp mass murder along with millions of other anti-fascists. How ironic that one of Bob Rae’s relatives was a victim of Hitler’s corporate death industry and now lies buried in Buchenwald…as are other brave Canadians who died there at the hands of the SS along with the German and Internationalist Communist hero, Ernst Thalmann. How ironic indeed…
When Hitler enacted his anti-communist laws upon coming to power with the blessing of the British Government and began interning and murdering Communists, the first front-line opponents of fascism, many of whom had fought in Spain against Franco, these brave people were condemned by Nazi judges, under Nazi laws of the day that defined them as “terrorists” and “criminals”.
Many at the time who knew better remained silent, keeping a low profile and because they were good respectable liberal-democrats and of course, against “terrorism” believed they were safe from Hitler’s goons. One fact that deserves mentioning is that some social democratic labour leaders of that time approached Hitler and offered to cease opposing his policies if their unions would remain unscathed. Hitler played along, just long enough to come to power and then promptly banned all independent trade union activity, confiscated their property, jailed their leaders and to set up fake Nazi unions.
Fast forward to 2010. Today, in Poland, promoted in the west as a country suitably cleansed of its Communist past and now an acceptable liberal-democratic state, a loyal member of NATO, taking its que from Hitler has enacted legislation banning all Communist symbols. The EU Parliament has considered other such anti-communist legislation. A wave of anti-communism is spreading throughout Europe.
Failure to connect the dots, as the saying goes, is always fatal for democracy. The line that connects all right-wing extremist forces and factions today, many masquerading as opponents of “terrorism” all converge on anti-communism, the very last refuge of a scoundrel. The youth of today cannot yet be expected to know that.
Bob Rae has no excuse…
Don Currie, Chair Canadians for Peace and Socialism
_____________________________________
From: Gary Keenan [mailto:garydkeenan@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 1:35 PM
To: Gary Keenan
Subject: Reply to MP Bob Rae: "Regarding the situation in Gaza"
--- On Tue, 6/29/10, Gary Keenan
From: Gary Keenan
Subject: Re: Regarding the situation in Gaza
To: Rae.B@parl.gc.ca
Received: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 12:34 PM
Mr. Rae et al.
What a feeble unprincipled response!! You write: "As a Party, we believe that the basis of this peace must be a safe and secure Israel that is recognized by and living side-by-side in peace with a viable Palestinian state. It must also include a full resolution of the many complex issues affecting this region. Ultimately, the best way to resolve the conflict is direct negotiation between the parties, with the assistance of the international community."
Which particular "Israel" is to be "recognized" by the Palestinians? "Israel" as recommended by the 1947 Partition Plan, or perhaps "Israel" within the 1949 cease-fire boundaries, or then again, maybe an "Israel" that includes Palestinian and other Arab lands it still illegally occupies as a result of the war it launched on 5 June 1967? In short, how do you expect the Palestinians to recognize a country that does not recognize itself, i.e,. define its borders in accordance with international law and binding UNSC resolutions, including Resolution 242?
You refer to the necessity of "direct negotiations between the parties, with the assistance of the international community." Since when has an occupied people been obligated to negotiate an end to occupation with its illegal/belligerent occupier? We did not expect occupied France to negotiate with Germany during WWII. Nor did we insist that occupied Kuwait negotiate with Iraq in 1991.
Instead of all of this gutless pro-Israel lobby pandering bafflegab, the Liberal Party should be demanding forthrightly that Israel comply with international law and withdraw unconditionally from all lands it has occupied since 5 June 1967. (Any adjustments to borders must be minor and mutually agreed to.)
Having meticulously researched the matter, I can assure you that there is no provision in international law that enables Israel to violate it with impunity. By "international law," I am referring primarily to the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which came about as a result of the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis, including the systematic slaughter of six million Jews.
I regret to say that the position the Liberal Party takes on the Israel/Palestinian-Arab conflict forces one to conclude that it has in effect abandoned hard-won international law, that the 60 plus million people who perished in WWII did so for nothing.
Your position on the ongoing crisis between Israel and the Arabs which is only marginally better than that of the Harper government, is cowardly, does nothing to bring peace to the region, has a negative effect on Canada's international standing and our real geopolitical interests in the 21st century and for what should be obvious reasons, ill serves Canadian Jews.
In conclusion, I remind you that as recent surveys attest, the views of average Canadians are in conflict with those of the Liberal Party. They want Canada to take a principled position based on humanitarian law that supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinians who are the occupied, the oppressed, the dispossessed, not one that kow tows to Israel, the occupier, oppressor and victimizer.
I look forward to your prompt reply.
Sincerely,
Gary Keenan
________________________________________
From: "Rae.B@parl.gc.ca"
To: garydkeenan@yahoo.com
Sent: Tue, June 29, 2010 11:17:14 AM
Subject: Regarding the situation in Gaza
Thank you for your e-mail regarding the situation in Gaza.
Both Mr. Rae and the Liberal Party share your concerns about this conflict and the suffering and loss of life on all sides.
Following the recent ceasefire, Mr. Rae and fellow members of the Liberal Party continue to stand with the international community in its efforts to build a lasting peace in this region. As a Party, we believe that the basis of this peace must be a safe and secure Israel that is recognized by and living side-by-side in peace with a viable Palestinian state. It must also include a full resolution of the many complex issues affecting this region. Ultimately, the best way to resolve the conflict is direct negotiation between the parties, with the assistance of the international community.
The Liberal Party’s position reflects our long-standing commitment to peace, stability, justice and human rights in the Middle East. It also recognizes Canada’s proud humanitarian reputation. In the aftermath of this conflict, we must engage with the international community, which the Harper Government has largely failed to do, in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches those who need it and to help restore the communities that have been affected by the conflict.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Susan Humphrey
Special Assistant
Office of the Hon. Bob Rae, MP for Toronto Centre
(613) 992-5234
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