Patty-cake in the Point

Regarding “Showdown in the Point,” [Kristian Perspective, April 28]: Within three days of moving to Point St-Charles (five years ago) I was waiting for the bus when a small man shuffled awkwardly towards me. A drunk.

He held out his hand. A drunk who wants money.

I guess having to repeatedly explain to all my horrified friends why I wanted to move to “such a seedy area of town” was beginning to take its toll on me, because when I gave this persistent man a second look, I immediately realized my initial judgement of him was wrong.

He slowly held up both of his hands and I could see one was gnarled quite badly. He silently beckoned me to do the same and he wasn’t taking no for an answer. When I did, he gently, playfully slapped my open palms with his. He wanted neither booze nor money. He wanted to play a game.

André is a frequent visitor to the bus stop. From early spring to late fall, he will leave his apartment (incidentally, a half block from where Alex Desmarais was killed on April 1), limp across the street and coax whoever is willing to play patty-cake with him until the bus arrives. Someone always does. We all know him by name even though he never utters a word—he communicates with points and grunts. He is treated with respect and kindness by everyone with whom I have ever seen him interact. He is one of the “unremarkable” (Mr. Gravenor’s word, not mine) people that populate the Point.

It is easy for his simple humanity to get eclipsed by lurid copy like that of thieving crack whores and gang slayings but whenever anybody asks me why I choose to live in the Point, I tell them about André.

» Danielle Skene

Spy story

As always, we are indebted to Scott Saxon, still vigilant against Israeli or Jewish transgressions. In Damn Right [“Appreciating terror,” April 7], he dredged up the Lavon affair of 1954 and the fact that the Israeli and Jewish-Egyptian spies who tried to execute firebombings of “allied” (British and American) property in Egypt and blame it on Muslim extremists, have been given certificates of appreciation by the current Israeli government. This is a bad thing, apparently.

War produces many heroes but hardly any saints, and innocent people die as a result of actions taken. Nobody is pretending otherwise. This action was unwise and failed. The spies paid with their lives or years of imprisonment and torture. Politicians involved, including David Ben Gurion, paid with their careers—quite different from the likely consequences of similar actions elsewhere in the Middle East. The targets were military or political, not civilian, and were executed by informed adults. This was not a case of juveniles being sent to pizzerias to kill as many civilians as is humanly possible as well as themselves.

The USA and Britain were far from being allies of Israel then. Britain never has been except during the Sinai War of 1956 when they joined Israel in the attack because they were mad at Egyptian president Nasser for seizing the Suez Canal from them. I guess they forgave Israel for the Lavon affair. In 1954, the British were negotiating turning over their bases at Suez to Egypt, which would leave Israel very vulnerable. The Americans had no objections. The purpose of the exercise was to dissuade them. The 1956 war was a direct result.

Later, when all that Israel feared came true, the USA, under its real leader, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, persuaded the victors to return the Sinai to Nasser in exchange for nothing. For this, Nasser rewarded the Americans by giving the Aswan High Dam contract and all his support to the Soviet Union. Learning from this, when Nasser was dumb enough to try again in 1967, Israel extracted an excellent price for its return.

At the end of Sinai, Israel traded thousands of Egyptian military prisoners for a few Israelis. Embarassed by the Lavon affair, the Israeli government made no attempt to recover the spies at that time. Offering them certificates of appreciation for their suffering seems like a small and reasonable gesture under the circumstances.

Oh yes, while suffering in Nasser’s prisons, the spies befriended the very members of the Muslim Brotherhood they had sought to blame for the actions. They both learned to trust each other more than the Egyptian government. Also, the two who were hanged met their punishment because Nasser said he was following the example of the United States with the Rosenbergs. I guess it’s okay to execute spies if they are Jewish.

For bringing this nastiness to our attention, Saxon should be treated to dinner at the new Jerusalem Steakhouse on Parc Avenue. It is owned by two recent immigrants, a Muslim Palestinian and an Israeli Jew. I might even buy!

» Ken Frankel

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