Out against Israel

In last week’s Letters section [“Gay and free in Israel,” Aug. 17], Dan Levy offered a by turns glib, condescending and incredulous dismissal of the call to boycott WorldPride events in Jerusalem, suggesting that only “the most myopic Israel-hater” could see a moral or political problem with celebrating Israel’s “tolerance” towards gays and lesbians while it routinely “violates the rights of Palestinians” (a euphemism if ever there was one).

Recycling clichéd, apologist alibis for Israeli occupation, state racism and military aggression, i.e. that it is “the only democracy in the Middle East” and an oasis for gay youth in an otherwise cruelly homophobic Arab desert, Levy deflected attention from the issues at stake. To wit: that a coalition of Arab LBTG groups and allies called for a boycott of WorldPride ceremonies being held on occupied territory in Jerusalem and in a country engaged in gross human rights violations and wars of aggression; that Israel’s war on Lebanon has been sufficiently devastating that Lebanese LBTG group Helem Beirut was unable to attend the OutGames International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Conference, instead committing their resources to much-needed relief work through the Sanayeh Relief Centre for refugees; and, finally, that in solidarity with Helem Beirut, Out Against the Occupation was held to raise funds for the Sanayeh Relief Centre as well as to move the discussion of LBTG issues in the Middle East beyond racist simplifications like “Israeli tolerance” and “Arab cruelty.”

There will be a second Out Against the Occupation event on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Club Lambi, and I encourage folks to come check it out and support the relief work in Lebanon. For more information check out the QPIRG McGill Web page at www.ssmu.mcgill.ca/qpirg/

» Trish Salah, Out Against the Occupation

Arabs, children and peace

Golda Meir used to say “We will have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us.” Egypt and Jordan have long since accepted peace with Israel. Meanwhile, Hamas uses Arab children as suicide bombers and Hezbollah uses Arab children as human shields. Some Arabs are ready for peace while others are not.

» Barry Merson

Faggotry no joke

First of all I am homosexual. So, Raf Katigbak’s Riff-Raff column [“Three cheers for faggotry!” Aug. 10], while wanting to be against homophobia, was somewhat offensive, starting with the heading. Faggotry? Does he think niggertude or chinktude are okay to use too? And the lisp reference? Do I hear negative stereotype? Raf needs to clean up his language and get an education. And if he thinks it’s okay, then his gay friends are self-loathing and need some help too.

» Jude Allen Arsenault

Faux-meat entices

I greatly enjoyed Chris Barry’s very informative interview with Winnie Ng, who continues to sell delicious meat replacement products at Tiende Santé at 279 Duluth E., despite not turning any real profit [People, “Sumptuous and slaughter-free,” Aug. 10]. I will be visiting this store more often from now on.

Vegetarians need to be reminded that other than Yves Veggie and Commensal, there are many other purveyors of savoury vegetarian fare too. Also since faux-meat is more salubrious than meat and tastes just as good as meat, it is very worthwhile to promote it. (No, vegetarians do not suffer any protein deficit at all if they eat intelligently.)

The more people turn to veganism, vegetarianism or semi-vegetarianism, the lesser the demand for meat, and more innocent animals will be spared from slaughter. Also, the incidence of heart disease and cancer will go down. Remember what playwright George Bernard Shaw said, “Animals are my friends, and I do not eat my friends.’’

» Manish Patwari

Lucky to have good government

Regarding recent letters about smoking laws, I am still confused about what I have read. People have said that cigarette smoke might be harmful, but so is drinking tap water or breathing dirty air from car exhaust. So that’s a good reason to do something about those problems. How is it a reason to change the smoking laws back to how they used to be?

As an immigrant from Brazil, I can say that you—and now we—are very lucky to have a government that stands up to businesses that profit while we die. This was a big factor for me in choosing Canada. Most people are not so lucky. In my native country, laws like these could probably never happen; business interests would pay off the right people to make sure they didn’t.

The ones who are really inconvenienced by the smoking ban are the tobacco companies. First, they didn’t want people to believe smoking was addictive, then they denied it was dangerous. The latest thing is second-hand smoke, and they have spread a lot of disinformation about how it is not really harmful. Maybe it’s funny how they pretend they are using science, but mostly I find it sad that so many people have bought their lies.

» Fernando Paiva

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