Roadblocks, lies and bombs

Every few months, whether he needs to or not, Scott Saxon finds something to criticize the Israelis about. This time, the cause seems to be that Prime Minister Olmert actually told a lie by saying he would remove some of the very annoying (no sarcasm here, plenty further on) roadblocks that Israel makes West Bank Palestinians deal with on a daily basis. [“Roadblocks to peace,” Damn Right, Jan. 25]. Shame on the dirty liar! I do not know the facts on this one, so for the sake of argument, I will assume they are correct.

Perhaps shockingly, I agree with Saxon this time.

If the Israelis say they will do something, they should follow through. If they don’t mean to, then just shut up! Furthermore, among the worst things they do is to keep expanding settlements that will have to go in any peace agreement and to allow new ones to be built. This is done to deal with the political reality in this democracy where the tail often wags the dog, but that is no excuse. It is stupid and counterproductive.

Now, that said, Saxon says these lies are indications of apartheid (hard to figure that one out, but the word “apartheid” must be included in every anti-Israel diatribe, “Nazi” is optional). It is also claimed the alleged lies are roadblocks to peace. The former is bullshit, the latter, perhaps true.

I would just ask him if these lies are more serious roadblocks to peace than lobbing Qassams at Israeli towns from unoccupied Gaza on a daily basis, or kidnapping an Israeli soldier in Israel?

Obviously not, but I must have missed the Damn Right columns where Saxon, peace lover that he is, would have protested them.

If I were the Prime Minister of Israel, and it’s a good thing I am not, I would inform Hamas that they have two days to stop the rockets or, for every rocket shot at Israel that could potentially kill innocent civilians (I know, no Israeli civilians are innocent), I would have the army lob an artillery shell, at random, into Gaza. If that did not stop it, I would send the army back into Gaza (no settlers) and reoccupy enough of it so that Qassams were out of range of Israeli towns. The only thing these terrorists understand is force, unfortunately.

To try to find some optimism here, Israel and the duly elected president of the Palestinian Authority seem to have come to the conclusion that their mutual enemy, Hamas, might be better opposed together. They have met a few times and their expressions seem like genuine looks of respect. There have even been signs of some practical moves in the direction of justice and peace. Maybe, just maybe, out of the current mess, these parties will need each other enough to do some good.

Oh yes... Saxon uses the expression “the UN and other human rights groups.” The UN wouldn’t know a human right if one were sitting on its face! Just look at the countries that sit on its human rights committees at times, and the ones who vote for their resolutions. Was one of the other human rights groups the unbiased Jimmy Carter?Salaam!—Ken Frankel

>> Ken Frankel

Obsession for autos

Thanks for the nice colour photo of the week in the Front, “Biker Power” [Feb. 1], featuring not those goddamn motorcycles, but the Critical Mass demonstration held last Friday afternoon.

There, bicyclists and others were bringing attention as well as resistance to the car culture that impacts us all. But your use of “culture” is most inappropriate—there’s nothing cultural about greed, gluttony and indifference. Those are the traits of an obsession with the private auto.

In the caption it was written that Critical Mass “later visited the Montreal International Auto Show at the Palais des congrès to hand out anti-car pamphlets.” But there were several drivers among us, and we simply stated that these worldwide auto shows only promote the basest of human behaviour: shiny metal and glass zooming from 0–100 kilometres per hour in less than six seconds, interactive electronics from voice-activated messaging to GPS systems, comfort and exuberance that doesn’t exist in your own living room! All this distraction is accompanied with safety hazards—no, outright danger.

Frankfurt, Germany, is the host to the world’s largest auto show, while Montreal’s is in its 39th year—each one “bigger and better.” With the world’s population at six billion people, private autos now exceed one billion (a car for every six people), with the U.S. and Japan leading the charge in manufacture, but with China and India closing the gap. Currently, California can boast as many cars as its population: 32 million! Indeed, the private auto has become a worldwide affliction.

Meanwhile, these shows introduce their “concept cars” with the bravado to feed us with their “green technology” autos, from pure electric to bio-fuels, implying that somehow these vehicles in the sub-strata of technology will rescue us from global climate change. The auto, with its clear, silent exhaust of fine particulate, is by far the most lethal emitter of particulate, which produces greenhouse gasses.

The Critical Mass ride meets every last Friday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in Phillips Square on Ste-Catherine W. You can also join us in other rides throughout North America’s cities!

>> Edward Abramic

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