Red light flashing

The transformation took a few short years. The election of Harper’s camouflaged Reform Party, coupled with the sale of Hollinger’s vast media empire to ultra-Zionist Canwest Global, has changed the face of Canada’s political landscape beyond recognition. And like the proverbial frog in its frying pan oblivious to the rising heat, Canadians ignored the creeping dangers only to wake up engulfed by a reactionary smoke pervading every nook and cranny of public life.

We find ourselves a laughing stock after our newly appointed minister of science proclaims he’s unwilling to deny creationism or even confirm evolution. Ottawa bars the entry of elected British MP George Galloway because of his views on Afghanistan. We ditch Kyoto, pull out of Durban, and remain the only Western country refusing to seek the repatriation of its citizens incarcerated in Guantanamo.

We cut funding for English language classes given by an Arab organization because it too loudly supported Palestinian rights, while our ministers lobby international forums in London to have criticism of Israel declared a form of anti-Semitism. We’re the first country in the world to participate in the collective punishment of Gaza, and the only country to veto a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire. When a Canadian UN peacekeeper and dozens of Canadians are killed by Israeli shells during its 2006 Lebanon offensive, Ottawa accepts Israel’s version over that of UN eyewitnesses, and as Palestinian children are later incinerated by phosphorous bombs in Gaza, Canada solemnly invokes Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

American travellers used to sew the maple leaf on their backpacks. Canada was respected not only for its role as an honest broker in the Middle East but also for its progressive social policies that rivalled those of Nordic countries.

Now, politicians must pass an Israel loyalty test. Those deemed insufficiently faithful are skewered by Canwest, which is essentially a Likud mouthpiece. When not demonizing Palestinians or fabricating stories about Jews in Iran forced to wear Stars of David, it funds lectures by Christian fundamentalists like Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily, who declares that “there are no holy Islamic sites in Jerusalem” and contemptuously refers to the “so-called Palestinians.” Denying Palestinian nationhood and erasing the 1300-year Islamic connection to Jerusalem may be vile historical revisionism on par with the crudest Holocaust-denial, but that does not prevent Canwest chairman David Asper from personally introducing Farah as an “inspiration to us all.”

With a national media owned by the Jewish equivalent of an Ernst Zündel and a governing party imbued with the Bible Belt mindset of a Jerry Falwell, Canadians are facing an unprecedented ideological onslaught. This cultural crusade is waged with messianic zeal by deep-pocketed and well-connected disciples who use mudslinging and character assassinations with devastating effect. But a recent string of high profile wins has made them overly brazen and bloated with a hubris too glaring to ignore. A tipping point is being reached. Canadians were slow to smell the smoke, but the red lights are now flashing.

>>John Dirlik

Who’s the insect?

[Re: “Michel Brûlé,” Insect, April 23] I found this confusing for two reasons. First, I thought newspapers were supposed to be in favour of free speech. Does Mr. Brûlé lie, does he distort statistics, or does he simply express ideas with which you happen to disagree?

Second, does Mr. Brûlé’s publication include advertisements for tobacco products? Because I’ve noticed that the Mirror’s pages contain quite a few—all within easy reach of their intended audience, the teenagers and young adults which the tobacco companies must addict to continue as a viable industry.

Seriously, can a newspaper that advertises cigarettes really have the moral authority to call anyone an “insect?”

>>Citizen

Follow the money

[Re: “Scientology on Display,” News, April 23] “It’s no secret that we’re funded by the Church of Scientology. It’s the truth!” beams CCHR Montreal director Richer Dumais. Well, why were they saying in 2007 that they were a “totally independent organization?” [canoe.com/infos/quebeccanada/archi ves/2008/04/20080425-204310.html]

“Denis Côté affirme cependant que son organisme n’a aucun lien financier avec l’Église de scientologie. ‘Ce sont deux corporations différentes et indépendantes. Le CCDH est financé par nos 10 000 donateurs.’”

You only lie when you have something to hide.

>>Richard

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