Reframing the debate

[Re: “Framing the debate” Letters, June 4] Rodney Johnson blatantly distorts Shirley Groves’s views while denouncing them as simplistic “bullshit” then solemnly intones a plea for civility to permit “a public discourse that will be constructive and help resolve these differences.” Apparently, he even does this with a straight face.

These are the facts. Expressing a widespread sentiment, Shirley Groves condemned the use of the term “anti-Semite” regularly employed by Israel’s supporters to stifle criticism of Zionism and the neoconservative agenda in Canada. That is not a particularly earth-shattering position. She also opined that Canwest’s funding of creeps who claim Islam has no connection to Jerusalem is as offensive—and indicative of its biased news coverage—as would be promoting historical revisionist Ernst Zundel by a Muslim-run media empire. This too is hardly a controversial conclusion.    Perhaps it is precisely because they are perfectly valid observations that Johnson instead distorts her views, claiming she “compares her opponents to Holocaust-deniers” when clearly that was directed solely at Canwest—for the reason already explained. To suggest Shirley Groves habitually slanders her “opponents” as Holocaust-deniers is not only patently false, but breathlessly hypocritical coming from those with a well-established track record of hurling the anti-Semite card at critics of Israel.

Inverting reality comes easy for Israel’s worshippers. Palestinians want Israel’s “destruction”—while it is Israel that is busy destroying any prospect for a Palestinian state through illegal settlements in the occupied territories. Palestinians must “recognize” the Jewish state—while Israel not only refuses to recognize Palestine but devastates its democratic institutions by jailing one third of its democratically elected parliamentarians. Palestinians must “renounce violence”—while Israel in Gaza seals one of the most crowded areas on the planet to prevent the population from fleeing before beginning its bombardment on a weekday at noon, timed precisely as streets are teeming with thousands of children on their way to and from school.

Palestinians must stop “incitement to hate”—while only recently, Israeli soldiers proudly sported t-shirts depicting a pregnant Arab woman framed in crosshairs under the caption: “one shot—two kills.” Arabs want to “push Jews into the sea”—while Israel herds Palestinians into the open-air prison of Gaza. Hamas must stop “rocket attacks”—with no mention that Gaza is home to many Palestinians expelled by Zionists in 1948 from the Arab village of Najd, literally erased from the map by Israel only to reappear in 1951 as the Jewish town of Sderot.  

A comprehensive historical narrative—not distortions and mudslinging—is surely necessary for that “constructive public discourse” Mr. Johnson claims to welcome.

>>Patrice Bombardier

Do what you can

[Re: “Anti-Zionist rant?” Letters, May 21] In response to my letter published May 21 and to others who wrote on the Middle East, letter-writer Eric criticizes us for being couch-potato activists. I think there’s some merit to this criticism. Rare is the Western activist of the Left who will really go out there and join an important and dedicated armed group like the Zapatistas in Mexico, or even a non-violent activist NGO-type group, outside the Western world.

I for one am now too old and I am handicapped, but even if I were young and healthy, I probably wouldn’t go to the logical end of my political commitments out of fear for my life, and considerable apathy and discouragement about the world and the overwhelming forces of Cruelty and Greed within it. 

And even if I did want to get highly involved somewhere, I would not do so within the Arab-Israeli conflict, because peaceful solutions for it are evident (UN Resolution 242), and if the antagonists still want to go ahead and kill each other, let them. It’s all blood spilt for nothing, and maybe they will come to their senses eventually.

Eric also is upset because he finds the Middle East situation irrelevant to local concerns. This is not true. The Middle East is an important issue here because there are many Jews and Muslims in Montreal and that can impact us all; and the Middle East issues are highly relevant to the supply of oil which fuels our ecologically unsound, manic and materialistic economy.

Finally, Eric asks: “What about giving food and shelter here to the poor and homeless?” Well, I have in the past, and am now going to start giving some of the little money I have to feed poor children here in Montreal who start their school days on an empty stomach because this goddamn society won’t give their poor parents enough welfare, job opportunities and spiritual support. So I do whatever I can.

>>Marco Ermacora

Best of Montreal
corrections

• Juliette & Chocolat, voted #1 Best Chocolate/Sweets has a second location on Laurier (377 Laurier W.) • Daniel Allen Cox, voted #8 in Best Local Living Author, was incorrectly called David in the accompanying write-up. • The correct phone number for Queen of the World, #2 in Best Hair Salon, is (514) 526-7272. • Daniel Phelan, #6 Best Dressed Montrealer, was incorrectly spelt as Phalen.

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