Overeaters inc.

[Re: “Hard to digest,” Film, June 18] The review of Food Inc. had the subhead, “a damning summary against the food industry.” But before we criticize agribusiness, Monsanto and the huge fast food collective, let’s all look at ourselves.

We simply eat too much. “Start off the day with a good breakfast,” “get plenty of protein to rebuild tissues,” “eat three square meals.” These crazy mantras continue, along with the exercise and diet salons, while we struggle with those motorized garden tools and engage that power-steering to inch us into our nearby parking spot.

We’ve eaten the fish out of the oceans, and so are now resorting to those abominable fish farms to avoid the fat contained in meat. A century ago, we walked, ate an occasional “tough” piece of meat which engaged the jaws and raised free-running chickens whose meat just simply didn’t slide down the gullet—instead we chewed.  

>>Edward Abramic

Discourse, bias
and diatribe

[Re: “Discourse and bias,” Letters, June 18] Rodney Johnson dismisses as a “distortion” the charge that “Israel bombs kids at lunchtime.” Israel chose to begin its massive bombing campaign in Gaza on a weekday at noon, when the streets are always crowded with thousands of children on their way to school. Within hours, 225 lay dead and 700 wounded. That is the reality—ugly, embarrassing, revolting and inexcusable—but no “distortion,” just cold hard fact. 

Norman Finkelstein’s advice to Israel is surely appropriate: “If you don’t want to be accused of being Nazis, then stop acting like Nazis.”

>> Shirley Groves

[Re: “Discourse and bias,” Letters, June 18] It’s interesting that John Dirlik couldn’t read about the verbal and expectorant assaults on the Neturei Karta demonstrators at the Israeli Independence rally (some five or six years ago, by the way). I was there, but ignored them and only found out about the incidents by reading about them in The Gazette and Canadian Jewish News. (Oh, and on CBC news, which forgot to cover the rally itself).

I certainly agree that the spitting was shameful and the police have made sure that hasn’t been repeated.

Let me explain a few things. The Neturei Karta representatives were in no way the “frail orthodox Jews” that Mr. Dirlik mentioned. They are mostly very young and almost all younger than I am. Few, if any, live here, but make the trip annually from New York to protest in Montreal due to the large amount of pro-Israel support here. Their opposition to Zionism is purely theological and is shared by some other Chassidic (not orthodox) sects such as Satmar and Tasch. They believe only the messiah can return the Jews to control in Israel and that Jewish sovereignty there before that time is sacrilege.

Fair enough. And few Zionists would behave in the way quoted for just that.

Neturei Karta, however, are uniquely disgusting. Besides the hypocrisy of many of them living in Israel and living on state welfare, their members have been convicted of aiding anti-Israeli terrorists. Their leaders have appeared with the likes of Arafat and Ahmadinejad at rallies calling for the destruction not only of Israel, but of Jews in general. In short, they are collaborators of the worst kind. I would not doubt that they would have marched their grandmothers into Hitler’s ovens if assured it would prevent “premature” Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land.

However, personally, I wouldn’t touch a hair on their foul heads, nor support anyone else doing so. They aren’t worth it!

Two last thoughts occur. Assuming for a moment that the falsehood that Canwest properties are totally biased is actually true, when may we look forward to Mirror or Le Journal de Montreal (Quebecor properties) covering the joy of the rally, or the “death to the Jews” rants one can hear at many anti-Israel marches?

The last thought is that while Neturei Karta traitors in Israel get fined or serve short jail terms at worst while living off the state, suspected Israel collaborators are executed after a kangaroo trial in the West Bank, or summarily in Gaza. It is PLO law.

>>Ken Frankel

Message to the Editor: get your head out of your Israeli-Arab conflict-obsessed ass. I am so fucking sick of reading about this issue in your editorial page that I’ve seriously become turned off by your whole damned paper, and I’ve been a Mirror reader forever.

You have completely desensitized me to the whole issue. That’s right, I don’t fucking care anymore what happens in the Holy Land. Surely countless letters come your way every single bloody week and they are all sifted out so you can rehash the same ol’ tired, redundant tautological rhetoric. Beating people over the head with this is tantamount to Chinese water torture. For Christ’s sake, expand your horizons, give other readers a chance to express their concerns about other issues... or is that just reserved for the puerile Rant Line™?

>>Ron Harris

WE WELCOME LETTERS TO THE EDITOR!