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Toronto Sun: Margaret De Melo (letter to the editor) "It’s about the mail" (27/08/2010) "In answer to Mindelle Jacobs’ question, “Why isn’t the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which is gung-ho about a Canadian boat heading to Gaza, organizing a campaign to send food to North Korea?” I believe the answer is that which is near and dear to posties everywhere — the mail. The Israelis have done what the rain, snow, sleet and dark of night couldn’t — they stopped the mail from getting through. Perhaps if the Israelis quit being so heavy handed in making Palestinian life miserable, and all the homicidally-minded maniacs on the other side would just deal with the fact Israel isn’t going anywhere and quit trying to blow them to kingdom come, well, then, this loony from the left thinks we might have a starting point to peace. And if Jacobs and the rest of the self-righteous right would point me in the direction of the flotilla to North Korea, I would be happy to make a contribution." TorontoSun Note: "(Sorry, you recognize Israel’s right to exist. As we understand it, this disqualifies you from membership in the loony left. You’ll have to return your card)" Write a counter letter to the editor
Canadian Jewish News: Paul Michaels, Director of Communications: "Abbas Has a Credibility Problem Heading into Talks" (27/08/2010) “In the July 29 CJN, this column presented Mideast analyst Jim Lederman’s reflections about what the foreign media overwhelmingly fail to cover in their reports from Israel – namely, newsworthy stories about the thoughts and actions of the majority of Israelis. Lederman also reflected about what the media fail to report about Palestinian society and governance. Space then did not allow the inclusion of those comments. But with attention now turning to the possibility that direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority could resume, it’s timely to turn to his remarks.” Submit a comment onlineFacebook-ItTweet-It
Toronto Star: Murray Whyte: "Julian Schnabel: A second first act for controversial artist-filmmaker" (27/08/201) “Let it not be said that Julian Schabel doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. For most of this week, the famous-painter-turned-possibly-even-more-famous director has had his sleeves rolled up at the Art Gallery of Ontario, installing an era-spanning show of his work that opens next week. A week later, his latest film, Miral, about a Palestinian girl orphaned in the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, will be shown as a Gala at the Toronto International Film Festival.”
Ottawa Citizen: John Robson: "Talking different languages" (27/08/2010) "Isn’t it reassuring that the Obama administration has invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to Washington to resume what the Citizen delicately called "long-stalled direct peace talks"? Mind you, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton cautioned that "there will be difficulties ahead." Darn it all. Difficulties in the Middle East? How did that happen?"You could start with George Will’s column in Wednesday’s National Post asking bluntly: "Negotiations about what?" Israel, he rightly said, is determined not to allow a third Islamic republic in the West Bank to go with those in Iran and now Gaza. And that is.” Write a letter to the editorTweet-ItFacebook-It
National Post: William Nicholls, professor emeritus of religious studies, UBC (letter to the editor) "Mideast reality" (27/08/2010) “George Will is right: The American-fostered “two-state solution” is never going to happen. But there are major reasons he does not mention. The Arabs have never recognized the legitimacy of a Jewish state, within whatever borders. The two-state solution is a new version of the idea of the “partition” of the area of the British mandate of Palestine, in one form or another going back to the Peel commission of 1937. The Jews always accepted the proposals, for lack of something better; the Arabs have consistently rejected them. Why? In the 7th century CE, the Arabs conquered the land of Israel. From that point on, it became part of what in Islamic doctrine is known as the “house of Islam,” as opposed to the “house of war.” No part of the house of Islam can ever be relinquished. Palestinian maps show Palestine extending from “the river to the sea,” with no room at all for Israel. Only if the Arabs were to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state, which in all probability they never will, could there be realistic talk of a two-state solution, or negotiation about borders between the two resulting states.”
Windsor Star: Wire Services: "World report: ‘Netanyahu forming teams for talks’" (27/08/2010) “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began on Thursday to select a negotiating team to accompany him as he resumes direct peace talks with the Palestinians in Washington next week, his office said. Netanyahu is aiming to form a "small team that can carry out under his supervision speedy, serious and detailed talks," a statement said. The prime minister’s office also said it had called on the procurement office of the Israeli defence ministry in Washington to co-ordinate the visit, as the foreign ministry’s labour union is in a salary dispute with the government and has asked embassy staff in Washington to boycott the Israeli delegation.” Send a letter to the editor
Canada.com/Robert Barron (Daily News) "Flotilla participant recalls ship’s boarding by Israeli commandos" (27/08/2010) “Victoria’s Kevin Neish still has nightmares about the day Israeli navy commandos boarded and raided the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara off Gaza in June. Neish, a member of Victoria’s Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, was one of three Canadians participating in the Freedom Flotilla, consisting of six ships bound for Gaza with humanitarian aid, when violence broke out that left nine activists dead after the Israelis boarded his ship as it attempted to break through their maritime blockade of the Palestinian territory…. "Many on board the ships were ready to resist the Israelis with wooden sticks, steel bars and other weapons that they found aboard the ship, but I don’t think anyone expected that people would be killed," Neish said… He said he’s not certain which side fired the first deadly shots that precipitated the bloodbath on the Mavi Marmara, but from his position at the stern of the vessel, he has no doubt that the Israeli commandos were the first to use tear gas and percussion grenades in that part of the ship."
CBC.ca: Patricia Bailey: "The fog of war" (27/08/2010) “Israeli director Samuel Maoz made his visceral and provocative new film, Lebanon, because he was tormented by the smell of burning flesh from his time as a 20-year-old tank gunner during the 1982 Israel-Lebanon war.” Submit a comment online
24 Heures Montreal : JB Barraud : « AJAMI » (27/08/2010) « Première réalisation de Yaron Shani et de Scandar Copti, l’un juif, l’autre arabe israélien, Ajami est un film noir magistral et une chronique sociale de la vie en Israël. »
