Reuters Canada: Staff: "Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians on Gaza border" (6/1/2011) "Israeli troops killed two Palestinians near the Gaza Strip border, Palestinian medics said on Thursday. A military spokesman said Israeli forces had opened fire on a group of Palestinians who attempted to cross Israel’s border fence on Wednesday night."
Toronto Star: Linda Diebel: "Tories’ focus on GTA puts pressure on Liberals" (6/1/2011) "For that reason, analysts put Ruby Dhalla in Brampton-Springdale and Andrew Kania in Brampton-West on the endangered list. Meanwhile, in Toronto, there’s growing evidence the Harper government’s strong pro-Israel policy has chipped away at Jewish Liberal votes, making Joe Volpe’s Eglinton-Lawrence and Ken Dryden’s Toronto Centre ridings to watch." Send letter to editor
Xtra.ca (blog): Staff: "Pride Toronto Advisory Panel releases list of groups" (6/1/2011) "The list of groups and individuals requesting targeted consultations with the Pride Toronto (PT) Community Advisory Panel (CAP) has been posted publicly… There are 36 groups and organizations on the list. Some come as no surprise: Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), Pride Toronto staff, Church Wellesley Business Improvement Area (BIA) and Ward 27 councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam." Submit online comment
Today’s News and Views About Israel & Mideast
CBC Radio: Lisa Mullins/Tim Marshall (Sky News) "Saudis capture "Israeli Mossad vulture spy" (6/1/2011) "In the Middle East it often seems like nothing escapes controversy not even a lonely vulture a rare griffin culture was captured recently in a rural part of Saudi Arabia the bird had a tracking device attached to it the tracking device had the words proper written on it in English well the captors turn the bird over to security officials allegedly because they suspected the vulture was part of an Israeli spy plot Israel’s dismissing that claim as absurd and researchers say they’re actually worried the bird might be harmed by the Saudis Tim marshall is foreign affairs editor for sky news in London he is written about this story now before we talk about anything else is there any indication at all Tim that the claims at the vulture was spying on behalf of Israel could be real well a parlour the voters seem like a bird but , you know I really different things…" Listen to report onlineContact CBC
National Post: Barbara Kay: "Gaza’s self-perpetuating misery" (6/1/2011) "Norway’s Aftenposten newspaper has cited three cables, amongst the 250,000 WikiLeaks U.S. cables the newspaper has in its possession, that show Israel kept the U.S. informed in 2008 of its intentions and strategies during the strictly observed three-year blockade of Gaza, now significantly eased." Submit online comment
Macleans.ca (blog): "Violent right-wing group invited to rally in Toronto next week" (6/1/2011) "The English Defence League, a UK-based group responsible for violent anti-Muslim protests and whose members include football hooligans, has been invited to hold a “support rally” in Toronto next Tuesday. The EDL’s leader, Stephen Lennon, was charged with assaulting a police officer last November, but will speak to the rally remotely via the web. Submit online comment
National Post: Michael Coren: "Killing Christians, in the name of the Prophet" (6/1/2011) "The bomb that killed at least 21 Egyptian Christians on New Year’s morning was packed with sharpened metal, iron balls and razor wire. Many of those that the device didn’t rip to death will never see, walk or function properly ever again. With terrorist bombs, euphemisms such as "wounded" and "traumatized" are hideously misplaced." Send letter to editor
National Post: Father Raymond J. de Souza: "Christians may need to start fighting back" (6/1/2011) "The new year was only a few hours old when the question of Islamist fanaticism and violence literally exploded anew, this time in Alexandria, Egypt. Violence by jihadist radicals has become the dominant issue of this young century. The massacre in Baghdad just 10 weeks ago reminded the world about the killing of Christians by Muslims — as catalogued by my colleague Michael Coren. What is to be done about it?" Submit online comment
Metro News: Phil Brown: "Promoting peace one life at a time" (6/1/2011) "Precious Life is a powerful new documentary that has garnered international acclaim for its depiction of a hospital in Israel where prejudices are set aside for Israeli doctors to save the life of a Palestinian infant."
NOW Toronto: Susan G. Cole: "Q&A Raz Somech" (6/1/2011) "When director Shlomi Eldar asked Israeli physician Raz Somech if he could film his attempts to treat a Palestinian child for a deadly immune deficiency, Somech was quick to sign up. The result is Precious Life, an exceptional documentary (on the Oscar long list for best feature doc) about love, hate, a doctor’s commitment and Mideast tensions. Somech, who loves Toronto – he studied immunology at Sick Kids – spoke to NOW about the film, the politics and the struggle for peace." Submit online comment
Eye Weekly: Jason Anderson: "Precious Life" (6/1/2011) "A film by Israeli TV journalist Shlomi Eldar that recently made the Academy Awards’ documentary short list, Precious Life is unusually compelling both as a real-life medical drama and as a frank and nuanced consideration of the quagmire faced by Israelis and Palestinians alike. At the heart of it is the story of Mohammad, a Palestinian baby with an immunity disorder that has already killed two of his sisters. His parents have managed to bring him from Gaza to a hospital in Tel Aviv…" Send letter to editor
National Post: Terry Glavin: "Iran continues its crackdown on journalists and workers" (6/1/2011) "Coming upon this especially gruesome eruption of boss journalism at Press TV, which blames the Jews (conventionally and variously described for purposes of plausible deniability as the Zionists, or Israel, or the Zionist Entity) for the New Year’s Day slaughter of 21 Coptic Christians who were innocently celebrating Mass at Alexandria, one is informed of several interesting things." Submit online comment
