reed writes

The first 2 weeks of March are designated as Israel Apartheid Week.

It’s a harsh term, but those who support honesty, equality and above all justice – and that includes lots of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, even some Rosicrucians and Freemasons – recognize that colonialism, occupation and yes – Apartheid – is alive and functioning in the Middle East.

To recognize that Israel is in the process of implementing full-blown Apartheid is not to be anti-Semitic.

It is, however, a mark of a person’s ability to separate fact from fiction…something that most of our leading politicians seem unable to do.

This appeared in a recent edition of “The Tyee” one of Canada’s most prestigious online publications:

“Even members of the Israeli political elite use the term apartheid to describe the system they administer — the latest being the current defence minister (and former prime minister) Ehud Barak who stated: “If there is only one political entity, named Israel, it will end up being either non-Jewish or non-democratic… If the Palestinians vote in elections, it is a binational state, and if they don’t, it is an apartheid state.”

Shulamit Aloni, who once served as Minister of Education under Yitzhak Rabin, wrote: “The state of Israel practises its own, quite violent form of apartheid with the native Palestinian population.” And in November of 2007, Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: “If the day comes when the two state solution collapses, and we face a South African style struggle for equal voting rights, then as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished.”

Michael Ben-Yair, Israel’s attorney general from 1993 to 1996, described Israel’s approach to the Palestinian territories captured in 1967 as apartheid in 2002:

“We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities… We developed two judicial systems: one — progressive, liberal in Israel. The other — cruel, injurious in the occupied territories. In effect, we established an apartheid regime in the occupied territories immediately following their capture.”"

The above quote is the core of the Tyee piece by Murray Dobbin. The rest can be seen here.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Most of this information comes from  Offsetters Climate Neutral Society, a not-for-profit organization established by two professors at the University of British Columbia.

Environment Minister Jim Pretence (oops, Prentice)  announced this week that the $150,000 Canada is spending on carbon offsets will “help offset the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its Olympic Games.”

The 2010 Winter Games’ footprint will be an estimated 118,000 tonnes of direct carbon emissions – all emissions that are directly attributable to the 2010 Winter Games like venue construction, facility heating, and athlete travel. Additionally, this event will produce 150,000 tonnes of ‘indirect’ emissions – emissions that are largely attributable to flights and accommodation for spectators, media, corporate sponsors and their partners.

 That runs to 268,000 tons at $25 a pop. Or seven million. Having spent 66 million of taxpayers money on Own the Podium, did none of our eggheads consider incorporating the carbon-cost in there? Or pick up the entire carbon-tab afterwards,  to show we mean to be green?

This cheesy  gratuity does nothing to boost Canada’a shrinking  environmental stature.

Remember, this is only the estimated carbon cost, not the aftermath clean-up. For context on this mountainous problem, a recent Vancouver initialtive to reduce garbage generated at Christmas-time had the target of the equivalent of 85,500 full garbage trucks.

By all accounts the games were a roaring success commercially. Where is the carbon-offset contribution from Vancouver businesses? 

Invasion and/or Assassination As An Official Policy Will Always Come Back To Bite You.

Ask America

Way back in 1961, the CIA Deputy Director of Plans, Richard Bissell laid plans for an invasion of Cuba in order to unseat Fidel Castro.

The invasion did not spark a popular uprising by the Cuban People and Bissell’s plan to organize the murder of the Cuban Leader failed as well.

The depths to which government officials can sink is illustrated by Bissell’s plan.

He recruited members of U.S. organized crime – specifically Sam Giancanana, among others to poison Fidel, in the hope that Castro’s death would enable the invasion to succeed.

The murder plot failed, but President John F. Kennedy had been “had”

JFK Trapped by the CIA

If Kennedy had cancelled the invasion, there was the real possibility that the CIA force of angry Cuban exiles might take over the government of Guatemala and so the invasion of Cuba went ahead. It failed dismally. It was denounced by Kennedy and forced the resignation of the Director of The CIA, Allen Dulles.

In the end, Castro’s forces captured hundreds of the CIA-sponsored invaders and eventually traded them for 50 million dollars worth of medical and other supplies.

All of this is contained in a recently-released top secret CIA report on the CIA fiasco.

Texas Congressman Dr. Ron Paul

The report contains damning evidence of an American shadow government, which operates in secret, following illegal policies with unlimited funds and – according to American politician Dr. Ron Paul – threatens American democracy. There is now a growing group of Americans who are calling for the dissolution of the CIA itself.

• When a government attempts to make policy by unlawful means, whether by invading another country or murdering political leaders, the door is opened to disaster.

We’ve seen it in Central America, in the Caribbean, in Iran, in Afghanistan, in Iraq and the new revelations about The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba shows us the roots of this failed approach to foreign policy. Congressman Paul believes that Israel is treading on dangerous ground.

More from Dr. Ron Paul, a U.S. Congressman from Texas in this video.

Latest From CBC “Power Politics.”

Iran has said that it will continue to develop a nuclear weapon.

Stephen Harper has advocated tighter – much MUCH tighter sanctions, to stop that.

Harper is a joke on this issue.

Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons. No sanctions.

The U.S. has used weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan that contain “depleted uranium”. Thousands of Iraqi and Afghan children are suffering.

Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons and are operating outside the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”…and both Canada and the U.S. are OK with that.

According to Hans Blix…any attempt to bomb Iran would be fraught with danger. HE’S RIGHT.

Blix says there’s a need for patience. He’s right about that too.

Canada is now out of the nuclear loop and has been out of the loop for decades.

The point is that now – what we ought to be doing is engaging with the Iranian leadership in a dialogue.

Blix advises Stephen Harper to engage in talks with Iran and assure the Iranians that Canada would do what is necessary to help Iran ensure its security.

It’s unfortunate that Mr. Harper is not such a big Guy that he can bring himself to talk with anyone who doesn’t speak English.

Stephen Harper despatched Peter Kent to the State Socialist Network, where Kent was once a highly paid burden on the Taxpayer. Kent was supposed to explain to Canadians just what the Canadian position is on Iran.

Summary of Peter Kent’s interpretation of Canada’s position: “Canada needs to impress on Iran this pursuit of adventurism must stop.” (On the other hand…Israel’s nukes are OK).

Mr. Kent looked a bit Haggard.

In a flyer that will be delivered to households this week, the Tories take aim at Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and other Liberal MPs for their handling of the detainee issue.

Read all about it here