Thomas Mulcair Describes Harper's Insanity Over Israel a Very Nixonian Approach to Politics

Can I just say how much I like Thomas Mulcair? He has been such an asset to federal politics. A decent, intelligent and hardworking guy.

No, I'm not changing my allegiance. I'm sticking with the Liberals and Michael Ignatieff, as the best option for replacing the Harper Government's reign of terror.

But I want to let the voting public know, that there are options to Harper, despite what the media tries to tell us.

The Liberals, the Bloc, the NDP and the Green parties all have enormous talent in their ranks, and fortunately leaders who allow that talent to show. This is why we need a coalition.

This week we learn of another humanitarian aid group, that risks having their funding cut because they dare to suggest a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Harper's iron fisted approach to this, is putting Canada on a very dangerous path, as he takes advice from cooks like John Hagee and Charles McVety, who want Israel "...to be left alone to do their job."

And as we learn from tapes and sermons of Hagee's that job is launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, ultimately resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people; and escalated violence in the middle east, as other nations rise up in protest.

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?

Mr. Muclair, is certainly not the first person to compare Stephen Harper to Richard Nixon. It's interesting to note, that Arthur Finklestein, one of the people behind Nixon's success; also coached Harper. I thought taking advice from men like Frank Lutz and Karl Rove was bad enough. But Art Finklestein? He's the master of dirty politics.

Montreal group accuses Ottawa of halting funds over Middle East issue
But Conservatives say request under review and they don't comment on rumours, speculation
February 13, 2010
Richard J. Brennan Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA–A Montreal-based human rights group says it is being denied funding by the Conservative government for speaking out on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Critics say it's part of a growing pattern of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government punishing federally funded groups that don't agree with it, pointing to an earlier decision by Ottawa to end 35 years of funding for Toronto-based KAIROS, a multi-faith humanitarian group, after publicly accusing it of being anti-Israel.

"It's a very Nixonian approach to politics," said NDP MP Thomas Mulcair of the Montreal riding of Outremont, referring to former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who was known to keep an enemies' list.

Bob Rae Also weighed in:

Liberal foreign affairs critic MP Bob Rae (Toronto Centre) said the Conservative government is intent on "doing a political test on every group out there."

"There doesn't seem to be any room for diversity or difference of opinion," Rae said."It's clear now that it's the (former) Reform party ideologues who are in the ascendancy and taking over, and I think that is regrettable."

IS THIS REALLY YOUR CANADA?

Jason Kenney, Anti-Semitism and Ten Foot Poles

"An in-depth story in 'The Report' magazine describes the key players in (Stockwell) Day's organization at the time. Calgary MP Jason Kenney was one of them. Kenney grew up mainly in Wilcox, Saskatchewan where his father ran a Catholic Boys school, then later studied humanities at the University of San Francisco, where he came under the influence of some of America's leading neo-conservative theorists." (Requiem for a lightweight: Stockwell Day and the Image of Politics, Trevor Harrison, Black Rose Books, 2002, ISBN: 1-55164-206-9, pg. 47)

A rather innocent sounding paragraph until we break it down. Jason Kenney actually attended the Jesuit College; an arm of the U.S. Religious Right, and a powerful force on the political scene.

One of the men who emerged from that college is John Hagee, co-founder of Christians United for Israel and a member of the Council for National Policy.

So when Mr. Harrison states that Kenney came under "influence of some of America's leading neo-conservative theorists," this should raise a red flag. There is nothing conservative about these guys. Instead they ascribe to a doomsday prophesy, that requires a nuclear attack on the Middle East. They are also some of the wealthiest and most powerful men in America.

Jason Kenney has come under the tutelage of Charles McVety, head of the Canadian chapter of Christians United for Israel, and is the 'go to' guy of the Religious Right; as they attempt to dictate policies, especially in foreign affairs.

According to Dr. Stephen Scheinberg, this group has found a willing partnership with what he refers to as the 'Harpercons'. "McVety and his associates are associated with the dispensationalist brand of the evangelical movement, a grouping sometimes termed Christian Zionists.

They are fundamentalists, believing in the authority of an error-free scripture ... In the words of theologian Stephen Sizer, they believe “that the boundaries of the land promised to Abraham and his descendants will be literally instituted and that Jesus Christ will return to a literal and theocratic Jewish kingdom centered on Jerusalem.” Of course, this will only follow on a great apocalypse, the battle of Armageddon and other such “benign events” which the dispensationalists, following God’s word, are mandated to implement. The appeal of these extremist Christians to the Jewish right is obvious, since the prophecies of the former cannot be implemented until the return of all the Jewish people to all the lands of ancient Israel."

According to one professor at McVety's Christian College, Reverend Dean Bye, "It is estimated that upwards of six million Jewish people are still dwelling in North America ... North American Jews must recognize they must all “return” to Israel and he warns: “the time of the U.S.A. being a safe haven for the Jews has ended!” . He adds that “we don’t throw them overboard [like Jonah] but lovingly assist them home to Israel.”

But as Dr. Scheinberg points out "... most of the Jewish community has not responded to his generous proposal that they leave their homes for aliyah to Israel," even if they are being 'lovingly assisted'.

Jason Kenney and Anti-Semitism

While the nuts are out looking for boats, Jason Kenney is suggesting that any criticism of Israeli aggression, will be deemed antisemitic and we could be charged with hate crimes. But what's more antisemitic than wanting to rid North America of Jews and shipping them to Israel where they will accept Christianity or meet some horrendous end, while the 'chosen' feel the 'rapture'? This sounds more David Duke than Jesus Christ.

But I have a theory. (You knew I would)

The forty-one-year-old Jason Kenney has announced that he is still a virgin. Now I've seen him and heard him talk, so I don't think this is necessarily by choice. Maybe he just got tired of women whacking him with ten foot poles. (Rob Anders also claims to be celibate. Ditto on the ten foot poles) Maybe Kenney isn't insane after all. It could just be sexual repression.

However, I don't think we should allow him to put any Jews in boats until he has experienced a little earthly rapture. Then when the blood returns to his brain, he may see the light. If that doesn't work, he needs to be removed from the general public, because he is clearly a danger to himself and others.

Roots of Reform: Social Credit and James Keegstra

James Keegstra was the Alberta school teacher who gained notoriety when it was discovered that for 15 years he had been teaching his students that the Holocaust was a hoax.

His sensational trial became the subject of much debate over free speech vs hate crimes, but what was interesting, was not the mainstream contempt for his beliefs, but the people who came to his defense.

Yes there were the usual neo-Nazis and hate mongers, but there were also many religious groups who saw his 'persecution' as a threat to their rights to teach Biblical interpretation.

One of those was a man by the name of Stockwell Burt Day, then assistant pastor at the Bentley [Alberta] Christian Centre and spokesperson for the Alberta Association of Independent Church Schools.

Day was already embroiled in a battle with the Alberta Department of Education and their decision to remove the Bentley Christian School's accreditation because of their teachings, which were deemed be both racist and anti-Semitic. He felt that religious schools should have the right to set their own curriculum. “God's law is clear. Standards of education are not set by government, but by God, the Bible, the home and the school.” (1)

The connection between James Keegstra and Stockwell Day went back further than that, however, in their links to both the Social Credit Party and Keegstra's lawyer; Doug Christie.

Social Credit and Anti-Semitism

Keegstra's parents had joined the Social Credit Party at it's inception in 1935, inspired not only by the promise of monetary reform, but also the Christian fundamentalism.

They listened to Aberhart's radio broadcasts and questioned not a word.

And when the party began distributing anti-Semitic material across the country, they collected every piece, sharing them with their son James.

Then when James Keegstra was old enough, they sent him to the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute, then under the leadership of Ernest Manning, where he would be "taught right."

In 1957, James himself joined the Social Credit Party, and would remain active in the movement throughout his adult life.

He ran for them, representing Red Deer in the 1972, 1974 and 1984 federal elections. In 1986, he also ran unsuccessfully for the party's leadership with the support of white supremacist Don Andrews and Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel*.

In 1972, when Keegstra first ran for the federal Socreds, the party leader was Real Caouette (the image to the left above). During the same campaign and under the same leader, Stockwell Day Sr, also ran for the party, against Tommy Douglas; not expecting to win but only to publicly attack Douglas' Socialist platform. (Tommy Douglas gave us medicare and is the grandfather of Kiefer Sutherland)

Caouette had some pretty extreme views. According to John Gray:

The disdain for outsiders always seemed to fit conveniently with the theory of conspiracy of the old parties. The Jews were another and equally convenient part of the ... demonology and there was a continuing strain of anti-Semitism ... Caouette revealed that his political heroes were Hitler and Mussolini. As late as a few years ago, his bookshelves contained The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.... If non-Creditisites were horrified, the loyalists did not seem to care. (2)

The Day family were also longtime Social Credit members, and according to Stock Jr.'s mother; Gwendolyn (nee: Gilbert) he was exposed to political activism at home.

When Real Caouette fist won the leadership race in 1961, Ernest Manning, then Premier of Alberta, vetoed the nomination, claiming that his province would never accept a francophone Catholic as party leader. Real left to start his own party, but they were reunited in 1972.

Opposing the political climate in Quebec, Stock Sr. packed up his family and headed west in 1967. He would eventually meet up with Doug Christie and joined his Western Canada Concept Party, which was formed to promote western separation. He would contribute regularly to to the Western Separatist, the party's newspaper.

Day Sr. also appeared to have been friendly with Robert Thompson and in fact Thomson's children once stayed with the Day family for a while. According to David Lethbridge, Thompson was a fan of Ronald Gostick** who made his money distributing racist and anti-Semitic material. (3)

I know that a lot of the names that enter this story appear to be guilt by association. Yes Stock Day Sr. was friends with Doug Christie who defended many Neo-Nazis and hate propagandists. That doesn't mean that Christie himself was anti-Semitic, nor does it mean that everyone associated with him is anti-Semitic.

But this speaks to a long history with this party, that was grounded in fanatical Christian extremism. They believed in a Jewish conspiracy and the fact that 'Socialists' and 'Jews' were in cahoots. William Aberhart suggested:

Personally, I have little doubt that in working through Jews, the Jewish financial group has sacrificed its own people on the altar of its greed for power and this group is preeminently responsible for the poisonous anti-Semitism which is rampant in the world today. (4)

And as late as 1943 when Manning was Premier, their report included:

If international finance and socialism are travelling in the same direction is it possible that socialism is promoted by the money power to hasten the completion of their plot for world domination? Not only is it possible, but there is a fund of evidence which leads to the inevitable conclusion that there is a plot, worldwide in scope, deliberately engineered by a small number of ruthless international financiers. (4)

But then in February 1947:

Imperial Oil had brought in Leduc No. 1, a gusher which was obviously going to transform Alberta from a province of poverty to one of plenty. The month after Leduc, Manning acted. The government passed a resolution repudiating "any statements ()r publications which are incompatible with the established British ideals of democratic freedom or which endorse, excuse or incite anti-Semitism or racial or religious intolerance in any form." Within the next year the Alberta Social Credit Board had been dissolved and the leading Douglasites had been purged from the Cabinet. (4)

He was being pushed by the Douglasites in the party to adopt the economic principles of Social Credit founder, Major Clifford Dougals, and this was why he purged the party of the Douglasite anti-Semitics. He no longer needed monetary reform and no longer needed them. But it clearly did not end the anti-Semistism or racism within the movement. Far from it.

Footnotes:

*Ernst Zundel was also a client of Doug Christie. During the 2000 federal election, where Stockwell Day was running against jean Chretien, the story of Day's involvement with neo-Nazis and his relationship with James Keegstra became public, Ernst Zundel came to his defense saying: "I know the personal toll of standing up for what you believe in, and I was inspired by Stockwell's spirited defense of his school's Accelerated Christian Education curriculum which states that 'Buddhists and Muslims are evil' and 'Jewish leaders were children of their father, the devil."

**Ronald Gostick attended Crescent Heights High School when William Aberhart was principal. He was a long time member of the Social Credit Party and in fact his mother was one of the first Scial Credit MLAs when Aberhart's Party swept the Alberta elections in 1935.

Sources:

1. Canadian Alliance's Stockwell Day and the charge of anti-Semitism: What is the right trying to cover up? By Guy Leblanc and Keith Jones, November 27, 2000

2. Real Caouette: Question now; can message survive?, John Gray, Montreal Gazette, November 9, 1976

3. Jew-haters and red-baiters: The Canadian League of Rights, By David Lethbridge, AntiFa Info-Bulletin, February 2, 1999

4. A Trust Betrayed: The Keegstra Affair, By: David Bercuson and Douglas Wertheimer, Doubleday Canada, 1985, ISBN: 0-385-25003-7, Pg. 34-38

Lesley Hughes Was Not the First Victim of the B'Nai Brith

The French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte once said: "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping the common people quiet." Of course he also said: "Religion is what keeps the poor man from murdering the rich", though I suppose both quotes are relevant.

Like the U.S. Republicans, the Conservative party of Canada has latched onto religious and quasi religious groups like a baby to .... well never mind ... you get the picture.

To keep track of all the churches, para churches and non-profit organizations that prop up what passes for Tory these days, you'd need the equivalent of a debt clock, that is constantly in motion.

Once you track down one nefarious group, ten more rear their ugly heads, and you get lost in a cycle of deceit.

Now don't get me wrong. I have no problem with any religion that promotes human decency, and can even be tolerant to those that don't.

But once those religions cross the line into politics, they are fair game for political debate. It absolutely has to be that way before this government completely destroys our country.

This brings us to the Lesley Hughes' lawsuit against Peter Kent and the B'Nai Brith, who in may ways are one and the same.

Lesley Hughes, however, was not the first political candidate targeted by the B'Nai Brith.

B'Nai Brith Canada tells Liberals to dump star candidate
July 24, 2007

B'Nai Brith Canada has asked Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to remove new star candidate Jocelyn Coulon from an upcoming byelection in Montreal's Outremont riding because of his past stance on Israel. It says Coulon has a "well-documented anti-Israel bias," including sympathy for Hamas, that is "out of step with current Liberal policy."

But of course, there's more to the story:

B'nai Brith is too quick to brand people as anti-Israel
Rights organization is guilty of overkill and risks undermining its own mission
JOSEE LEGAULT,
The Gazette
July 27 2007

Courtesy of the Quebec chapter of B'nai Brith, there's a very strange controversy brewing in the federal riding of Outremont where a by-election is due this fall.

B'nai Brith fired off a strongly worded press release demanding Liberal leader St?phane Dion dump his handpicked candidate, respected international relations expert Jocelyn Coulon, whom Dion wants as his foreign affairs minister should he ever form a government.

The human rights watchdog says Coulon has a "well-documented anti-Israel bias," a "hostile attitude toward Israel," "anti-U.S. rhetoric" and that his calls for the end of the isolation of Hamas "ought to disqualify him."

According to this week's West End Chronicle, Morse Moghrabi, B'nai Brith's legal counsel for Quebec, warned, in an email to B'nai Brith leadership, that Coulon "is a subtle individual with very pro-Arab/pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel/anti-American/anti-West views."

Steven Slomovitch, also of B'nai Brith, is quoted as saying Coulon's views are "obviously a grave concern to the Jewish people."

It is perhaps the last sentence that contains B'nai Brith's main problem here. It is growing increasingly tiresome to have that organization sound as if it speaks for the "Jewish people," among whom there is a much greater variety of viewpoints than there is at B'nai Brith. Regarding Coulon, it's important to note the Quebec-Israel Committee was quick to voice its disagreement with B'nai Brith.

But it's also troubling to see B'nai Brith act in a way that can undermine high-profile people's reputations by making an unfounded case against those it says are anti-Israel. Others have expressed views that B'nai Brith has labelled as anti-Semitic, xenophobic, intolerant, and so on.

Anyone who has read Coulon's columns, whether they agree with him or not, would need a very fertile imagination to brand his opinions as anti-Israel.

Last June, B'nai Brith also went after Serge Chapleau, La Presse's brilliant cartoonist. It called his cartoon of Mario Dumont dressed as a Hasid "grossly offensive" and a reminder of "the worst anti-Semitic ravings." To call this accusation false is an understatement.

In December 2000, Yves Michaud also got a taste of B'nai Brith's medicine. Saying that he had peppered an interview to CKAC with "insults against Jews," it also asked then-Premier Lucien Bouchard to dump him as a potential Parti Quebecois candidate for the riding of Mercier.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Two days later, the National Assembly adopted unanimously a shameful motion of censure against Michaud. Bouchard resigned on Jan. 11, jumping at the chance to dump the PQ and present himself as a paragon of tolerance against what he now saw as his party's xenophobic tendencies.

In its press release applauding Bouchard for fighting the PQ's "sectarian and intolerant" attitude, B'nai Brith referred to Michaud's "manifestations of xenophobia and intolerance."

To be sure, B'nai Brith has the freedom of expression. If it disagrees with some of Coulon's views, it can debate with him. But freedom of expression also carries the notion of responsibility.

Is it responsible to keep making these kinds of accusations without firm evidence or to try to keep honest citizens out of politics by calling on their leaders to axe them?

It not only risks hurting reputations needlessly - and a reputation is a precious thing in life. It can also have dire impact on careers. This is not a game. This is serious stuff. When B'nai Brith publishes its annual report on anti-Semitic incidents in Canada, it names people, sometimes with no reason, including respected journalists, without weighing the possible consequences.

When it does this, B'nai Brith also helps trivialize the real thing. Words have meaning. Being anti-Israel means something, so does being xenophobic, anti-Semitic, intolerant or racist.

By crying wolf, using such grave words when they're not warranted, we risk missing the real thing when it does rear its ugly head.

Lesley Hughes was also not the first poltical candidate wrongly accused by the B'Nai Brith to sue:

B'nai B'rith Canada: With malice aforethought
Winnipeg Free Press
November 26, 1987

In 1984, while running for election to the Canadian Parliament as a Conservative Party candidate (this would be the Progressive Conservative Party, not the Reform/Alliance Conservative Party), Winnipeg schoolteacher Luba Fedorkiw, discovered, to her utter amazement, that B'nai B'rith Canada, a major so-called Jewish "anti-defamation" organization, had circulated an internal memo which accused the candidate of "Jew-baiting."

This allegation was subsequently repeated in the Winnipeg Sun, and the resulting defamation cost her the election. Luba Fedorkiw sued B'nai B'rith Canada for libel, with the result that she was eventually awarded $175,000 in actual damages and $225,000 in punitive damages against the organization.

And another viewpoint from an American scholar on Ms. Fedorkiw:

An American Professor Responds to a 'Jewish Activist'

Another example of behavior by Jewish organizations that tends to chill free expression involved the Canadian teacher Luba Fedorkiw. Running for the Canadian Parliament in 1984, she "discovered to her utter amazement that B'nai B'rith Canada ... had circulated an internal memo which accused her of 'Jew-baiting!'" (L. Wilcox, 1996, pp. 81-82). The allegation was repeated in the Winnipeg Sun along with the assertion that she was being investigated by B'nai B'rith on suspicion of anti-Semitism. The resulting defamation cost her the election to David Orlikow, and subjected her to malicious harassment.

According to Ms. Fedorkiw, when the investigation was publicized, she received obscene and harassing telephone calls, a swastika was spray-painted on her campaign office, and a number of her political supporters withdrew their backing. She sued for libel and won a $400,000 judgment on the basis that a claim that she had said her opponent was "controlled by the Jews" was not true.

This new attack on journalists is unprececedeted. We've seen in with the way that the Conservatives cherry picked articles written by Michael Ignatieff, to launch Karl Rove style attack ads.

I'm surprised that Peter Kent, who himself was once a journalist, would stoop to such tactics. He should know about things like 'freedom of the press' and 'freedom of speech'.

So B'Nai Brith cries wolf and Peter Kent cries 'yeah'. I cry 'enough is enough'. I want my country back.

Lesley Hughes is Not Antisemitic. No Way, No How.

After reading a small blurb in our local paper about a lawsuit launched against Conservative Peter Kent and several Jewish organizations, by former Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes; I knew there had to be more to the story.

And there was.

The Conservatives have proven time and again that they will stop at nothing to gain and maintain power. From their criminal assault on French Canadians and the truth, during the parliamentary crisis; to buying seats and silence; they are an orange jumpsuit away from living out their dream of a law and order state - from the inside.

But one of their main focuses during the last two campaigns has been on what they refer to as 'soft seats'.

Kildonan–St Paul (Winnipeg), has always been a swing riding, and one they felt was critical to hold. Joy Smith, the Conservative incumbent, has been a long-time Stockwell Day supporter and was the Manitoba organizer for his bid for leadership of the Alliance Party (now calling themselves Conservatives). She is a social conservative with strong views against same-sex marriage, even breaking down in tears during one debate, so they needed to keep her on their team.

On the other hand, Lesley Hughes was a popular CBC radio host and respected journalist, who had always been an advocate for the less fortunate members of society. She also had a large number of supporters, who were eager to have her voice in Ottawa.

But then the unthinkable happened. Someone dredged up an old article she had written in 2002, discussing the events leading up to the attacks on the World Trade Centre. As a journalist, she was sharing the information she had obtained from respected members of the media, which raised questions about the complicity of the Bush Administration.

It was published right after four Canadian soldiers had been killed in 'friendly fire', so she challenged her readers to look for the truth behind the War in Afghanistan. A good journalist does not just report news but also encourages their followers to enter into debate.

Lesly Hughes was a good journalist.

The Conservatives were careful to plant this story after the candidate replacement deadline had passed, and the negative media reaction left the Liberal leader, Stephane Dion, with little choice but to remove her as a Liberal candidate. Perhaps if he'd had a little more time to investigate the nonsense, he would have stood behind her, but Peter Kent made sure that wouldn't happen.

The very next day he posted a diatribe on his website, accusing her of all sorts. He wanted to make sure that not only would Ms Hughes not win the election (she remained in the race as an independent), but that the Liberal brand would be poisoned, not only by his antisemitic accusations, but by the backlash from her supporters.

It worked.

In an online readers poll, the Winnipeg Free Press asked: "Do you think Liberal leader Stephane Dion was right to turf Lesley Hughes over 9/11 conspiracy writings?" Of the 2,469 readers who responded, 73 percent said "No."

In the article in question, which I have posted in it's entirety here, the only mention of Jews at all was in this paragraph:

"German Intelligence (BND) claims to have warned the U.S. last June, the Israeli Mossad and Russian Intelligence in August. Israeli businesses, which had offices in the Towers, vacated the premises a week before the attacks, breaking their lease to do it. About 3000 Americans working there were not so lucky."

Hughes is crediting the Israeli intelligence agency with attempting to warn the Americans of an impending attack on the Twin Towers, while ensuring that their own people were safe. What in the hell is antisemitic about that?

These new cries of any criticism of Israel as being hate crimes is absurd. Jason Kenney is using it to justify cutting funding to Arab-Canadians, and paint a picture of all Muslims as being terrorists. It's insane.

Now the career of a once respected journalist and radio personality is ruined, simply because the Canadian media and much of the Canadian public, believe that she is a whack job. I can assure you she is not, and the Liberal Party of Canada suffered a great loss, while the Conservative Party of Canada continues to destroy real Canadian values.

I hope she wins her lawsuit.