![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Cops busted down the doors of many of my friends and activist acquaintances in the middle of the night to ransack their homes and arrest them due to alleged and trumped-up anti-Semitism accusations. I knew of the arrests but only now learned of some of the names of who was arrested (because they got plastered on the front page of the local right-wing tabloid rag). They had postered and painted slogans on the flagship Indigo bookstore, Heither Reisman's chain, to oppose the current invasion of Gaza. Reisman's foundation has long been funding foreign students to go serve in the IDF. Reisman and her husband Gerry Schwartz were also the architects of the coup that saw the dismantlement of the formerly somewhat liberal and democratic Canadian Jewish Congress, to turn it into the unabashedly Zionist Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.
Toronto Tamil Star round-up
May. 14th, 2009 07:51 pmRosie DiManno coming out on the right side of the Tamil struggle.
Thomas Walkom's lame column: Tangled theology of terrorism - Since when Rosie DiManno make more sense than Walkom?
Terrorism is a tactic, not an end. Throughout history, armed groups – from the Jewish Irgun in British-controlled Palestine to Nelson Mandela's African National Congress in South Africa to Hamas in Gaza – have employed terror.
[...]
Sorting out right from wrong in the decades-old Sri Lankan civil war is an impossible task. Both sides have committed atrocities. The LTTE, which invented the modern practice of suicide bombing, is criticized by Amnesty International for recruiting of child soldiers.
[...]
"Doesn't bother me," eh? That's a strange formulation. I'm also flabbergasted by his guess that "most public and media sympathic is with the Tamils"... There was no media coverage, let alone sympathy, until very recently. The Star's been pretty good so far though, other than in their unsigned editorials, but who reads these?
Ontario Liberals worry of losing Tamil-heavy ridings to the NDP
Sri Lankan shelling of hospital kills 50 as aides hide in bunkers
Tamil rally spills into streets
Thomas Walkom's lame column: Tangled theology of terrorism - Since when Rosie DiManno make more sense than Walkom?
Terrorism is a tactic, not an end. Throughout history, armed groups – from the Jewish Irgun in British-controlled Palestine to Nelson Mandela's African National Congress in South Africa to Hamas in Gaza – have employed terror.
[...]
Sorting out right from wrong in the decades-old Sri Lankan civil war is an impossible task. Both sides have committed atrocities. The LTTE, which invented the modern practice of suicide bombing, is criticized by Amnesty International for recruiting of child soldiers.
[...]
Here in Toronto, I sense that most public and media sympathy is with the Tamils. And why not? War is horrible. But we should understand that the alternative to Sri Lanka's civil war is another attempt at some kind of negotiated settlement with terrorists. That doesn't bother me. But it will bother those who are theological about such matters.
"Doesn't bother me," eh? That's a strange formulation. I'm also flabbergasted by his guess that "most public and media sympathic is with the Tamils"... There was no media coverage, let alone sympathy, until very recently. The Star's been pretty good so far though, other than in their unsigned editorials, but who reads these?
Ontario Liberals worry of losing Tamil-heavy ridings to the NDP
As protesters rallied at Queen's Park, the Tamils' plight dominated the weekly Liberal caucus meeting, with MPPs urging Premier Dalton McGuinty to support a politically loyal community.
Behind closed doors Tuesday, MPP after MPP reminded the premier that the 200,000-strong Tamil community has long backed the Liberals, voting en masse and volunteering in campaigns.
"If we're not careful, there are at least five ridings we could lose if the Tamils go over to the NDP. ... They work very hard for us," warned one MPP.
Sri Lankan shelling of hospital kills 50 as aides hide in bunkers
Tamil rally spills into streets
Thousands of defiant Tamils and their supporters once again clogged downtown roads and brought traffic to a standstill as a daylong protest spilled into the streets from Queen's Park late yesterday.
And for the first time, signs of blatant anti-Tamil sentiments emerged in the form of an aircraft that circled the Legislature for 20 minutes dragging a sign that read: "Protect Canada Stop Tamil Tigers!"
The message incensed the large crowd and gave the police some tense minutes just before 4 p.m.
"It's not a smart thing to do," said Staff Insp. Don Campbell of the circling aircraft. "All it's doing is fuelling the crowd. It's inciting them."
About 60 anti-Tamil protesters on a footbridge spanning the Don Valley Parkway north of Gerrard St. held a similar banner in the evening. They said a wealthy local Sinhalese who wants to remain anonymous paid for the airplane and the two banners, but they denied links to the Sri Lankan government.
Tamil protest winds down peacefully and some Toronto Sinhalese start stirring shit up:
Members of Toronto's Sri Lankan community used a banner pulled behind a plane in the sky and a banner and placards over the Don Valley Parkway today to express their fear the Tamil community will bring Tamil Tiger violence to Canada.
"We want Toronto to be safe. The Tamil Tigers are controlling the Sri Lankan community in Canada and their agenda is the only one being heard. We feel we are being controlled," said Kumar Gunasekera, one of about 50 people who waved placards and hung a banner over the Don Valley footbridge to Riverdale during this evening's rush hour.
The airplane pulling another banner circled over the huge Queen's Park demonstration, enraging the protesters crowded there. The banners read: "Protect Canada - Stop the Tamil Tigers." The demonstrators at the Don Valley bridge said they represent more than 50,000, until now, silent Sinhalese Canadians. "What should be of real concern is the 1,000 cadres of Tamil Tigers in the GTA and the violence we have yet to see here," he added.
The bridge demonstrators were members of the Sri Lankan Youth of Canada and the Sir Lankan United National Association.They said today's airplane message was paid for by private citizens, and neither the Sri Lankan government nor consulate in Toronto. "We only hear one side of the story and it is the Tamil agenda," said Eranga De-Zoysa, a Ryerson architectural science student."They have ruined their motherland and now that Canada has offered them shelter they are ruining it here," added his mother Badra De-Zoysa.
The banners and placards urged Canadians to not accept the Tamil Tiger agenda and not cave into terrorism.
6pm, Thursday. I don't have other details right now, and I won't be there myself since I'll be working, but there you go, Torontonians.
(no subject)
Mar. 26th, 2007 09:12 amCurrent Québec election standings, as we speak:
ADQ 47
Liberals 45
PQ 32
Québec Solidaire was said to be ahead in one riding earlier tonight, as well.
These are preliminary scores, there are many more votes to be counted.
For those not keeping the score, there hasn't been a right-wing government in Québec since 1959. Of course this will finish in a minority, so it's not as bad. But Dumont has like, 5 "ministrables" at most. Also, as the outgoing head of government, Charest can ask the Lt.-Governor to continue to government, if he can hold the confidence of Parliament.
Keep your eyes peeled.
ETA: The Liberals finished on top. Phew. This is the beginning of the end for separatists in Québec. If the Liberals manage to move a bit left, they might squeeze the PQ off the scene in a few elections.
A lot of people are thinking that this bodes well for a federal spring election for Harper. I'm not quite so sure, but the prospect frightens me a lot. But the politics of individualism have finally caught up with Québec.
Amir Khadir and Françoise David almost won for Québec Solidaire. That's some pressure on the left for the PQ there. Next time around, if the PQ is down in the polls, some lefties my skip on the strategic voting and vote with their heart.
ETA2: I've been invited to the La Presse examination for their summer internship!! Fingers crossed.
ADQ 47
Liberals 45
PQ 32
Québec Solidaire was said to be ahead in one riding earlier tonight, as well.
These are preliminary scores, there are many more votes to be counted.
For those not keeping the score, there hasn't been a right-wing government in Québec since 1959. Of course this will finish in a minority, so it's not as bad. But Dumont has like, 5 "ministrables" at most. Also, as the outgoing head of government, Charest can ask the Lt.-Governor to continue to government, if he can hold the confidence of Parliament.
Keep your eyes peeled.
ETA: The Liberals finished on top. Phew. This is the beginning of the end for separatists in Québec. If the Liberals manage to move a bit left, they might squeeze the PQ off the scene in a few elections.
A lot of people are thinking that this bodes well for a federal spring election for Harper. I'm not quite so sure, but the prospect frightens me a lot. But the politics of individualism have finally caught up with Québec.
Amir Khadir and Françoise David almost won for Québec Solidaire. That's some pressure on the left for the PQ there. Next time around, if the PQ is down in the polls, some lefties my skip on the strategic voting and vote with their heart.
ETA2: I've been invited to the La Presse examination for their summer internship!! Fingers crossed.
Largest demonstration in chicago's history against racist immigration bill
In Chicago last Friday, March 10, no less than 300,000 people hit the streets, bringing the city center to a standstill with the largest demonstration in its history. They marched in protest of legislation which has already passed the House of Representatives making the "unlawful presence" of immigrants in the U.S. a federal felony. If enacted the new laws also make an instant felon of anyone who offers medical care or rents a room to, shelters or even gives directions to an "unlawfully present" human in the U.S. If enacted, it would provide up to five years in prison for each such offense.
James Travers on Rick Hillier's vision for the Canadian military.
A capital more comfortable with bland, bureaucratic generals is struggling to get its collective head around a chief of defence staff who is neither. The first top soldier in decades to become a household name, Gen. Rick Hillier is a hero to his troops, a mixed blessing for his political masters and a cannonball demolishing Canada's benign military self-image.
What I think: Very interesting ideas, wrong implementation partners in the wrong battleground.
In Chicago last Friday, March 10, no less than 300,000 people hit the streets, bringing the city center to a standstill with the largest demonstration in its history. They marched in protest of legislation which has already passed the House of Representatives making the "unlawful presence" of immigrants in the U.S. a federal felony. If enacted the new laws also make an instant felon of anyone who offers medical care or rents a room to, shelters or even gives directions to an "unlawfully present" human in the U.S. If enacted, it would provide up to five years in prison for each such offense.
James Travers on Rick Hillier's vision for the Canadian military.
A capital more comfortable with bland, bureaucratic generals is struggling to get its collective head around a chief of defence staff who is neither. The first top soldier in decades to become a household name, Gen. Rick Hillier is a hero to his troops, a mixed blessing for his political masters and a cannonball demolishing Canada's benign military self-image.
What I think: Very interesting ideas, wrong implementation partners in the wrong battleground.
