Harper threatens participants in BDS Israel

[Black Dog]

Obviously bad laws should be simply repealed but in cases like this simply repealing it would simply encourage the Libs and the NDP to up the ante and promise to re-enstate with even more onerous provisions. Now if you change the public conversation by showing people why they are bad laws then repeal becomes a political possibility. It is not ideal but it is better than the alternative.

The alternative is simply repealing them. That you're more concerned with the political fallout than doing the right thing simply makes you a natural supporter of this government.

[andromeda]

Freedom of speech has become enough of a murky issue in this country as is. The government has now muddied it even more. Supporters of BDS should have the same rights as ann coulter giving a lecture at the university of Ottawa. Free speech has given way to political correctness. Political correctness has given way to self censorship. Most conservatives believe in free speech. It's hard to go along with the government on this one.

[jacee]

... blaming the jew for everything.

:/

Blaming ISRAEL for its brutal aggression against its neighbours.

Genocide is not acceptable.

.

[TimG]

The alternative is simply repealing them.

So what do you think would happen if the government tried to repeal the hate speech laws?

[Black Dog]

So what do you think would happen if the government tried to repeal the hate speech laws?

Nothing that could materially prevent them from doing so if they so desired.

[jacee]

The harper government just gave the bds movement a big boost. The more you try to control and the more you squeeze, the more likely the control will slip away.

Yes, I agree.

Tyrants like Harper don't get that.

And get this ... citizens of Israel participate in BDS without being charged with 'hate crimes'.

Clearly, the BDS movement is having good success in making the Israeli government take notice ... a tipping point. Now is the time to persist and increase efforts.

Boycott Israel!

http://boycottisrael.info/

.

[jacee]

I'll take that as statement of conscience when you admit that the human rights violations Israel engages in are done by basically most of the world outside the West, and often to a much greater degree, and when you demand that all those other countries be boycotted, as well.

I admit I don't like some of what Israel does. I just don't see why they're the focus of so much effort instead of the many, many, many, MANY other much worse human rights violations throughout the world.

Unless, of course, it's because you hate Jews.

Get over yourself. :/

[jacee]

Israel should be held to the same standards as planet Earth. And btw, is there a boycott/divest group aimed at North Korea, or Russia, or China, or any of the hundred other countries out there which violate human rights?

So you are admitting that Israel violates human rights and should be seen in the same light as North Korea, Russia, or China.

I agree.

'Shoot anyone you see': Israel's kill policy exposed

A report by Israeli Army veterans organisation Breaking the Silence reveals how soldiers were effectively ordered to shoot to kill anything that moved during last year's invasion of Gaza.

The document, entitled This Is How We Fought In Gaza, contains testimony from 60 soldiers and officers in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) who took part in the July-August invasion of the beleaguered Gaza Strip, which left more than 2200 Palestinians mainly civilians dead.

One Israeli army captain said he received no official instructions from his commanders as to what the rules of engagement were for his squad and essentially was told anyone you see, you shoot.

A sergeant who was deployed to Gaza City told Breaking the Silence: The briefing on rules of engagement was [to open fire at] 'anything you think you should Anyone that you can spot that you can be positive is not the IDF'.

He says that essentially everybody who was not an Israeli soldier was to be considered a target because there wasn't supposed to be any civilian population there.

Edited May 11, 2015 by jacee

[Shady]

I don't agree that a boycott should be considered hate. But damn is it nice to see left wingers get a taste of your own medicine! How does it feel!!!???

Perhaps you'll think twice next time you wanna categorize something you disagree with as hate. See drawing on a piece of paper for instance.

[jacee]

It seems Harper is making a big fuss about ... "nothing"!

But eight years in, the movement has accomplished nothing. Indeed, less than nothinghttp://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com//full-comment/jonathan-kay-the-bds-movement-against-israel-has-accomplished-less-than-nothing

And what does Jonathan Kay have to say about thousands of civilian deaths in Gaza?

Nothing.

.

[Argus]

:/

Blaming ISRAEL for its brutal aggression against its neighbours.

Genocide is not acceptable.

.

They seem to be really ineffective at this genociding business. They've been at it for decades now and there are more Palestinians than ever, way more, in fact. There's more Jordanians, more Lebanese, More Egyptians, too.

Care to explain your no-doubt unique definition of genocide?

Edited May 11, 2015 by Argus

[Argus]

So you are admitting that Israel violates human rights and should be seen in the same light as North Korea, Russia, or China.

I agree.

In that case I expect you to have no further posts on Israel, given you've posted approximately ZERO posts critical of the above.

[Keepitsimple]

I don't agree that a boycott should be considered hate. But damn is it nice to see left wingers get a taste of your own medicine! How does it feel!!!???

Perhaps you'll think twice next time you wanna categorize something you disagree with as hate. See drawing on a piece of paper for instance.

How about all those "Climate Criminals" (AKA "deniers") that the Looney Left would like to see in jail?

[Moonlight Graham]

This is an insane move by the Harper gov and wouldn't stand up in any court of the land. From the OP article from CBC:

In January, Canada's then foreign affairs minister, John Baird, signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, pledging to combat BDS.

It described the movement as "the new face of anti-Semitism."

A few days later, at the UN, Canadian Public Security Minister Steven Blaney went much further. He conflated boycotts of Israel with anti-Semitic hate speech and violence, including the deadly attacks that had just taken place in Paris on the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket. Blaney then said the government is taking a "zero tolerance" approach to BDS.

The "new face of anti-Semitism"???

If I participated in some kind of BDS movement and anyone, including the government or any individual, proclaimed me as being "anti-semitic" because of it I would sue them for libel/slander faster than they can say "thought-Nazi".

[Hudson Jones]

In the U.S., you can see the millions of dollars from Zionist/Israeli lobby groups and billionaires such as Sheldon Adelson, flowing into elections. But what about in Canada?

What is the motivation of the Harper government to be so blatantly pro-Zionist to go as far as trying to ban the freedom to boycott? Is it religious (rapture)? Is it financial? Is it something something else?

[jacee]

They seem to be really ineffective at this genociding business. They've been at it for decades now and there are more Palestinians than ever, way more, in fact. There's more Jordanians, more Lebanese, More Egyptians, too.

Care to explain your no-doubt unique definition of genocide?

...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy,in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

( a ) Killing members of the group;

( b ) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

( c ) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

( d ) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

( e ) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article 2[2]

Israel wants the land, but not the Palestinians they have already displaced to Gaza and the West Bank.

What do they plan to do with them?

Israel kills Palestinians enmasse and indiscriminately.

The oppressed have become the oppressors.

Very sad.

And very wrong.

.

Edited May 12, 2015 by jacee

[GostHacked]

And ghost hacked what is terrible is the world is sliding back to the 30s, blaming the jew for everything. The left in this country has become so hateful it is pathetic.

I don't see the Jews being blamed for everything. But I still think it's funny that people are still buying the so called left/right ideologies (very present in this thread with certain replies). And it depends on what is being said at the protests. I understand we have a freedom of speech thing in Canada, and these groups can be as hateful in speech as they want. I have the freedom to not listen to them.

So we need hate speech laws? Should boycotting Isreal be considered anti-semitism?

Argus, on 11 May 2015 - 3:43 PM, said:

Israel should be held to the same standards as planet Earth. And btw, is there a boycott/divest group aimed at North Korea, or Russia, or China, or any of the hundred other countries out there which violate human rights? Is there a strong boycott Egypt or boycott Pakistan group? Boycott Nigeria or boycott Kenya? Boycott Indonesia or Malaysia? Nobody gives a crap about how many human rights violations the rest of the world engages in except for their own expatriates.

Why would the term anti-semite get thrown on someone who calls for a boycott on Israel but the term racist (ok not a real good term for this boycotting against a nation, but I will use it for now) would not be applied to someone who is boycotting Malaysia?

[Claudius]

The Harper government is signalling its intention to use hate crime laws against Canadian advocacy groups that encourage boycotts of Israel.

I say let him. No, actually I dare him. This is a perfect opportunity for the Supreme Court to save us all a lot of time and money by striking the law as unconstitutional as they did with manditory minimums, extended detentions and safe injection clinics.

[kimmy]

This is an insane move by the Harper gov and wouldn't stand up in any court of the land. From the OP article from CBC:

The "new face of anti-Semitism"???

If I participated in some kind of BDS movement and anyone, including the government or any individual, proclaimed me as being "anti-semitic" because of it I would sue them for libel/slander faster than they can say "thought-Nazi".

Absolutely. This is utterly ludicrous.

I know that some pro-Palestinian activists have used rhetoric that might qualify under the legal definition of hate-speech, and if they want to target some of those types using hate-speech laws, then have at it.

But the idea that the whole concept of a boycott against Israel is hate speech is laughable. They can't seriously think they have a legal leg to stand on. This sounds like the kind of crackpot idea that some fringe-party candidate would come up with, not a cabinet minister of the Canadian government. I can't decide whether this is hilarious or pathetic.

-k

[cybercoma]

How about all those "Climate Criminals" (AKA "deniers") that the Looney Left would like to see in jail?

Would you please refrain from using the pejorative Looney Left. It's against the forum rules.

[poochy]

Genocide is not acceptable.

.

Neither is using that word when it doesn't apply. Only the fringe, those with no credibility whatsoever use that word to describe this situation.

As far as the BDS movement, i say let them be.

Edited May 12, 2015 by poochy

[jacee]

Neither is using that word when it doesn't apply. Only the fringe, those with no credibility whatsoever use that word to describe this situation.

Orders to kill indiscriminately ... deserve consideration in that regard.

http://m.smh.com.au/world/israeli-soldiers-say-shoot-to-kill-orders-put-civilians-in-firing-line-20150504-1mza1r.html

"They were told ... every person that you see on the ground in neighbourhoods that you are about to enter, you are supposed to shoot and kill him or her."

As far as the BDS movement, i say let them be.

Agreed.

.

[Je suis Omar]

Argus:

I'll take that as statement of conscience when you admit that the human rights violations Israel engages in are done by basically most of the world outside the West, and often to a much greater degree, and when you demand that all those other countries be boycotted, as well.

Because Israel is the lead baby rogue nation of the world's top rogue nation.

Notice how all the leading junior rogue nations are supported by the lead rogue nation.

Study: Israel leads in ignoring Security Council resolutions

NEW YORK - Israel holds the record for ignoring United Nations Security Council resolutions, according to a study by San Francisco University political science professor Steven Zunes.

By Shlomo Shamir

Published 00:00 10.10.02

NEW YORK - Israel holds the record for ignoring United Nations Security Council resolutions, according to a study by San Francisco University political science professor Steven Zunes.

On the eve of a possible U.S.-British assault on Iraq, Zunes decided to examine in depth one of the main arguments used by the Bush administration to justify changing the Baghdad regime - Iraq's deliberate refusal to implement UN Security Council resolutions. He systematically went through all the states given instructions by the security council to find out how common a phenomenon it was. His results were somewhat surprising: "Some of the countries are considered and are known to be friendly to the U.S.," he told Ha'aretz yesterday. "In the vast majority of cases I examined, the governments violating UN Security Council resolutions are countries that receive significant military, diplomatic and financial aid from the U.S."

Israel leads the list. Since 1968, Israel has violated 32 resolutions that included condemnation or criticism of the governments' policies and actions. Turkey is in second place, with 24 violations since 1974, and Morocco is third with 17 resolutions it ignored.

...

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/study-israel-leads-in-ignoring-security-council-resolutions-1.31971

Unless, of course, it's because you hate Jews.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Je suis Omar

[Je suis Omar]

Neither is using that word when it doesn't apply. Only the fringe, those with no credibility whatsoever use that word to describe this situation.

Oops!

Holocaust survivors and their descendants accuse Israel of genocide

More than 300 Holocaust survivors and their descendants have condemned what they described as Israels 'genocide of Palestinian people' in an advert in the New York Times

By ZACHARY DAVIES BOREN

Sunday 24 August 2014

Dozens of Holocaust survivors, together with hundreds of descendants of Holocaust survivors and victims, have accused Israel of genocide for the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the conflict erupted in July.

In an open letter released by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and published as an advert in The New York Times, the group calls for a full economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel over its wholesale effort to destroy Gaza.

Genocide begins with the silence of the world, the statement reads, We must raise our collective voices and use our collective power to bring about an end to all forms of racism, including the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/holocaust-survivors-and-their-descendants-accuse-israel-of-genocide-9687994.html

[marcus]

Unless, of course, it's because you hate Jews.

Why don't you go become a commentator for Sun News Network?

Oh wait, they went out of business because Canadians don't like watching Foxnews.