Rachel Marcuse visits the Golan Heights in part two of her journey.
Zionism
My Taglit-Birthright Israel experience: 'Outing' myself on a kibbutz
Earlier this month, activist Rachel Marcuse spent 10 days in Israel as part of the Taglit-Birthright program -- a fully sponsored trip for young North American Jews to learn more about the country. She went to bear witness and ask questions about the Israeli state's treatment of Palestinians, and to learn about other complex issues in Israel today. After the program, she spent another 10 days elsewhere in Israel and the West Bank of Palestine talking to Israeli Jews, Arab Israelis, international activists, and Palestinians. This is the second of a seven-part series on what she found.
Ottawa tilts towards Israel in a nonsensical way
Retired diplomat Robert Fowler made a splash in March when he voiced the widely held view that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's slavish support for Israel was driven by ethnic politics. Fowler told a Liberal Party conference on Canadian foreign policy that "the scramble to lock up the Jewish vote in Canada meant selling out our widely admired and long-established reputation for fairness and justice."
