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Syndicate
Gag me with a fucking spoon!
"We continue to urge the Canadian government to play a balanced and constructive role in the Middle East."
Holy crap. I don't think I've ever read a more misleading statement from an NDP leader in my lifetime. Hasn't Layton been paying attendance to Harper's total and unquestioned devotion to Israel, and Israel's brutality to Gaza?
This is not a quote from resolution 1860, but a cherry-picked sequence of words that occur in the resolution, pulled out of their context and strung together, and padded out with other words that don't even appear in the resolution.
Here's the text of the resolution, omitting only the Preamble:
There's a big difference in meaning between "unimpeded provision through Gaza of food, fuel and medical treatment" (Layton's paraphrase) and "unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian assistance, including of food, fuel and medical treatment" (paragraph 2). Moreover, the latter is precisely what the aid flotilla is aiming to do, and the Israelis aiming to prevent. Yet it's not Layton's party's "policy" to support the flotilla, a fact which puts the party at odds with paragraph 4 of the resolution.
Moreover, his only reference to paragraph 6 of the resolution is the reference to "arms and ammunition smuggling". In the first place, this has nothing to do with the aid flotilla; but by mentioning it Layton lays the groundwork for the phony justifications that are to be offered by the Israelis for intercepting the convoy. In the second place, he completely ignores the same paragraph's call for "the sustained re-opening of the crossing points", the failure of which is precisely the problem giving rise to the need for the flotilla's aid effort!
complete bs and ndp gobbledygook. This is who they are and what they do. Shameful slippery nonsense to disguise the fact they're going to back Netanyahu's Israel on this..
Former Liberal cabinet minister supports the Freedom Flotilla II.
So does a former NDP MP.
A CALL FROM GAZA IN SUPPORT OF THE FREEDOM FLOTILLA II : BESIEGED GAZA, OCCUPIED PALESTINE
June 12th 2011 -- We the Palestinians of the Besieged Gaza Strip, on this day, five years after closures began on Gaza, are saying enough inaction, enough discussion, enough waiting - the full siege on the Gaza Strip must end.
Shortly after 2006 democratic election which were supervised by people and bodies from the international community, nations formerly supporting aid and cultural organizations in Gaza withdrew their support. In mid-2007, our borders, controlled by Israel and Egypt, fully closed, locking Palestinians within and preventing imports and exports from crossing our borders.
From December 27 2008 to January 18 2009, Israel waged an all-out slaughter on Gaza, killing over 1500 Palestinians, the vast majority innocent civilians and among them over 430 children, and destroying thousands of homes, businesses, factories and buildings including universities, schools, hospitals and medical care facilities, and damaging vast tracts of our water and sanitation system.
Two and a half years following the cessation of Israel's attacks, almost no homes and few buildings have been rebuilt, our sanitation and sewage system is more dire than ever, raw waste continues to be pumped into our sea -for want of proper treatment facilities -polluting our water and the fish along the coast which fishermen are forced to harvest -banned from entering the 20 nautical miles of sea accorded to Palestinians under the Oslo agreement-contaminating our drinking water and food supply.
Our farmers continue to be shot at, maimed and killed by Israeli soldiers along our border, prevented from working, growing and harvesting their land, denying us a rich supply of produce and vitamins. Nutrient deficiencies and malnutrition continue to rise, affecting our children's growth and their ability to study. Our economy is shut down by lack of functioning factories and electricity. Our students hold little to no prospects of exiting for study abroad, even when placements and scholarships have been secured, due to the Israeli control of the Erez crossing and the Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing being closed more often than opened. Our ill suffer for want of necessary medications and medical supplies and equipment.
Since 2005, over 170 Palestinian organizations have called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions to pressure Israel to comply to international law. Since 2005, Palestinians have weekly met in villages in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, to protest Israel 's occupation policies.
Creative civilian efforts such as the Free Gaza boats that broke the siege five times, the Gaza Freedom March, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and the many land convoys must never stop their siege-breaking, highlighting the inhumanity of keeping 1.5 million Gazans in an open-air prison.
On the 2nd of December, 22 international organizations including Amnesty, Oxfam, Save the Children, Christian Aid, and Medical Aid for Palestinians produced the report ‘Dashed Hopes, Continuation of the Gaza Blockade' calling for international action to force Israel to unconditionally lift the blockade, saying the Palestinians of Gaza under Israeli siege continue to live in the same devastating conditions. Human Rights Watch published a comprehensive report "Separate and Unequal" that denounced Israeli policies as Apartheid, echoing similar sentiments by South African anti-apartheid activists.
The recent announced opening of the Rafah crossing has yet to be fully enacted. Even when open, it will mean little with respect to the imports and exports of goods to and from Gaza and will not improve the plights of fishermen, farmers and Gaza 's unemployment and manufactured poverty rates.
We request that the citizens of the world oppose this deadly, medieval blockade. The failure of the United Nations and its numerous organizations to condemn such crimes proves their complicity. Only civil society is able to mobilize to demand the application of international law and put an end to Israel 's impunity. The intervention of civil society was effective in the late 1980s against the apartheid regime of South Africa . Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have not only described Israel 's oppressive and violent control of Palestinians as Apartheid, they have also joined this call for the world's civil society to intervene again.
We call on civil society organizations worldwide to intensify the anti-Israel sanctions campaign to compel Israel to end to its aggression. We call on the nations and citizens of the world participating in the Freedom Flotilla 2 to continue their plans to sail to Gaza where they would be welcomed by Palestinians. The civil society initiatives of the Freedom Flotillas are about taking a stance of justice and solidarity with besieged Palestinians when your governments will not. We call on the Flotilla movement to grow and continue to sail until the siege on Gaza is entirely lifted and Palestinians of Gaza are granted the basic human rights and freedom of movement citizens around the world enjoy.
Signed by:
University Teachers' Association
Palestinian Nongovernmental Organizations Network
Al-Aqsa University
Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza
General Union of Youth Entities
Arab Cultural Forum
General Union for Health Services Workers
General Union for Public Services Workers
General Union for Petrochemical and Gas Workers
General Union for Agricultural Workers
Union of Women's Work Committees
Union of Synergies-Women Unit
Union of Palestinian Women Committees
Women's Studies Society
Working Woman's Society
Palestinian Students' Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
One Democratic State Group
Palestinian Youth against Apartheid
Association of Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Info
Palestine Sailing Federation
Palestinian Association for Fishing and Maritime
Palestinian Women Committees
Progressive Students Union
Medical Relief Society
The General Society for Rehabilitation
Afaq Jadeeda Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Deir Al-Balah Cultural Centre for Women and Children
Maghazi Cultural Centre for Children
Al-Sahel Centre for Women and Youth
Ghassan Kanfani Kindergartens
Rachel Corrie Centre, Rafah
Rafah Olympia City Sisters
Al Awda Centre,
Rafah Al Awda Hospital,
Jabaliya Camp Ajyal Association,
GazaGeneral Union of Palestinian Syndicates
Al Karmel Centre,
Nuseirat Local Initiative,
Beit Hanoun Union of Health Work Committees
Red Crescent Society Gaza Strip
Beit Lahiya Cultural Centre
Al Awda Centre, Rafah
Al-Quds Bank for Culture and Information Society
Women section -union of Palestinian workers syndicate
Middle East Childrens' Alliance -Gaza
Local Initiative -Beit Hanoun
..thank you M. Spector. do you have a link to this?
edit to add: found it
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/canadianboattogaza/2011/06/call-gaza-sup...
Well, Atamanenko is still there, even though he's been silenced.
The fact that Libby Davies isn't there is testimony to the atmosphere of intimidation that must exist in the federal NDP caucus.
*snerk*
So you are saying Libby is being intimidated, and we are supposed to believe that?????
LMAO
When you finish laughing your ass off, you might pause to contemplate what her reason could possibly be for not endorsing this broadly-based humanitarian effort. Then you might let us know.
You might also get a huge chuckle out of the fact that one NDP MP has already been intimidated by Jack Layton into withdrawing his endorsement of the CBG.
While I am surprised that Libby's name wouldn't appear on the endorsement list, she does not strike me as the type who is easily intimidated. I cannot speak for why that would be the case, but to conclude that it must be the result of intimidation is very disrespectful and insulting to Libby.
IMV, it is more than disrespectful and insulting.
Moreover, the presumption that the fellow who withdrew his name was intimidated into doing so, is almost as offensive, but on a different level.
Um, Libby was the one who was forced by the party to grovel before the media after she had been tricked by a mischievous interviewer into saying that Israel's occupation of Palestine began in 1948 (which of course in fact it did, but truth doesn't enter into the picture apparently).
And new Quebec MP Alexandre Boulerice was an endorser of the Canadian Boat to Gaza until the day after Jack Layton found out about it and told the media the NDP didn't support it. Boulerice's name mysteriously vanished form the list of endorsers the next day, and he has given no explanation.
And the only remaining NDP MP endorser refuses to talk to the media about it.
Now tell me with a straight face that there's no intimidation going on in the NDP caucus with regard to support for the struggle of the Palestinians.
That they can is the issue.
Libby has received a lot of donations from peace activists and Palestine advocates over many elections. Her outspoken advocacy in areas that others were too timid to enter has earned her the respect of many in this country. Her and Bill Siksay were sometimes lonely voices speaking truth to the power of oppression but they were welcomed by many of us.
Where is her voice when the NDP is abandoning its anti globalization policies and adopting a pro NATO pro "humanitarian" intervention policy. If she hasn't been silenced then I would like her not anyone else to tell me why she no longer speaks with a burning desire to see justice and peace for the people of Palestine and Libya. What in the world has changed that has caused her to no longer speak on the important struggles that she used to be so eloquent about? Why is she not walking the walk any more?
Where's your evidence to back up the claim? Conversations? Letters? Leaked e-mails? Far as I can see, there is no evidence, just your speculation presented as an iron-clad fact. Is there intimidation going on in the NDP Caucus? I can't say one way or the other because I don't know. I do know that Libby is not the type of person to be intimidated easily, nor does it logically follow that Boulerice was intimidated. You think he was, and you're entitled to that viewpoint, but just expressing that viewpoint doesn't make it a fact because you say it does.
Good questions. We should ask her.
I presented the evidence in detail immediately before the part you quoted. It all came from the media and my own observation of the state of the endorsers list of the CBG from time to time. I have no inside information.
But we have the evidence of 3 NDP MP's whose behaviour resembles that of persons who have been intimidated - all on the same issue - and you have nothing to put on the balance scales on the other side. Excuse me for drawing logical inferences.
Once again, your inference does not a fact make.
And your refusal to draw logical inferences from known facts is quite telling.
What was that word again, Slumberjack? Oh yeah: apologentsia.
ETA:
Some more established facts you might want to ignore as well:
• On June 7 Jack Layton assured the media the NDP did not support the CBG [#9 above].
• Jack Layton said he had spoken to Atamanenko and Boulerice about this matter, but he refused to disclose the gist of the conversations. [#19 above]
• Alex Atamanenko, previously outspoken on issues of Palestinian rights [#20 above], suddenly goes incommunicado on the issue right after Layton's comments.
• Jack Layton took the extraordinary step of issuing a "statement"/press release on June 9 for the specific purpose of distancing the party from the CBG. [#31 above]
How could NDP MP's be thinking that endorsing the CBG, after all this, would not get them in trouble with Layton and his pro-Zionist Rottweiler, Mulcair?
Lawsuit Aimed At Stopping Cdn Boat in Gaza Flotilla
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21602&It...
"...Under Canadian law, it is illegal to help or support 'a designated terror group'. Rosenberg's lawyers, Neal Sher of New York and Ed Morgan of Toronto, said in a statement last week. Sher is the former executive director of The America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)..
Morgan, a University of Toronto law professor, told the CJN his case will also seek to make Canadian anti-terrorism laws more 'robust and effective' in the same way as US federal anti-terrorism laws have become more stringent..."
A Call From Gaza In Support Of The Freedom Flotilla II
http://www.freegaza.org/en/home/56-news/1298-dear-israel-it-is-you-who-i...
"...Dear Israel: It is you who is the provocateur, not us. It is a provocation that powerful states and international organizations, such as [Canada] the US, Israel, the EU and the UN are asking people to be silent and not react to violations of law and the disdain for universal values.
It is a provocation that international diplomacy is demanding that solidarity action from 'people to people' be stopped..."
It's no wonder Bill Siksay retired. I wonder how long before Alex Atamenenko quits? It seems he was demoted in this latest shadow cabinet shuffle.
Shame about Libby Davies, whether intimidated or not.
It could just be a simple matter that Atamanenko is in his 60s, BC is a long way from Ottawa, and he will be eligible for his MP pension in 2015.
So being in your 60s is a detriment? You would think that it would be important to mix young blood with old. Unless the old is too stuck on what WERE socialits principles.
Absolutely not, laine. The fact is that BC is a very difficult province to represent as an MP due to the distance from Ottawa, especially a rural riding like the Interior. Some people commented on Atamanenko's departure from the Agriculture protfolio. Was he demoted? Perhaps, and given the sense of alienation in BC, I think there should be more representation in the shadow cabinet. But maybe Alex himself wanted out of that portfolio for the reasons I listed, or maybe he wanted out for reasons we don't know about.
I think we can both agree that Atamanenko seems to do a good job speaking for his community and that his voice on agricultural issues will be missed.
Kevin Neish, a Canadian on board the Mavi Marmara in 2010 when it was attacked by Israeli commandos who killed 9 passengers and injured over 50, writes to the NDP:
Dear Mr. Layton,
Regarding yours and the NDP leadership’s refusal to support the Canadian Boat to Gaza. As a former executive member of an NDP club and life long supporter, needless to say, I’m not impressed. I was on board the Mavi Marmara last May when it was attacked by Israeli commandos, with 9 aid workers being murdered (5 executed), 54 wounded and many others beaten. I was kidnapped from international waters, robbed of over $4000 and almost all of my belongings, threatened with death several times with guns put to my head, brutalised for 25 hours on the ship and then dumped into an Israeli prison for two sleepless nights, as the guards revelled in waking us up every 90 minutes all night long. My demands for access to my embassy or a lawyer were ignored and laughed at and I was eventually pushed onto a plane and deported, without due process, to Turkey. When I returned home I made a report of all this, and more, to my local NDP MP, in the expectation that “my” party would act. As far as I can see you and the leadership did nothing.
To add insult to injury, I understand that when your MP Libby Davies answered an apparently baited question with an honest answer/mistake, you went to the Israeli embassy to apologize. Pray tell, did you approach the Israeli embassy for their apology regarding my treatment or the treatment of the other two Canadians on board the Mavi Marmara by the Israelis?
Canadians voted for your party, as I have always done, in the hope that the NDP would have the courage to stand up for principles of justice, to be a movement for change, not a vehicle to gather votes at any cost. Thankfully there are some NDP MPs with this courage and they are supporting myself and the Canadian Boat to Gaza as we join the Freedom Flotilla II. What can we expect from “our” party leadership this time?
Source
Here is a link to what Libby used to believe. I wonder what changed in the last two years.
Has Israel's brutal occupation lessened?
http://gazafreedommarch.org/cms/en/Endorsers.aspx
I looked for the NDP response to the Israeli's shooting non violent protesters on May 15 at various border crossings.
I can't find a single word. Maybe someone could post a link since of course any balanced response to complicated issues would have required some mention of the civilians shot down in the street like vermin.
After the May 15 Israeli massacres nothing. The only foreign affairs notice on their web site in the last month is a condolence for the latest soldier killed serving in our occupation forces in Afghanistan. Dewar talks about rape in Libya and citizens needing protection in Syria but nothing about the murderous Israel regime.
That is not balanced that is Ready Aye ready from every party in our House of Commons.
Who's the bad guys? Thats easy anyone NATO command wants to bomb next.