The humanitarian relief effort to support Palestinians in Gaza got a boost at an event in Montreal on Thursday afternoon which confirmed the participation of a Canadian ship as part of the 15-vessel international flotilla, Freedom Flotilla II.
Quebecers from all political, cultural, social and religious backgrounds launched a united call to join the flotilla to protest the restriction of Gazans to imported goods and resources by the Israeli blockade, which is deemed illegal by a wide international community.
Stephan Corriveau, coordinator for the Quebec branch of the project, said: "The Israeli government wants to starve the people of Gaza and we must stop them; English and French, separatist and federalist, Jew, Muslim, Christian we all agree on the immorality of the Illegal Gaza Blockade."
Corriveau added that the number of places available on the boat will be known once the boat has been selected, and plans for this boat's purchase are under way while the fundraising effort taking place.
Despite not being able to officially announce who would be going on the boat to Gaza until the number of spaces can be confirmed, there were an impressive number of candidates present, representing Quebec and wider Canadian participation in the Freedom Flotilla II.
Gil Courtemanche, the Quebec author and critical thinker, declared that "a blockade is an act of illegal war. It is a crime against dignity and a crime against humanity; it is more then just a crime against an enemy."
Warren Allmand, former Solicitor-General of Canada under Pierre Trudeau and longtime MP summed it up clearly. "When people are in distress we have an obligation to respond."
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Pascale Montpetit, a Quebec actress and winner of the Artist for Peace Prize, pointed to the problem that "a lot of people don't know how life works in Gaza. This has to stop and people have to be shown so they can learn and teach others."
Dr. Bachar ElSohl, of the Canadian Muslim Federation, said "the degrading conditions for Gazans leave no one indifferent and was proud to be part of this civil action. Finally justice will be brought to the Palestinian people."
Christian Martel, of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, explained how he had visited the West Bank village of Bi'lin three times, and had seen firsthand the oppression of the Palestinian people. He also realized that the situation with the blockade in Gaza was even worse.
"It is unbelievable that in 2011 there are people who are treated like the Palestinians by the Israeli government," he said.
Raymond Gravel, former Bloc Quebecois MP for Repentigny and a Catholic Priest said "the blockade is an attack against justice and dignity of the human being that has made of Gaza an open-air prison which contravenes all Christian values."
Yakov Rabkin, representing Independent Jewish Voices, described how "Israel claims to talk and act in the name of all Judaism, yet the blockade of Gaza contravenes all Jewish traditions."
Questioned as to how important Canadians should prioritize the Gaza Blockade Crisis, Rabkin responded in kind. "Just as we must not confuse Israeli values with Jewish values, this represents Canadian values and is important for all Canadians. Canada was the first government to boycott the Hamas government in Gaza after their election. It may not be the greatest injustice in the world but it is the most important injustice for Canadians to overcome because of the Harper government's supporting the blockade and Israel."
Ellen Gabriel, an experienced Indigenous representative of Kanesatake said that "when UN nations arbitrarily decide to whom and when the UN Charter applies it results in problems of colonization and assimilation. These are common struggles for not just the Indigenous, but all human beings."
Brian Barton, a representative of AQOCI, a group of 65 NGOs in Quebec, said that "as representative of a group which distributes humanitarian aid worldwide, it enables recognition of global crisis which require our support and the Palestinian people require our support now because of their oppression by the Israeli State."
Francoise David, of the Quebec Solidaire, concluded that "There is no other solution to the Middle East conflict other then good faith negotiations between supported and accepted representatives from two equally represented sides."
Corriveau closed the meeting by explaining how Canadian "political parties don't feel comfortable talking about this situation as they are still too afraid of being labeled "anti-Semites"."
So, while all the big French Canadian news outlets made sure to cover the announcement and were fully present, it appears as if the English news outlets in Montreal are living in the same paranoid fears as our politicians, because rabble.ca was the only English media outlet to have coverage. Even the Montreal-based non-national outlets from the English side didn't make the effort.
Therefore while it will be up to the Canadian people to support the Freedom Flotilla II and spur on their politicians, it appears as if the Canadian people have been saddled with another responsibility as well: to wake the media up and out of their fear in dealing with this situation!
Tariq Jeeroburkhan is a Montreal-based freelance journalist.
Gaza? You mean the Hamas run terrorist enclave that continues to lob rockets into civilian areas in Israel? The same Gaza/Hamas that receives billions of dollars in Western aid, to fill the leaders' pockets, and to build lovely shopping centres filled with consumer goods for its people that come in via Israeli trucks and smuggled from Egypt, and with the rest of the money buys more weapons to use against Israel? The Gaza that still hold an Israeli soldier hostage after 4 or so years? The same Gaza/Hamas that doesn't recognize Israel's right to existence, that only wishes to destroy it? Israel, by the way, created legally by the UN, the only democratic state in the ME, the place where Gazan gays go when they are threatened with death in, oh, Gaza...that's who we're talking about, right? Gaza, where women are chattel, worth half of what a man is worth, who can be beaten and even (honor) killed according to the code of their 'religion of peace'? That's the place they are going to 'liberate', right? Sure thing, good luck with that. Oh, is the terrorist Bernardine Dohrn coming along this time, I wonder? Are these folks going to get help again from the Turkish terrorist group IHH? I sure hope so..they are going to need it. I doubt that Israel will let itself get sucker punched again. Hopefully, the Israelis will use real bullets this time, or better still, will blow them out of the water as soon as they get in restricted waters. One can only hope. Probably not though, as the Israeli value human life, even very poory informed people, but still I'd advise them to bring along their flotation gear. Such ignorance and delusion built upon 'good intentions'. The road to hell! Bless you all, brothers and sisters!
@teejayo
Gaza? yes.. the enclave that was then part of Palestine that was taken illegally from the people of the land. Yes, Hamas.. people-chosen leader through democracy that was not recognized by the West, hypocrisy at its best (albeit there are other vast examples i.e Egypt, Tunisia, etc..).
"Lovely shopping centres" you say? have you ever been there? if not, you have been seriously misled. pity you. Maybe you should JOIN the coming freedom flotilla. so to give you a better and clearer view of the things happening there. otherwise, you will just sound plain stupid.
The question should be rephrased instead.. The same Israel that receives BILLIONS of dollars and military US aid, to build weapons, fighter planes, bulldozers. Yeah, BILLIONS of USD.. just when other public spendings was cut due to the market crash, the military aid was not affected at all! Since when did the priority of people from other nation are more important that your own citizens!
Yes.. the same Israel that destroys and demolishes thousands of homes belonging to the Palestinians. Even killed Rachel Corrie, a US citizen on humanitarian aid, that was trying to stop it from happening.. Yes.. the very same Israel that murdered 9 (known) people from the previous flotilla that was on INTERNATIONAL waters, kidnapped all of the activies, and taken them hostage at Asdod prison. ah, yes.. lets not forget the detention camps, mass massacres and hundreds, if not thousands of breached UN rules, resolutions and condemnation from around the globe. Dude, you seriously need to read REAL NEWS.. rather than clinging on your ever racist media.
"as the Israeli value human life".. lol. good joke there.. you really should join the flotilla and see whats truly inside Gaza. Such ignorance and delusion are exclusively yours. Bless you too dear!
When you say 'illegally taken from the people of the land', that is incorrect. You are clearly not aware of the true history of the land of Israel, but have been 'buying' the revisionist history of the Palestinian people as peddled by the Arab (and far left) media, who are certainly not noted for their truth or accuracy on any story. Firstly, Kyle, you should understand that that the 'Palestinians' are a manufactured identity, started by Yasser Arafat after 1967. The original term 'Palestinians' referred to the mix of Jews, Muslims and Christians who were living on the land well before the State of Israel was formed by the UN. The so called 'Palestinian' refugees were actually Jordanians, mostly, who were kicked out of Jordan by King Hussein, because they were nothing but trouble even then. There have been Jewish people living on the land continuously from Biblical times until today. Islam did not even exist until the 7th century. Gaza is not 'occupied', as it was turned over to the Muslims in 2005, including a great deal of valuable infrastructure (eg, operating commercial greenhouses, etc.) that was promptly destroyed, and then turned into a staging ground for attacks on Israel.
Yes it's true that Israel received billions of dollars in US aid. As it is said, if the Palestinians were to lay down their arms, there would be peace. If Israel were to lay down its arms, it would be destroyed. In the meanwhile, Israel is a vibrant and creative democracy, producing world leading innovation in science, technology, medicine, agriculture, and much more. What have the Palestinian people produced of importance, now or ever?
As for murders of innocent people, it's unaccebtable to ignore the years of terrorist bombings, one as recent as last week, plus the murders of Jewish families and children, like the Fogels who were massacred a few weeks ago. To hear the Palestinians tell it, 'it all started when Israel his us back!."
These are the same people that poison their children from infancy to hate Jews, who glorify homicide bombing, and personal martyrdom and murder of innocents, who DO NOT ACCEPT THE RIGHT FOR ISRAEL TO EXIST! You don't seem to get that, Kyle. These people doomed themselves. In 1947 the land was partitioned, and the largest part was given to the Arabs, including Jordan, which was part of the original British Mandate. They chose to go to war time and time again, with loss after loss resulting. These people were and are still being used as political pawns by surrounding countries, as propaganda to deceive people like yourself, who have not done their homework and are clearly not knowledgable about the political history of the region.
By the way, have you been to Israel yourself, Kyle? I have spent considerable time there, and have studied the history in great detail. Educate yourself, son, before you continue to wade into the debate. And calling it 'my' media, and 'racist' is merely insulting, and almost by definition proves that you can't hold up your end of the debate. I've read dozens of books on the subject and countless articles, including a thorough investigation of the history of the founding of modern Israel, from the Balfour Declaration, through to the UN resolutions, as well as the legal framework. While there are many issues in dispute, clearly, according to all earlier agreement, there is no 'occupation', and there are no 'illegal' settlements. Areas taken in self-defensive wars are clearly legitimate. The fact that Israel handed over large tracts of land is evidence of their good will and yearning for peace.
Unfortunately, they have received nothing in return, only treachery, pain and suffering. There are many good articles outlining the true history of the indisputable legitimacy of the State of Israel. I cannot do the work for you, Kyle, but I'll refer you to a good simple overview. Read the legal documents and trace the true histroy for yourself:
The Forgotten Legitimacy of Israel
http://israeltheviewfromhere.blogspot.com/
The settlements are neither, "illegitimate' nor "illegal":
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/33570
Also, I'd suggest that you look up Alan Dershowitz's excellent analysis of the legality of Israel's position.
As for the shopping mall I mentioned, here a link to the info. Please do your own research in future!
Gaza Shopping Mall:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-shrybman/gaza-strip-mall-did-the-e_b...
Here's some background on the previous flotilla, which was not a 'humanitarian' mission, but a deliberate provocation by a cabal of known terrorists, including Obama's buddies, Ayers and Dohrn. Once again, Kyle, do your homework!
Ayers, Dohrn helped organize flotilla group:
http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/ayers-dohrn-hel...
Good luck with your studies, son!