George Galloway vs Team Carpet Pee

Just over a year ago, British MP George Galloway was banned from Canada because, in the words of former American Enterprise Institute alumnus and Jason Kenney spokesthingey Alykhan Velshi :

"He is a threat to the security of Canadians. It is actually quite odious and I think it is entirely appropriate for our security agencies to say that if they have advanced notice that Mr Galloway is going to come to Canada to pee on our carpet, that we should deny him entry to the home."

A spokesman said he first heard about Galloway's visit from the Jewish Defence League letter."

Today Galloway's court case to overturn that ban begins in Toronto.

Unfortunately for Team Carpet Pee, in the meantime there have been 'developments', as they say. Despite Kenney's insistance that there was no political interference on his part in the decision to ban Galloway :

Kenney stressed that his political staff never contacted the Canada Border Services Agency – which made the call that the veteran politician was inadmissible under national-security grounds.

"Neither I nor my office have been in direct touch with CBSA officials about it," Kenney said in an interview.

frantic government correspondence between Kenney's office, CBSA, Immigration and Canada’s High Commissioner to Britain about banning Galloway was inadvertantly forwarded to Galloway's lawyer Barbara Jackman. You can read it for yourself in two parts at Rabble here and here.

Also at issue in the case is how newsmedia were able to publish stories about the ban on Galloway entering Canada before he was informed himself :

"... on March 18, Mr. Velshi asked Canada’s High Commission in London for phone numbers of political editors for British newspapers. On March 20, The Sun published an “exclusive” – that George Galloway had been barred from Canada.
Mr. Velshi insisted last week that he did not leak the story: "No. Absolutely not."

Galloway, you will recall, was able to make the speech that so alarmed Velshi, "Resisting War from Gaza to Kandahar", to Canadians via video link from New York City, where they are evidently made of sterner stuff and do not share Velshi's view that he is "a threat to the security of Canadians".

"It's all nonsense," says Galloway. "If you want my honest opinion, I think the Canadian government is more afraid of my views on Afghanistan than they were on my views on Palestine."

One of the sponsors of Galloway's proposed Canadian tour last year, the church group KAIROS, subsequently had its government funding cut off later that year for apparently entirely unrelated reasons I'm sure.

Opening arguments in the case begin today. Insert popcorn-munching smiley here.

Update : Laura at We Move To Canada attended the hearing. Her excellent and amusing coverage in three parts here. Thank you, Laura!

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Combating Terrorism Act 2010, redux, redo

Your government announced today it needs more powers to combat terrorism.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson : "These provisions are necessary to protect our country from the threat of terrorism."
A redo of the panicky now defunct Anti-terrorism Act of 2001, the new Combating Terrorism Act includes preventive arrest and forcing people to testify at secret hearings about terrorist acts that might happen in the future, and if you don't like it you can go to jail for up to a year with a judge's option to extend.

There are more safeguards included this time round - you can have a lawyer! at any time! - which will only allow the Libs to go along with it so as not to be painted as soft on terrorism. Mark Holland, Liberal critic for Public Safety and National Security, already looking to cave.

The argument in favour of anti-terrorism legislation is that criminal law only deals with crimes already committed. What to do about people who feel that crimes perpetrated by the state against their people require a response like blowing things up?

The argument against it is ... well, let's look at how they're doing with the laws they've already got.

The federal government case against Ottawa terror suspect Mohamed Harkat appears to have suffered a significant blow Wednesday when a document was introduced in court showing that Abu Zubaydah, once considered a master terrorist and 9/11 mastermind, actually had nothing to do with the attacks.

Even more surprising, the document, which quotes U.S court filings declassified last week, shows that Zubaydah, once believed to be one of the top leaders in al-Qaeda, was not even a member of the terrorist group.

The unfortunate Abu Zubaydah got waterboarded 83 times in the US, coughed up Harkat's name, and the Canadian government obligingly held Harkat for 3 1/2 years.
A clue about the reliability of Abu Zubaydah's "testimony" might have been found in his confession to terrorist acts committed after his imprisonment, but sadly, no, it wasn't.

Abdelrazik? "Closely associated" with the same hapless Abu Zubaydah.
Result? Abdelrazik was tortured, then exiled in Sudan for six years. Still on the UN's 1267 terror list, and the Canadian government has frozen his bank account and he can't work.
Help him get off that list? Blow me, said Minister of Public Security Peter Van Loan and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon.

Maher Arar - the first inkling for many of us that something had gone terribly wrong.
Adil Charkaoui - in custody 21 months, now free.
Hassan Almrei - in custody for 8 years, now free.
Mahmoud Jaballah - in custody for 6 years, now free.
Mohammad Mahjoub - in custody for 7 years, freed, requested return to jail in 2009 to protest bail conditions worse than jail.
Benamar Benatta - rendered to US for 5 years
Ahmad El Maati, Abdullah Almalki, Muayyed Nureddin

And then there's the ever-expanded definition of what constitutes terrorism.
According to Jason Kenney's "infandous" Mr. Velshi, George Galloway's proposed visit to Canada last year to give a speech entitled "Resisting war from Gaza to Kandahar" was sufficient for him to brand a sitting British MP on tour in the US "a terrorist supporter".

Nothing about these vile clowns inspires any confidence in their wanting to accrue more secretive powers to their already abused arsenal of abominations.
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On combating anti-Semitism

In February, Bernie Farber CEO of the CJC, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, and 10 other Lib and Con MPs attended the London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism.

From Farber's Feb 25 column at Canadian Jewish Congress :

"Of all the strategies and tactics reviewed, one stood out for broader emulation. It was the development of all-party enquiries into the state of anti-Semitism in individual countries. Such a committee establishes a clear focus and accountabilities, a specific timeline for co-ordinated action by government ministries, agencies and law enforcement groups and a political check against any attempts at appeasement.

It ensures that the fight against anti-Semitism becomes validated by all parties, and avoids anti-Semitism serving as a wedge issue among politicians. It puts the onus for leadership of the battle on non-Jews who have the most credibility in pushing this agenda within civil society. "

And voilà! : The Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism

The coalition will conduct a national inquiry into antisemitism in Canada
Today’s announcement is intended to signal that in this country, legislators of all parties are deeply concerned about what seems to be a rising international tide of renewed antisemitism, on a scale not seen in my lifetime.

(h/t Dr. Dawg - Go)

Farber further notes in his column "the rise of new forms of anti-Semitism" such as "the linkage of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism"

Perhaps as practised by the Prime Minister of Canada?

Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, Harper says

Mike Souza, Canwest News May 09 2008

Some of the criticism brewing in Canada against the state of Israel, including from some members of Parliament, is similar to the attitude of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned yesterday.

"I guess my fear is what I see happening in some circles is (an) anti-Israeli sentiment, really just as a thinly disguised veil for good old-fashioned anti-Semitism, which I think is completely unacceptable," Harper said in an interview with CJAD radio.
"We learned in the Second World War that those who would hate and destroy the Jewish people would ultimately hate and destroy the rest of us as well, and the same holds today."

Many thanks for the obligaTory Godwin moment, Steve.

Farber also relates, apparently without irony or noting the significance himself, that :

"The U.K. Community Security Trust (CST), which co-hosted the London conference, has developed one of the leading evidentiary methodologies for tracking and understanding anti-Semitic incidents. Last week, it noted that a decrease in anti-Semitic incidents in 2008 (for the second year running) was totally overshadowed by an unprecedented rise during and after the Gaza operations."

Odd coincidence, that.

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You know, if you guys would knock off conflating criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza with anti-Semitism yourselves, it would go a good distance towards combating the anti-Semitism you complain of.

Critics of Israel know anti-Semitism exists; we stand by legitimate attempts to combat it.

What we do not support is the weasely conflation of anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism/criticism of Israel in the underhanded attempt to muzzle all criticism of Israel, like this ridiculous attempt by Farber here and Jason Kenney's recent success in barring George Galloway from entering Canada.

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Unfortunately I fear that whatever McCarthyite machinations are brewed up by the new privately-funded Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism will only serve to further blur that line.

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George Galloway update : Would anyone else care to pee on the red carpet before we begin?

UPDATE : ENTRY DENIED.
As Chris said in comments down the page : Her Majesty's New Government has now barred a sitting member of Her Majesty's Oldest Government from entering one of Her Dominions.

At 2pm we should hear whether a federal court judge will overturn a government decision to bar British MP George Galloway from speaking in Canada this week.

From Team Carpet Pee :
Former American Enterprise Institute alumnus and current Jason Kenney spokesweasel Alykhan Velshi :

"He is a threat to the security of Canadians.
It is actually quite odious and I think it is entirely appropriate for our security agencies to say that if they have advanced notice that Mr Galloway is going to come to Canada to pee on our carpet, that we should deny him entry to the home."

Government lawyer Stephen Gold, yesterday :

"there was a possibility that if Galloway attempted to enter Canada, he could be detained and placed in custody until immigration authorities ruled on his case."

Meir Weinstein, national director of the Jewish Defence League of Canada :

"We asked that he not be allowed in. Whether or not that had an effect on anyone – well, he's not in."
Four days later, Kenney's office confirmed the British MP would not be allowed into the country.

and :

"We will be looking into these organizations in Canada that have invited him [Galloway], their links to terror groups as well."
"And therefore, and if he uses those other means, we will see to it that the Canadian government will be monitoring every individual and organization that will have anything to do with it ..."

Galloway is currently sitting in a plane on a tarmac in New York awaiting the verdict.
On CBC's The Current this morning he said that he does not support Hamas; he supports that the democratically elected government of Gaza is Hamas. He also said he thinks he that he is actually being banned from Canada for his very outspoken opposition to the war on Afghanistan.

Fun fact : The FBI considers the The Jewish Defence League to be "a violent extremist organization"
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George Galloway Petitions : Let Him Speak vs Keep Him Out

http://www.petitiononline.com/galcan09/petition.html

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Dear Signatories of the Keep George Galloway Out of Canada Petition to Those Who Cherish Canadian Values ... all 264 of you :

Re your comments section

"Administrative detention" and "targetted assassination" are not actually "cherished Canadian values".

Also it's "anti-Semitic", not "anti-semetic", and Nazi doesn't have a "t" in it.

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Yours in disgust,

Alison

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George Galloway runs smack into the Canada-Israel border

Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has stated repeatedly that the banning of George Galloway from Canada is not his responsibility.

Well of course it isn't.

It's the responsibility of the Canadian Border Services Agency under Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan.

Say, how's that Canada-Israel "homeland security" border coming along?

State of Israel - Ministry of Public Security :

"On November 17-26, a delegation from the Ministry of Public Security visited the United States and Canada on an official visit. The visit was within the framework of the joint work team with the American Department of Homeland Security on Science and Technology.

In March 2008 a Declaration of Intent was signed between the Israeli Ministry of Public Security and the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety in order to promote mutual interests in the fields of the battle against organized crime, human trafficking, terrorist financing, managing crisis situations, border security, crime prevention and other aspects of homeland security.

The first work meetings of the two sides were held on November 24-26 in Ottawa, Canada, with the aim at forming a framework for the implementation of the agreement signed between the two countries.
The meetings were attended by the Deputy Director General of the Ministry, the Chief Scientist, representatives of the Israel Police and the Israel Prison Service, a representative of the Counter Terrorism Division in the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister, and representatives of the Canadian Ministry of Public Safety, the Canadian Police and Canadian Prison Service.

The meetings focused on the following fields:
Security of strategic facilities
Border control
Emergency preparedness
Correction facilities and services
Crime and delinquency
Science and technology – including law enforcement and counter terrorism technologies.

During the meetings the two parties surveyed their primary activities in their fields and examined potential projects of mutual interest. The meetings concluded by deciding on primary principles of the operational and technological cooperation between the two countries in the above fields. "

Public Safety Canada :

Declaration of Intent Between the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada and the Ministry of Public Security of the Government of the State of Israel :

To establish a Management Committee that would:

• Be comprised of the Deputy Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada, and the Director General of Public Security for the Government of the State of Israel;
• Meet annually and as needed to develop and approve a program of work, consistent with the scope and objectives of this Declaration, for that upcoming year;

To achieve the following objectives:

• Build on their shared commitment to facilitate and enhance cooperation to protect their respective countries’ population, assets and interests from common threats;


• Integrate and coordinate of the identification, prioritization, and implementation of cooperative efforts between themselves in the area of public safety;

I'm guessing somewhere amongst all that "shared commitment" and "enhanced cooperation", George Galloway fell under the heading of "aspects of homeland security : projects of mutual interest".

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Harper is seen above on Thursday "urging all Canadians to confront what he calls a 'rising tide of anti-Semitism' around the world" :

Harper, who was joined by Conservative MP Peter Kent, who represents the area, urged all Canadians to "confront" anti-Semitism as a "moral evil."

Speaking of "moral evil", Harper has previously joined George Bush in publicly attempting to blur the lines between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism.

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Presumably he's referring in his speech above to people like this or this or this or this .

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What can you do about it? L-Girl has a list of actions.

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Canadians plan physical escort of Galloway into Canada

CP : "Organizers of the four-city speaking tour of British anti-war MP George Galloway are going to challenge the decision to bar him from Canada in court.

Should that fail, a delegation of Canadian MPs, lawyers and activists is assembling to escort Galloway from the U.S., where he is on tour, across the Canadian border [on Monday March 30th].
A legal team, led by prominent immigration and refugee lawyer Barbara Jackman, has assembled support of more than 50 organizations.
Groups include the Council of Canadians, Canadian Civil Liberties Union, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights, anti-war coalitions in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, several large labour unions and many community organizations."

Galloway's 4 day speaking tour - March 30 in Toronto, March 31 in Mississauga, April 1 in Montreal and April 2 in Ottawa -will focus on the war on Afghanistan.
The CBC interview below from a couple of year's back clearly illustrates why the current Canadian government is not eager to hear any more of Mr. Galloway's opinions on the subject.



Defend Free Speech, Lift the Ban on George Galloway
For all you anti-war free speech mongers in Lotusland, there's a demo in Vancouver tomorrow : Monday Mar. 23 at 12:30pm in front of Immigration Canada at 300 W. Georgia, at the corner of Hamilton.
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George Galloway vs the Canadian director of the Jewish Defense League

in which Meir Weinstein takes credit for having Galloway banned from Canada and makes some rather unattractive threats about having the anti-war organisers of Galloway's now cancelled Canadian appearances checked out for links to terrorists.

However much I may not care for Jason Kenney or his decision to allow Galloway to be banned, he doesn't deserve to wear Weinstein ... but he does own the tie.

Galloway rather more sanguine here about the next Canadian election than the rest of us are, I think.

Update : More on this vid from Skdadl and Dr.Dawg

Sunday Night Update : Let Him Speak : Allow George Galloway To Speak in Canada

Over 4000 members on Facebook; over 3000 signatures on the petition.

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Jason Kenney spokesthingey Alykhan Velshi is an interesting fellow.

So outrageous was his "pee on the carpet" debut on Channel Four News to explain why Canada is banning British MP and Viva Palestina! leader George Galloway from entering Canada, I thought I'd look him up.

Here he is in 2006 fondly reminiscing about his days at the American Enterprise Institute :

"Ambassador Kirkpatrick, until fairly recently, was a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where I interned last year, and her office was only a few steps away from my bay on the 11th floor. She later went on to help found the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies."

As the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies later went on to employ Alykhan Velshi, along with Clifford May, Richard Perle, Newt Gingrich, William Kristol, James Woolsey, Charles Krauthammer, Michael Ledeen, Gary Bauer ... you get the idea ... if you signed the PNAC letter, you're in.

Here he is at FDD touting a 2007 article he co-wrote for National Review Online - "The law and terrorist charities" :

"There is, however, a compelling basis for a government ban on any assistance — even self-described humanitarian aid — to terrorists. Because terrorist organizations are not known as models of corporate transparency, there is no way of knowing whether a terrorist entity’s humanitarian arm is funneling money to its militant one."

Gosh, isn't that just what his new boss Jason Kenney thought he was up to two days ago when he stripped federal funds to the Canadian Arab Foundation for providing language training to new immigrants and the Canadian Islamic Congress for providing sensitivity training sessions to the Canadian Air Transportation Security Authority? h/t Stageleft

Do the Cons get all their ideas from ex-American Enterprise Institute interns?
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Update : Mr. Greg got there before me.
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Canada bans Galloway

George Galloway, a sitting member of the British Parliament and leader of the Viva Palestina humanitarian aid convoy to Gaza, has been banned from Canada on security grounds.

Describing him as an "infandous street-corner Cromwell", Jason Kenney spokesweasel Alykhan Velshi told Channel Four News above that George Galloway "poses a national security threat to Canadians" and will not be allowed "to come to Canada to pee on our carpet".

Well done, Alykhan Velshi.
It has been very difficult thus far to get national media coverage for the Viva Palestina aid convoy's mission to end the seige of Gaza but I think your nonsense will do the trick nicely.

You do realize, do you sir, that Galloway was in Canada just two years ago?
And that he evidently does not pose a threat to the national security of France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, or the U.S. where he will be speaking just prior to the now cancelled engagement in Toronto.

Responding to the ban, George Galloway said,

"This has further vindicated the anti-war movement's contention that unjust wars abroad will end up consuming the very liberties that make us who we are."

But hey, you go, Mr Velshi.
The coveted Certificate of Hitlertude has so far eluded our Minister of Fascism and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney but this latest clowncar foray onto the world stage just might garner him another shot at it.

h/t Politics 'n Poetry and We Move to Canada
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Galloway's full response includes some serious ass-kicking :

"gay-baiter, gung-ho armchair warrior, right-wing last-ditch dead-enders of Bushism in Ottawa"

Heh.
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MP George Galloway - Viva Palestina!