Shopping for human rights

 Passed yesterday in the House : 

"That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel, and call upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad."

Liberals and Conservatives - Yes - 229 votes

NDP and Bloc - No - 51 votes

You can see how each MP voted at the link at top or watch them vote here : "Opposition Motion : Israel"

137 Liberals out of 184 voted in favour, 44 Liberals skipped the vote, and only 3 voted against it : Larry Bagnell, Nick Whalen, and Rene Arsenault.

92 Cons voted in favour while 7 skipped the vote.

Elizabeth May last week : "I will not be supporting it, but I want to make it very clear that the Green Party and I personally do not support the BDS movement." She also skipped the vote.

What's this crap about "demonization and delegitimization of Israel"?

Does everyone get that BDS is basically about shopping?

We're talking about making shopping choices to apply pressure to support Palestinian human rights here. 

And now we're being condemned by our government for what we think about making those choices?   Unbelievable.

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Update : Scott Vrooman : Parliamentary debate on Israel boycott misses the point





Real News Network : Brace Batchoun of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East :

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Patrick Martin, Globe & Mail : Parliament votes to reject Israel boycott campaign

Antonia Zerbisias, Al Jazeera : Canada jumps on the anti-BDS bandwagon
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Standing with Israel through fire and water and sunny ways

This is what we look like at the United Nations General Assembly right now - one of a half dozen outliers of little red squares on the big screen voting NO on every single vote to do with Palestine.  It's the same look we've had for over a decade - standing with Israel through fire and water and now sunny ways - in the yearly UN ritual of non-binding resolutions on a humanitarian disaster that inconveniently implicates Israel.

The other NO voters are always Israel, the US and their coalition of the willing islands where the US has military bases, and occasionally Australia. We do not choose to abstain from voting, as some of the other 193 member nations do when they object to some part of the language of a resolution being biased or too critical of Israel; we just vote NO to all of it. 

Last Tuesday we voted against this one, sponsored by South Africa, calling for Palestine's right to sovereignty over her own natural resources :

December 22 2015 - Resolution 70/225 :

“Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources”   (document A/70/480) excerpted :

"Deploring the detrimental impact of the Israeli settlements on Palestinian and other Arab natural resources, especially as a result of the confiscation of land and the forced diversion of water resources, including the destruction of orchards and crops and the seizure of water wells by Israeli settlers.... Further calls upon Israel to cease its destruction of vital infrastructure, including water pipelines, sewage networks and electricity networks" 

• 164 in favour
• 5 against, (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, United States)
• 10 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, South Sudan, Togo, Tonga, Vanuatu).

Here's another dozen Canadian NO votes on Palestinian issues from the last month :

December 17 2015 

Resolution 70/441 : The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination 

• 177 in favour
• 7 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 4 abstentions (Cameroon, Honduras, Tonga, South Sudan).

December 10 2015
Resolution 70/108 : Assistance to the Palestinian people -introduced by Luxembourg on behalf of the EU and yet to be voted on.

A representative of the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine noted the World Bank had recently assessed the economy of Gaza to be “on the verge of collapse” and more than 100,000 Palestinian civilians remained displaced after 2014"

Israel responded that it "made continuous efforts to improve the well-being of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip" and blamed the Palestinian Authority for "evading its responsibilities regarding governance in Gaza".

December 9 2015

Resolution 70/90 : Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem 

• 158 in favour
• 8 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States) 
• 10 abstentions (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, Malawi, Paraguay, Togo, Vanuatu)

Resolution 70/89 : Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan

"by which it condemned Israel’s continuing settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as violations of international humanitarian law" 

• 161 in favour
• 7 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 8 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Honduras, Paraguay, Togo, Vanuatu) 

Resolution 70/88 : Applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories

"The Assembly reaffirmed the Geneva Convention’s applicability, and further demanded that Israel accept the Convention’s de jure applicability in those territories"

• 163 votes in favour
• 6 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, United States)
• 8 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Paraguay, Togo, Vanuatu)

Resolution 70/87 : Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories 

• 158 in favour
• 8 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States) 
• 10 abstentions (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, Malawi, Paraguay, Togo, Vanuatu)

Resolution 70/86 : Palestine refugees' properties and their revenues

"By its terms, the Assembly reaffirmed that Palestine refugees were entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom"  

• 167 in favour
• 7 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 4 abstentions (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Paraguay, Vanuatu)

Resolution 70/85 : Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East 

• 169 votes in favour 
• 6 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau, United States)
• 5 abstentions (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Nauru, Paraguay, Vanuatu)

Persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities

• 164 in favour 
• 7 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, United States) 
• 7 abstentions (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Honduras, Liberia, Paraguay)

Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories

"the continuing detrimental impact of ongoing unlawful Israeli practices and measures in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, such as excessive use of force by Israeli occupying troops against Palestinian civilians" 

• 92 in favour
• 9 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Panama, United States)
• 75 abstentions

November 24 2015 

Resolution 70/15 : Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine excerpted :

"The Assembly reaffirmed the need to achieve a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. It called for the intensification of efforts by the parties, including through negotiations, with the support of the international community, towards the conclusion of a final peace settlement, as well as urging renewed international efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace, based on the relevant United Nations resolutions; the terms of reference of the Madrid Conference, including the principle of land for peace; the Arab Peace Initiative adopted by the Council of the League of Arab States at its fourteenth session; the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the conflict; and existing agreements between the Israeli and Palestinian sides."

• 155 in favour 
• 7 against (Australia, Canada, Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Palau, United States) 
• 7 abstentions (Cameroon, Honduras, Nauru, Paraguay, South Sudan, Togo, Tonga).

Resolution 70/14 : Special information programme on the question of Palestine 

• 155 in favour 
• 7 against (Canada, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 7 abstentions (Australia, Cameroon, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, South Sudan, Tonga)

Resolution 70/13 : Division for Palestinian Rights 

• 99 in favour 
• 8 against (Australia, Canada, Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 59 abstentions

Resolution 70/12 : Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People 

• 102 in favour
• 8 against (Australia, Canada, Micronesia, Israel, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, United States)
• 57 abstentions

General Assembly of the UN Resolutions for November and December 2015

Sunny ways.


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First the fire, then the water

"Through fire and water, Canada will stand with you," Harper said in closing his speech to Israel's parliament in January 2014. 

I guess he meant that literally. 

Hundreds of Palestinians flee as Israel opens dams into Gaza Valley

"Hundreds of Palestinians were evacuated from their homes Sunday morning after Israeli authorities opened a number of dams near the border, flooding the Gaza Valley in the wake of a recent severe winter storm.

Israeli dams on the river to collect rainwater have dried up the wetlands inside Gaza, and destroyed the only source of surface water in the area.

The chief of the civil defence agency in Gaza told Al Jazeera: "Israel opened water dams, without warning, last night, causing serious damage to Gazan villages near the border. More than 40 homes were flooded and 80 families are currently in shelters as a result."

Over a hundred thousand Gazans lost their home in the fire-bombing of Gaza last year.

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The new Anti-terrorism and the new *anti-Semitism*

Six months ago while Israel's Protective Edge was reducing 100,000 homes in Gaza to rubble, a delegation of Canadian Conservative and Liberal MPs and senators flew to Israel to demonstrate their support ... for Israel. Here they are shown leading a singalong at a Canada Israel Solidarity Rally at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. 
There were speeches.

"The book of dealing with terrorism is being written here in Israel," said the mayor of Jerusalem in his speech to the rally. "Terror is not just Israel's problem; it's a problem for democracies around the world."

In her speech, the Canadian Ambassador to Israel repeated Harper's phrase : "Canada stands with Israel through fire and water", while John Baird delivered a pre-recorded message of support about "standing shoulder to shoulder with Israel" and "doing the right thing".

Three weeks ago Baird was in the West Bank getting egged and in Jerusalem updating the 2014 "Memorandum of Understanding between Canada and Israel regarding a Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership". From one of the new Canada-Israel 2015 MOUs signed January 18 :

• Reaffirming their dedication to the shared values of freedom of expression and assembly, democracy, and the rule of law
• Deeply concerned by efforts to single out the State of Israel for criticism and isolate the State of Israel internationally including calls for a boycott of the State of Israel, for the divestment of investments, and for sanctions to be imposed on Israel
• Recognizing that the selective targeting of Israel reflects the new face of anti‑Semitism

On the same day on their website, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada addressed the new MOU and "the challenge posed by terrorism", including more "standing with Israel through fire and water" and concluding  :

"Whether the fight against violent extremism is conducted over the skies of Iraq or in the tunnels under Gaza, Canada and the State of Israel are fighting enemies whose hateful ideologies and goals threaten all peaceful, democratic societies. That’s why we are committed to enhancing our collaboration on security and defence, especially in the increasingly important area of cyber-security."

Concern has already been voiced over whether the new Anti-terrorism Act 2015 can or will be used to attack or chill pipeline protest, given one definition of "activities" included in the Act is (f) "interference with critical infrastructure".  

But given :

• the Cons' unhinged devotion to Israel, 
• the Libs' stated intention to vote in favor of Bill C-51 to pass the Anti-terrorism Act, and
• the 2015 Canada/Israel MOU's language targeting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and once again conflating *selective* criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, 

will part (i) below in the anti-terrorism bill be used to advance clandestine activity against critics of Israel's occupation policies? Page 3 : 

From Part One : Security of Canada Information Sharing Act

"An Act to encourage and facilitate information sharing between Government of Canada institutions in order to protect Canada against activities that undermine the security of Canada"

"Whereas Canada is not to be used as a conduit for the carrying out of activities that undermine the security of another state"

and where the last of nine definitions of "activities" is : 

(i) an activity that takes place in Canada and undermines the security of another state

Con terrorism logic here could conceivably argue that criticism of Israel is helping the terrorists, therefore it becomes a terrorism/boosterism issue - another possible use of an expanded secret police force with scant oversight and the power to break the law and violate the Charter.

G&M editorial : Anti-terrorism bill will unleash CSIS on a lot more than terrorists

"Bill C-51 is not an anti-terrorism bill".

The Star : Bill C-51: Tories cynically surf panic wave for political ends

Craig Forcese on vid

The Tyee : Elizabeth May : Harper's Police State Law

Typo fixed; h/t Waterbaby .

Stephen Harper, Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Not content with awarding Stephen Harper their Gold Medallion human rights award and pledging to create a Stephen Harper Centre for Human Rights, B’nai Brith Canada announced yesterday they will be nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Frank Dimant from their statement :

“Moral clarity has been lost across much of the world, with terror, hatred and antisemitism filling the void,” said Frank Dimant, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada. “Throughout, there has been one leader which has demonstrated international leadership and a clear understanding of the differences between those who would seek to do evil, and their victims." 

Yeah, about victims ... one minute of aerial footage of Al-Shejaiya in Gaza



B'nai Brith was a successful advocate of Canada cutting off funding to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency - the only UN human relief agency willing to work in Gaza under fire. (Eight of their workers died in this last incursion). Last month B'nai Brith called for the disbanding of UNRWA altogether. Canada is no longer a donor country to UNRWA.

Back to Frank's presser, where he notes that as a 'professor' he is eligible to make a nomination to the Nobel Foundation : 

“In accordance with the rules of the Nobel Foundation it gives me great pleasure to nominate in my capacity as Professor of Modern Israel Studies at Canada Christian College, Prime Minister Stephen Harper for the Nobel Peace Prize in honour of the outstanding moral leadership he has demonstrated.”

Frank Dimant is a professor at Charles McVety's Canada Christian College because Charles McVety awarded him an honorary doctorate there in 2004 at a ceremony attended by Jason Kenney.
Texas millionaire televangelist and Christian Zionist Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel rents office space from McVety for his Canadian operations at Canada Christian College.

Dimant : "We [Jews] and Israel are not alone because of you and the tremendous leadership of Dr. McVety and Dr. Hagee." Dr. Hagee. Go on, click that last link.

Three years ago in this Christian College video at a Stand With Israel rally, Dimant, Jason Kenney (far left), and McVety (behind Dimant) , along with Nathan Jacobson (to the left of Kenney) shared the podium as Dimant courted his presumably mostly Christian audience. He praised Harper and the Cons as friends of Israel and called on God to protect Israel from the United Nations "as we await the messianic times which are just around the corner." 

In March 2014, in a more intimate setting in a synagogue, Dimant spoke about his relationship to Harper: 

" I happen to know Mr.Harper from the days he was in the opposition and the truth is we were on first name basis because the Jewish community was not in favor of Conservatives  - at that time they were called the Alliance Party and before that the Reform Party.  The Jewish community was traditionally liberals and the Jewish community was very much onside with the Liberal Party of the day.  When Mr. Harper and before him Mr. Stockwell Day wanted to get their message out to our community, all the doors were closed in their face.  It's very difficult to believe when today you see the world's premier friend of Israel - that when he wanted to speak about his attitude towards Israel, that door was shut. 

Only one organization at that time - and I was B'nai Brith and our publication The Jewish Tribune - gave them a forum, gave him a platform, gave them an opportunity to say : 'This is how we really stand on Israel; this is where we stand on anti-Semitism; and this is where we stand on the values that we share with you.'  

I've had the good fortune in my lifetime to work with many governments.  I've gone to Auschwitz with Prime Minister Chretien,  I've gone to Israel with Art Egglington, I've gone to Israel with Jean Chretien, and I went now with our Prime Minister again. [Note : Harper's visit this past January] 

And I saw the difference, saw the difference.  And the difference was that here you had a man like Harper who you can feel - FEEL - the love that he has for the State of Israel, the affection that he feels for the Jewish people. So you may ask why. Why? Good question. 

Mr. Harper is a religious Christian.  He believes. He believes when it says "Blessed are those who bless the Jewish people."  And he says Canada is blessed because we bless the Jewish people. He really deeply believes that. As does Jason Kenney, as do some of the other ministers - they are religious people. So they feel it."

As to the Nobel Peace Prize nomination, I'm blaming Michael Byers. 
Six weeks ago in The Harper Plan for unilateral Canadian disarmament , Byers suggested that despite all his tough military world stage talk, Harper might be eligible for one because he has "reduced defence spending to just 1% of GDP — the lowest level in Canadian history".  

Yeah, I know - you're still stuck back there at the idea of a Stephen Harper Centre for Human Rights.
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Ed Tanas' petition : Deny the Nomination of PM Stephen Harper for 2014 Nobel Peace Prize 
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Gaza War Map and Con warmongering

British photojournalist Lewis Whyld has completed his Gaza War Map of 15 panoramic "virtual tours” of the destruction in the Gaza Strip. The stills and vid of the last 50 days hardly prepare you for the impact of turning in a full circle through 360º of destruction from a single point chosen from the map.    
Whyld : these are "not precision strikes". 

In the early stages of this latest version of bombing Gaza to rubble, or as a US military officer put it -  "It's not 'mowing the grass,' it's removing the topsoil" -  the Cons released their "Fire and Water" video. 

Yeah, I know you've already seen it - watch it again. 
It's a battle cry - a pre-justification for the coming assault.  Compiled of clips from Harper's pledge to the Knesset in January : "Through fire and water, Canada will stand with you", and John Baird's bellicose 2012 speech to the American Jewish Committee, echoed again this February in his speech to AIPAC, it also featured seemingly out-of-place non sequitur footage of Canadian soldiers in past wars accompanied by Harper's voice-over about doing what's right even when it isn't popular.  

Not so puzzling now, is it?  Because they obviously knew precisely what was coming.


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Imagining Toronto bombed like Gaza

Click Full Screen to render the script visible.

Via Electronic Intifada : Gazonto

"In his compelling new video Gazonto, Canadian filmmaker John Greyson reimagines Israel’s massive bombardment of the Israeli-occupied and besieged Gaza Strip as if it were an attack on his home city Toronto.

Greyson imagines specific attacks on Palestinian homes, schools, mosques, hospitals and other institutions that Israel perpetrated since 7 July as if they had occurred on real-life Toronto sites including a well-known café, CBC TV, the University of Toronto and the Scarborough Injury Rehab Centre.

The film uses the device of a simulated video game to show how the horrifying effects of Israeli violence against Palestinians are rendered distant or invisible while the violence itself is celebrated."

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From Ferguson and Gaza to the Toronto G-20

Combined Tactical Systems, Inc. (CSI), according to its website, manufactures and markets tactical munitions and crowd control devices to armed forces, law enforcement, corrections and homeland security agencies around the world.

This photo of its Jamestown, Pennsylvania headquarters raised a few eyebrows this week because :

1) as you can see in the photo, CSI was flying an Israeli flag alongside the US one up until January 2012 and, according to a former CSI plant employee in the first comment here, it is flown whenever the Israeli owner/founder is in town, and 

2) CTS tear gas shell cartridges manufactured there were found a week apart in Gaza and Ferguson, Missouri - where protests and excessive police reaction fuelled by the half a billion dollars in military weapons given to local police forces erupted in response to the August 9 shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by a local police officer. 

Comparisons of the highly militarized assault on their respective populations, supportive tweets from citizens in Gaza to citizens in Ferguson about dealing with the effects of teargas, and a look at the fact Ferguson and St. Louis County police forces were trained in Israel in recent years followed.

Along with 9,500 other law enforcement officials who have attended Israeli-led LEEP training sessions in the US and Israel. 

The Law Enforcement Exchange Program (LEEP) - created :

"in cooperation with the Israel National Police, the Israel Ministry of Internal Security, and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) to support and strengthen American law enforcement counter terrorism practices"

 - was the brainchild of former FBI Assistant Director and Chief of Counter-Terrorism Steve Pomerantz, in his capacity as Director for Counter-Terrorism Programs for The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). 

JINSA was founded to "advocate on behalf of a strong U.S. military, a robust national security policy, and a strong U.S. security relationship with Israel" to "provide leadership and affect policy on crucial issues of national security and foreign policy." 

Yeah, they pretty much have that part nailed down.

Former JINSA advisory board members include perennial neocon warmongers Dick Cheney, Richard Perle, John Bolton, Douglas Feith, James Woolsey, and Michael Ledeen.

Meanwhile, according to the U.S.-Israel Strategic Cooperation : Joint Police & Law Enforcement Training page at the Jewish Virtual Library detailing their joint history :

"In early September 2012, the New Police Department (NYPD) opened an Israeli branch at the Sharon District Police Headquarters" in Israel because "the Israeli police is one of the major police forces with which it must maintain close work relations and daily contact."

Really? The NYPD requires daily contact with Israeli police from a location inside Israel?

Naturally, there have also been Canadian security junkets to Israel. In 2005, on his first day as Ontario emergency management commissioner, Julian Fantino, Toronto Police Staff Supt. Bill Blair, and 30 more Ontario police officials left for Israel to "study security and anti-terrorism measures", courtesy of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, airline El Al and the Israeli government.

But back to Combined Tactical Systems (CSI). In addition to making the teargas cannisters used against populations in Gaza, Ferguson, Tahrir Square in Egypt, Bahrain, Occupy Wall Street, and Toronto's G-20 in 2010, they also run their own training sessions "combining product tools with knowledge and techniques."

In February 2010 - four months before the Toronto G20 - this highly respected and decorated officer was a Training Sergeant with the Toronto Police Public Order Unit working on :

• Development & delivery of crowd management training to Toronto Police Service and police agencies across Canada.
• ORT (Obstacle Removal Team) trained - Responsible for training Toronto Police members in extrication and removal of protestors from fixed objectives using various tools and equipment.

when he took the four-day CSI course on chemical munitions (hand-held and fired), distraction devices (flash bangs), and fired munitions, bean bags, wood batons, rubber batons, sting calls :

CHEMICAL MUNITIONS/ LESS LETHAL WEAPONS - INSTRUCTOR  

Combined Tactical Systems, San Bernadino, CA / February 2010

Then read this account of Why there wasn't accountability for the police in Ferguson and see if it doesn't remind you of the same police set up used to defy accountability at G-20, involving the aforementioned Fantino and Blair.

Final note from Jewish Virtual Library :

In January 2011, Canada and Israel signed an umbrella pact for defense and military cooperation and bolstered that agreement in November 2011 amid the turmoil that had been set upon the Middle East and around the Arab World during the Arab Spring. Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak settled a number of memoranda of understanding to facilitate information and intelligence sharing as well as cooperative arrangements for the development and sale of military technologies.

From Ferguson and the occupation of Gaza to the Toronto G-20, war is a racket that always comes home .

Edited for clarity and typos.
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10,000 Israelis demonstrate for peace in Tel Aviv

Haaretz :  A Facebook organized peace rally - "Changing direction: toward peace, away from war."

"Following a painful month of war and death, in view of waves of incitement and hatred that are tearing apart Israeli society, we call for a demonstration for peace and democracy. The next round can be avoided. We don’t have to sink into an abyss of ever-crueler wars, of extreme hatred and a destruction of our neighbors and ourselves. 

Only an agreement will ensure long-term security and quiet for residents of the south and of the entire country. There is another way – immediate dialogue with Palestinians to ensure a fair peace, the opening of Gaza, and a determined stand of Arabs and Jews against racism and for life. Only a two-state political solution will guarantee independence, justice, security and hope for all people living in this land.”

Author David Grossman, speaking at the pro-peace rally in Tel Aviv, August 16, 2014 :

"There is no military solution for the conflict between Israel and Hamas. There is no military solution that will end the suffering of Israelis in the south and the inhumane suffering of people in Gaza. People in Israel won’t be able to breathe freely either, until the stranglehold on Gaza is lifted." 

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Making a killing on Gaza

As blogged here a month ago, Israeli writer/researcher Shir Hever told the Real News Network that Israeli security companies are using the Gaza conflict to market the tools of occupation to other countries :

"... when they go to arms trade shows and show their equipment, they say this has already been tested by the Israeli army on actual people. You can only have that because of the occupation. So every new weapon is first sold to the Israeli army, shot at Palestinians. Then you can sell it." 

Fast forward to two articles from today's Haaretz : 

For Israeli arms makers, Gaza is a cash cow
Protective Edge’s marketing edge

“Battle-tested” is the best marketing slogan for defense industries the world over, so for Israeli military manufactures Operation Protective Edge has yielded a major competitive edge. 

"What has proven itself in battle is much easier to sell.  Immediately after the operation, and perhaps even during, all kinds of delegations arrive here from countries that appreciate Israel’s technological capabilities and are interested in testing the new products.”

Arms sales set to rocket after showcase during Gaza conflict

"Since 2000, when the second intifada broke out, Israel has had some form of military operation lasting a few weeks every few years: Defensive Shield (in the West Bank) in 2002; the Second Lebanon War in 2006; Cast Lead in 2008-09; and Pillar of Defense in 2012. In almost every case, new military technology or weapons were used – which had a positive effect on overseas sales.

The numbers show that, after the initial period of criticism against Israel after the various operations quiet down, sales pick up. And there has been continuous growth in defense exports in recent years. In 2002, such exports were worth $2 billion, grew to $3.4 billion in 2006, and were $6 billion in 2012."

"After the initial period of criticism against Israel after the various operations quiet down, sales pick up."

The article explains the close ties between the IDF, the Defence Ministry, and Israel's three main arms makers - Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems - and how "many of the senior executives in the defense industries still hold senior positions in the reserves" :

One of the systems that was used in Protective Edge was developed by one of the defense companies as a result of a need raised by a reserve officer who participated in Operation Cast Lead. The officer convinced people in his company to invest in developing the system, and the product went operational during Protective Edge."

It also notes that by exporting 80% of Israel’s defense production, the remainder can be sold more cheaply to the IDF.  So which countries are buying that "battle-tested" 80% ?

"$3.83 billion-worth of deals were signed in 2012 with Asian countries; $1.73 billion with European nations; $1.1 billion with Canada and the United States; $604 million with Latin America; and $107 million in Africa. Haaretz has found there were deals with at least 33 more countries, including many in the Third World."

On the "stars" of arms used against Gaza :

"The Tamuz missile – from Rafael’s “Spike” family of missiles – is equipped with a video camera and can hone in on a target, moving or static, at distances of up to 20 to 25 kilometers. Reports say the IDF has used Tamuz some 200 times during Protective Edge."

A reporter embedded with an IDF unit reported it was a Tamuz missile that killed 15 displaced Palestinians and wounded 150-200 others sheltering in an UNRWA school in Beit Hanoun on July 24 after UNRWA asked for time to evacuate civilians which was not given.

Results like that must really cut down on printing costs for trade show brochures.

The Haaretz article Arms sales set to rocket after showcase during Gaza conflict is behind a paywall but the same article is publicly available under the alternative header How Israel's arms manufacturers won the Gaza war 

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"Cutting the grass" in Gaza

Updated : Total number of declared civilian casualties via United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of Aug 10, 2014 

With one quarter of the total population of Gaza now *displaced*, Harper, Mulcair, and Trudeau continue to "Stand with Israel", insisting on the right of Israel to defend itself against the people they are illegally occupying.

Great letter via Kev :

Dear NDP : Stop apologizing for war crimes and breaches of human rights
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"The Jewish State Solution" comes to Canada

West Bank settler Moshe Feiglin is a deputy speaker in Israel's Knesset and head of the largest faction within Netanyahu's Likud party. Today, actually, he is acting speaker. 

Three months ago on May 6, Feiglin was in Toronto for a speaking event put on by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) and the Toronto Zionist Council : 
An Evening with MK Moshe Feiglin : "The Jewish State Solution".  

Feiglin doesn't use the word Palestine as he contends Palestine does not exist. 

Shorter Feiglin : revoke the Oslo Accords, conquer Gaza, expel as many Arabs as possible, repopulate the area with Jews from other nations.

On July 15, 2014, the day Netanyahu made him a member of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Feiglin published the following :

"My Outline for a Solution in Gaza - Moshe Feiglin

Ultimatum – One warning from the Prime Minister of Israel to the enemy population, in which he announces that Israel is about to attack military targets in their area and urges those who are not involved and do not wish to be harmed to leave immediately. Sinai is not far from Gaza and they can leave. This will be the limit of Israel’s humanitarian efforts. Hamas may unconditionally surrender and prevent the attack. 

Attack – Attack the entire ‘target bank’ throughout Gaza with the IDF’s maximum force (and not a tiny fraction of it) with all the conventional means at its disposal. All the military and infrastructural targets will be attacked with no consideration for ‘human shields’ or ‘environmental damage’. It is enough that we are hitting exact targets and that we gave them advance warning. 

Siege – Parallel to the above, a total siege on Gaza. Nothing will enter the area. Israel, however, will allow exit from Gaza. (Civilians may go to Sinai, fighters may surrender to IDF forces). 

Defense – Any place from which Israel or Israel’s forces were attacked will be immediately attacked with full force and no consideration for ‘human shields’ or ‘environmental damage’. 

Conquer – After the IDF completes the "softening" of the targets with its fire-power, the IDF will conquer the entire Gaza, using all the means necessary to minimize any harm to our soldiers, with no other considerations. 

Elimination- The GSS and IDF will thoroughly eliminate all armed enemies from Gaza. The enemy population that is innocent of wrong-doing and separated itself from the armed terrorists will be treated in accordance with international law and will be allowed to leave. Israel will generously aid those who wish to leave. 

Sovereignty – Gaza is part of our Land and we will remain there forever. Liberation of parts of our land forever is the only thing that justifies endangering our soldiers in battle to capture land. Subsequent to the elimination of terror from Gaza, it will become part of sovereign Israel and will be populated by Jews. This will also serve to ease the housing crisis in Israel. The coastal train line will be extended, as soon as possible, to reach the entire length of Gaza.
According to polls, most of the Arabs in Gaza wish to leave. Those who were not involved in anti-Israel activity will be offered a generous international emigration package. Those who choose to remain will receive permanent resident status. After a number of years of living in Israel and becoming accustomed to it, contingent on appropriate legislation in the Knesset and the authorization of the Minister of Interior, those who personally accept upon themselves Israel’s rule, substance and way of life of the Jewish State in its Land, will be offered Israeli citizenship."

No longer differentiating between Hamas and Gazans, on July 23, 2014, Feiglin wrote :

"The residents of Gaza were not occupied by the Hamas; they voted for the terror organization in democratic elections, by a huge majority, by virtue of its uncompromising struggle against Israel.

For this reason, the separation between the armed Hamas terrorists and those ‘not involved’ or ‘innocents’ is false. The Gazans are now paying for the choices they have made."

Feiglin was banned from entering the UK in 2008, but has made regular JDL-sponsored speaking trips to Canada. In November 2012, JDL Canada and JDL UK visited Feiglin in Israel. 

This week, CBC and CTV reported the JDL will be opening branches in Calgary and Montreal and then Ottawa and Vancouver, but mentioned nothing of its past history. 
The Natty Post did rather better :

"The JDL is not without controversy itself.

In its 2000-01 report on terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation described the group’s U.S. wing as a “violent extremist Jewish organization.” Members have been linked to numerous violent acts in the U.S. and Israel since the JDL was founded in 1968. In 2001, its leader was arrested and charged for a plot to bomb a mosque and the office of an Arab-American congressman.

JDL Canada is not considered a terrorist organization."

JDL event organizer Julius Suraski accompanied Harper on his visit to Israel in January.

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Update : Mondoweiss, August 6, 2014: 
Moshe Feiglin’s vision of liberating Gaza by driving Palestinians into the Sinai

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