Today Jason Cherniak is trying to convince us that Stephane Dion and the Liberal party care about Israel. Jason says it's a Liberal party priority. He cites the fact that Stephane Dion, Gerrard Kennedy, Michael Ignatieff amongst other prominent Liberals attended the United Jewish Appeal's Walk with Israel. Thats interesting.

Sure they support Israel when it comes to a nice walk in the park. But when it comes down to brass tacks, the Liberals would sell Israel down the river in a heart beat.

At the Liberal leadership convention, which Dion won, Bob Rae was attacked "because his wife is Jewish". It is alleged that the attack came from Gerrard Kennedy supporters. Gerrard Kennedy ended up supporting Stephane Dion, a move which ultimately ended Bob Rae's leadership bid.

Of course there's also Michael Ignatieff's infamous accusation of Israeli war crimes being committed in Lebanon during last summer's war. Iggy never did retract those comments, he simply revised his comments to accuse Israel AND Hezbollah of committing war crimes. Clever.

Thirdly, during last summer's conflict between Lebanon and Israel, the Liberal party under Bill Graham denounced Prime Minister Stephen Harper because of his strong support for Israel. The Liberals thought that Canada should remain neutral in a conflict between the sovereign state of Israel and the terrorist organization Hezbollah.

Then there's dear Stephie. When Stephen Harper took the initiative to cut off funding to Hamas, another terrorist organization that stages almost daily rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, Stephane Dion was the Liberal foreign affairs critic. His response was to slam Harper, saying "The social problems [in the territories] are awful and, in fact, Canada should do more not less. So to cut $7-million would be a mistake."

So to sum it up Stephane Dion, the leader of the Liberal party has suggested Canada should fund an anti-Israeli terror group. His second in command, Michael Ignatieff, accused Israel of war crimes, when in fact they were defending themselves against a terrorist organization. The man who's support won the leadership for Dion helped him along the way by slandering his political opponent for marrying a Jew. Former Liberal leader Bill Graham, from whom Dion took the reigns of the party, explicitly said that Canada should not support Israel.

But Jason Chernaik says the Liberals support Israel, because they showed up for a walk in the park. It seems the Liberals can walk the pro-Israeli walk, but they won't talk the talk. I think Stephen Harper was correct when he accused the Liberals of being "anti-Israel".

Update: Rene reminded me about Denis Coderre's story. Denis Coderre, is the Liberal National Defense critic, and another person I'd call a "higher-up" in the Liberal party. Coderre marched in support of Hezbollah last summer. Thats the same Hezbollah that started the conflict by kidnapping an Israeli soldier and firing rockets at civilian targets in Israel. But seriously, Liberals support Israel. Seriously.

Labels: Bill Graham, Gerrard Kennedy, Hezbollah, Israel, Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, Stephane Dion, Stephen Harper

Rockets start flying over Israel... again.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday authorized the army to carry out limited operations in the Gaza Strip, but ruled out a large-scale ground offensive in response to a new round of rocket attacks, Israeli officials said. [...]

On Tuesday, the Islamic militant group said its members fired 41 rockets and 54 mortar shells in response to Israeli raids.

How much longer until Hezbollah gets involved is anyone's guess.

Labels: etc, Hezbollah, Israel

New UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been showing signs that he may actually recognize Israel's right to defend itself.

In a statement based on observations from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, Mr. Ban said the Lebanese armed forces fired the initial shot in the first armed clash on the border since the war with Hezbollah last August. Mr. Ban also indicated that their target, an Israel Defense Force bulldozer, was operating inside Israel's territory.

But the Security Council, which later issued its own statement, made no reference to the secretary-general's comments. Instead, it reverted to familiar U.N. language and appealed to "all parties" to respect the cease-fire.

Unlike his predecessor Kofi Annan, it seems Mr. Ban is not afraid of telling the unvarnished truth. Hopefully Mr. Ban can continue to lead the UN on this path.

Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, politics, United Nations

Iranian State media is predicting the Apocalypse, possibly as soon as Spring! "Imam Mahdi (may God hasten his reappearance) will appear all of a sudden on the world scene with a voice from the skies announcing his reappearance at the holy Ka'ba in Mecca."

Imam Mahdi, also known as The Twelfth Imam, is supposed to return to Mecca when the world is in a state of total chaos. His return will mark the beginning of a massive global jihad, resulting in a perfect Muslim state covering the entire globe.

Now this poses two problems. The first being that the world is not in chaos. Sure, there are some "hot spots", but chaos would be a massive overstatement.

This makes one wonder what Ahmadinejad and Khamenei know that the rest of us aren't privy to. Could Iran be planning a Spring attack on Israel? Or possibly a large attack on Israel via their Lebanese proxy Hezbollah? Maybe they've made greater technological breakthroughs in their nuke technology than the West actaully knows.

Ahmadinejad has stated publicly in the past that he believes the main reason for the Islamic Revolution is to pave the way for Imam Mahdi. In fact, Mahmoud also said in 2004 that he believed the Twelfth Imam was due to return in 2007.

Now, problem number two makes things REALLY interesting. It seems Imam Mahdi will be bringing backup with him:

We read in the book Tazkarat ol-Olia, 'the Mahdi will come with Jesus son of Mary accompanying him.' ... Imam Mahdi will be the leader while Prophet Jesus will act as his lieutenant in the struggle against oppression and establishment of justice in the world. Jesus had himself given the tidings of the coming of God's last messenger and will see Mohammad's ideals materialize in the time of the Mahdi.

Thats right, Jesus will be the #2 man in the New Global Jihad, according to Iranian television.

Was the whole mild-mannered peace-mongering carpenter persona just a cover? Were Jesus and his desciples really just a Sleeper Cell? Will Jesus be firing RPG's at Iraqi troops in four months time? And the biggest question of all: would George W. Bush sell American nukes to Jesus, even if he was in cahoots with Mohamed?

If Iran is right, you'd better prepare yourself for a long nuclear winter.

Labels: democracy, Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, politics

I can't believe this son of a bitch is going to get away with this.

Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbollah leader, said his men had achieved "a strategic, historic victory" over "a confused, cowardly and defeated" enemy. He said the militia would not disarm, as Israel and the UN Security Council were demanding. It would be "immoral, incorrect and inappropriate," he said. "It is the wrong timing on a pyschological and moral level."

If what just happened in Lebanon is "winning", I'd hate to see what losing looks like. If this son of a bitch doesn't disarm, Israel will have to go in again. The whole point of the offensive was to disarm Hezbollah. If that objective is not met, Israel should not be withdrawing.

The incoming UN force can't be trusted to disarm Hezbollah against their will. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the UN started fighting alongside Hezbollah against Israeli soldiers in the future.

Labels: Hezbollah, Israel

Peter MacKay faced a Common's committee, and opposition MP's today about Canada's response to the current war in Lebanon. I think he best sums it up with this quote:

"Simply mouthing the words ceasefire, is not going to make it happen. A ceasefire cannot occur with only one party participating in a ceasefire," he said, adding Hezbollah has made no efforts to enter talks and appears to be the only party that wants the violence to continue.

(emphasis added)

This relates exactly back to what I was talking about in my last post about Lebanese civilian casualties, and how the Lebanese need to take responsibility for their own lives.

By supporting Hezbollah, the people of Lebanon are supporting the ongoing war in their country. The end to the bombing will come only after the end of Hezbollah. Plain and Simple.

Labels: Hezbollah

Eight Canadians were killed today in Lebanon.

In addition to the Israeli victims at a rail repair facility in Haifa, eight Canadians vacationing at their family village in Lebanon died in an Israeli raid

Thanks to Hezbollah, eight Canadians are now dead. I hope that this time around, Israel pounds the rotten bastards into the ground.

Labels: Hezbollah, Israel