What was Promised for 'Israeli Apartheid Week' and a Link to What was Delivered

Groups Condemn 'Israeli Apartheid Week'


Groups Condemn 'Israeli Apartheid Week' January 31, 2005, Beth Duff-Brown, AP

After the "Israeli Apartheid Week" I posted U of T Hatefest--Using the Freedom of Speech and our Canadian Values to Incite to Hatred and Racism .

Someone suggested I have a bias so judge for yourself; it is instructive to look back to what was written in January about this conference.

[. . . . ] The students set up a mock Palestinian refugee camp on campus to show passers-by the conditions in which they say many Palestinians have lived since the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation.

The students insist their program is not meant to be a slight against the Jewish people, but what they call an oppressive Jewish state. They note Jewish students are taking part in some activities and Ilan Pappe, an Israeli historian at the University of Haifa, is scheduled to speak Thursday. Other speakers come from pro-Palestinian and Arab groups.

The program has infuriated Jewish and human rights groups, noting the title alone is enough to frighten thousands of Jewish students on campus.

"Is the University of Toronto hosting a free and scholarly exchange of ideas, or a racist rally masquerading as an academic conference?" asked Alastair Gordon of the Canadian Coalition for Democracies.

Canada has been named one of the five countries with the highest rates of anti-Semitic incidents, along with France, Britain, Russia and Germany.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Canada more than doubled since 2000, with 584 incidents in 2003, according to B'nai Brith Canada, the country's leading Jewish human rights group, which has condemned the University of Toronto program. [. . . . ]

Someone told me that I, along with others, should look at the other side of the story. If some haters in Canada would stop trying to hack and infect with viruses the computers of those of us who want dialogue, perhaps we could find out more. This is not the only touchy topic today; the countries that want "business" with Canada, as well as the drug producing and drug transshipment countries, hack prodigiously, which just goes to prove Canada has a security problem that our government has not really admitted, let alone address. Some people do not want the information I find posted.

Perhaps it is appropriate to look at a study of the media in Canada -- to be posted eventually, today. Whether this will enlighten or not remains to be seen. One of the problems is that we do not have a bias free mainstream media to synthesize both sides. I am aware that neither side is above reproach. Hate breeds hate and violence breeds violent retaliation.

The only reasoned response to my request for information, as opposed to hatred and hacks, has come from one person. I suggest looking at these websites for one position on this perennial problem.

The National Interest, Fall, 1993, "A Mandate for Israel", Douglas J. Feith -- a twentieth century history of the Arab/Israeli conflict via via www.looksmart.com -- or -- www.findarticles.com

"23 reasons" -- You may download this as a .pdf or ZIP format file to read.

If the Palestinians in Canada and their supporters could learn to discuss rationally instead of fomenting hate, perhaps a dialogue could ensue. One sided hate fests is not dialogue. Even the name of the conference was designed for what purpose -- other than to prevent dialogue? An inflammatory name designed to breed more hatred, I suggest.