Canada Watch

Anyone who read the Ottawa Citizen on October 31, 2002, could be excused for asking, “exactly on whose side IS Canada?”. (The Ottawa Citizen is one of the principal dailies in Canada’s Capital).

The first shock came right on Page A1: the headline reads, “Canadian held as ‘mega-terror’ expert; Israel says Lebanese-born man worked for Hezbollah while living in Canada”. The story tells of a Canadian arrested in Israel who “carried out activities for the organization while living in Canada.” The story concludes with a reminder that Canada’s new anti-terrorist bill excludes Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and al Aqsa brigades; also, Hizbullah’s “charitable arm” is not on Canada’s list of UN-identified terrorist organization which are subject to financial counter-measures.

Turning to Page A3, one finds the stories about US measures to identify certain individuals who cross the border from Canada. “US terror law violates rights, Graham [Canada’s foreign minister] says” - that is the headline, followed by a second story, “Canadians ‘treated like criminals’ at border”. As an antidote, a leader of the right-wing Reform Party commented that “Canada could probably learn something from the security measures adopted by the US in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack”. Amen to that.

A third related story reports on a speech delivered by Israel Asper, the Canadian media executive who founded CanWest Global. Stating what most of us know all too well, Asper said that “pervasive and sustained anti-Israel bias in the media is a cancer that destroys much of the media credibility and erodes support for the Jewish state”. Asper singled out CBC-TV, NPR as well as British and US media. From personal experience, I can vouch that Asper was exactly right with regard to the CBC, which I have ceased watching because of its infuriating bias. Makes you wonder indeed whose side this government-supported outlet really backs up in the war on terrorism.

Asper’s speech can be read on the web at the canada.com site.

As one’s blood pressure rises, one encounters the fourth relevant story: “Caplan defends tax decision on Israel’s Red Cross”. The story informs:

Revenue Minister Elinor Caplan yesterday defended the federal government's decision to strip charitable status from a group that raises funds for Israel's version of the Red Cross. "I have a responsibility to ensure that Canadian law is enforced properly, fairly, and appropriately," said Ms. Caplan, who is Jewish..

An Internet petition has collected more than 12,000 names, while Jewish-groups are supporting the Canadian organization's appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which seeks to overturn the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency ruling.

The Montreal-based charity has raised money since 1976 to buy ambulances and other supplies for the 52-year-old MDA in Israel.

Canadians, according to Canadian Jewish Congress president Keith Landy, may be familiar with MDA if they watch the nightly TV news. "They're the ones busy rushing to and from every terrorist bombing," Mr. Landy said yesterday.
...
When the MDA used funds to buy bulletproof vests for its drivers, Revenue Canada asked for a list of 10 instances during which drivers "had to encounter terrorist bullets." A judge later called that "unduly sarcastic."

Even the Letters-to-the-Editor section makes it’s contribution to opposing anti-terrorism, as a writer by the name of Tahereh Shahparaki complains about US border procedures concerning people born in certain Islamic countries.

The process treats you like a criminal. We had to answer a long list of questions, have our pictures taken and got finger-printed. It was so embarrassing a procedure that even the INS officer profusely apologized for putting us through this undignified process.

That anyone should complain about such procedures after 9-11 and 15-19 [15 out of the 19 hijackers were Saudi] is rather surprising. But Canadians do have a choice: inasmuch as the US is at last determined to defend herself, those who don’t like the US measures, can always stay home - the US is really under no obligation to let everyone in.

Back to the front page of the Citizen , one finds the lowest blow of all: “Arabs in Mideast, Africa love Canada”, says one of the headlines. The story continues to report on a recent Zogby poll among 3,200 Arabs in Israel and Arab countries. The poll asked the respondents how they felt about a selected list of 13 countries. France and Canada emerged as the Arabs’ favourites, thus placing these countries squarely in the Hall of Shame. Canada has been supporting the Palestinians for years, diplomatically as well as financially. But unlike most Arabs who “liked” Canada, the Palestinians had no good word for this country: “59% of the Palestinians said they had a negative impressions [sic] of Canada”. So much for Canada’s misplaced generousity.

With these six stories in mind, it was somewhat of a consolation to read the Citizen's editorial on the following day, November 1, under the title, “Charity toward whom - Canada shuns Israeli group but supports terrorist ‘good works’ “. The editorial reads:

Recently, the federal government won a court decision that would permit it to end the charitable tax status of a group raising money for Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross. At the same time, the government still grants charitable status to the political/social arm of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. This is a cruel -- and hypocritical -- situation for Canada to place itself in.
...
while the persecution of Canadian MDA has gone on, the Canadian government still grants charitable status to the political/social arm of terrorist Hezbollah. As recently as yesterday, Canada's foreign affairs minister was defending his government's decision not to ban this branch of Hezbollah, even though its military arm is banned. "We don't believe it would be appropriate to label as terrorists innocent doctors, teachers and other people who are seeking to do charitable and other good works in their communities," Bill Graham said.

Good works? Recent documents from Canada's security agency, CSIS, conclude that Hezbollah has been using Canada as an offshore base for raising funds and supplies for terrorist attacks on Israel, according to the National Post. A Canadian recently arrested by the Israeli government has been described as a high-ranking Hezbollah agent who has participated in several activities "including incidents with many civilian victims," according to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

As to the notion that Hezbollah's military and social wings are somehow separate, terrorism experts say they aren't. Further, "the social/political wing preaches terrorism; the military wing practises it," argues David Matas, senior legal counsel to B'Nai Brith Canada.

Squabbling over the charitable status of an Israeli charity while denying the bloodthirsty nature of Hezbollah is disgraceful public policy. It's time for Canada to set this right.

Like so many other countries, there are two sides to Canada, but at the moment the ugly side prevails.

P.S. Even as I was about to post this commentary, an additional noteworthy item appeared in today's [November 4] Citizen. It concerns an opinion poll according to which, "52% [of Canadians] disagreed with Canada actively participating in any war the US launches against Iraq. 33% agreed with the idea" (p. A5). I wonder if even Norway can sink nay lower.

Contributed by Joseph Alexander Norland