The world outside...
Friday Wrap #36
Maybe it’s just me, but I find it really difficult to distract myself from all the awful things that are going on in the world right now. Looking outside of our comfortable bubble in Canada, the world is indeed a scary place – and becoming more scary each day.
The recent terrorist invasion of Israel by Hamas is the latest event that is shocking and horrific. The undue suffering caused by this terrorist attack is disturbing – not just because of the attacks itself, but the “justification” by some of it.
Many far more qualified writers than I have spelled out what Hamas is. Hamas is a terrorist antisemitic organization with ties to extremist groups that align with its view that Israel should not exist. It does not represent all Palestinian people, but controls the Gaza Strip. Hamas does not support a “two state solution” or any co-existence between Israel and Palestine. Hamas supports the extermination of Jews.
Hamas’ attack on Israel murdered innocent people. Not soldiers. Civilians. Heathen rampages through kibbutzes, a music festival, and homes. Murdering children. Murdering babies.
Using the word unacceptable here does not adequately convey how wrong this is.
Israel’s counter attack is bloody, and brutal. The country has a right to defend itself and its people. The cost of that is high. Hamas is insidious. It has tunnels under civilian areas in Gaza. The group hides in and among civilians. It uses Palestinians as human shields.
The solution is complex. Israel has a right to exist. Palestinians have the right to exist. Hamas however is a terrorist group and should not exist.
Disturbing in all this is the uninformed responses in Canada and around the world. People who equate Hamas, and its Hezbollah allies in southern Lebanon, with a free Palestinian state. Those groups do not care about Palestinian statehood, only genocide. Yet we have seen on the news protests and rallies in support of this move for all Palestinians. An Ontario NDP MPP Sarah Jama had to walk back a Tweet in support of Hamas earlier this week. She should resign for her comments, or at least be kicked out of her parliamentary caucus. Anyone supporting Hamas in this country should give their head a shake. That includes unions in Ontario like CUPE. That includes student unions at universities like York University.
Some links:
Opinion from the Jerusalem Post - https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-768032
Terry Glavin – Writer for the National Post.
Bryan Passifiume – Story in the National Post.
Andrew Coyne - The Globe and Mail.
Three things… (Need some sort of distraction)
Something to read – Unserious Canada - from John Ivison – Ivison says Canada has become unserious, so why bother having it in the room for conversations with world leaders. He’s not wrong. From Martin to Harper to Trudeau, our country has become unimportant to many.
Something to watch – Henry Turner is one of my favourite UK photographers. He recently was looking for the ultimate camera. I like my Nikon, he switched to OM System (formerly Olympus). It’s interesting to see his thought process though. (link)
Something to listen to – American Boy, a cover by Scary Pockets with Stacey Ryan. Ryan is a jazz singer from Montréal. Scary Pockets is a group from LA, which is affiliated somewhat with Pomplamoose. I like some of Pomplamoose’ covers of songs, and I like the song American Boy by Estelle, even though it had Kanye in it. This version is pretty damn good. Stands the song on its head.
Last words – I got nothing for here… Lost for words.