New Media

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within. – Ariel Durant, writer

Here’s an interesting strategy: while your opponents gather in their hundreds in the main squares of cities, you gather your own hundreds of supporters in large but easily-overlooked buildings out of sight of the public.

The other side gets widespread media coverage from their giant rallies. Meanwhile, your non-confrontational tactics have earned some lackluster column space and a few late-night sound-bytes.

And when members of the other side start chanting vile slogans attacking your people, you resort to the awkward tactic of asking for an apology, instead of rallying your numerous supporters into the streets to face down the idiots with a show of solidarity.

I’m extremely heartened by many of my colleagues who have gotten involved and stuck up for human rights and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis in a way that lends no mercy to those who condone terror and aggression.

I can also at least understand the hesitancy of those who don’t want to get involved. To many, it must seem like an intractable ethnic conflict rather than a fight between an embattled democratic UN-member state and a ruthless fascist movement that knowingly use their own civilian population as human shields for conducting terror attacks.

I can even understand those who decide to stay home out of disgust with the bloodletting from both sides happening in Israel and Gaza. Anyone with compassion wants to see the violence on both sides ended as soon as possible, with a sustainable peace in place for both Israelis and Palestinians.

But the so-called leaders of Canada’s Jewish community, a group which every day is largely asked to defend itself from aggressive and relentless rhetoric, have lost touch with reality, when they think that gathering the community in temples for cheerleading sessions and going after leaders of the pro-Hamas rallies to “apologize” is going to do anything. It’s not merely ineffective. It borders on cowardice.

The war of ideas will not be won hidden away in community buildings. It’s long past time to get into the streets and start shouting back.

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately about how 2009 will be the year when people focus on needs as opposed to wants. Tough times will do that. But will the rules really apply in the consumer tech sector? For instance, how many of us actually “need” an iPhone? (Full disclosure: I plan on getting an iPhone just as soon as my current cellphone contract expires in March).

I sat in on a presentation hosted by the BCTIA where some of BC’s most promising tech companies talked about the possibilities for success through creating solutions that people actually need, not just want. They also talked about how tech companies can cope with the overall economic trends, which ain’t good. Get the story in Techvibes.

But it’s been a busy week, and I haven’t just been focusing on tech for profit. A little follow up to my previous Fearless City post, you can see how Phones for Fearless is helping bridge the digital divide in Vancouver’s downtown eastside in my contribution to the Vancouver Observer. Will the experiment in social media for social change be emulated in other North American cities? I’m curious to see what happens.

Interesting juxtaposition of the Palestinian flags at the protest on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery this weekend, below a giant poster promoting the art of the feminist revolution.

As the Palestine Monitor (most definitely NOT part of the CanWest media empire) will tell you, Palestinians have a serious issue to address in their own civil society irrespective of the current conflict with Israel:

The women of the West Bank and Gaza strip also face more a personal and hidden danger. This danger is far less documented than the ongoing Israeli human rights violations, and is a danger that Palestinian society is far less willing to challenge. It leaves Palestinian women humiliated, maimed, and sometimes dead. This danger is physical, sexual and psychological domestic abuse.

Violence against women in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) is widespread and chronic, yet it remains under the radar. Women find it difficult to report abuses because there is little or no legal framework in place to protect them – and because the “honor” of their families is considered more important than the crimes committed against them.

The challenge for both Israelis and the Palestinians is determining what kind of societies they want to have in a post-war environment. Particularly for Palestinian women, these questions can’t be left to wait for final-status talks on the future Palestinian state.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson had barely settled into his new desk at Vancouver City Hall when he had to disclose this bit of good news to citizens already awash in buzzwords like “economic downturn” and “real-estate crash”: city taxpayers could be on the hook for $875 million because of the Olympics construction.

The all-but silenced anti-Olympics types now have all the material they need to enshroud Vancouver in a retchingly-bad stink over this. And I can’t say I’m opposing them, either. As far as I’m concerned, all of Vancouver’s political parties — NPA, Vision and COPE — dropped the ball on this. Sadly, the ball was made of a unique money-sucking element that will cover all of us when it soon hits the grond.

As usual, CityCaucus.com has some excellent coverage on the real history of how Vancouver City Hall handed over the keys to the city, or at least the password to the bank account, to a construction company that seems to be out of control. See the Olympic Village Multiple Choice Reality Test.

If I invoiced a client for $875 million more than budgeted for the project, I imagine I’d have some difficulty getting new business. Of course, after the contract was done, I might not need any new business.

The proud supporters of Hamas, including so-called “peace activists” formally allied with religious extremists, seem to own our streets in Vancouver and other Canadian cities of late. It’s not all bad news; I joined a protest Thursday evening in solidarity with Israel as it continues to bring the war to Hamas’ home turf.

I’m not entirely convinced of the utility of a “rally” mostly confined to the interior of a large synagogue in the night-time on a relatively poorly lit stretch of road on Oak Street, without the kind of buzz that would bring in more spectacular media coverage. Still, it was good for morale for a community that in some ways is feeling isolated. One of the best lines of the evening came from the last speaker: “Those who talk about the ‘cycle of violence’ are just too lazy to differentiate the pyromaniac and the firefighter.” I also liked that several speakers pointed out that the fight was against Hamas, not the Palestinian people, who are themselves suffering from the thuggish regime.

Not quite sure what the Palestinian contingent I’d seen at previous protests was up to by hanging out politely and quietly on a bench towards the back.

Good to see that a consensus seems to be coming together for Canada’s political leaders. I’m liking Iggy’s statement earlier on Thursday: “Canada has to support the right of a democratic country to defend itself.” Much more praise for the embattled democracy here. Even the Bloc is onside. What’s the pro-Hamas side going to do now that they can’t blame the Bush-lite Harper regime for Canada’s stance?

So sad for NDP clubs across Canada, set to become the default stomping grounds of Islamofascist-sympathizers across Canada. Ah, well. Thanks to Taliban Jack, the party was on its way there already.

Sounds familiar. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’d been reading my blog.