New Media

Can Palestinians truly develop a free marketplace of ideas without a political revolution? Will the Anti-Semitic media factories of incitement get put out of business anytime soon?

It’s not looking good on either score. From my latest Rediscovering Israel post, Palestinian Censorship, Self-Censorship and the Failure of Leadership:

If there is a solution, it may have to come from Palestinians themselves, given how awesomely counter-productive international efforts from Canada, Israel and the rest of the international community have been. Palestinian Affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh is mournful on this topic. “You are funding Palestinian television, radio stations and newspapers with millions of dollars so that they can incite people to kill Jews. If anyone watches Palestinian television for just five minutes, they’ll want to go out and stab Jews immediately. Palestinians have been fed a steady stream of this hate for years and your taxpayer dollars are funding it.”

Palestinian Cleric “Explains” the “Jewish Nature” on Palestinian Authority TV

Having a well-publicized reputation as the most unpredictable and ultra-violent maniac in the neighborhood seems like a decent strategy for getting others to leave you alone. But for Israel, can this strategy translate into long-term security from a nuclear Iran or the threat of being singled out as a pariah state?

From my latest essay in Rediscovering Israel: Little Bombs, Big Bombs and Washing Machines

Who you tryin’ to get crazy with, ese? Don’t you know I’m loco?

Come quick, CBC! I have access to top-secret documents proving that the Canadian government officials at the highest levels deliberately handed over enemy combatants in Afghanistan to Lex Luthor and Gorrila Grod for super-villain style interrogation. My research shows that the prisoners were probably subjected to unhealthy doses of Kryptonite and freeze rays.

I can’t actually show you the documents, of course. In fact, I can’t offer any proof to substantiate my claim due to legal technicalities. But I assure you, my evidence is 100 per cent verifiable and I have no motivation beyond the desire to share the truth with my fellow Canadians.

That should be good enough for the CBC, right? I mean, you’ve set a precedent.

Further reading for those interested in the background on this bizarre saga:
Maybe some former Liberal ministers should be worrying about their asses

Facts: The previous Liberal government and Afghan detainees

“Torture in Afghanistan: The Liberals knew” redux

Afghan detainees and the former Liberal government/Human rights Update

More interesting moments in journalism:

They need our help now more than ever. Will Canada stand by the people of Afghanistan post-2011? Will we support our ally or turn our backs? It’s not too late to change course from where our foreign policy seems to be headed in the absence of strong moral and political leadership from all parties.

I hope the people of Canada are not going to leave us alone and they are going to support us after 2011 as well. Afghans cannot make their lives stable without the support of other international friends, especially Canadians.

Especially after spending lots of time and lots of energy, and we together have spilled a lot of our blood in support of Afghans. If Afghanistan is not stable, then stability of all countries around us in this global village will be at risk. It’s very important to remember that Afghans are also human beings. They also wish to have a better future for their families and their children and it’s not possible for us to make it alone. We need the support of friends, especially Canadian friends.

If you’re going to be in Ottawa on March 9 and want to learn more about the future of Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, you have to attend this. It’s about keeping our promises.

The federal government’s conservative-minded (surprise!) budget aims merely to avoid spending more than last year on programs without any deep cuts to try to tame the deficit. There will be those who criticize this sleep-walking sort of economic policy for lack of courage or ideas. Then again, “stay the course” is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to an economy that outperformed almost every other developed nation last year. We could have done a worse — a lot worse.

A few examples of boondoggles our boring fiscal policy has managed to avoid spending on recently:

* Ninety-two upgraded T-72M1M main battle tanks for a bargain-basement price of four billion dollars. As Venezuela’s economy implodes under the rule of strongman Hugo Chavez and the people face food and power shortages, it’s nice to know that the Venezuelan people are safe from… who, again?

* Bailing out Greece for $6.5 billion. Whatever it takes to make sure sclerotic Greek unions and their olive-scented bureaucrats can keep raking in bloated salaries for serving the public with traditional incompetence. Oh, wait. Since we contribute to the IMF, taxpayers may be on the hook for this after all.

* Three gold medals for $120 million over four years. Russia may have spent more on their athletes than we did, but their return on investment was dismal. Better luck in Sochi, comrades.

* $1.5 billion for a Babel-sized skyscraper in Dubai — basically, in the middle of nowhere. It closed a month after it opened due to technical problems.

* $85 million for bomb detectors for Iraqi security forces. This sounds like an essential investment for a nation that routinely suffers mass casualties from terrorist attacks. That is, until you realize that you could get the same level of effectiveness at half the price by simply waving $42.5 million worth of stacks of cash at security checkpoints.

Of course we have our own share of stupid spending priorities. The millions spent on HRCs that seem to spend far too much time protecting such important values as the “human right” of not washing your hands before serving food to customers is just one example. That said, maybe we’re not so badly off in the big picture.

Screw You, Taxpayer!