... one side or the other, black or white. Shades of grey are forbidden.
Condemn the Israeli government for the catastrophe in Gaza, and you’re antisemitic. Don’t condemn it, and you’re Islamophobic. Our capacity to understand nuance, make distinctions and accept complexity seems increasingly like a dying intellectual art.
Kennedy observes that in this age of rabid social media, the propensity for bifurcated thinking has deepened and spread. The internet has much to answer for in this regard.
As a teacher, I always felt it was part of my job to help cultivate critical thinking skills, skills that can only gradually develop through thought, analysis, and reflection. The world badly needs those skills today.
The latest announcements by Israel to occupy Gaza are an opportunity for the world in general, and Canada in particular, to break free of the stigma of criticizing the Jewish state and take concrete action that morality demands. No one should believe Netanyahu's claim that it will only be a temporary measure; past practices suggest it will ultimately be annexed by Israel.
Given the history of the Holocaust and it prior unstinting support of Israel, Germany is taking a bold move in reprisal.
The German government will not approve any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice, chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday in response to Israel’s plan to expand its military operations there.
Merz said it was Israel’s right to disarm Hamas and to seek the release of the Israeli hostages but “the German government believes that the even tougher military action in the Gaza Strip decided upon by the Israeli cabinet last night makes it increasingly difficult to see how these goals can be achieved”.
Under these circumstances, the German government will not approve any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice.
The release of the hostages and negotiations for a ceasefire are Germany’s top priorities, Merz said, expressing deep concern over the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Germany’s parliament said in June that export licences for military equipment to Israel worth €485m ($564m) were granted between 7 October 2023 and 13 May 2025, reports Reuters.
Canada, despite its stout denials of sending such equipment, needs to immediately cease its military exports to Israel. However, that should only be for the first step. It also, in my view, needs to suspend its free trade agreement with the Jewish state. It would send a powerful message of condemnation over the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as well as Netanyahu's annexation plans.
Canada could take a page from Ireland's recent actions.
On June 25, the Irish government introduced the Occupied Territories Bill, a landmark piece of legislation aimed at aligning Ireland’s trade policy with international law.
The bill prohibits the import and export of goods and services to and from Israeli settlements located in occupied Palestinian territory, outposts deemed illegal under international law by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The issue of Israeli settlements is not merely a political or moral concern; it is fundamentally a matter of international law. In July 2023, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion reaffirming the illegality of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Court urged states to refrain from any support—whether through trade or other means—that could sustain these unlawful settlements.
While Ireland's actions deal only with the occupied territories, Canada should go further, leading the world in expressing its revulsion at Israel's ignoring of international law, law that is supposed to protect all.
We live in fraught times, times when public and political morality often exist only as passing whims. For the sake of all, including our collective soul, we need to act with resolution and dispatch.
It looks to me that the big lesson learned by armies everywhere after WWII is that massive bombing of civilians eventually leads to surrender. It doesn't matter if the lesson learned is correct; the bombing continues.
ReplyDeleteThe Janice Kennedy quote above hits home. With conflicts everywhere I have trouble identifying the good guys. In Israel we tend to forget that Hamas started this nasty war with its awful attack on a kibitz to popular support in Gaza. If the shoe was on the other foot and Hamas had the fire power Palestinians would be bombing Israelis.
I don't think, Toby, that people forget what started the war. However, what has gripped the world is the wholly disproportionate response that Israel has mounted. Relentless in its reprisal, Israel shows absolutely no interest in ending this war; many see the endgame as the elimination of Gaza. Having killed over 61,000 Gazans must be viewed by the Israelis as a good start in achieving that goal.
DeleteCondemn the Israeli government for the catastrophe in Gaza, and you’re antisemitic.
ReplyDeleteNo, you are a decent human being who is condemning genocide.
You are only called antisemitic by those who support Israel's on-going attempt at genocide.
Since the International Court of Justice has ruled that there is a plausible case for genocide and the International Court of Justice has issued warrants for the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, and Yoav Gallant, the former Minister of Defence of Israel for various war crimes the case seems just a tiny bit "black and white".
Merz said it was Israel’s right to disarm Hamas
I believe Mark Carney and Antia Anand have both said the same idiotic thing. Arrgh!
To return to an earlier analogy of mine: "The Nazis had the right to disarm the "terrorist" fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto".
I agree that Canada should stop all arms shipments and suspend its free trade agreement with Israel but, if we are willing to slap sanctions on the Russian Federation then we should sanction any "charitable organization such as JNF Canada and Israel Magen Fund of Canada that is helping support a criminal, apartheid, regime.
And while we are at it, we need to charge any Canadian member of the IDF who has enlisted since 7 October 2023 under the Foreign Enlistment Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-28) at the very least.[1]
Our capacity to understand nuance, make distinctions and accept complexity seems increasingly like a dying intellectual art.
The author may well be correct but she would have done better than to pick an open and shut case of genocide as her example.
There are all sorts of nuances in how to address the issue of homelessness in the province and people should be able to argue and debate it. Or Canadian/provincial parole practices. Mass murder, starvation , and ethnic cleansing don't have a lot of nuance.
1. Something I did not even know we had.
Thanks for your comments, Anon. I suppose Janice Kennedy chose that example to sharply illustrate the chasm that exists today in public discourse. The topic of Israel is a fraught one, and many who have expressed sympathy or support for Gaza have faced sanctions, including job loss. Take a look at this link for an example: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2xezw3dkpo
DeletePerhaps the best examples of intolerance to criticism are to be found in the U.S., where students speaking out have faced expulsion, deportation, etc. It seems that these days, freedom of speech often stops when someone says something someone else don't like. That is not the way of a well-informed and thinking society.