On Binary Thinking And The Gaza Genocide

I read an interesting column the other day. In it, Janice Kennedy reflects on our tribal natures, natures that promote binary thinking. 

... 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.

Like A Minimally Skilled Magician

Like a minimally-skilled magician, Don Trump is directing his demonic disciples to engage in a form of clumsy misdirection only those with minimal cognitive skills would be fooled by. Such desperate attempts are necessary, presumably because The Boss has much to divert public attention from: the Epstein files which, despite prior promises, he is refusing to release, fueling all kinds of speculation about his own involvement with the late pedophie. Then there was his transparently bad decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, because he didn't like the less-than-flattering job numbers released. 

The raging tyrant has turned to his disciples for relief, most notably  deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, and attorney general, Pam Bondi, working in tandem to create a new 'reality', one asserting criminal culpability in the 'Russiagate hoax'.  Out of deference to those of delicate constitution, here is but a brief clip of Herr Miller:

"The Russia collusion hoax against President Trump remains the single greatest hoax and the greatest assault on our democracy in the history of this country," says @StephenM. "It was a coup, and I'm using that term literally ... One egregious felony after another."

Now that the talking points have been established, which the MAGATS will likely see as an indisputable truth, Pam Bondi is preparing for 'legal' action against the foul perpetrators, no doubt paving the way for future show trials.

Attorney General Pam Bondi convened a grand jury investigation centered around the “Russiagate” probe on Monday, the latest bid by Donald Trump to wage war against Barack Obama for the FBI investigation of his first presidential campaign.

The direction by Bondi does not mean that charges for Obama or members of his team are imminent. Instead, the move allows prosecutors to issue embarrassing subpoenas and gather testimony, while launching a fishing expedition. Attorney General Pam Bondi convened a grand jury investigation centered around the “Russiagate” probe on Monday, the latest bid by Donald Trump to wage war against Barack Obama for the FBI investigation of his first presidential campaign. 

This action is entirely at odds with the truth, as earlier investigation showed.

According to Gabbard, the Democratic administration’s top intelligence chiefs, at the behest of the president and his team, changed those conclusions to insinuate Russia’s support for Donald Trump.

But in reality, the intelligence assessments released by the ODNI at the time were backed up by the verifiable facts of the matter: Russian-backed hackers targeted the Democratic National Committee’s servers and published information in an effort to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign and sow discord while performing no similar feats against Republicans or Trump’s campaign. 

Trump and other members of his administration have suggested that Obama and others are guilty of “treason” over the supposed doctoring of reports. Gabbard claimed that a “coup” was launched by the 44th president, whose successor went on to gather his supporters in Washington where they attacked the United States Capitol in 2021 after he lost the election.

In the Benighted States of America, truth, justice and morality are under constant attack. Export more, and much worse, in the upcoming months.

 

 

 

 

 

Manufacturing Reality: Truth Enrages The Tyrant

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For anyone capable of real thought, it should be very clear that the increasingly unhinged Don Trump is using his presidency to manufacture his own reality. And anything or anyone that challenges that reality faces severe consequences.

Take, for example, the matter of statistics. Having previously extolled the numbers produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he is now firing its head, Erika McEntarfer, because he doesn't like her most recent statistical facts. The termination came

• hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt.
• “We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Her crime, for want of a better word, was reporting the creation of  a mere 73,000 jobs in July, far below what the market had anticipated. There is likely a strong correlation between those numbers and the impact of Trump's insane and illegal tariffs working their way through the American economy.

Prior to Friday’s report, Trump repeatedly has championed the strength of the labor market. After the June numbers had been released initially, the White House put out a statement calling it a “June Boom.”

The weak jobs report Friday preceded a sharp drop in markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average off more than 500 points and the tech-focused Nasdaq off more than 2%. Treasury yields also slumped.

And speaking of manufacturing his own reality, in a transparent ply to gain the 'cooperation' of convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, the Bureau of Prisons has moved her to a minimum security camp  in Texas, a dormitory-style incarceration usually reserved for white collar criminals. One can assume this is in preparation for an appearance before Congress and an eventual Trump pardon, since federal rules expressly forbid sexual predators from such a cosy, cosseted environment.

Take a look at the first story on NBC Nightly News.

Don Trump's almost daily assaults on truth and morality surely offend all who have a moral compass or, in the case of MAGATS, an addiction to conspiracy theories.

Will any of this be enough to break the back of his presidency? One lives in hope.

His Naked Ambition

By now it should be clear to most rational people that the emperor has no clothes. His naked ambition to rule the world is becoming quite, quite clear. And unless nations stand in unison against him, Emperor Trump will have his way.

Take his massive abuse of power, currently wielded by the cudgel of tariffs. Consider, for example, his treatment of Brazil, as reported by the New York Times.

The United States on Wednesday made good on its threats to apply 50 percent tariffs on Brazil two days ahead of schedule and slapped sanctions on the Supreme Court justice overseeing the criminal case against former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Trump appears to have two reasons for going after Brazil. First, its president, Lula Da Silva, will not bow down before Rome, openly criticizing Trump's heavy-handed tactics. 

“I think it’s important for President Trump to consider: If he wants to have a political fight, then let’s treat it as a political fight,” Mr. Lula told The Times. “If he wants to talk trade, let’s sit down and discuss trade. But you can’t mix everything together.”

Secondly, the Emperor doesn't like the way Brazil is treating his friend, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.

Mr. Trump is targeting Brazil for what he calls political persecution of his ally, Mr. Bolsonaro, and illegal censorship of conservative voices online. In an executive order on Wednesday, he said actions by Brazil’s government and Supreme Court “threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”

The Supreme Court Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, is facing sanctions.

The Treasury Department sanctions against Justice Moraes would revoke his U.S. visa and freeze any U.S. assets, as well as generally prohibit many financial institutions from doing transactions with him. 

The sanctions against Justice Moraes were issued under the Global Magnitsky Act, a measure that is usually meant to punish foreigners accused of serious human-rights violations or corruption.

Interfering with the sovereignty of other nations is apparently now part of the Emperor's remit, and it is now striking closer to home as well. Canada's tentative recognition of Palestine as a state has provoked his anger and consternation.

Donald Trump has threatened Canada after it moved to recognise a Palestinian state, reacting to Mark Carney’s announcement by saying that signing a US trade deal would now be “very hard”.

Despite other nations, including the U.K.,  moving to recognize Palestine without trade retaliation, Trump seems to have Canada specifically within his sights.

Trump ... reacted to Carney’s decision by posting on social media: “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”

Trump’s latest broadside at Canada comes amid other attempts to use tariffs as leverage over the domestic and foreign policies of other nations.

The 20th century saw a broad coalition of countries banding together against the threat of world domination by power hungry, depraved forces. Can the 21st century afford to do anything less?

We Can't Afford To Look Away

As much as the world might wish to, none of us can afford to look away from the horror of Gaza, the man-made genocidal starvation underway, orchestrated by Israel. While the majority of us feel helpless in the face of such abject suffering, the widespread knowledge of it is forcing governments to act. Right now it may be only with words, but one hopes that will soon escalate into concrete actions, including sanctions against the rogue nation.

Already, that knowledge has forced Israel to loosen its death grip on aid;  it is clearly in response to worldwide condemnation, condemnation that is fueled by all of us bearing witness to the atrocities happening in Gaza. Whether this miniscule increase in aid will save lives remains to be seen.

You may wish to skip the following video; the first few minutes graphically show the toll starvation is taking on Gazans. After the video, I am reproducing some letters to the editor about the situation.

And these letters attest to the widespread moral repugnance the world is feeling:

What I know about the situation in Gaza: Israel should not be presiding over the starvation of defenceless civilians, July 25

The images of starving Palestinian children and the stories of those who were killed or maimed trying to secure food for their families recalls the inhumanity perpetrated on the Jewish people during the Second World War. While leaders of powerful nations greet one another with handshakes and smiles as if they were buddies meeting up at a bar, children in Palestine are experiencing the same sort of fear that Anne Frank once did. That people who were once oppressed could become the oppressors leaves me questioning my faith in humanity.

Giselle Déziel, Cornwall, PE

For weeks, we have witnessed civilians being shot as they’ve tried to access food. And it’s not only the health ministry in Gaza that’s listing the casualties. Palestinian and international doctors serving in the region have been reporting on the casualties that arrive daily at their hospitals. As of July 13, the United Nations confirmed that 875 Palestinians were killed seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the others at distribution points. Thousands more have been injured.

Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid, bombing supply convoys and shooting civilians waiting for food. Canada must now take action by imposing a two-way arms embargo on Israel, sanctioning Israeli political and military leaders and refusing to do business with companies complicit in the illegal occupation. Unless the international community acts, Palestinians living in Gaza will continue to be trapped in a cycle of hope, heartbreak and hunger, waiting for assistance and praying for a ceasefire.

Debbie Hubbard, Kelowna, BC

On Monday, July 21, Canada joined Japan, New Zealand, and 23 European allies in calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, and stating they were prepared to take “further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace for Israelis, Palestinians and the entire region.”

These are just empty words. What “action’ are you going to take and when are you going to take it? Now is not the time for words, but for action — while there are still people alive in Gaza.

There can be no further delay. For  thousands  in Gaza  it is already too late.  

 Our leaders are far from powerless if they act together. They must tell the Israeli government what it has to do, when it has to do it, and what sanctions they will impose  if it doesn’t.

Clearly, we cannot depend on the U.S.A. President Donald Trump, whose evident contempt for human life and for the rule of law knows no bounds, has already stated that he wants the Palestinians out of Gaza, and is providing the Israeli government with everything it needs .

 It’s up to the leaders of the democratic world to  end this. 

Robert Burns McDonald, Montreal QC

We all have a role to play in helping end the Gazans' suffering, whether it be by bearing witness to it or taking actions we deem efficacious. To do anything other is a grave disservice to both the people of Gaza and our collective humanity.

The Door Is Slamming Shut

I have been retired from teaching high-school English for almost 20 years. When I look back, I realize how fortunate I was to have been able to spend the bulk of my career free from too much interference from administrators and public sentiment. For me, teaching literature was the gateway to helping create analytic skills, reading appreciation and, perhaps most importantly, critical thinking skills. Honest inquiry was sacred in my classroom, and nothing was ever really off-topic, given the range of human experience that literature encompasses: human dignity, cruelty, exploitation, savage monopolistic business practices (read The Grapes of Wrath for a full display of those qualities) among them. 

Alas, that is no longer the case. I doubt that I could thrive or even survive in today's atmosphere, an atmosphere that sees increasing restrictions on what can be discussed in the classroom. 

A temporary ban on students sharing their family’s culture in class. A parent-organized Pride event moved outside school hours. Teachers afraid to answer students’ questions around the Israel-Hamas war.

Over the past academic year, Toronto parents and teachers say activities and discussions that would typically be normal to have in the classroom have suddenly become a source of fear and confusion — and they pin the blame on an edict dropped by the Ontario government last September.

Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, then-education minister Jill Dunlop issued a memo to Ontario school boards to keep “political biases” out of the classroom to ensure these spaces remain “safe, inclusive and welcoming for all students and staff.”

Given the risk-averse nature of today's school administrators, that memo is having a chilling effect, even though the directive is vague as to what constitutes political biases.

Can civic lessons on who is prime minister continue as normal? What about sex-ed lessons on different genders and sexualities? Class discussions around race?

“Nothing is neutral,” said Carl James, a professor and the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora at York University. “The curriculum cannot be seen as outside of providing and producing a way of seeing things.”

The Star spoke to a number of Toronto teachers and parent, many of whom do not wish to be identified for fear of reprisal.

When a public speaking competition was coming up at the elementary school of Zoë Wool’s child this past year, the west-end parent said students were invited to write a short speech on an important issue.

But when Wool’s child wanted to talk about Palestine, she said they were told it was “not a good idea.”

Wool said the incident came around the same time the school’s principal allegedly put a blanket ban on students sharing their culture in class — but that the ban was later lifted after the principal met with parents.

Neither Wool nor her child is Palestinian (they are Jewish), but she worries about the impact the ministry’s memo will have on those who are.

“Palestinian families are being given the message by the Ministry of Education that there is something wrong or dangerous or problematic about their very identity and history and that acknowledging their existence puts other kids at risk,” Wool said.

The Palestinian issue has presented a problem for many. 

Palestinian teachers who spoke to the Star said they, too, felt constrained by the province’s edict, even when students ask them questions about their heritage. 

“I’m too scared,” said a Palestinian TDSB elementary teacher, who explained how she doesn’t answer her young students’ questions on what the Palestinian flag and watermelon pins attached to her fanny pack represent.

Amongst the other casualties of the memo are Pride events, now being forced to take place outside of school hours. Indigenous issues may also be sidelined.

Unfortunately, some of the public (and they are usually a loud minority) conflate discussion and information with indoctrination, preferring that children learn in a sterile and contextless environment.

However, we have already seen where that has taken Americans, further down the road of prejudice, intolerance and ignorance. If we allow the door of critical inquiry to slam shut here in Canada, will we not follow the same trajectory?

 

Trump Gets Fact-Checked

I'm not sure about the prospects of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell keeping his head attached to the rest of his body after this brutal fact check of Trump.

President Donald Trump’s attempt to shame Federal Reserve Board of Governors chair Jerome Powell over the cost of a long-running renovation to the central bank’s Washington headquarters went horribly wrong on Thursday when Powell had a ready response for the president’s accusations during a tour of the construction site.

 Trump said the cost of the years-long project was now “about $3.1 billion” rather than the $2.7 billion previously stated by Powell.

“So we're taking a look, and it looks like it's about 3.1 billion went up a little bit or a lot. So the 2.7 is now 3.1 it just came out,” he said reading from a piece of paper, as Powell looked on and shook his head in the negative before interjecting.

The chairman replied: “I haven’t heard that from anybody” and asked if the paper Trump was reading from came from the central bank.

At that point, Trump handed him the paper and continued talking while Powell pulled out his reading glasses to look.

He then told the president that the higher number he was claiming included a separate project that wasn’t part of the renovation at issue.

“You just added in a third building,” he said.

He told Trump that he was mistakenly counting long-completed renovations to a building named for William Martin Jr., who served as Fed chair from 1951–1970, as part of the renovation of the Fed’s main headquarters.

 

Lese majeste, eh? The Don never forgets a slight.

Stay tuned for the decapitation.