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There were a number of comments on my post below about the “Stop the War Rally” that happened last Saturday, August 12, here in Toronto. You can read the comments at that post, if you would like. Most of the comments and trackbacks were supportive. A few were of an opposing opinion.
I’m just one guy here, writing a blog that I figured nobody read, and that was fine with me. And maybe we will go back to nobody reading. But that is just to say that 14 comments on one of my posts, and my hits being about 5x their norm this month already, was a big surprise to me. Thanks to those who linked to me, I think it is important to share those pictures of the so-called “peace rally.”
But, I just wanted to take a little space to respond to the opposing opinions that were left.
First, by Mr. Canada, who commented on two posts:
Well, I agree with the Hezbollah Supports in one way..Isreal, has freaking gone INSANE.
So how are we going bury another one of our great protests of the 21st century?
Took awhile for people to forget the Peace marches,
(By Peace, I mean Burn almost every American Flag on the continent and scream Yankee Go Home and other such chants filled with Anti-Americanism. All in all, great fun.)
and, in response to my comment that 82% of Canadians agree with Israel’s right to defend itself, Mr. Canada responded:
82% of us agree?
82% of us are idiots then.
As I myself am not Canadian, and quite probably do not have the requisite pool of shared knowledge to understand which event in particular Mr. Canada is refering to, I can not comment too much on it. However, I am interested in the fact that he does agree with Hezbollah supporters, at least in one way. He also has not stated how Israel has gone INSANE, or, how he thinks they should have handled the situation. However, he does resort to the tactics of the talking heads who are far Left of Centre - he resorts to calling names, without offering any genuine or thought out criticism, or an alternate solution. Notice, he does this again in the second comment - calling Canadians who support Israel idiots. This tactic can be seen quite blatantly over at this blog, where, instead of addressing Girl on the Right’s comments, they instead resort to calling her “racist skank girl.” Interesting form of argument - but not one that I find very intelligent, or particularly compelling.
Further, as an American, in Canada, as a guest of the country, I would like to say that I love it here. Canada is a great country, and by and large, I have been welcomed. I am, however, tired of the complex that some have in which they find it necessary to insult Americans every chance they get. But whatever.
Secondly, the commentator “Truth,” writes the following:
These people are obviously angry and frustrated, but I find it funny how all of the pictures here focus on the minority of people at the demo who were pro hezbollah. Also although hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization in Canada it doesnt mean that it is a terrorist organization. In fact all it does is protect the intrests of its people and considering that it was Isreal who has launched repeated attacks on lebenon and not lebenon on Isreal it would make sense to fight back, and hezbollah is doing just that. It seems that every other country in the world besides Canada, USA, and Israel can understand that since hezbollah is only considered to be terrorist in those three countries.
Che Guevara a slayer of innocents and a war monger? Is he any worse than president bush? Any worse than PM Olmert? At least he was fighting for the majority of the population and for the people, if you looked at an unbiased Israeli source you would see that there are many Israelis who are sensible and who do not approve of Israels actions.
Yet many of you speak as if your opinions are not media generate and unbiased. Pathetic really.
Now there is an intelligent post. “Truth” finds it funny that the pictures focus on the “minority of people” at the rally in favor of Hezbollah. Well, I was there, and there were a lot of Hezbollah supporters. Further, I find it justified to say that the majority of the crowd was in favor of Hezbollah by the very fact that the vast majority of the crowd cheered and applauded at the mention of the Israeli soldiers’ deaths - at the hands of Hezbollah. I might also add that this announcement was made by the organizer/leader of the rally. Also, I refer you to my recounting below of the woman who was made to put her banner away, simply because it criticized Hezbollah’s terrorism, alongside her condemnation of Israel. That pretty much speaks for itself.
I would differ on the point of Israel launching countless attacks on Lebanon. I am not here to defend all of Israel’s actions, as if the country could do no wrong. I am saying that we should all remember that this current conflict began with Hezbollah crossing the internationally recognized border, and taking two Israeli soldiers from Israel’s sovereign territory. By your same logic, I would say that it only makes sense for Israel to fight back. Also, it is dubious at best to say that Hezbollah protects the people’s interests - Hezbollah protects Hezbollah’s (and quite probably Syria’s and Iran’s) interests. It does good work, but it also does it for self-serving purposes, such as hiding weapons caches among civilian populations, in hospitals, and in schools.
Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by more than the United States, Canada, and Israel. In addition to those three, Hezbollah in full or in part is recognized as a terror organization by the UK, the Netherlands, and Australia. Further, the EU has recognized Hezbollah as using terrorist activities, and the EU Council includes Hezbollah’s senior intelligence officer as a “terrorist.” While the UN does not label Hezbollah a terrorist organization, it has called for the militia’s disarmament, and has criticized it’s targeting of civlilans. For more see the Wikipedia article on Hezbollah.
Is Che Guevera worse than Bush or Olmert? Yes. That’s all I have to say about that.
I will admit that my opinions are formed by the media. At least I am aware of this, and as a result, I try to inform myself through exposure to broad media sources. From the media input I receive I form an (hopefully) intelligent opinion, constructing my view of the world around me. Is my view perfect? No. Is it always correct? Not even close. But I try.
Finally, there is the post from Lee Roy Jackson, who says:
And they think this is posed?:
http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/51546/1515576/overview
Check the images, do you really think this is posed??
He is, of course, refering to the photos at Qana. The link leads to a photo slideshow with some gruesome images coming from the attack. As I have said before, I think the attack was a tragedy. Do I think that the images were at least managed for greatest effect on public opinion by Hezbollah? - I do. Do I think the images were posed - yep, I do. Tragic - yes. Posed - another yes. Tragic that they were posed, another big yes.
Well, there you go. Just thought I would take the time to answer some of the critics. Thanks for the comments.
Casey
technorati tags : Toronto Israel Hezbollah Lebanon Media Manipulation
First off I would like to say thank you for attempting a civilized discussion and not going with the senseless ranting many of the other bloggers here.
You are right actually I checked up on the demo and also heard from other sources including people about the cheering when the death tolls were stated, and although i find that innapropriate you must understand their position. This is the army thats been oppressing them for years, and is at it again, the reason they approve the killing is because it shows how lebenon can stand up to Israel’s bullying.
Also yes you are correct that hezbollah did kidnap two soldiers, but they did it in order to set up a trade for the thousands of illegally captured prisoners that Israel captured. If you try and remember past a point of only 2 months you would realize the motive behind hezbollah’s actions. I admit that it was irresponsible and I can gaurentee that hezbollah knew that Israel would attack, but it was a tactical move to force off some pressure from the palestinians so that Israel would have to fight two fronts. Nevertheless kidnapping two soldiers is no legit excuse for launching all out war on a country, its obviously an excuse and not a true reason.
Also you are right about those other countries partly recognizing hezbollah as terrorists, but just look at what countries they are. Completely western influenced countries which are naturally going to side with America’s biased point of view. Not to mention that if the definition of a terrorist state or organization was used in Israel’s case or even the US, one would see that they fit it perfectly.
Also Che Guevara’s crimes are nothing compared to Bush or Olmert’s. Please do some unbiased research before you lable someone something that you are not even sure of.
And as you say your opinion is mostly based off of the media. I also live in the same city as you but I tend to keep my options open. I am friends actually with many Jews and Isrealis and I am in no way racist and my opinion is not biased. I listen to all opinions and respect them even if they oppose mine, and would once again like to thank you for responding in a civilized manner, unlike the many islamophobic rants i recieve from other sites.
Note that I do not fully agree with hezbollah because I believe in peace. A peace which is achieved from all perspectives with a unifying agreement, not an illusionary peace which has one empire governing and threatening all others in the name of justice.
Left by Truth on August 19th, 2006