In an eyebrow-raising, if somewhat predictable editorial statement Thursday, Ed Greenspon (editor-in-chief of the Globe and Mail) publicly announced his allegiance to the Yankee propaganda machine, and unrepentant support of the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Despite decades of intermittent oppression and military occupation by Israel, Mr. Greenspon feels that the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah members is, somehow, a politically unrelated and unique phenomenon that more than justifies the displacement of hundreds of thousands and murder of hundreds, including eight Canadians, so long as Israel issues a “heartfelt apology.” So let’s get this straight. If a nation is technically unoccupied, there is no reason to expect violent backlash from members of said state, even if the backlash is against a group currently involved in the demolition of a neighboring country (i.e. Palestine). Well that philosophy will certainly prove useful if our new prime minister’s diplomatic blunders lead any “terrorist” groups to retaliate against Canada’s newfound right-wing military maneuvering. We’ll have carte blanche to call up the Pentagon, get a posse together, blast their country sky high, take their oil, and call it “defense”. It was certainly a useful doctrine for progressive politicians of the like in the 30’s. “Oh ya, mien fuehrer, the French militants have inexplicably attacked our bases in Poland. We blow them up? Okay, ya, das is gute. Das is de antiterrorism.”
Okay, okay. Rewind. So what are the official positions of everyone involved? It must be said that the Lebanese government has already called for a cease-fire. The US is prepared to “perform a peace mission, when the time is right.” I can understand that. No need to go sending American ambassadors into war torn areas. Just wait ‘till the Israelis get the interests secured, then move in and implement the cease firing. Israel confusingly claims that it has no quarrel with the people or government of Lebanon. Their mission is humanitarian: free the peoples of southern Lebanon of the deplorable evils of Hezbollah, healthcare services, water, civil liberty, and food. Not too far off of the Neo Conservative Party’s platform for Canada, actually. Now I’m starting to understand. It’s an ideological alliance. Unite the right. Well, naïve old me, I should have seen it all along. And never mind Canada’s historical neutrality and peace-mongering, says Greenspon, because coalescence with military aggression is “refreshing.” We know, Eddy, you were getting bored of reporting all this disgusting peace and prosperity in Canada until Stephen Harper came along and started making real news. Okay, I’m with ya, buddy! What’s our next move? Let’s get all of the Lebanese, no wait, all of the Moslems in Montreal, send them to Gulags in northern Saskatchewan, and call it anti-terrorism. Good, old-fashioned preemptive profiling. Filthy militant bastards probably don’t even speak English, for God’s sake, THE national language. Not like you and me and Steve-O: real, white, Canadian Anglophones. The good old boys.
PS. I hope the terrorists hit your house first, you fuckin’ short-sighted, naïve Republican wannabe.
