The vice-president of B’nai Brith Canada, which purports to
be an organization committed to the defence of human rights, has called on the Canadian
state to crack down on those protesting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon,
claiming these are “pro-Hezbollah” protests.
“The streets of Canada will not be taken over by
radical Islamic forces supporting terrorist activities,” Frank Dimant told a
reporter on August 9.“B’nai Brith Canada will do
its utmost to ensure that Canadians will not be intimidated by these terrorist
sympathizers.”Dimant
said that B’nai Brith has been involved in discussions with different police
forces and government officials on the question.
Tens of thousands of Canadians have participated in
demonstrations opposing the Israeli aggression against Lebanon over the past month, including three
major protests and a daily peace vigil here in Winnipeg.Despite attempts by supporters of Israeli aggression to provoke
participants in these protests, they have remained peaceful.Besides condemning Israel’s
crimes, demonstrators have also opposed the Harper government’s position that
the more than 1,000 Lebanese civilian casualties represent a “measured
response” on the part of Israel
to the capture of two Israeli soldiers.
The barrage of media propaganda in Canada has been that Israel is acting in
self-defence.However, even the
mainstream media in the U.S.
is reporting that the Israeli attack was planned long ago and was approved by U.S. president George W. Bush several months
before Hezbollah’s July 12 incursion into Israel. Furthermore, Israel and its supporters claim that Israel only
targets military installations while Hezbollah targets civilians. However, most
of Hezbollah’s victims have been Israeli soldiers, while most of Israel’s
victims have been civilians. In addition, the UN has reported that Israel
deliberately shelled one of its observation posts for several hours before dropping
bombs on it and killing four UN observers, including a Canadian. It is,
therefore, clear that Israel’s
aim was to terrorize the inhabitants of southern Lebanon into fleeing the region,
while preventing UN observers from witnessing Israeli war crimes.
This has created something of a crisis for those lobbying
for Israel,
who are trying desperately to portray those calling
for peace and an immediate ceasefire as terrorist supporters.If they cannot win the war for the hearts and
minds of Canadians, it seems they feel their only alternative is to prevent
those they oppose from exercising their democratic right to protest.