Friday, January 9, 2009

Former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra Speaks Up on Gaza

Today former Liberal MP Omar Alghabra had this note posted on his Facebook page:

History repeats itself
Today at 8:16am


On August 1, 2006, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Standing Committee had an emergency meeting to discuss the escalation of violence in the middle east. I participated in the debate then and here's part of what I said.

"Canadians expect their government not to be neutral like you said, Mr. Van Loan, but to be fair and to condemn violence against civilians by all parties and the best way to do it is by calling for an immediate ceasefire, and not to talk about it as an abstraction. It's not an abstraction to the civilians, including Canadians who are caught up in the crossfire over there. It's not a philosophical debate. It's a real tragedy where Canadians and other civilians are being subjected to ongoing violence on both sides, in Israel and in Lebanon and also we can't forget the Palestinian territories.

We must have the moral courage to ask for a ceasefire immediately and then bring all the sides to which you're referring to the negotiating table. We can set the conditions that are needed to make a sustainable ceasefire. But you cannot, for anybody who has an ounce of heart, watch the civilian devastation and destruction and say I'm reluctant to ask for a ceasefire right now......it is imperative to send a message, a signal, that Canada unconditionally always stands on the side of protection of civilians on all sides."

10 comments:

Francesco said...

james

take a glance at the latest Nanos poll, and please if you may write a story on it...here is the link in case you cannot locate it..

http://www.thestar.com/article/568375

it shows under iggy a resurgent liberal party...hmmm and the lastest ipsos poll on canadian's view on the conflict in gaza has been produced interesting on how people view the conflict...

Anonymous said...

I don't understand how sensible people can allow Israel to deprive them of their humanity. One can understand (and even relate to) Israelis who live in the region to be so fearful for their lives that they might allow their survival instincts to cloud their judgment. But what's OUR (and Ignatieff's) rationale? As Gideon Lichfield said: [...] when the question the world is asking is not “who’s right?” but “what works?” the consistent impression Israel leaves is that it kills people because, at best, it simply doesn’t have any better ideas, and at worst, because some Israeli leader is trying to get the upper hand on one of his or her rivals. And no amount of hasbara can make that look good. If he can see that, why can't we?

Our Humanity has indeed failed us!

James Curran said...

Francesco, WTF does popularity polls have to do with this? Iggy is popular, so Gaza is saved?

I told you before. Get your own blog. It's free.

susansmith said...

thank you James. I know you are taking heat.

Anonymous said...

it shows under iggy a resurgent liberal party
Iggy is not as popular as Harper...
Also, Iggy unbalanced stance will not go down well in Quebec...

We need more like Omar Alghabra to speak up.

Tattersoul said...

"it is imperative to send a message, a signal, that Canada unconditionally always stands on the side of protection of civilians on all sides."

Such wonderful, heartfelt words. Wonder why they never got uttered when Hamas thugs were launching rockets from UNOCCUPIED Gaza INTO Israel?

James Curran said...

You're boring me. Go to sleep.

lyrical said...

Omar Alghabra has a wonderful name. Centuries ago, the Arabs were inventors of astronomy and mathematics.

As for the conflict in Israel and Gaza right now, if the baggage of colonial history, religious rights and outside meddling are left out of the equation, what is left is just plain murder.

The Doctor said...

James,

You are so off base with your unrelenting critique of Israel's actions in Gaza.

You have embraced Omar and turned away from the positions of Bob rae and Michael Ignatieff (in fact the entire Liberal Caucus).

You have used your blog over the past days to almost exclusively post anti-Israel messages.

Why not post Bob Rae's views on the Gaza conflict? I know you respect Bob. It would provide some balance for those who turn to your blog for insight and analysis.

James Curran said...

You're right. Better to censor.