Am I the only one who thinks it is odd that Bob Rae uses being married to a Jew as an argument proving he is not anti-Israel? Now in his defence, it was one of many arguments, but still.
Firstly, you can be Jewish and be anti-Israel. Many Canadian Jews are not Zionists, as they put it.
Bob Rae's argument would be like Gerard Kennedy saying he isn't anti-Quebec, after all he is married to an Acadian-Catholic. It isn't a valid argument. Granted, neither is Micheal Ignatieff's "I lived in Israel". So what? I lived in Toronto, what does that prove?
Being the child of a mixed marriage, believe me, marriage doesn't prove anything.
By the way, what is so wrong with being anti-Israel? It is a country that discriminates based on religion. Bob Rae's wife could become a citizen of Israel but he would be out of luck.
Israel needs to give the Palestinians in the occupied territories full citizenship rights or get out, NOW. Imagine if Acadians, Quebeckers or Aboriginals weren't allowed to vote in federal elections. They aren't to happy now, take away democratic options and you are inviting/justifying violence.
No country should be based on religion or communism. And certainly, no country should deny voting rights based on ethnicity, religion or sex. As a result, the United-States should stop subsidizing Israel. And Israelis should give up on their dream of a Jewish utopia.
Hezbollah wants a Islamic state, Israel wants a Jewish state. They are both wrong. Equally. But maybe I think that because I'm a Liberal who isn't married to a Jew and has never lived in Israel...
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//But maybe I think that because I'm a Liberal who isn't married to a Jew and has never lived in Israel...//
:-)
interestingly various ppl use this same petty argument (i married to a muslim/etc) everywhre around the wrld
On the other hand, living in Toronto entitles anyone to be a little schizoid.
"Bob Rae's argument would be like Gerard Kennedy saying he isn't anti-Quebec, after all he is married to an Acadian-Catholic."
That's not quite an equivalent statement. You and I are not Quebecers, we're Acadians. So apart from the strong influence Quebec culture has on us, the fact that many of us have left for that province or have family (whether they are Quebecers or not) and friends there, the legacy that we were both French colonies and that Quebec sent many of its priests here and most visibily the language we share, what's the link between an Acadian from the Maritimes and Quebec? We're two different groups. We're not fundamentally different, we're similar in many aspects and different in others, but we're still two groups.
And we can't go "Gerard Kennedy saying he isn't anti-Acadia", because well, we don't have any jurisdiction to oppose, but let's say there was a debate on policies affecting Acadians, than I suppose you could say "Gerard Kennedy saying he isn't anti-Acadia, after all he is married to an Acadian."
And what does the Catholic have to do in there? Is there a fundamental cultural difference between Acadians who are Catholic than those who aren't? Are Protestant Acadians an entirely different people? What about those of us who are Agnostic or Atheist? As far as I'm concerned, an Acadian is someone who lives Acadian culture, no matter what ethnicity, religion or even native language.
I can see where you're going, but I'm still a bit iffy.
Regarding the republicanism though (not the Republican Party, but like anti-monarchism) I'm 100% with you on that. I'm even a member of Citizens for a Canadian Republic (who's founder is an Acadian from Alberta, actually), but they don't really seem to do much... Or have noticed that I sent them money.
"If Israel was to suddenly have a muslim majority do you believe that jews would be treated fairly?"
Befor the creation of Isreal that certainly was the case. And continues to be the case in places like Morocco.
Jews could still be in the majority if they left the occupied territories. But even if they didn't they would be in a minority situation, but they wouldn't be "dominated". Any minority in a democratic state with atleast 30% of the votes has significant power.
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