It seems to me that with these Saracens we are dealing with pure evil. It is the not "morally equilevant" to allow any voice for wickedness, it is evil to do so. A person who during WWII said I consider Nazism and Liberty equal wasn't being "morally equilevant" he was being wicked. So to the left nowadays is supportive of pure evil.

Never mind historical facts; according to Salutin, if Arabs want to believe the Holocaust never happened, or that Israel has no right to exist ... why, that’s simply another point of view, no better or worse than any other.

Hey, as long as it is a "point of view" freely chosen, everything's OK. Right? Right, HarHar?

I wasn't aware that Israel was occupying Lebanon.
What an ass.

How about the claim that Al-Jazeera encourages terror? Well, in the Arab world, different terrorisms contend: against occupying armies alone (Israel in Lebanon or Palestine; America in Iraq); or against civilians in illegal settlements; or against the foe's homeland. Along with variant terms: jihad, resistance, martyrdom. In the West, it all gets conflated as terror, and you may want to condemn them all, but I don't think it hurts to be aware of the profusion. It might help you figure out what is going on.

Salutin doesn't address whether or not Al-Jazeera actually does advocate terror; he merely talks about being "aware of the profusion."

How about the claim that Al-Jazeera encourages terror? Well, in the Arab world, different terrorisms contend: against occupying armies alone (Israel in Lebanon or Palestine; America in Iraq); or against civilians in illegal settlements; or against the foe's homeland. Along with variant terms: jihad, resistance, martyrdom. In the West, it all gets conflated as terror, and you may want to condemn them all, but I don't think it hurts to be aware of the profusion. It might help you figure out what is going on.

"Woah, man. Like, what is terrorism?"

Asshole.

I don't believe in the existence of Canada, and that land is ours for the taking!

What? It's a different perspective, right? Don't you oppress me!

There is some truth to what he says.

We need to understand that they do indeed have a different wordview, one that stems from the worship of a demon moon god and the dedication of one's life to sacred jihad genocide of the infidel.

Salutin is yet another self-hating Jew masquerading as a soi-disant intellectual. This piece of crap is nothing more than perversity for the sake of being perverse - a feeble attempt by the author to show how much more enlightened he is than everyone else.

this is exactly the problem. how can anybody talk about anything when there's no common definition, no common language, no common reality?
talking with arabs and [some] muslims about terrorism is a useless exercise; the US and Israel need to respond to terror unambiguously and resolutely - make definitions as 'facts on the ground' without all these ridiculous semantics. they'll know exactly what we're talking about once we stop waffling over all this bulls***.
"You're denying the Holocaust happened? Fine - conversation over." [Cue f-16s, Apache helicopters, etc.]

Did any read the closing paragraph of the piece?

In a way, angst over Al-Jazeera's sinister potential resembles another loopy idea: the Jewish media conspiracy. It's true some Jewish people -- who were once scarce there -- are now prominent in Canada's media, such as the Aspers, the head of the CBC, or this paper's editor. But they aren't there because a shadowy group decided to install them and then use them to shape the news. Still, being human, they share some things in common.

Since when are Jews human? I thought they were Vulcans, or at the very least, the progeny of monkeys and pigs.

We can try, and succeed, in being fair; but it's also prudent to continue to broaden the range of voices that reach the public. That's another reason to usher Al-Jazeera onto the media spectrum.

Has anyone else noticed the latest complaint and phraseology from the leftists? That their "voices" are not being heard? As if they are under such a heavy rock of oppression that their "noble" opinions are not seen nor heard in our mass media? When reality is CBSNBCABCPBS slant in their direction with every news broadcast.

It pisses me off how they hijack the English language

Well, in the Arab world, different terrorisms contend: against occupying armies alone (Israel in Lebanon or Palestine; America in Iraq); or against civilians in illegal settlements; or against the foe's homeland. Along with variant terms: jihad, resistance, martyrdom. In the West, it all gets conflated as terror, and you may want to condemn them all, but I don't think it hurts to be aware of the profusion. It might help you figure out what is going on.

I too read this with disgust. Talk about a distinction without a difference. It's like saying there are different forms of murder: with a knife, a gun, a rope, etc... What is the distinction supposed to mean? Nothing. But the way it's presented here, it's supposed to be some glorious insight.

In reality, all it means is that the terrorists are adaptable and have strategies depending on the target and their resources. This sort of talk also tends to legitimize certain terrorism that the author implicitly seems to view as less scandalous, like attacks on "illegal settlements", with the assumption that the settlers weren't "innocent civilians" because their homes were illegal. Thus, it's not really murder if your victim isn't innocent.

It doesn't take much brain power to see through his support for Al Jazerra.

Al-Jazeera does broadcast anti-Semitism. That is a matter of record. Canada has anti-hate laws. Until Alj Jazeera as a matter of corporate policy refuses to broadcast hatred in any language, and until it can be demonstrated that it does not, it is not reasonable to give them legitmacy in Canada.

We can try, and succeed, in being fair; but it's also prudent to continue to broaden the range of voices that reach the public. That's another reason to usher Al-Jazeera onto the media spectrum.

What's interesting about this is that the left wouldn't push for more right-wing cable news, because it isn't in their interest. That means that supporting Al-Jizz isn't being "fair" but pushing an agenda, an agenda the leftists don't have a problem with.

Or this guy is just another naive idiot.

Self-hating Jew? Nah, I get the feeling Salutin, and others like him, turn their "jewishness" off an on as it suits them. As long as it's someone else's jewishness that is being threatened, he can distance himself from the hatred, and pat himself on the back for being so modern.

I think self-centered might be a more appropriate adjective.

And that you-call-it-terrorism--we-call-it-resistance is very, very informative. We know what terrorism is; and so do they.

From Zerbias Land, another usefull idiot.

...if Arabs want to believe the Holocaust never happened, or that Israel has no right to exist ... why, that’s simply another point of view, no better or worse than any other.

Remind's me of the twisted relativism of NAMBLA

Rick Salutin is one Toronto's idiotarian deadwood columnists. You can always count on him, or Antonia Zerbisias, or John Doyle or a slew of others to come down on the left/loony side. For the sake of my blood pressure, I try not to read them too often because I know that their whacky views are bad for my health.

Although I loathe Al Jazeera and all it stands for, it needs to be seen. Canada needs to be exposed to the black hole of inhumanity that exists at the centre of the Islamic world. It might open some minds. Also, if Al Jazeera does succeed in being shown in Canada, could we then push for Israeli news to also be shown as a counter?

MG-I like your idea, but does Israel have an exportable/english language product?

Although I only like it as a countermeasure if AlJ does end up here.

#14 Colt - Exactly. Several years ago, there was a gay campaign to have Dr. Laura expunged from the airwaves. Nary a liberal championed her right to express her views.

Salutin is dim witted asshole. This is nothing new. The fact that he makes al-CBC look like a hardline Jewish news organ is really remarkable.

Hence the new religion of multiculturalism. There is no objective truth, morality, or responsibility for one's actions. The western version of truth and morality is no more valid than those put forth in the muslim world. How dare we judge another culture's morality - who knows, maybe it is us who are immoral. In fact, our history of pushing the artifical construct of western values on the helpless muslim natives deligitimized any future claim to pride in our own beliefs.

Be ashamed.

Just as long as Canada knows what it’s getting into. Al-Jazeera will run one-sided commentary and video footage on an endless loop that will enrage and radicalize those who are predisposed to empty-headed reactionary violence. It will incite violence in North America as it has in the M.E. and Asia.

If Al Jazeera does succeed in getting into Canada, If Israel doesn't have a comparable product(a 24-7 news channel) They would have to develop one in a hurry. There are English language news sources (Israelnationalnews.com) gives some examples. Also how about pushing for Fox if Al/Jiz gets here?

Rick Salutin is a socialist. Here's a short bio with a photo.

[Link: www.wier.ca:8080...]

Goes along well with what Richard Curtiss said in the Arab News today:

"Meanwhile, all Americans will begin to understand that the problem is not with the Palestinians, but rather with the Israelis."

(Disclaimer: The link sends you to my site where I posted on this).

Why is this even an issue? I thought the CBC was Al Jazeera lite anyway. I guess we need to see more wailing Pali's to motivate the terrorist sleep cells amongst us. Allah forbid that they are not lulled out of the jihad fray by Canadian Idol, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Tim Horton's doughnuts.

relxx....this is like getting upset over Robert Fisk...Salutin is the resident self-hating Jewish liberal at the Globe and Mail....expect nothing more from him and u will never be diappointed

Thr minute I saw Salutin's name I knew Mr Penny had sent the article. Salutin is pure "terrawnna". He's a smug, self-assured, pontificating asshole. People like him don't just drive me up a wall...no they also drive me right up the 401. Montréal anglos may want to kill me, but bill 101 is much easier to endure than Rick and Antonia.
I have a confession. I once ran into Rick downtown....he was asking for directions. Unfortunately, I suddenly and mysteriously lost my ability to speak english.

OT, Why isn't Fox News in Canuckistan?

Antonia Zerbisias sounds like a disease. "I had a bad case of Zerbisias but a couple of shots of penicillin cleared it right up!"

#34 LOL

Having seen her picture your analogy is even more accurate.

the Zerb

Fox,Hbo and several other US specialty channels are not available in Canada due to government regulation. Cable providers are obliged to carry Canadian content, with a certain quota for foreign (US) content.Since we have Cnn, Fox is out in the cold. For LGfers who are interested check out www.canadachannel.com"...]> Bye for now

sorry, I meant to add check out [Link: www.canadachannel.com...] to influence the situation. Bye

At least Rick Salutin is confined to the pages of the Globe and Mail. Some "genius" at the CBC decided that Antonia Zerbisias had so much to say that she should say it on TV. Thus Zerbisias and the newly appointed editor of the National Post, Matthew Brown, do a left vs. right turn on Canada's national airwaves. If Al Jazeera (or, as I prefer to think of it Al Jihad) comes to Canada, perhaps Salutin, Zerbisias et al will have a new outlook for their lunatic views.

An Israeli who supports an independent Palestine is like a penguin that supports an increase in leopard seal breeding grounds.

Re: #38

Sorry, that would be outlet, not outlook. Very Freudian mistake, that. One can only pray that Salutin, Zerbisias and their ilk will have an epiphany and change their outlook.

The only thing we need to "listen" to is the music of 2000 lb. bunker busters dropped on Arab targets, and the sonic booms of stealth bombers, cruising at Mach 3 toward distant enemies.

"We are faced with a worldview differently configured than ours, with which we must learn to get along -- and may even discover something useful for ourselves."

Let's see: we're faced with a worldview that is diametrically opposed to ours and seems intent on wiping ours out of existence, and we "must learn to get along" ?

Like bloody hell we do. I've already discovered everything useful I need to know about my world view--anything opposed to it can go burn.

oops that's [Link: www.channelcanada.com...]

I don't remember where I read the quote, but proving the Holocaust happened is like proving the 1040's happened.

that should be 1940's

okay, the guy likens denying the holocaust to claiming the earth is flat, what are you complaining about?

Meanwhile Stateside, as a sidebar:

ABC News declares that its lousiest anchor ever on its “This Week” program George Stephanopoulos as “in a position to be a journalistic leader for the next 30 years.”

If that’s the case, then G’d help us all. He has long been the gullible dupe of his sister, a nun in the disputed territories who was getting in the way to assist Arafart in the standoff at his headquarters a while back, spreading outright lies, etc.

For the love of G'd, what are they thinking at ABC News?!

#47 -- Jesus! What is it with ABC?! Do they require their reporters to have close ties with terrorists, or is it just a coincidence that half of them do?

Salutan claims to be Jewish...KAPO

All of the Salutin character-assassinations aside (not that he didn't have it coming!) why not broadcast al-Jazeera in Canada? As the old saying goes, keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer. Canada's hate-speech laws serve one purpose, to protect the wingnuts from being exposed to the light of day.

Piglet

Proving the Holocaust happened is like proving the 1940's happened

It's been feeling a lot like 1934 lately.

#42 therien

Like bloody hell we do. I've already discovered everything useful I need to know about my world view--anything opposed to it can go burn.

I've never seen a better characterization of the average lgf reader.

The CBC is a creature (and mouthpiece) of the Canadian Government. It continues to exist far beyond it's "good until date" to express "the Canadian story" simply because of the paranoid insistance of the Canadian Government that the Canadian culture will not be diluted by the American culture.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever there is left of the Canadian culture it exists in Quebec. The rest of the country is as American as debt and weak beer.......and thank God for that says this Canadian.

#53 Joey

As a Canadian who travels much of the year throughout the USA I have the following response to your comment:

You are as wrong as they day is long and if you have to ask why you will never know.

#54 DR

Sorry

The cesspool of socialist canadian "journalism."

Salutin is a loathsome, odious little prick who is a child of the 60's; one who never grew out of them.
He's one of the "sandalistas" that O'Rourke describes in his book.
Moreover, he is a lefty self-hating Jew who would have been right up there supporting hitler while Hitler had a pact with Stalin.

Another part of the article referred to suggests a moral equivalence between the Holocaust and the Nakbah of 1948. Now that is vile!
But Salutin doesn't explain what the Nakbah is leaving the uninformed reader to believe it was some sort of large scale murder of Muslims. As many know, it is regarded really as the insinuation of non-muslims into a "muslim-controlled area. It is not the Muslim exit from PARTS of Mandatory Palestine but the existence of a Jewish state not controlled by a muslim theocratic, dictatorial hegemony.
Anyway, Salutin, is a piece of shit masquarading as a jounalist. And that's all the time I'll waste on him.

By the way, John, #32. I'm from "terrawnaa!

Completely OT......

Some totalitarian slogans are so interchangeable.
For example.

Ein Umma
Ein Kalipha
Ein Prophet

or

Islamists unite.
You have nothing to lose except your earthly lives.

If anyone can think up some others, I'd be interested.

OT, What the hell happened to Mark Steyn? We need him now more than every, the traitor. I'm sending him the letter I never got to send Conrad Black, another deserter. May their putrified, traitorous corpses rot in hell together. (I mean that in the nicest possible way).

David Simon - #8

...a feeble attempt by the author to show how much more enlightened he is than everyone else.

Exactly.

Salutin is a modern-day Sophist without the brains...

two things: 1. the "naqba" was in fact an expulsion of Arabs during Israel's victory in the 1948 war the Arabs initiated. Yes, some fled on their own, but some were also expelled by the Israelis. Of course, this is no equivalent of the Shoah. Would to God the Jews had only been expelled from Poland! Still, the naqba happened, and it was what it was.

2. Yes, Salutin says Holocaust-deniers are like flat-earthers. Shouldn't that be enough for us? No. Because he implies that it really is just harmless crack-pottery.
It's not. Implicit in Holocaust denial is something like this: the Holocaust never happened, and you #*@%
Jews better quit lying about it, and exploiting it , or you know what? we'll do it to you again.
Makes no sense, I know, but think about it: isn't that the subtext of every Holocaust denial you've ever heard of? You can bet that if flat-earthers were trying to get their hands on an atomic weapon with which to somehow further their views, they wouldn't be seen as so endearingly nutty.

Re #61

That many Arabs left what is now Israel is not in dispute.
How and why they did is sometimes unclear.
The minority were threatened and left. The majority who left did so for the same reason anyone would leave an active war zone. Most felt they would soon be back to reclaim their property as well as that of the Jews that would be driven out.
Many left at the exhortation of their Muslim brothers Some did not leave at all.
It can hardly be called an "expulsion".
What the arabs view as a "naqba" or catastrophe is not so much their leaving since they felt then as they do now that they will ultimately return, but the fact that it was non-muslims who replaced them and took control.
In their eyes it was the creation of the State of Israel which was and is the "naqba"
But what it was most definitely not was an attempt to incarcerate and exterminate the arabs of Mandatory Palestine. And unfortunately it is just that attitude that still persists in the minds of many muslims towards Israel, the Jews and I dare say Americans.
I digress slightly but the attitude of the Muslims towards Jews nowadays is very similar to that of the Catholic Church during the Inquisition.
The Jews of Israel might well solve their problem by converting en masse to Islam. No "furrin" westerner non-muslim...NO PROBLEM!

62: you say the how and why of the 1948 Arab exodus is "sometimes unclear." Apparently it seems clear enough to you, since you talk about the majority did this and the minority did that.
No less an Israeli than Yigal Allon, in his memoirs, writes about the Arabs of the Katamon district in Jerusalem, who were herded onto trucks at gunpoint and expelled. Maybe we'd rather not talk about this, but we must. Easy for me to say, since I favor a compromise with Palestinians. Do you?

The Palestinians themselves advocate "peace" -- the kind of peace that comes following complete victory.
Easy enough to advocate that kind of "peace." We can do that too, if what we want is another 30 years of bloody stalemate culminating in regional nuclear war.

"Arabs of the Katamon district in Jerusalem, who were herded onto trucks at gunpoint and expelled. Maybe we'd rather not talk about this, but we must. Easy for me to say, since I favor a compromise with Palestinians. Do you?"

You can talk about it as much as you like. These people who were herded (not transferred by cattle car to death chambers, by the way) onto trucks and transferred how many miles away?...10, 20 ,30.
Perhaps you should review what exactly happened in Katamon. It was the scene of some very heavy fighting which for a while was very tenuous for the Jewish forces. However they did prevail eventually. Their victory resulted in a very rapid and spontaneuos flight of the Arab populace to safer quarters.
The number trucked out was probably a small one and they may have been moved for safety's sake and not for some nefarious purpose at expulsion.
The vast majority of Arabs were not expelled. The ones in Haifa for instance were exhorted to stay by Haifa's mayor and they did. They and their descendants are still there.
What is unclear is the actual numbers. So I would appreciate it if you didn't confuse the issue with minor irrelevancies.

As far as a compromise with the Arabs is concerned, of course its desirable, but I don't have my head in the sand either. The numbers of Arabs who seek a compromise is very, very few. Their desire is to compromise Israel out of existence.
And as far as your "peace in our time" inference, well it was tried once.
There are many, including myself who are quite cynical about the Arab/Pali intent. They supported the Nazis in WWII and they have since adopted their fascist manner and anti-Jewish mantra.
You should know that the majority of Israelis would love to live in peace but not with a terrorist state next door bent our their destruction. A state which in no short order would come under the control of Syria or Iran.
A state such as this would guarantee a regional nuclear war!

As I say, the numbers can't be all that unclear to you, since you talk (twice now) about the "vast majority." I'm not saying you are necessarily wrong, just that you seem to be trying to gloss over some unpleasant facts. Trucked out for safety reasons + not allowed
to return = expulsion. Gloss it how you will.
Calling things what they are can only make us stronger, no? Everyone wants peace, but very few want the kinds of compromises that might lead to true peace. In this context, calls for peace are simply a tactic, a means of demonizing the other side. The Arabs and the Euro-lefties do this. Why should we? Note how the fascist Left (Red Nazis, I call them) always call for "Justice and Peace" by which they mean: first let's achieve Justice and THEN we'll have Peace. Given the chance, they'll whip themselves into a fine little frenzy in which the Pacifist Armies of Justice will, by "direct action", impose peace on the Butcher Sharon etc etc ad nauseam. The hypocrisy makes me retch. As I say, let's not emulate them.
I don't think there is a huge hope for a compromise either, but we have to try--if only so as to put the onus on the other side. Is this kind of hard compromise ever possible, historically? Maybe. Ireland is one example.
Yes, a low-level violence will likely always simmer there, but the UK and Eire are not about to go to war, ever. Greece and Turkey seem to be edging towards a compromise on Cyprus.
Picture a world in which the governments of Egypt and "Saudi" Arabia get overthrown by Islamo-fascists.
Throw in Pakistan for good measure. Then imagine Iran turning out two or three dozen atomic bombs per year.
If any of that were to happen--let alone all of it--avoiding regional nuclear war would be a miracle.

Kurds: Saddam paid al Jazeera