Egypt's dilemma - re National Post 1/31 /2011

The Egyptian protesters are calling for a government that will give them economic benefits and fair treatment. They don't care whether this is under a democratic government or a dictatorship. Our reality should be to support the Egyptian populace in the type of government or situation they want, not what would be good for our culture and society. A democracy doesn't suit people that vote by tribe, as in Africa, nor people who want a leader they can submit to, as in the Islamic states. Something else is needed. A new government will raise many questions of alliances. One question is - if the new government disavows its 1979 peace treaty with Israel will Egypt have to transfer the Sinai back to Israel? If not, Israel exchanged 30 years of peace, which it probably would have had anyway, as it is stronger than Egypt, for the Sinai. Not a good bargain and one that obviously should not be repeated with Syria or the Palestinians.

letter to the Globe - Re "peace" talks

Shame on the Globe for printing such a one-sided story about the "peace" talks resourced from those notorious anti-semitic institutions - Al Jazeera, the Guardian and the CBC.

I like the Globe but if you continue to print non-sense -especially on the front page, I will be forced to cancel my subscription and subscribe to the Sun instead.

I won't bother to put my phone number or address because I know your letters editor just prints those letters agreeing with your general policy, except for those that are inane or grammatically incorrect.

Pakistani Christians convert to Islam

The article in Friday's Toronto Star "Pakistani Christians seek safety in Islam" could have been titled, "Christians Forced to Convert to Islam". By the use of violence and fear at least 25 Christians per week are "voluntarily" becoming Muslims in Pakistan. This same technique of violence and fear to force "volentary" conversions is being used in Egypt against the Copts and in Somalia. It is undoubtedly the same technique that changed the Middle East from a Christian to an Islamic area and forced India to accept the division of its country into Pakistian and India. It is this same procedure that caused the Crusades by Christians who wanted to retake parts of the Holy Land whose residents had been forced "voluntarily" to convert to Islam. Can a "religion of peace" use force and terror to obtain uniformity and dominance over non-Muslims or "the infidel" and still be called a religion of peace?

Iranium

Congratulation to James Moore for rescheduling the Iranium film at Library and Archives Canada. I hope his leadership will encourage universities and all others to stand up for free speech and against the threat of violence. We must stop those that would deny Canadians the right to free speech and to hear speakers on all issues. We must especially protect the free speech of those that promote freedom and come from democratic countries.

The pygmy holocause and the Canadian holocaust Museum

Perhaps this article in today's National post con the Pygmy holocaust (A14) is a fitting conclusion to the argument about the Human Rights Museum. It should not be about which holocaust is bigger or better, or which is more significant or universal in its application. It should be about galvanizing all those that are concerned about current holocausts to act on behalf of those who are being or might be killed. This includes Pygmies in the Congo area, Coptic Christians in Egypt, Bahais in Iran, gays in most Islamic countries, and I am sure, many, many others. Ideally it should be a museum to encourage our citizenship to think about, and help prevent, discrimination purely because of race or religion.

Letter to the editor - the Globe and Mail re Burka

Choices

It is time to choose priorities between religious doctrines and customs and health and civil rights. Both the Kirpan and the burka could easily make their point by using something symbolic - a rubber Kirpan and a kerchief could indicate the same respect for their religion and in the latter case their feelings about sexual purity. Despite the claims of the orthodox, religious practices can and do change when necessary.

I do not want to see some crazed jihadhist claiming the right to kill Christians because his relgion, as he understands it, requires him to do so.

We need to set up a team of ethicists to decide in each case whether religious ritual and customs should supercede the health and civil liberties and rights of our citizens.

National Post Jan12th A8 Anti Islamist group

First I would like to congratulate the National Post for printing the article and Stephen Bell for writing an excellent article. I do however have some comments. Instead of the EDL being described as "far right extremist" or anti-Islamist, wouldn't it be better and fairer to describe them as pro British values? And as long as we are describing organizations, shouldn't the Anti-Racist Action group, the Queers Against Israeli Apartheid group and the Canadian Arab Federation be described as "Islamist" groups? And shouldn't the Canadian Jewish Congress be described as being on the far left politically?

It is also interesting to note that when the JDL protests a meeting or protest held by a Muslim group, no police are injured and no one is arrested. JDL has peaceful protests, whereas this Muslim protest was not peaceful. One policeman was injured and four protesters were arrested. That is a big difference and should be noted.

Re the National Post - Jan.11th - Human Rights Museum

Why is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights important and what is its purpose? The Halton District Catholic School Board has banned gay groups. Two Nova Scotia men burned a cross on the lawn of an inter-racial couple. The purpose of the Museum is to have Canadians realize that this sort of prejudice against "the other" must be stopped immediately and not allowed to fester and proceed to become a major Canadian hate phenominum. The intent and theory is not difficult - especially when all the information is in one day's news of one paper.

Letter to National Post re Frank Diamant's letter of Jan 7th

Unwittingly, Frank Dimant makes an excellent argument for no special gallery for the Holocaust. It is true that the Holocaust was different as it was executed more scientifically and methodically than other holocausts, and was aimed at the extermination of a whole people. However, the anti-Semitism that culminated in the Holocaust was probably based on cultural and religious differences – similar differences to the competing territorial claims, opposing political viewpoints and divergent cultures that Mr. Dimant refers to as the usual causes of hatred killings. Mr. Dimant tries to make the case for having the museum emphasize an unusual cause for killings within a country, as it goes to the source of hatreds. I don’t think it does. It is just an example of a particularly horrifying case of efficient killing of “the other”. Unwittingly Mr. Dimant’s argument makes the case for warning Canadians of the dangers of the more common internal killings, those based on common differences. It is most important to warn Canadians to be wary of and to combat the usual sources of hatred – hatreds and prejudices that have in the past and may in the future, arise in Canada. The museum should therefore give equal prominence to the horrible results of the many, many ethnic,religious, territorial, ideological and other sources of hatred-killings.

Letter to National Post re editorial about "infidels"

Monday’s editorial – Peace and Pluralism - was excellent and spoke to the important immediate problem of racism within the Muslim community. However the Muslim attitude towards “infidels” is the result of a cultural attitude, not a problem that can be easily solved by suddenly becoming more liberal. Salim Mansur, in his book, Islam’s Predicament, talks about the Islamic cultural system of deference, where the citizens must show deference to their political leaders and their imams, and wives must show deference to their husbands. It is a hierarchical system where everyone is either higher or lower than someone else and everyone knows their and everyone else’s place. Unless this cultural idea of deference is changed, the infidel will always have a lower place in Muslim thought and societies. Therefore, for infidels to be equal, the whole system of deference must be changed – and cultural changes are very difficult and take a long, long time.