True Hate

This post has been updated:

You know, this blog is often accused by righties (and one capital-Liberal blogger who sits on the board of the Canada Israel Committee) for being a haven for ''anti-Israel'' wingnuts. I personally have been denounced by B'nai Brith and other lobby groups for my observations on the catastrophe playing out in the Middle East. I get attacked regularly in the National Post as well.

So, with all that in mind, when will we see all these people come out against this hate-filled screed, posted on the website of a supposedly respectable publication, one put out by Ezra Levant, a former communications apparatchik to (now) Public Safety Mnister Stockwell Day, and a man whose law firm was instrumental in getting Hezbollah declared a terrrorist organization in Canada. (More on this later this week.)

I cannot abide by apologists calling Islam a religion of peace. Not when every new day brings fresh tales of violence. Not when the devil that they call Allah rewards murder with polygamous sex. Not when their undeserved supremacy is fought for in countries big and small around the globe.

<SNIP>

If everything from smoking to lead paint to pitbulls can be banned because they are dangerous and deadly, why can't Islam? At what point is a death cult afforded the status of legitimate religion, and why? What makes Mohammed any better than Jim Jones?

Islam must be labelled for what it truly represents: wholesale slaughter and a corrupt ideology of sex and death. It must be stopped.

And, if that isn't bad enough, you should read the comments. I won't repeat them.

Here's Cerberus -- who tipped me to this -- who does repeat the comments.

I certainly would never claim all conservatives hold these same views, but WOW! there's a lot of this stuff out there and it is just normal discussion on a high profile periodical like The Western Standard.

Far be it for me to call these conservatives bigotted. I'll just let readers judge for themselves.

And next time some idiot on the left spews off some thoughtless inanity that gets spread far and wide by the conservative blogosphere, feel free to link back to Cerberus.

You know, if this were on some stupid blog, I could ALMOST let it go. But the Western Standard pretends to be a credible magazine, and whadda ya know? It loves Prime Minister Stephen Harper who loves it back.

Shame.

UPPITY DATE (25/6 at 1:42 a.m.): Looks like Chris Selley over at Western Standard distanced himself from Right Girl's rantings -- and the even more hateful postings of her commentariat.

A post suggesting that Islam be outlawed shouldn't be a chance to debate the merits of different religions, or to discuss what passages in some ancient book condone or condemn violence. It should be a chance to say that Canada doesn't ban religions and never will, and to point out how hopelessly repressive and needless and stupid it is even to suggest such a thing.

Let's see what kind of reaction he gets.

MORNING AFTER DATE: Hey! Where's my link???  (H/t to Werner Patels.)

DOUBLE DATE: The Last Realist has a funner take here.

UPPER DATE: Commenter Elliot below sent me the URL for his wife's blog. He didn't give me her name but it appears to be Melly. She's in Haifa on the vacation that went horribly wrong.

Comments

[Bill-Muskoka]

Antonia,

It is pointless to attempt to explain such matters to cheap whores who profit from hate!

Some will say anything to garner attention and make sales. I simply consider the source and then dismiss it like I would a gnat! Actually the gnat is more interesting and serves a viable purpose!

Hate is a very marketable commodity and brings in billion$ in support.

As to Islam, my experience has been I can far more readily have a meaningful discussion with a Muslim than a Born Again Christian.

The Muslim has far more comprehension of tolerance and true meaning of scriptural lessons. Likewise with most knowledgeable Jews I have talked with, especially rabbis.

They seek to make a better world for all to live in, rather than merely waiting to be rescued from the mess they have created.

But, then I do not profit monetarily from such discourse, only spiritually and in peace!

[stephen.reeves]

Did Stephen Harper write that piece, if he did not why bring his name up???

[RightGirl]

Antonia is required by her contract with the Star to bring up the words "Stephen Harper" and "hate" in the same post as often as possible.

Thanks for the link, Zerb!

RG

[entozoa]

I hope, like Bill says, that this is just a case of attention whores doing what they do best. Becuase if you actually think 1 billion people are out to get you... it boggles the mind.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Antonia,

Whereas this is the current topic du jour, I shall post this tip here.

Tonight's Global National (Canwest) had an exclusive interview with a Lebanese family who lost 8 of their family to Israel's bombing. The segment was anything but friendly to the current leadership in Ottawa.

They begged the Canadian Embassy to help them and then...too late! I shall let you take it from here.

[Bill-Muskoka]

Stephen,

'Did Stephen Harper write that piece, if he did not why bring his name up???'

He is the PM...remember? With authority comes responsibility!

[Canadian from Middle East]

Antonia deleted this comment from -- despite the handle -- came from California because it was a filled with hate (and no, not for me.)

[Scotian]

*shudder*

Wow, what a disgusting selection of hate and bile that is. Yet this is in what can be reasonably argued the analogue for the National Review in Canada, the Western Standard. That this is allowed to be said under their banner does not speak well of them at all. This is one of the concerns I have with the modern conservative movement/party, the undercurrent of xenophobia and dehumanization of those they see as threats, from Islamic terrorists to Liberal Canadians. I think you are quite right to be pointing to this as they are a significant paper with a clear (C)conservative agenda/preference.

Something some people need to understand about the term "racism", it is premised on the notion of different races, but in actuality there is one race of humanity, the human race. What there is are various ethnicities, nationalities, and subgroups within that one species due to local evolutionary adaptation, such as skin pigmentation variances because of exposure to UV levels differences. What racism really is is fear of the other, the alien, which is why when I refer to this problem I tend to term it xenophobia. Which given that is what racism is anyway seems sensible to me.

It is fundamentally dangerous to dehumanize any group of human beings, period. That is a mindset that allows for the acceptance and rationalization and justification for atrocities such as ethnic cleansing, the holocaust, etc. This is something that should be denounced wherever it is found and that this is something that is common within the Canadian Conservative movement to the point that major voices of that movement such as the Western Standard do not find this objectionable and denounce it for what it is to be a very strong indicator of the level of acceptance these views have within that movement.

Like Cerberus I certainly do not think all Conservative supporters are xenophobes of some type or another. However, what I do find of serious concern is the unwillingness to denounce such intolerance and xenophobia for what it is within that movement. Indeed, as you have noted instead of denouncing it within their own ranks they will go out of their way to try and make the case that it is those of the political left that are the ones being intolerant/xenophobes. Well if they refuse to clean their own house of this xenophobia/intolerance/hate then they have no moral authority nor credibility to be denouncing it in anyone else, especially their political opposition/enemies.

Good job Antonia, and good catch Cerberus. It is because I read too many things like that in the past in the blog at the WS that I stopped reading it. That degree of anger, contempt, hatred and naked xenophobia is something I find incredibly disgusting, and the few times I tried to point out the concerns regarding it all I got was denounced as a terrorist loving sympathizer, a deranged lefty liar, etc. This of course being another reason why the binary with us/against us mentality and approach to viewing the world is so inherently dangerous to the beliefs of tolerance and multiculturalism that I believe is one of the best aspects of this country.

[Ted]

Bill-Muskoka 6:57:

You must have forgotten that you were talking about Stephen "what-ever-it-takes" Harper. Even the conservatives are calling him that now: http://www.westernstandard.ca/website/index.cfm?page=article&article_id=1827. With sweet irony from The WS.

Ted
http://canadiancerberus.blogspot.com

[D Shapiro]

As a reliably left-wing voter on such social issues as health care, I tend to see things from a point of view that seldom coincides with Stephen Harper's. So when Israel (where I have family) comes up, and the Conservatives tend to take a more pro-Israeli stance than either of the other two national parties (though the Liberals have mainly been Israel-friendly, too), I worry that my attitude doesn't fit some political profile that it's supposed to fit. Mr. Harper's grandstanding with the plane (yes, he could certainly have caught a perfectly safe flight home on Air Canada) annoyed me, but it's his remark that Israel's response was "measured" that was particularly idiotic.
Nevertheless, Israel's response has been measured. They measured out, very carefully and deliberately, a whole elephantful of response. But what are they supposed to do? Continue to stand by while Hezbollah lobs rockets across the border at civilian targets? Meanwhile, they're storing those rockets in civilian homes because they know Israel is reluctant to attack civilian targets. With the Lebanese government unable to disarm Hezbollah, even though it's part of the government, with two cabinet seats, Israel has two choices: wait as people with no agenda but the destruction of the State of Israel fight a war without opposition, or fight them. If you choose to fight, as Israel now has, an opposing militia which has declared this to be a war, how do you fight? Don't you invade their land and destroy their ability to fight? Isn't that what the Allies did in World War Two to Germany and Japan?
Yes, the response has been disproportionate to the immediate provocation. But no, the response is not disproportionate to Hezbollah's stated objective -- which, not quite coincidentally, is Hamas's objective, Iranian President Ahmadinejad's (I hope I spelled that right), and those who support them. Israel's behaviour in the occupied terriories has been appalling, but the inconveniencing of people at checkpoints is not the same as targeting civilians. And the people who live in southern Lebanon were warned that there would be consequences over and over again; did that cut into their support for their local rocket-lobbing heroes? Israel sent leaflets advising civilians to leave. That was intended to save Lebanese lives. What has Hezbollah ever done to save Israeli lives?
I would suggest that on matters of social policy I sit further to the left than most people, and I was also delighted when Jean Chretien decided not to join the coalition that invaded Iraq, because that was clearly an illegal incursion (which we also now know to have been based on false "intelligence"), but I will not take a knee-jerk leftist position, the way the Communist supporters did during the Stalin era. We ought to have learned a lesson from that, the lesson being: think through each issue separately on its own merits. Ezra Levant has been nothing but a self-serving blowhard, as far as I can tell, so I pay him no mind now. I advise you to do the same. Whether Muslims are at fault as a community or Islam is at fault as a religion for all this is not the point (we need to look at that issue dispassionately, too, and Mr. Levant will not provide us with any useful tools in that endeavour). Maybe that's for next time. But comparing Islamic fundamentalists to Christian fundamentalists is instructive -- and compare them with Jewish fundamentalists, too, while you're at it.
We should all hate some things: lies, injustice, the killing of innocents. There's apparently enough of all of those on both sides to whip everyone into a frenzy that will help nothing and no one.

[Scott Tribe]

I dont have to bring up Stephen Harper and hate, but I can bring up "RightGirl" (an oxymoron for a nickname if there ever was one) and hate.

How close does this come to being in violation of Canada's hate laws?

[CapitalCat]

The whole new conservative movement in this country was ignited by Mounties wearing turbans. Ezra Newman and the rest of the slime in his world loathe anyone who isn't white, capitalist and judeo-christian doesn't rate.

Under the Harperites, Canada is a great place for everyone--unless you're Moslem or gay or francophone or feminist or a trade unionist or a woman who wants to control her own body or...

[sooey]

there was a very interesting interview tonight with Benjamin Netanyahu on cnn with Wolf Blitzer. as an israeli sympathizer in all of this, i found it... bizarre... there is, apparently, an israeli belief that all of this is good for arabs and israelis...

[Michael Watkins]

Question for media lawyers: there does not appear to be any serious attempt by the Western Standard to distance itself from such comments; regardless of any current or future disclaimers, they appear to be willing partners in publishing such vile stuff, and if so, are they a likely target for hate crime investigation?

Its always nice to see a Stockoholic put under the microscope. Keep it up Ezra!

[sooey]

and yes - gawd forbid netanyahu is the voice reason - even israeli reason - in any debate on the middle east. arab countries DO make it hard...

[blanks57]

You are very intolerant and hateful of the views of others,a typical hypocritical Liberal dipstick, unfortunatly your type of hate propaganda really isn't being treated the way I see things for you would be investigated for intolerant hate crimes if it were.I'll be keeping a closer eye on your pornographic hatefull diatribes and should file a complaint with the Ontario human rights commission against you for intolerant hate speech toward those who have different views than you, lazy slut lesbian Liberal Toronto Star whore.

[Antonia Z.]

You know Blanks 57, if I didn't already have a date for Saturday night, I would ask you out. You so clearly like me, and are such a charmer.

[Grimesby]

Bill-Muskoka, I'm afraid you are mistaken -- everyone knows that CanWest Global does not air such programming. Indeed, what everyone knows is that it is the puppet of the sycophantic Aspers and is never, ever to be taken seriously except as a strawman substitute for those who dare speak on behalf of any of Israel's policy decisions.

So I would check your TV guide and rethink that.

[pdh]

As someone who tilts right more than left, and as a fairly regular reader of the Shotgun (the Western Standard's blog) I was appalled to read the posting "Islam must be stopped". More than anything the posting is profoundly stupid, the level of political thought is as you might expect to hear in a blue-collar lunchroom (actually apologies to blue-collar lunch eaters, it's worse), pure unadulterated bigotry.

In defense of the WS, I doubt the individual postings on it's blog are subject to editorial oversight.

[Grimesby]

Question for media lawyers: there does not appear to be any serious attempt by the Western Standard to distance itself from such comments; regardless of any current or future disclaimers, they appear to be willing partners in publishing such vile stuff, and if so, are they a likely target for hate crime investigation?

Well, the comments in question appear on the Web in a blog posting from someone named RightGirl, which speaks to the seriousness that the reasonable reader would attach to them. They attack "Islam" as a set of beliefs and "Mohammed" as a historic figure, and do not specifically advocate harming or attacking or killing anyone. They probably express or attempt to establish by argument an opinion on a religious subject. They appear to be honestly held, even earnestly held.

So, no, they are not a likely target for hate crime conviction under section 319 of the Criminal Code.

For more: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/c-46/41491.html, or http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/legislation/canadian_law/federal/criminal_code/criminal_code_hate.cfm, etc.

[Justin...]

I used to regularly read the ShotDumb because I genuinely wanted to know what was at the root of the political differences between us. At first I really did want to understand and a few of them were gracious and actually responded to my queries with mutual respect...then there was the haters. From advocating rape to genocide to blatant racism to calls for the murder of gay people. Not only was this kind of talk not uncommon but most of the people there just tacitly accepted it and in doing so created a hate blog to rival even the worst of the white supremacists.

There's NOTHING respectable about the ShotDumb blog and Levant should be ashamed of it (course he'd need to have shame first - or even emotions). It does prove a point: hate breeds hate. The goal of the Western Standard seems to be to energize these people and their warped views. The only time I ever saw the regulars use words like 'hate' towards others was in the context of Israel - women, gays, blacks, native peoples, immigrants, the poor, on the other hand, were all fair game.

Anyway after MONTHS I stopped going there since it became depressing to think that our PM crawled out of the same pit of "alienation" as these people.

They really are quite sad and give truth to the recent book by John Dean, "Conservatives without Conscience" where he reveals studies that prove that right-wingers are more apt to follow authority, no matter what its demands, than those on the left (by a WIDE margin).

[Ted]

"Not only should it be outlawed, its practice should be punishable by sending them on to their "reward"."

I'd call that specifically advocating harm or killing, Grimesby.

Ted
http://canadiancerberus.blogspot.com

[stageleft]

Of course you are accused of that, don't ya know... anyone who expresses an opinion that is critical of the government of Israel must hate them and is more than likely anti-Semitic to boot, just as anyone who expresses an opinion that is critical of the government of the United States is anti-American.

-- it's just the way things work on the extreme right bank of the mainstream.

[Ti-Guy]

"So, no, they are not a likely target for hate crime conviction under section 319 of the Criminal Code."

I say give it a shot. RightGirl needs a rest, obviously. She's been partying a bit too much, lately.

This kind of hate is radicalising, and is a threat to our collective security. The authorities should be taking this kind of stuff very seriously.

[Dan Speerin]

To all those who are slinging mud at one party or the other. This issue is bigger than red vs. blue. It's about the lives of innocent people on either side - to all those who think christianity has a clean slate, you are sadly mistaken. If you took away religion and just look at the stats of injured and the dead in these conflicts- you'll see it's a bit one sided. Shouldn't that mean something? Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Atheist, no matter - isn't killing wrong period? Go back to your holy books and check again for me.

To blanks57, "lazy slut lesbian Liberal whore"? Oh you wacky conservatives, always exposing the newest marketing demographic! I guess Antonia beat you to the punch this time - don't worry i'm sure you'll get the "lazy douche redneck third reich slut" demographic. Good luck with that.

Not much rain today, yet so much mud.

Great Post Antonia.

Love your new blogging friend,
The Last Realist