Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean says she is saddened that there is any debate at all over whether Canada should be helping the country’s less fortunate. (Memo to MJ:  Canada is still a democracy, eh. We do debate these things – war and such – from time to time!)

And Bruce Cockburn, arguably one of Canada’s most talented and radical singer-songwriters, was presented (briefly) with a rocket launcher the other day following his performance for Canadian troops.

Of the three stories, the last one was the least expected and the most heart-breaking. For Cockburn, the humanitarian, to lend his name and talent to this occupation, was a huge disappointment. He’s always struck me as an intelligent, well-informed, no-bullshit kinda guy.

Contrast his joshing around with the Canadian general who loaned him the rocket launcher with the man who wrote “Call it Democracy.”

Call it Democracy

by Bruce Cockburn

Padded with power here they come
International loan sharks backed by the guns
Of market hungry military profiteers
Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared
With the blood of the poor

Who rob life of its quality
Who render rage a necessity
By turning countries into labour camps
Modern slavers in drag as champions of freedom

Sinister cynical instrument
Who makes the gun into a sacrament –
The only response to the deification
Of tyranny by so-called “developed” nations’
Idolatry of ideology

North South East West
Kill the best and buy the rest
It’s just spend a buck to make a buck
You don’t really give a flying fuck
About the people in misery

IMF dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always making certain that there’s one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt

See the paid-off local bottom feeders
Passing themselves off as leaders
Kiss the ladies shake hands with the fellows
Open for business like a cheap bordello

And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy
And they call it democracy

See the loaded eyes of the children too
Trying to make the best of it the way kids do
One day you’re going to rise from your habitual feast
To find yourself staring down the throat of the beast
They call the revolution

IMF dirty MF
Takes away everything it can get
Always making certain that there’s one thing left
Keep them on the hook with insupportable debt

Has Cockburn switched sides? Does he now practise the “idolatry of ideology” peddled by the Harpers and Jeans in our country whose actions and words make all Canadians complicit in murder?

Has he joined the “International loan sharks backed by the guns/ Of market hungry military profiteers/ Whose word is a swamp and whose brow is smeared/ With the blood of the poor”?

Has he forgotten why he wrote “If I had a rocket launcher“? Did he appreciate the irony of performing it to part of an invading army whose airstrikes are precisely the kind of outrage that inspired his song?

If I had a rocket launcher

by Bruce Cockburn

Here comes the helicopter — second time today
Everybody scatters and hopes it goes away
How many kids they’ve murdered only God can say
If I had a rocket launcher…I’d make somebody pay

I don’t believe in guarded borders and I don’t believe in hate
I don’t believe in generals or their stinking torture states
And when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
If I had a rocket launcher…I would retaliate

On the Rio Lacantun, one hundred thousand wait
To fall down from starvation — or some less humane fate
Cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
If I had a rocket launcher…I would not hesitate

I want to raise every voice — at least I’ve got to try
Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes.
Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry
If I had a rocket launcher…Some son of a bitch would die

Which side are you on, Bruce? What were you thinking?

In the meantime, let’s lighten up a bit with another guy’s 9/11 musings. Deek Jackson is not as polished, musically, as Bruce Cockburn, but you’ll want to sing along. (Warning: This video contains lots of vulgar language and gallows humour – which is part of its charm.)

The debris from the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York still has not settled. It provided American imperialism with the springboard for two bloody wars and fueled a wave of fear and hatred that has yet to subside. Under the guise of fighting terrorism, governments around the world enacted draconian laws that undermined hard won civil rights. Self-styled proponents of human liberty participated in the most heinous crimes against individuals and nations.

The carnage continues on the battle field while eager warriors at home seek to undermine further our rights and freedoms in Canada.

War is the ultimate assault on human rights. For that reason. Peace Alliance Winnipeg held a public forum in Winnipeg on March 7, 2009 entitled Defending Human Rights in a Post-9/11 World. We assembled a diverse panel of activists and asked them to reflect on their experiences and discuss between themselves and with the audience the best ways to defend human rights in the current environment.

The Panel

Lesley Hughes: Lesley is a well-known journalist and broadcaster with a long history of community activism in Winnipeg. A recipient of the YMCA-YWCA Woman of Distinction award, Leslie is author of We Chose Canada, a columnist for Canadian Dimension magazine and host of Alert Radio. Lesley became embroiled in controversy during the 2008 election, slandered as antisemitic and dropped from the Liberal slate of candidates over an article she wrote in 2002 on the possible origins of the 9/11 attacks. I`ve written about this issue elsewhere in my blog, so I won`t recount the issues here. It had been planned that Lesley would moderate the panel. Upon reflection, it made more sense for her to be a full participant. Suffice to say, Lesley`s experiences qualify her uniquely to address the topic.

Colleen Simard: Colleen is a columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and founder and publisher of Urban NDN – a newspaper she founded in 2008 that offers a fresh journalistic voice from, for and about Aboriginal people in Winnipeg. She doesn`t regard herself as an activist, but I do. Anyone who starts up a community newspaper to give voice to her community`s concerns is as activist as it gets.

Michael Welch: Michael is a peace activist who has shown leadership in organizing support in Winnipeg for American war resisters who are fighting deportation to the United States. He is active in Citizens Concerned About Deep Integration and Peace Alliance Winnipeg and is the local chapter contact for the Council of Canadians.

Shahina Siddiqui: Shahina is Executive Director of the Islamic Social Services Association – Canada, and a frequent commentator on Islamic and human rights issues in Canada and the United States. She sits on the Advisory Board of CAIR-CAN, the Canadian branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and principal author of Women Friendly Mosques and Community Centers: Working Together to Reclaim Our Heritage. I think of all the presenters, Shahina touched me the most when she said that before 9/11 she was a Canadian; after it she became part of “the other.“

Anthony Hall: Anthony is founding co-ordinator and professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge and author of The American Empire and the Fourth World, which Naomi Klein has described as “an overflowing tool box, filled with little-known stories, legal arguments, and fresh ideas that, if used properly, could change the world.”

The forum was well attended; about 100 people came out. As well, it was well supported by 15 organizations who sponsored it. An extra special acknowledgment must go out to the University of Winnipeg Students Association, which provided its excellent facilities at no cost.

For those who missed it, I shot some video — about 2 hours worth — neatly parceled it into the 10 minute segments that You Tube restricts you to. I`ve posted the first 6 segments below so you can access the presentations. If you want to know more, go to You Tube for the final six installments that contain the discussion.

Introductions – Glenn Michalchuk

Michael Welch

Lesley Hughes

Colleen Simard

Shahina Siddiqui

Anthony J. Hall

Unfairly smeared as an anti-Semitic, 911 conspiracy nutbar and dumped by the Liberals as their candidate, one can easily understand why Lesley Hughes might want to run as an independent and show her attackers what she is really made of. If the outpouring of support for Hughes by Winnipeggers is any indication, she will give a good account of herself.

Can she win? Probably not. Tory incumbent, Joy Smith, won by a handy margin last time and lacking the resources the Liberal Party could provide, Hughes is in a poor position to challenge effectively.

With Hughes out of the race, NDP candidate Ross Eadie might have had a chance.

Here is what happened in 2006.

2006 Results

With Hughes in the race as a high profile independent candidate, the anti-Tory vote is fractured.

It’s a pity.

Six years ago, I wrote a column which examined evidence that the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan may have been motivated by the drive for oil and drug profits. As background, I reported that the intelligence agencies of Germany, Israel and Russia all warned the CIA that the attacks of Sept. 11 were coming, a fact also reported in the London Telegraph, the Jerusalem Post, and on Fox News. I noted that the U.S. disregarded the warnings, but Israeli businesses took them seriously, and (sensibly) vacated the Twin Towers.

The Canadian Jewish Congress seems to have assumed that I am one of those who subscribe to a bizarre conspiracy theory that the world’s Jews were responsible for 9-11, a ludicrous idea I have never supported. As a result of the Congress’s assumption, I have been slandered as an odious anti-Semite, a claim accepted by the prime minister, by the leader of the opposition, and the nation’s media. I have also been labelled an extremist nutbar who has promoted, rather than investigated, the possibility that 9-11 was an inside job. As a result, the voters of Kildonan-St. Paul have no Liberal candidate, and a narrower debate before electing their MP.

One hopes journalists will be asking two questions: 1) Who benefits from this hysteria? 2) Is it still possible for journalists to do the work of journalism, which is to “challenge the official story” in an atmosphere of fear and ridicule?

LESLEY HUGHES
Winnipeg

It is worth restating what she actually wrote in 2002:

“German Intelligence (BND) claims to have warned the U.S. last June, the Israeli Mossad and Russian Intelligence in August. Israeli businesses, which had offices in the Towers, vacated the premises a week before the attacks, breaking their lease to do it.”

So, what do we know about Hughes’ statements?

Did the Israeli Mossad warn the Americans? There are conflicting reports. According to Project Censored:

“At some point, between August 8-15, 2001, two high ranking agents from the Mossad came to Washington and warned the FBI and the CIA that an al-Qaeda attack on the United States was imminent. [Fox News, 5/17/02] On September 20, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mossad officials stated that indications point to a “large scale target” and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.” [Telegraph, 9/16/01; Los Angeles Times, 9/20/01; Ottawa Citizen, 9/17/01] The Los Angeles Times retracted this story on September 21, 2001, because a CIA spokesman stated, “there was no such warning” and that the allegations were “complete and utter nonsense.” [Los Angeles Times, 9/21/01] Israel denied that there was ever a meeting between agents of the Mossad and the CIA. [Ha’aretz, 10/03/02] The United States has denied knowing about Mohamed Atta prior to the 9/11 attacks. [www.cooperativeresearch.org]”

Did “Israeli businesses” break their lease to escape the carnage a week before? Not according to Project Censored:

“On September 4, 2001, an Israeli-owned shipping company entitled Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., moved their North American headquarters from inside the World Trade Center, to Norfolk, Virginia— one week before the 9/11 attacks. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/04/01] Zim had announced its move 6 months before the attacks, [Virginian-Pilot, 4/03/01] yet 10 employees were still in the building on Sept. 11, taking care of the final moving arrangements. They were able to escape, unharmed. [Jerusalem Post, 9/13/01; Journal of Commerce, 10/18/01]”

Did Leslie Hughes accuse Israel of responsibility for the 911 attacks? Not at all. In fact, she credits them with warning the Americans, a notion that was supported by some news reports and denied by others.

Did Leslie Hughes get it right on the lease breaking, Israeli businesses? Nope.

Does this make Leslie Hughes an antisemite? No. At the worst, she is guilty of getting part of the story wrong. It is a big story and there are a lot of places where a reporter could go wrong. Leslie Hughes is hardly unique in this, but that only makes her human.

Dismissing the Truthers

You would have to have been living in a cave on the dark side of the moon to have missed out on the growing mountain of research that casts doubt on the official version of 911. Some of that research is undoubtedly halfbaked nonsense (and some of it disgustingly antisemitic), but there is enough substance for sensible, open minded people to pause and reflect and demand serious answers.

Instead, what we get are arrogant, dismissive statements designed to marginalize folks who ask legitimate questions.

In this case, false allegations of antisemitism are being used as a tool to discredit a journalist who has asked for answers about 911. Reminiscent of the tactic used by apologists for Israeli foreign policy who brand every criticism as evidence of antisemitism, this kind of smear campaign is a step in the direction of conflating the 911 Truth Movement and antisemitism.

Let us be very clear: antisemitism, like all other forms of rascist bigotry, is completely unacceptable. Similarly, smear campaigns are incompatible with getting to the truth about a terrorist attack which served as the springboard for an orgy of imperialist violence in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Further reading

Professor Anthony Hall, who teaches Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge, has written an interesting reflection on the Hughes affair entitled A Clash of Conspiracy Theories. And here are some other 911 Truth sources that are worth your time:

9/11 Truth
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
Canada Wants the Truth
Complete 9/11 Timeline

]]> http://paulsgraham.ca/index.php/2008/09/30/conflating-anti-semitism-and-911-truth/feed/ 4 http://paulsgraham.ca/index.php/2008/09/27/lay-off-lesley-hughes-jerks/ http://paulsgraham.ca/index.php/2008/09/27/lay-off-lesley-hughes-jerks/#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:46:33 +0000 webmaster http://paulsgraham.ca/?p=195 If former Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes is an antisemite, then George Bush is Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Harper is Mother Theresa and Stephane Dion is capable of leading Canada.

Of course, none of the above is true. In dumping Hughes, a well respected Winnipeg journalist and social activist, Dion has buckled under the pressure of the pro-Israel lobby and proven himself incapable of developing independent foreign policy for Canada. How else are we to judge a man who accepts the nonsense that any criticism of Israel, no matter how minor, is antisemitic?

The article that cut short Hughes brief career as a Liberal candidate, Get the Truth, raises a series of questions about the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The sad irony is that the article did not even criticize Israel. Here is what she had to say:

Many official sources are claiming to have warned the American intelligence community, which spends $30 billion a year gathering information, about the attacks on the twin towers on that heartbreaking day.

German Intelligence (BND) claims to have warned the U.S. last June, the Israeli Mossad and Russian Intelligence in August. Israeli businesses, which had offices in the Towers, vacated the premises a week before the attacks, breaking their lease to do it. About 3000 Americans working there were not so lucky.

If anything, Hughes credits Israeli inteligence with attempting to warn the Americans of an impending attack on the Twin Towers, one which they obviously ignored.

Dion’s spinelessness is not unique, unfortunately. It is difficult to find any political leader who is willing to be critical of Israeli policies. In this instance, though, his gutlessness was stupendous, because Hughes did not “blame the Jews” for anything. The point of her article was to raise questions about the genesis of 9-11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. As she put it:

If the work of Internet journalists is correct, then the war is neither a holy war, not a grand clash of civilizations between East and West, and our soldiers were lost to us and to their families to keep drugs and oil profits flowing in the U.S.

Until we know the truth, we should refuse to add one more Canadian body to the pile of dead in Afghanistan. Not one. Canada should get the truth or get out.

Hughes has been unfairly maligned. Fortunately, many Canadians, especially those who are familiar with her and her work refuse to join the witchhunt that has been mounted by right wing media, zionist apologists and barely literate bloggers.

In an online readers poll today, the Winnipeg Free Press asked: “Do you think Liberal leader Stephane Dion was right to turf Lesley Hughes over 9/11 conspiracy writings?” Of the 2,469 readers who have responded to date, 73 percent have said “No.”

Stephane Dione has not done his party any favours in Winnipeg. However, he may have done Lesley Hughes a big favour. Had she succeeded in her election bid, I doubt she would have been happy for long.

Vancouver East MP Libby Davies brought the issue of 9/11 Truth to the House of Commons last week, but you’d never know about it if you relied on the mainstream media. Fortunately, the blogosphere did take notice, and if faithful readers (this means you) do their part, we can make sure this petition doesn’t gather dust on some shelf in the Parliamentary Library.

The Petition

PETITION TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS
IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED

We, the undersigned citizens of Canada draw the attention of the House to the following:

THAT, scientific and eyewitness evidence shows that the 9/11 Commission Report is a fraudulent document and that those behind the report are consciously or unconsciously guilty of covering up what happened on 9/11/2001. This evidence overwhelmingly supports the conclusion that World Trade Center Towers 1, 2 and 7 were brought down by demolition explosives and that the official theory of the towers collapsing from the airplanes and the ensuing fires is irrefutably false.

We further believe that elements within the US government were complicit in the murder of thousands of people on 9/11/2001. This event brought Canada into the so-called “War on Terror,” it changed our domestic and foreign policies for the worse, and it will continue to have negative consequences for us all if we refuse to look at the facts.

THEREFORE, your petitioners call upon Parliament to:

(1) Immediately launch its own investigation into the events of 9/11/2001 on behalf of the 24 Canadian citizens murdered in New York City.

(2) Act lawfully on the findings of its own investigation by helping to pursue the guilty parties in the international courts.

Committed to truth and accountability,

————————————————–
PETITION POUR LA CHAMBRE DES COMMUNES
SIÉGEANT AU PARLEMENT

NOUS, les soussignés,citoyen du Canada,voulons attirer l’attention de la Chambre sur ce qui suit:

QUE, des témoignages et des preuves scientifiques démontrent que le rapport de la commission d’enquête officielle sur les évènements du 11 septembre 2001 est un document frauduleux et que ceux a l’origine du rapport,consciemment ou inconsciemment, sont coupables d’occulter les évènements réels du 11 septembre 2001. Les preuves amassées démontrent de façon évidente que les tours 1,2 et 7 du World Trade Center ont été démolies a l’aide d’engins explosifs et que la théorie officielle supportant la thèse que les trois tours se sont écroulées suite à l’impact des avions et de la chaleur des incendies qui suivirent est de façon irréfutable,fausse.

Nous croyons fermement que des éléments au sein du gouvernement américain ont été complices du meurtre de milliers d’innocents le 11 septembre 2001. Cet évènement a conduit le Canada a s’engager dans la soi-disant ”guerre au terrorisme” et a changer notre politique nationale et internationale pour le pire. Le 11 septembre 2001 vas continuer d’avoir des conséquences néfastes pour tout le monde si nous refusons d’examiner les faits attentivemement et de facon objective.

Pour ces motifs,les signataires de la présente pétition demandent au Parlement:

(1) De lancer immédiatement sa propre enquête sur les évenement du 11 septembre 2001 au nom des 24 citoyens canadiens tués le 11 septembre 2001 a New York City.

(2) Agir de facon légale,à la lumiere de sa propre enquête,en aidant a pousuivre en justice les vrai coupables devant la cours internationalle de justice.

Pour la vérité et la responsabilité,

When Davies presented the petition it had 500 signatures. If you want to add your name, go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/canada911truth/.

Davies has guts

Bringing this petition to Parliament was a bold move for Davies. If the mainstream media begins to pay attention, she can expect to be dismissed as a nutty, half-baked “conspiracy theorist.” Indeed, many on the left might be tempted to cluck their tongues sympathetically and roll their eyes — “Poor Libby,” they’ll sigh. “She’s surely been working too hard.”

I hope this doesn’t happen. I hope Davies’ gesture encourages friends and critics alike to take a serious look at the research and analysis that supports the idea that 9/11 was an inside job perpetrated by ruthless sociopaths whose aim it was to secure what is left of the world’s petroleum reserves.

I don’t why it is so difficult for otherwise intelligent folks to grasp the idea that international war criminals capable of murdering over one million Iraqis are capable of anything, including killing their own citizens. If you are one of those who has decided to dismiss “9/11 Truthers” as cranks in tin foil hats, you owe it to yourself to take another look at the evidence they have amassed over the past seven years.

Some Resources to Get You Started

9/11 Truth
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
Canada Wants the Truth
Complete 9/11 Timeline

It is cliched, but true, to say that 9/11 changed everything. Among other hideous things, it embroiled Canada in a war of aggression on the side of the American Empire in Afghanistan. Getting out of that war and getting to the truth of the 9/11 attacks are connected. We must not let the federal government ignore Davies’ petition.

If there was a time to write your MP, this is it. Don’t know where to write? Go here.