[Ed.’s Note: Rarely do we come across a piece of media bias as blatant as what follows, and by a man who–often presented as a paragon of Establishment values–is also presented as a potential successor of Justin Trudeau as Liberal Prime Minister. Hence, we present this vicious and unsubstantiated attack on the peaceful “Freedom” truckers’ Ottawa protest in full, as this week’s combined “Media-ocrity” and Weekly Quotes” segment.]
It’s Time to End the Sedition in Ottawa By Enforcing the Law and Following the Money: Mark Carney, The Globe and Mail, Feb. 7, 2022
“In our capital city, most people have been terrorized for more than a week. Women fleeing abuse have been too afraid to venture outside their homes for groceries Families have been deprived of sleep for days on end. by the constant barrage of 100 decibel noise. Control over the city’s downtown core, which includes the Parliamentary Precinct, was ceded by the police and taken over by what the chair of the Police Services Board describes as an “insurrection.”
Canadians can be forgiven if they thought this would never happen in Ottawa.
The goals of the leadership of the so-called freedom convoy were clear from the start: to remove from power the government that Canadians elected less than six months ago. Their blatant treachery was dismissed as comic, which meant many didn’t take them as seriously as they should have. Certainly not our public safety authorities, whose negotiations facilitated the convoy’s entry into the heart of our capital and have watched as its dangerous infrastructure has been steadily reinforced – a policy of engagement that has amounted to a reality of appeasement.
On the first weekend, many Canadians who joined the demonstrations undoubtedly had peaceful objectives. Tired as we all are with unprecedented disruptions that we’ve all endured over the past two years, it’s understandable that many would want to come to Ottawa to protest. It’s a free country, and everyone should be able to express their opinions free of interference from the state, just as the press should be able to report without fear of harassment or intimidation.
But now in its second week, no one should have any doubt. This is sedition. That’s a word I never thought I’d use in Canada. It means “incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.”
On Sunday, authorities began to draw the line. Declaring a state of emergency was the right thing to do.
From now on, those who are occupying the downtown of our country’s capital should be in no doubt. They are no longer simply advocating a different strategy to end COVID-19. They are not patriots. This is not about “restoring freedom” but beginning anarchy. This isn’t getting carried away at a rally. It’s not a rush of blood to the head. It’s deliberate and calculated, and because of that, they must know that from now on, there will be consequences for their actions.
The police had been reluctant to enforce the most basic bylaws. But these “infractions” – the constant blaring of horns at all hours, the harassment of people, the culture of fear – have been making residents’ lives hell, will bankrupt our businesses, and if left unchecked, would help achieve the convoy’s goal of undermining our democracy and the rule of law.
Those who are still helping to extend this occupation must be identified and punished to the full force of the law.
Drawing the line means choking off the money that financed this occupation. Again, many Canadians who were amongst the initial donors were likely well meaning. Perhaps they were unaware of the convoy’s stated objectives, or – like many in positions of authority in Ottawa – they didn’t take them seriously. Perhaps all they wanted was a new COVID-19 policy with fewer restrictions.
But by now anyone sending money to the convoy should be in no doubt: You are funding sedition. Foreign funders of an insurrection interfered in our domestic affairs from the start. Canadian authorities should take every step within the law to identify and thoroughly punish them. The involvement of foreign governments and any officials connected to them should be identified, exposed and addressed.
I know from experience that crises don’t end by themselves. You can’t spin your way out of failure. You must recognize the scale of the challenge, devise a clear plan and then implement it methodically and deliberately. Your determination to do so can never be in doubt. Then and only then can order be restored. In this case, that means enforcing the law and following the money. Individuals must be held responsible for their lawlessness and those who financed their actions must be dissuaded from ever doing so again.
Our Constitution is based on peace, order and good government. We must live up to this founding principle in order to protect all our freedoms.”
[Mr. Carney was the former governor of the Bank of Canada, and of the Bank of England. His remarks echoed those of P.M. Justin Trudeau Monday, after a week of silence – Ed.]
“Whoever thinks that an agreement will increase stability—is mistaken. It will temporarily delay enrichment, but all of us in the region will pay a heavy, disproportionate price for it.” – Israeli PM Naftali Bennett warning that the deal being negotiated with Iran in Vienna could “damage” Israel’s ability to deal with the country’s nuclear program. (JNS, Feb. 6, 2022)
“I am deeply concerned these waivers show the administration is preparing to cut a nuclear deal with Iran that would be worse than the original JCPOA. We already know that Iran will enter any new deal closer to amassing enough fuel for a nuclear weapon than it was under the JCPOA. I urge the administration not to agree to another bad nuclear deal. And I remind them that if they reach any nuclear deal with Iran, it will be subject to review by Congress under the law – and my colleagues and I will closely scrutinize the terms. Another bad deal is worse for our national security than no deal.” — House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul in a statement on reports that Iran’s nuclear program is advanced enough that re-entering the JCPOA would allow Iran to amass enough nuclear fuel for a bomb in significantly less than a year, a shorter period than when the original JCPOA was agreed to. This news comes as the administration issues new waivers for Iran’s nuclear program. (Foreign Affairs Committee, Feb. 5, 2022)While sitting shiva, Jonathan Pollard said that his wife Esther’s last words had “completely changed my life.” He said that “she was dying and her eyes were closed. She opened her eyes and I was holding her hand and…I don’t know where she was, she was just looking up. She said in a very small voice that ‘My neshama volunteered to come back for two missions. One of them was to bring you home and the other one was to bring you home as a Jew and not as a goy.’ She said the first mission was the easiest one of all….I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She added that the hardest mission was to make sure you returned home as a Jew. She said that ‘now I have accomplished my missions I can go home’- and then she died.” Esther Pollard passed on Jan. 31st at age 68. (VIN, Feb. 4, 2022)
“We will need to learn to live with the virus. There may be a sixth wave eventually, but we will have to live with COVID.” – Quebec Premier François Legault. Quebec will lift Covid restrictions in Quebec by mid-March. (CTV News,Feb. 8, 2022)
US WAIVES SANCTIONS ON IRAN’S CIVIL ATOMIC PROGRAM IN BID TO ADVANCE NUKE TALKS (Washington) — As US negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran’s civilian nuclear activities. Friday’s move lifts the sanctions threat against foreign countries and companies from Russia, China, and Europe cooperating with non-military parts of Iran’s nuclear program under the terms of the 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA. (Times of Israel, Feb. 5, 2022)
DETAILS EMERGE OF COMPLEX IDF OPERATION THAT KILLED THREE TERRORISTS IN NABLUS (Nablus) — Details of Tuesday’s IDF operation that killed three members of a terrorist cell based in the West Bank city of Nablus reveal a swift but complex military action carried out by elite forces. The mission took place in four stages, initiated after the Shin Bet security service and the IDF began tracking the terror cell and establishing its members’ identities. (WIN, Feb. 8, 2022)
EMIRATI LAWMAKERS VISIT KNESSET FOR FIRST TIME, TALK OF ‘FULL ENGAGEMENT’ (Jerusalem) — For the first time since the signing of the Abraham Accords, members of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council visited the Knesset in Jerusalem. The top-level delegation included His Excellency Dr. Ali Al Nuaimi, chair of the Defense Affairs, Interior, and Foreign Affairs Committee for the council. (WIN, Feb. 8, 2022)
ISRAEL’S JUSTICE MINISTER APPROVES SANCTIONS AGAINST BEN & JERRY’S (Jerusalem) — Israeli Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar approved the sanctioning of ice-cream manufacturer Ben & Jerry’s and its parent company, Unilever Global, for its decision to sever its licensing agreement with Ben & Jerry’s Israel. Unilever announced that it was ending the contract last year after Ben & Jerry’s Israel refused to stop selling its dessert products to communities in Judea and Samaria, including eastern Jerusalem. Sa’ar approved the enacting of Israel’s Boycott Law, which the Knesset passed in 2011 enabling sanctions against companies that harm the Jewish state. The decision still needs approval by the Knesset. (JNS, Feb. 6, 2022)
QATAR RULES OUT NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL (Doha) — Qatar ruled out normalizing relations with Israel during an interviewwith Axios earlier this week. According to the report, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said his country had previously maintained ties “when there were prospects for peace” with the Palestinians, but that it “lost hope” after the 2008-09 Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. He said that while Qatar continues to have a “working relationship” with Israel to help the Palestinians, he does not envision the country joining the Abraham Accords “in the absence of a real commitment to a two-state solution.” (Cleveland Jewish News, Feb. 4, 2022)
NEW HOLOCAUST MUSEUM COMING TO MONTREAL IN 2025(Montreal) — A bigger, more interactive and more modern Holocaust museum will be opening its doors in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood in 2025. The opening of the relocated Montreal Holocaust Museum will coincide with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. The new museum will be located on a 1,858 square-metre lot near the junction of the city’s museum and entertainment districts. (Global News, Feb. 7, 2022)
HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT LAUNCHED AGAINST UTFA PRESIDENT(Toronto) — A group of Jewish professors at the University of Toronto has launched a human rights complaint against the president of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA). The complaint before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) emerges out of an online panel event last June 15 regarding the Valentina Azarova affair at U of T. UTFA President Terezia Zoric used her concluding remarks to warn that an “entitled Zionist minority” was engaged in “unending harassment and psychological warfare” against critics of the recent Cromwell Report,commissioned by the University to investigate the Azarova controversy. The HRTO complaint, submitted on behalf of nine active or retired U of T professors, alleges that Zoric’s remarks constituted antisemitic stereotyping and breached their rights under Sections 1, 6, and 13 of the Ontario Human Rights Code. (Bnai Brith Canada, Dec. 3, 2022)
DUKE PASSES RESOLUTION CONDEMNING ANTI-SEMITISM, ADOPTING IHRA DEFINITION (Durham, N. Carolina) — Duke University Student Government senators approved a resolution that condemns antisemitism and adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. (JNS, Feb. 4, 2022)
XI AND PUTIN ANNOUNCE ‘NO LIMITS’ PARTNERSHIP AMID DEEPENING STANDOFF WITH WEST (Beijing) — China’s leader Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on the opening day of the Winter Olympics in a show of solidarity amid mounting pressures from the West. The leader of the Chinese Communist Party hasn’t left the country since the onset of the pandemic in January 2020. Facing U.S.-led efforts to pressure the Chinese regime over its human rights abuses and Russia over its military buildup near the Ukraine border, the two leaders proclaimed a “no limits” friendship during the summit on Feb. 4. They also signed gas and oil contracts worth an estimated $117.5 billion. (Epoch Times, Feb. 4, 2022)
FROZEN OUT OF GOFUNDME, CANADIAN PROTEST CONVOY RAISES MILLIONS ON CHRISTIAN SITE (Ottawa) — After being denied several million dollars raised on GoFundMe, organizers of a trucker-led protest disrupting life in Canada’s capital have found a new platform: a Christian crowdfunding site where they raised more than $3.5 million in two days to demonstrate against the country’s vaccine mandate. The new fundraiser hosted by GiveSendGo reported that the “Freedom Convoy” campaign had raised several million dollars two days after GoFundMe announced that it was freezing more than $8 million in donations to the cause, a move that led Republican officials in the United States to announce investigations. (Washington Post, Feb. 7, 2022)
PENCE CALLS TRUMP WRONG IN CLAIMING VICE PRESIDENT COULD OVERTURN ELECTION RESULT (Washington) — Former Vice President Mike Pence forcefully rejected former President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that Mr. Pence could have overturned the 2020 election outcome during the session of Congress that was interrupted by pro-Trump rioters. (WSJ, Feb. 4, 2022)
TALIBAN ELITE SEND DAUGHTERS OVERSEAS FOR ‘GOOD EDUCATION’ (Kabul) — High-ranking officials have enrolled their children in overseas state schools and universities while depriving schooling to millions of girls within Afghanistan since they seized power, according to a report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN). (The Sydney Morning Herald, Feb. 8, 2022)
