Vivian Bercovici
National Post, Feb. 16, 2022
In Israel on Monday, a copycat “Freedom Convoy” further snarled the usual traffic mayhem in Jerusalem, and a small group of protesters lingered as close to the Knesset as they could get.
This is Israel. Security is a real thing here. So all government buildings are, you know, very secure, particularly the parliament building. Without top-level security clearances and multiple checks on their person, belongings and vehicle, no one and nothing gets closer than around 800 metres from the seat of democracy.
The demonstrators said they were protesting all mandates and advocating for freedom. Yet most Israelis were unaware that this was going on, as much more significant issues dominated the news cycle on Monday — including a few that represent very real security threats.
Moreover, Israel has very little left in the way of mandates. Masks are required here and there, but enforcement is lax. Life is very normal. So the trucker protest here was a bit of a yawner.
Israel is no stranger to noisy, disruptive protests. I live a block away from Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, which, until the recent renovations began, was the main national venue for demonstrations — especially when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in power. Yet municipal police had no trouble controlling the crowds.
For years, there were terribly disruptive demonstrations outside the prime minister’s official residence every Saturday night. They were noisy as hell and caused traffic chaos, but were also managed by municipal police.
In May 2021, when Hamas targeted Israeli civilians with thousands of rockets, and even scored a few direct hits, I don’t recall any emergency powers being invoked.
In the midst of the conflict, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement urging Israel to demonstrate “restraint” and “to act in accordance with international law.” The inference, of course, is that, in response to approximately 3,500 rockets launched by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad at civilian targets, the Israel Defence Forces’ acts of self-defence were neither “restrained” nor “in accordance with international law.”
A week later, Trudeau pledged his ongoing support for “peace-building initiatives” that “support dialogue and co-operation between Israelis and Palestinians.” Then-international development minister Karina Gould reinforced Trudeau’s comments, speaking of “building bridges between communities to address this conflict.”
While the sentiment was admirable, the Iranian-backed extremist forces in Gaza have demonstrated that they are not particularly open to dialogue. Hamas is recognized in Canada and much of the western world as a terrorist organization. The very real threat to life, limb and livelihood during that period demanded a swift and strong military response.
Which brings us to Ottawa. Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for peace, order and good government. I’ve also long been a keen student of the fundamentals of properly functioning democracies: a free press, government accountability, freedom of expression and association, and all that jazz. And I am a huge fan of the uniquely Canadian approach to safeguarding democratic rights and freedoms by balancing individual with collective interests. Tip too far in one direction and you’ve got a Titanic on your hands.
There’s no doubt that the circumstances in Israel and Canada are very different. Canada’s borders are beyond peaceful. Yet government ministers were characterizing the protests as an insurrection and an “illegal occupation.”
What might have begun as a fringe movement that advocated taking tea with the Governor General in order to depose the duly elected government (I think we can all agree that they were a touch unhinged), seemed to evolve into something different, very quickly: an outpouring of a general frustration with ongoing COVID mandates and what some referred to as government overreach. The Freedom Convoy became a lightning rod for widespread discontent.
As a proud Canadian, I am deeply distressed. I remember the FLQ Crisis, when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act. I remember how we waited for news about James Cross and Pierre Laporte. The latter, a Quebec cabinet minister, was murdered by the terrorists. I vividly remember the fear — in my household, in my school, everywhere. And I recall Pierre Trudeau’s indefatigable leadership in standing up for peace, order, good government and principle.
I struggle, sadly, today, to tease out the principled position of the current Trudeau government in its vilification of Freedom Convoy participants and supporters. Hot tubs, beer parties, makeshift barbecues, half-baked memorandums of understanding — none of these come close to insurrection.
There seem to have been no serious attempts to negotiate, defuse or manage the situation. Throughout the two-week standoff, rather than acknowledge the diverse crowds protesting at various locales in Canada, the prime minister chose to dig in and continue to promote his dismissal of the lot as fringe racists. We know, from so many eyewitness reports, that this did not reflect the facts on the ground.
The FLQ situation was a full-on national crisis. Israeli civilians being bombed in their homes by Hamas was a full-on crisis. But the Freedom Convoy and supporters occupying Ottawa with trucks, barbecues, bouncy castles and obnoxious horn honking? No.
On Monday, with the announcement that the federal government was invoking the Emergencies Act, one had to question: why? The Ambassador Bridge — the most critical border crossing that had been blocked — had been cleared, without incident. Additional blockades were cleared shortly after, also without incident.
Perhaps, before resorting to the most extreme response, the government should have considered, you know, negotiating a resolution. A learning moment, you could call it.
To view the original article, click here
