The confirmation that a Canadian was among 4 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli bombing requires that Canadians consider who is running our country, and who he represents.
This is at least the tenth Canadian killed by Israel in their most grotesquely, unjustifiable war crimes of recent years.
The Canadian killed was in an outpost that was shelled by the Israelis for hours, according to the Guardian. That death can be added to the nine Canadians killed at the outset of Israel’s repulsive action.
On CBC’s Cross Country Checkup last Sunday, when the topic was Mr Harper’s reaction to Israel’s actions, the opinion was often given that Canada is a ‘bit player’ in Middle East diplomacy. In the next breath, the 40- 50,000 Canadians who are living in Lebanon were mentioned.
Lebanon is a country of less than 4 million people. if 50,000 of them hold Canadian passports – 1.25% of the country – then it hardly makes Canada a bit player in that country. Each one of those 50,000 have extended families, so the circle of influence may be much larger. A rough estimate suggests that one Lebanese in 10 has a Canadian in the family. Surely, there are other countries, notably European ones that have larger expat communities there; but those governments have taken a principled, if weak stance against Israel’s action. The idea that our prime minister can give blanket approval to the destruction of a country where 50,000 Canadians live, have family and who have not attacked Israel, but on the contrary, have struggled for more than a decade to rebuild their ancestral home after Israel’s last excesses, is incredible.
Perhaps a more accurate statement is that Canadians are bit players in moral and ethical life, if the statements by their leader are to be any indication. I hope not. But if so, we certainly have, in the moral pygmy that runs Canada today, the leader we deserve.
Addendum
According to the Guardian, the governments of the other countries that had UN peacekeepers killed have deemed Israel’s actions “unacceptable”. According to CBC, our prime minister finds it sad.
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper released an official statement regarding the death of Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener on Wednesday, while former colleagues paid tribute to the soldier killed in an Israeli air strike.”
“I am deeply saddened by reports that Major Hess-von Kruedener serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) mission in south Lebanon is missing and presumed dead as a result of an incident yesterday,” said Harper.
“This regrettable event underscores the dangers that our Canadian Forces members face, in all the roles they undertake, to serve our country with distinction and honour and provide assistance to citizens in countries far from our shores,”
It seems that the dangers he refers to is their sustained shelling by our erstwhile allies, something familiar from the four Canadians killed by US yahoo pilots in Afghanistan.
