The El-Ay Cafe (Pt. 2)

Borys Wrzesnewsky, Liberal Critic of Foreign Affairs, resigned his post today for two reasons: a name that is impossible to spell, and because he was quoted as saying that he supported removing Hezbollah from Canada's list of terrorist organizations. I would applaud that move. Too often in the realm of the Middle East conflict do people become involved and make impassioned speeches with the best of intensions. However, this often leads to visceral statements such as the one made by Mr. Wrzesnewsky. People often think when they delve into this subject matter that they have the solution to the problem, but with a problem as complex and socially scarring as this one, it is really not realistic. People have ideas and react on thoughts and instincts rather than on reasoned thinking and logic. That is a problem. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his caucus have also been criticized for their approach to this conflict, with Mr. Harper's word "measured" (in describing Israel's response to Hezbollah's proximal instigation of the conflict) being dissected and attacked in diatribe throughout the media and blogosphere. Regardless of what I think, it is important for people to think logically about this subject before making statements such as the one mr. Wrezsnewsky made the other day, and I applaud him for having the courage to step down from his position and realizing he made a mistake.

That being said, I think that there is no doubt that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Even all ten Liberal leadership candidates agreed that Hezbollah is in fact a terrorist organization. Successsive Liberal governments have called it a terrorist organization, including the current one. Hezbollah carries out sensational attacks on non-combatants, and that is where you draw the line. I believe a posted a picture a while ago as my facebook picture that draws the line between Hezbollah and Israel.

I think that what Wreznewsky was actually trying to say is that we should remove them from the list because we want to be able to negotiate with Hezbollah, so that we can differentiate between the political and military wings, and work with the political wing towards a solution to this decades-old conflict. I disagree whole heartedly. There can be no negotiation until Hezbollah disarms and retracts its aim to destroy Israel. Parlimentary Secretary Jason Kenney made a parallel between Hezbollah and Nazi Germany, saying that "there was another political party in the past which had support, democratic support — which provided social services which played an important role in the political life of its country in the 1930s — which was also dedicated to violence against the Jewish people", and I agree with the comparison. We cannot act as the Chamberlains of the 21st century. We failed to disarm Germany properly after Versailles, and we cannot fail to disarm Hezbollah now.

Speaking of Germany, a new restaurant in India has sparked protests from India's very small and, one would assume, marginal Jewish community in Mumbai. This is ridiculous. What kind of eatery names themselves after Hitler? The glorification of a mass murder is kind of extreme, I would think. India has been known to be very touchy in the religious sphere, using the government intervention in social life by banning films like the Da Vinci Code and banning the Danish Muhammed cartoons. While eating pieces of cake, one can socialize under the watchful eye of Hitler's portrait. What a dining experience. This is atrocious.