Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the man convicted of murdering 270 people by planting a bomb on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, has been released from jail in Scotland on “compassionate grounds.” The 57 year old is suffering from prostate cancer and doctors estimate he has just 3 months left to survive. In an attempt to explain the out of the ordinary release, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill cited compassionate grounds, stating that Megrahi was being released so he could “[go] home to die.” “Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion available,” MacAskill said.

Arriving in his homeland of Libya, Megrahi received a heroes welcome with a large crowd gathered waving flags, throwing flowers and honking horns at the military airport in Tripoli.
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In 1980, a synagogue in Paris’s 16th arrondissement was bombed in a terrorist attack. Blamed on the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Special Operation, it killed three Frenchmen and an Israeli woman, while wounding twenty others. (The French Prime Minster at the time of the attack, Raymond Barre, made a comment to the effect that the bomb was targeting Jews and instead killed innocent Frenchmen…)

In 2008, Hassan Diab, a Canadian university professor of Lebanese birth, was arrested in connection with the bombings. He had taught courses at the University of Ottawa and at the time was a sociology professor at Carleton. After his arrest he was released on bail with special conditions that would allow him to continue to teach. His extradition to France is currently working its way through the courts, and has been described by a judge as ‘far from a sure thing’.
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One hundred and twenty-seven soldiers dead. That’s the causality count (to date) of Canadian solders in Afghanistan… for what could possibly be the biggest most costly renovation project that Canada got suckered into. We’re fixing up Afghanistan folks, but the tenants don’t want us to.

Seven years ago. This whole thing was sold to the Canadian public as a war. The war on terrorism. While not a conventional war, we were still behind it. We were part of a global initiative to make the world safer. For us, them, and everyone. And we were going to kick the Taliban’s butt to boot. Sounded good. Right?
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Since its inception in 2001 after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Canada’s anti-terrorism laws will take effect for the first time. On Thursday, Mohammad Momin Khawaja will be sentenced after being convicted last fall of five counts of facilitating and financing terrorism. For the full story, click here

Terrorist Goose!

After a short, yet substantive joint investigation conducted by the FBI and CIA, the Bush administration has finally confirmed that terrorist birds were responsible for taking down US Airways flight 1549 into the Hudson River. Canadian Geese, grown, raised and trained in Canada by Al-Qaida were able to miraculously infiltrate the Canadian-U.S. border to conduct their attacks. It remains unclear how the birds were able to penetrate one of the most heavily protected borders in the world.

Bush wasted no time reacting to the terrorist attack, further showing his quick response rate to disasters and his ability to protect America. Fearing a second terrorist bird plot, FBI agents have been ordered to detain all Canadian geese found on U.S. soil. All detained geese will be sent straight to Guantanamo Bay pending an unfair trial. The move is expected to increase Bush’s approval rating as he nears the end of his term.
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CUPE National President Paul Moist denounces Sid Ryan's proposed resolution.

CUPE National president, Paul Moist, released a statement on January 13th calling Sid Ryan’s proposal wrong and discriminatory.

“As the national president of Canada’s largest union, with over 580,000 members, I can say that none of CUPE’s over 2,000 chartered bodies – including CUPE Ontario – have adopted such a resolution. I believe such a resolution is wrong and would violate the anti-discrimination standards set out in the CUPE Constitution. I will be using my influence in any debates on such a resolution to oppose its adoption.”
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Israeli Warplanes Strike Gaza

As fighting in the Gaza Strip continues into its third week, the United Nations Security Council passed a ceasefire resolution in an attempt to bring a halt to the violence. The vote was passed 14-0-1 with the US abstaining. Unfortunately, the cease fire agreement makes no sense for either party, reiterating their inability to truly understand the Middle East conflict.

On the Israeli side of the conflict, the ceasefire resolution inadequately addresses Israel’s security concerns. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated that Israel “has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens,” and that the proposed ceasefire agreement is simply “unworkable.”

The ceasefire agreement calls for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and for monitors to deploy along the Philadelphia Corridor to ensure Hamas does not continue to smuggle weapons from Egypt. It’s pretty obvious why Israel finds this resolution “inadequate.”
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Sid Ryan Makes an Empty Apology

No, he did not apologize for his plan to ban Israeli professors from Ontario’s campuses. No, he did not apologize for his double standard against Israel; since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, thousands of Hamas rockets have been fired into Israel and have hit several Israeli schools.

What he apologized for is the part where he compared Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis during World War II. The Nazis who demolished learning institutions and burnt all religious books, compared to the Israel Defense Force who targeted a building allegedly housing terrorists. Canadians were outraged at such a racist comment and Ryan had no choice but to take his comment back.

While apologizing for this ghastly remark is a step in the right direction, Sid Ryan has not swayed his position at all. This empty apology leads me and all of my fellow Canadians to ask, “Now what?”
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As the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip lingers on, Canada remains committed to its view on the Middle East conflict. New comments from Peter Kent, Junior Foreign Minister and designated spokesman on the conflict clarify and strengthen Canada’s position on the hotly debated issue.

“Again, Hamas bears the burden of responsibility. This history of Hamas is to use civilian infrastructure and civilian populations as shields for their terrorist activities,” said Kent, rejecting any suggestion that Israel’s response to Hamas rocket attacks has been disproportionate.

Kent presents a valid point that’s often “forgotten” in the negative blitz of media attacks on Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip. Hamas purposely operates in densely populated areas within the strip as a means of deterring Israeli retaliatory strikes. Just days ago, eyewitnesses in Gaza told the Associated Press Hamas militants were using the UN school hit by Israeli forces to fire mortars at Israeli soldiers. Video from late 2007 also confirms Hamas’ use of schools as an area from which to fire rockets at Israel. That video can be seen here. And to strengthen his case even more, a recently released video shows Hamas using UN sponsored ambulances to hide from Israeli forces operating in the strip.
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CUPE is the Canadian Union of Public Employees that represents over 500 000 public employees across Canada. They have made headlines recently when the CUPE sector (CUPE 3903) representing the Teaching Assistants and many professors went on strike and displaced 50 000 students at Toronto’s York University.

If the outrage against CUPE, from this ongoing strike, is not enough, Sid Ryan, President of CUPE in Ontario, certainly decided to make matters worse. Tarnishing his own reputation and what was left of CUPE’s, Ryan released a press statement calling for a ban of any Israeli academics from speaking, teaching, or doing research work at Ontario universities. The only way Israelis can gain or retain employment is if they condemn the recent Israeli attack on the Islamic University in Gaza. On December 29th, Israel conducted an air strike on this university as part of their campaign to destroy the Hamas terrorist organization. Ryan then said that Israel is acting in the same manner as the Nazis by attacking an institution of learning. This ban on Israelis from campuses across the province will have a preliminary vote in February and if a majority is received, a final vote will be held in May.

HAS HE LOST HIS MIND?
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