Volume 98, Issue 27

January 15, 2009

McGill
THE

DAILY Conflicted since 1911

GAZA
THOUSANDS PROTEST INVASION IN MONTREAL news 2+3
THE SHIFT IN POPULAR DISCOURSE commentary 6
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CRISIS letters 9
HAMAS MUST BE TALKED TO features 10+11
STIFLING DISCUSSION WON’T SOLVE THE CONFLICT editorial 19
 2 News

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Montrealers march in
solidarity with Gaza
Deborah Guterman
News Writer
A
n estimated 10,000 people
marched Saturday in protest
against the Israeli military
campaign in Gaza, part of a world-
wide movement denouncing recent
violence.
The frustrations of the crowd
were tangible. Participants walked
down Ste. Catherine from Peel to
St. Urbain, chanting “Viva! Viva!
Intifada!” and “Israel—Assassin!
Israel—Terrorist!”
“I feel a little helpless,” said
McGill graduate student Kianoosh
Hashemzadeh at the protest. “I feel
like this is helping me feel as if I am
a part of a movement that is against
the activity taking place in Gaza.”
According to the Israeli Minister
of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, the aim
of Israel’s offensive is to stop the bar-
rage of rockets and mortars being
fired from Gaza into southern Israel,
numbering about 500 since the start
of the 20-day offensive. However,
due to the low mortality rate of the
Hamas rockets, the conflict has left
13 Israelis and over 900 Palestinians
dead. In addition, 4,400 Gazans have
been injured to date.
Protester and McGill law student
Maha Hussain defended Israel’s right
to protect its citizens, but felt the
Israeli response to be disproportion-
ate.
“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel;
they have nowhere to evacuate to,”
she said, referring to Gaza’s borders,
which have been sealed for the past
18 months.
The campaign was organized by
the Coalition for Justice and Peace in
Palestine, Tadamon! Montreal, and
Solidarity with Palestinian Human
Rights (SPHR).
Many Jewish groups also took part
in the rally, including the Alliance of
Concerned Jewish Canadians (ACJC),
Independent Jewish Voices, and
Young Jews for Social Justice (YJSJ), a
new Quebec Public Interest Research
Group-McGill working group.
Elise Eisenkraft Klein, a member of
the YJSJ, emphasized the diversity of
voices within the Jewish community.
“I think it’s important that the
Jewish community is not shown as
being a monolithic voice, and that
there are opinions that Jews have
out there other than [those of] the
big organizations and pro-Israel...lob-
bies,” said Klein.
Speaking at the demonstration,
Independent Jewish Voices represen-
tative Abby Lippman called on Jewish
Photos by Charles Mostoller / The McGill Daily
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2008 3
history to justify Jewish opposition
to Israeli policies in the Occupied
Territories.
“Silence kills. Jews know this all
too well,” said Lippman. “We can-
not stay and watch others kill in our
name.
“We will stand up in solidarity
with all those who are demanding
an end to Israel’s attacks in Gaza, to
the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and
to the continuation of violations of
human rights and international law,”
added Lippman.
Aaron Lakoff, a collective member
of Tadamon! Montreal, maintained that
Israeli treatment of the Palestinians
contradicts Jewish values.
“A lot of people have interpreted
Jewish values to be standing for liber-
ation and for justice. And what Israel
is doing is actually smack in the face
of those traditions and a smack in the
face of all of humanity,” said Lakoff.
No opposing groups organized
against the protest. However, onlook-
er Yoni Khajehzadeh was displeased
with the march. Identifying himself
as an Iranian Jew, Khajehzadeh was
concerned the demonstration threat-
ened Israel’s legitimacy as nation-
state.
“I’m not saying that everything
that is going on in Gaza is right, but
what I am saying is that Israel has a
right to exist as a sovereign Jewish
state,” said Khajehzadeh.
The Montreal demonstration
coincided with several held across
Canada in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary,
and Vancouver over the weekend.
Tens of thousands have also protest-
ed in Britain, France, Belgium, and
Spain.
According to Nina Amrov, spokes-
person for SPHR, the primary goal
of the protest was to mobilize those
outraged by the alleged war crimes
committed by the Israeli Defense
Forces in Gaza. The organization
hopes the demonstration will incite
the Conservative government to end
its support of Israeli policies that fla-
grantly abuse international law, said
Amrov.
In addition, both Amrov and
Lakoff underscored the need to con-
sider the context in which Hamas has
been firing rockets, saying the tar-
geted towns – Ashkelon, Sderot, and
Ashdod – are where many Gazans
lived before 1948 and 1967.
“We’re talking about the Gaza
Strip: 75 per cent of the population
there are refugees. It’s the world’s
largest open-air prison,” said Lakoff.
“People have to go through the
largest obstacles in the world just to
get basic necessities of life.”
 4 News
Refused homeless get new beds
Program likely to end in the spring when funding dries up
Hayley Lapalme
McGill Daily
H
omeless people who are rou-
tinely refused from shelters
because of cited misconduct
will now have a place to sleep. The
City of Montreal will offer a new bed
service at select locations to keep the
homeless from braving the cold over-
night.
Initiated on December 15, 2008,
the service, known as the respite
program, provides a small, private
room to guests refused elsewhere
for a period of 72 hours in an effort
to reintegrate them back into the
general shelter system. The urgency
of such a program is marked by the
death of André Gagnon, who died on
a park bench from sub-zero tempera-
tures in late December, days after the
program began.
The Réseau d’aide aux personnes
seules et itinérantes de Montréal
(RAPSIM), a coalition that defends
homeless rights, hopes that the inclu-
sive nature of the respite program will
attract those who previously avoided
city services.
“The minimum is to offer a place
where they can spend the night out
of the cold…and to help them to take
more long term steps,” explained
RAPSIM member Patricia Viannay.
While emergency mechanisms
have existed since 2003 to guarantee
a bed to anyone who requests one,
according to Cyril Morgan, Director
of the Welcome Home Mission – an
organization that reaches out to the
homeless – many still choose to sleep
outside or are refused access to shel-
ters.
“We found that many times, men
get turned away because they were
not received properly or because
Pro-life club hosts controversial event during interim
McGill students divided on Choose Life’s pictures of fetuses at crossroads
Josh Nobleman
News Writer
P
ro-life group Choose Life could
push for full club status by
month’s end, provided that
the club’s interim activities are not
considered unacceptable by SSMU’s
Equity Committee.
At the October 28 Council meet-
ing, Choose Life was granted three-
month interim club status in a 21-to-
two vote, amidst concerns voiced
by students from the Quebec Public
Interest Research Group-McGill and
the Union for Gender Empowerment
(UGE) about incendiary anti-abor-
tion tactics used by similar groups.
Preceding the vote, Choose Life
president Natalie Fohl assured stu-
dents and councillors that the club
would not condone “using graphic
ONLINE
Check out the audio
version of this story at
mcgilldaily.com and
broadcast on CKUT
in the coming days.
they have trouble getting their story
across. They need somebody who
will sit down with them and will say,
‘look, what’s your problem, how can
we help you, and where will we go
from here?’” Morgan said.
While intoxication, violence, dis-
orderly behaviour, and drug use
are often-cited reasons for refused
access, RAPSIM suggested that the
homeless are often refused for rea-
sons more complicated than these
labels suggest.
“[Refusal] is related to a combi-
nation of problems: substance abuse
issues are mixed with mental health
issues,” explained Viannay, adding
that compound problems compli-
cate the shelter’s response to their
case.
Morgan explained that the respite
program aims to improve the alloca-
tion of city beds, since most nights
they are left empty as Montrealers
prefer to sleep on the street.
“I don’t know of anybody who has
requested a bed in Montreal, and [for
whom] none were found,” Morgan
said.
To date, the respite program
has seen the Pavillion Patricia
MacKenzie add two beds for women
and Welcome Hall add four more for
men to provide the respite service.
Roughly a dozen people have used
the service so far.
Jacques Bertrand, also of
RAPSIM, regretted that economic
constraints have prevented the
creation of a new location catering
pictures or circulating literature that
could be construed as hateful.”
SSMU VP External Devin Alfaro
assured Council in October that
definite consequences would follow
if Choose Life were to circulate any
such material, and Choose Life was
granted the right to free speech and
regular assembly.
On November 24, at one of the
club’s first events, Choose Life tabled
at the McGill crossroads with displays
of images of fetuses – an event Fohl
hoped would bring the issue into
public focus. The club established a
voting booth and comment station
asking when a fetus should legally be
considered a person,
“We wanted the voting to spark
discussion, encourage people to
reflect on the question, and voice
their opinion,” said Fohl.
Displayed on the table were to-
While beds are almost always available to Montreal homeless, many still sleep on the street.
specifically to the needs of respite
guests, thus requiring an intensi-
fication of existing infrastructures
instead.
“What we did was less spectacu-
lar. The work was done quickly,” he
said, adding that city institutions
consulted only briefly before taking
action.
According to Viannay, there are
few real alternatives to shelters
in Montreal. Inadequate fallbacks
include cafés, open stairways, bus
shelters, park benches, garbage
dumpsters, heating vents, or the
underside of sandwich boards.
There exists no legal way to force
the homeless into shelters if they
scale images of a fetus developing
from conception. Each month of
pregnancy contained different facts
about foetal development, and each
fetus “said” something in the photo
caption, with the seventh-month
fetus saying, “I can look around!”
On the table, in a binder, lay
similar illustrations photocopied
from a biology textbook, “Human
Development.”
Diagonally across from Choose
Life, a group of students organized
an informal counter-protest on the
corner of the crossroads, handing
out pieces of cloth reading “my body,
my rules.” Other protesting students’
signs matched those displayed by the
UGE at the October Council meeting:
“Legalize abortion” and “fight gender
oppression.”
U3 Sociology student Sarah
Golightly, a member of the UGE who
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
decline. The city seeks to catch part
of the population neglected by the
shelter system with the respite pro-
gram.
Rejent, a man living on the street
since his wife died six years ago,
expressed no desire to seek shelter
in a city institution, describing them
as depressing. He was not convinced
that the public is concerned with the
circumstances of the homeless.
“We die like flies, and the world
doesn’t care. We are a disposable
community,” he said.
Funding for the respite program
– provided by the province and the
city – will expire at the end of the
winter, but Matthey Pearce of the
took part in counter-protest, was con-
cerned with the philosophy Choose
Life was promoting.
“[They’re] portraying people who
have had abortions as immoral,” said
Golightly. “I’m most concerned about
the effect this could have on students
[with] what I consider to be propa-
ganda.”
The UGE is due to publish a repro-
ductive rights zine in February.
However, U2 Philosophy Honours
Trevor Bant did not react as strongly
to the group’s event.
“I see no problem as long as they
say things in a respectful and tolerant
manner,” Bant said. “But I don’t know
how many McGill students would be
sympathetic to their cause.”
Fohl maintained that no pam-
phlets were actively handed out, and
those available for circulation con-
tained no inflammatory or graphic
Rachel Wine / The McGill Daily
Old Brewery Mission, a shelter in
Old Montreal, stressed the need for
it to be extended indefinitely. “While
it may be true that you won’t die of
the cold on the streets of Montreal
in July, there are other reasons why
you might be victimized and assault-
ed, and at risk in the summer. So we
think this service should be year-
long,” he said.
The city resurrected the model for
the respite project from L’Echelle, a
pilot project run by the Old Brewery
Mission a few years ago. L’Echelle ran
out of funds and closed operations
at the end the end of the winter, and
the respite program will likely go the
same way.
material, despite certain students’
charges that the club distributed
hateful material.
Complaints from individual stu-
dents can be made through the SSMU
Equity Committee; the Judicial Board
hears grievances between clubs.
According to SSMU VP Clubs &
Services Samantha Cook, some stu-
dent complaints have been taken
up with the Equity Committee, but
SSMU will not necessarily reopen
the Choose Life debate at Council,
as equity officers may decide the
issue independently or defer it to
a separate committee. To date, the
Judicial Board has received no com-
plaints.
Choose Life’s next planned event
is a talk on Monday by Mary Meehan,
a veteran pro-life speaker urging
liberals and feminists to defend the
unborn.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
Montreal crime drops
Band-aid
solutions don’t
address root causes
of crime, say critics
Sam Neylon
The McGill Daily
L
ast year, Montreal experienced
its lowest level of violence since
1972. This hopeful news is tem-
pered, however, by a year that saw
violence perpetrated by both civil-
ians and police that erupted after the
police shooting of 18-year-old Freddy
Villanueva in Montreal North.
Commander Clement Rose, head
of the Montreal Police major crimes
division, was quoted in the Gazette
attributing the drop to the police’s
recent campaign against street
gangs. Their campaign includes
aggressive enforcement tactics such
as Project Eclipse, a special anti-gang
unit focused on making arrests, and
prevention programs that develop
important ties to neighbourhoods
where street gangs are a problem.
Victor Henriguez, a spokesperson
for Solidarité Montreal Nord, a group
of organizations that united after
Villanueva’s death, noted a change in
police attitude since the riots.
“The feeling of security for the
people has increased because we
have more officers on the streets,” he
said, noting a big push by the police
to help the community – including
several collaborative workshops.
Still Henriguez felt violence is only
one factor in the relations between
citizen and police officer.
“I think that, yes, there is less
criminality, less murders, things like
that; but there is still the problem of
citizen confidence [in the system].
The system has a responsibility to
maintain its own credibility – and this
is where we want change. Because
criminality has gone down, but confi-
dence is not back.”
University of Toronto criminolo-
gist professor Rosemary Gartner also
linked the drop with a larger cultural
trend.
“High intensity policies may have
a short-term effect on crime, but after
a few months it tends to go right back
up.... It’s happening across Canada’s
major cities. It’s happening in the
United States as well. We are able
to rule out some things as possible
explanations; or say things may con-
tribute...maybe changes in people’s
attitudes and beliefs, tolerance for
violence,” Gartner said.
“The best evidence of decades of
research that looks at what police do
suggests that the kinds of marginal
changes they make from year to year
don’t have a big impact on crime. The
causes of crime are wrapped up in all
sorts of economic, social, and politi-
cal factors, and the police can’t get
rid of economic inequality, the police
can’t get rid of poor schools.... So I’m
not criticizing the police for not hav-
ing an effect on serious crimes: why
should we expect them to?”
Henriguez has already felt a posi-
tive cultural change in Montreal
North.
“Since the events of August, I
think we have seen a community that
is ready to work to better their own
lives, and to have a better future for
their children,” said Henriguez.
Montreal Nord Solidarité has
organized, among other events,
seven dinners with youth to talk
about crime, expectations, and
employment, as well as workshops
and shows – including one showcase
Aquil Virani for The McGill Daily
of Montreal North youth talent that
attracted over 500 people. Some of
Solidarité’s projects are funded by
the City of Montreal.
“There needs to be teamwork,
what happened in Montreal Nord is
just a sample of what could happen
elsewhere,” Henriguez said.
Gartner also argued for the long-
term effects of this sort of commu-
nity interaction.
“[While] there’s evidence that
[community activities] may not have
much effect on crime directly, but
they may do so indirectly and in the
long term in the extent that they get
people in the communities interact-
ing with each other more,” she said.
“The more that people in neigh-
bourhoods are interacting with each
other, the more responsibility they
will feel for their community because
they will identify with it more. The
more they will want to assist people
in their communities. And all these
things, which don’t seem like crime
prevention efforts, in fact do tend
to lower crime rates, but in the long
run.”
“I think that to base the analysis
only on criminality is maybe not the
right way. Criminality is a part of it –
yes, the city is safer, but at the same
time, we need to think: do the people
who were susceptible to criminality
have a better future right now?” said
Henriguez.
According to the Gazette, there
were 29 homicides reported on the
island in 2008, the lowest numbers
since 1972. This drop is relative to 35
homicides in 2005, 42 in 2006, and
41 in 2007. In addition, there were
approximately 59 attempted murders
in 2008, compared to 99 in 2007 and
136 in 2006. Of the homicides, seven
were related to street-gangs, versus
14 in 2007. There were 39 street-gang
related attempted murders in 2008
versus 54 in 2007.
A constitutional crisis
Canada’s political chaos tops world headlines
Last year’s turbulent political circus was topped off with a constitutional
crisis in Ottawa, a failed proposal for Liberal-NDP coalition, and the Governor
General – a representative of the Queen – proroguing Parliament by request
of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. For those of you who were holed up pre-
paring for your exams, The Daily gives you its no-nonsense guide to last
month’s crisis, as Parliament gets ready to reconvene.
OCTOBER 14
Canada elects a minority Con-
servative Government under Harper.
Liberals lose 18 seats.
OCTOBER 20
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion
says he will resign once the Liberals
choose a replacement.
NOVEMBER 22
At an economic forum in Peru,
Harper says that deficits are essential,
after both he and Finance Minister
Jim Flaherty said during the election
campaign that deficits are undesir-
able and damaging.
NOVEMBER 27
Flaherty releases a fiscal update
which opposition parties criticize for
lacking an economic stimulus pack-
age, removing the right for public
servants to strike until 2011, and trim-
ming public financing for opposition
parties. All three opposition parties
vow to vote against the update.
NOVEMBER 28
The Tories remove the party pub-
lic financing cuts from the upcoming
vote on the fiscal update. The oppo-
sition parties respond that they will
bring down the government regard-
less, and the Liberals say they will
use their December 1 opposition day
to motion to bring down the Tories
and propose a coalition government
between the Liberals, NDP, and the
Bloc Québécois, with Dion as Prime
Minister. The Conservatives shift the
opposition day to December 8.
NOVEMBER 29
The Tories back down from the
anti-strike provision, but the coali-
tion possibility remains on the table.
Partisans on all sides express outrage,
and pundits openly admit they have
no idea what will happen next.
NOVEMBER 30
Word leaks from several “anony-
mous Liberal sources” that Dion’s
most likely successor, Michael
Ignatieff, is uneasy with the coalition,
while the other leading Liberal candi-
date, Bob Rae, supports it.
DECEMBER 1
The three opposition leaders sign
an accord for a Dion-led Liberal-NDP
coalition government until June 2011,
with the Bloc promising support in
confidence matters until June 2010.
The Liberals would get 18 of the 24
cabinet minister posts, while the
remaining six to the NDP – their first
time in Cabinet.
News 5
DECEMBER 2
Governor General Michaëlle
Jean cuts short an official visit to
Central Europe, announcing she will
return to Ottawa the next morning.
Rumours circulate that Harper might
“prorogue” (i.e. suspend) Parliament
to let heads cool, bringing it back in
January or later. A full-blown consti-
tutional crisis erupts around wheth-
er Jean would be forced to follow
Harper’s request to suspend or dis-
solve Parliament, whether she could
ask for a demonstration of confidence
in the Government from the House
of Commons, and whether she could
ignore him and allow the coalition to
govern.
DECEMBER 3
Canadians rally for and against
the proposed coalition, with people
demonstrating in the cold, calling
radio stations, and organizing on
Facebook and blogs to denounce
the coalition or explain its necessity.
Harper addresses the country on TV
at 7 p.m., while Dion’s reply comes
nearly half an hour late with the pro-
duction values of a webcam, putting a
dent in the coalition’s credibility.
DECEMBER 4
After a two-hour conversation,
the Governor General agrees to pro-
rogue Parliament at Harper’s request,
stopping the opposition from bring-
ing down the government and mak-
ing this 16-day Parliamentary session
the sixth-shortest in Canadian his-
tory, with the only shorter sessions
being held during the two World
Wars, the Great Depression, and the
Pacific Scandal of 1873.
DECEMBER 8
Dion resigns for the second
time in two months and the Liberal
Executive decides it can’t wait until
April to select a new leader. At 8 p.m.
the polls close in the provincial elec-
tion, in which Premier Jean Charest
barely grabs a majority after a late
surge for the Parti Québécois, many
believe due to soft nationalist voters’
anger over separatist Bloc MPs being
called “illegitimate” by the Tories and
much of English Canada.
DECEMBER 9
Bob Rae is the final Liberal lead-
ership candidate to drop out, leaving
Michael Ignatieff as the winner by
acclamation. Although the opposi-
tion leaders keep their mouths tight,
most agree that the coalition has lost
its opportunity to gain power.
TO COME
Parliament will be reconvened on
January 26, with the budget to be
presented the following day. Stay
tuned for all the action.
- compiled by Nicholas Smith
 Commentary
The shifting discourse on Gaza
Aristotle’s Lackey
Sana Saeed
A
cosmic motherly-sounding
voice has always told me that
even the darkest of clouds
have silver linings. The past two
weeks have forced me to now won-
der if the same idea of a silver lining
applies to clouds of white phospho-
rous.
In an arbitrary 15 years from now,
the past two weeks (and, unfortu-
nately, the remaining time to come)
will be remembered with images of
disturbing death and injury, reports
of complete destruction of an already
weakened Gazan infrastructure;
thousands of IDPs; an unreachable
humanitarian crisis and stories from
survivors. Yet there is another mem-
ory which may leave an impact on
the dynamics of the region and the
North American perception on the
entire 60-year-old conflict.
Without question, the North
American media has often shown
sympathy with one side more so
than the other – an unfortunate,
but natural occurrence. At the same
time, however, a digression from
such a grievance is vital. The afore-
mentioned complaint does not take
into consideration the surprising
slight shift in the coverage of the
war and humanitarian crisis. Oft-
repressed opinions and oft-ignored
facts are being given the opportunity
to be expressed. Fierce criticisms of
The Daily must tackle elephant-sized issues
Public
Editor
Marc Selles
O
ne of The Daily’s major roles
is to depict and analyze
power relations and other
issues typically not covered in the
mainstream or corporate media. In
the last few months, The Daily has
reported on many such topics affect-
ing the McGill community, but has
failed to tie them together adequate-
ly and provide a clear and concise
analysis.
Last semester, the News section of
Israel and piercing predictions of the
ramifications of the war are flooding
major newspapers.
Unapologetic opinion pieces
about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
are being published every day. Aside
from asserting truths about the con-
flict during an extremely pertinent
and bloody time, a common cause
cannot be found amongst the authors.
The claims of the Israeli government
in regards to the operation and the
facts about the humanitarian crisis
are two points of contention which
have been repeatedly brought up.
The commentary has also, unsurpris-
ingly, treaded outside the proximity
of the current conflict. It is extremely
hard to discuss this war without con-
sidering 60 years of context. And it
is this particular tangent which may
leave a legacy in popular discourse
and thought about the conflict at
large in North America – a region
in dire need of another perspec-
tive. Underdog ideas seeping into
the mainstream allow for a slim, but
potentially momentous opportunity
for the balance to be tipped toward a
more equal and fair footing.
The rise of commentaries has
also thrown out a rather pathetic and
almost saddening punch to Israel’s
public relations monopoly. Active
writers, in print or online, have
rushed to assist in and showcase the
The Daily offered its readers a steady
and detailed coverage of several
McGill-related news items. Two cam-
pus unions – representing graduate
students (AGSEM) and non-academ-
ic staff (MUNACA) – have recently
clashed with the McGill administra-
tion over wages. A third one, assem-
bling undergraduates employed at
McGill (AMUSE), seems poised to
begin operations soon. The adminis-
tration is currently grappling with the
“unravelling” of Israel’s claims of self-
defence and cries of moral respon-
sibility. Fingers are viciously being
thrust toward the direction of the
political timing of the war, the Israeli
breach of ceasefire; the failures of
Israel’s propaganda machine this
time around, and the unfathomable
denial of the existence of a humani-
tarian crisis. Even the International
Red Cross, a thoroughly neutral orga-
nization, came out with a statement
which condemned and criticized
Israel for its complete lack of compli-
ance (and fatal defiance) of the orga-
nization’s attempt to reach injured
and starving Gazans.
There generally seems to be an air
of exasperation, as though the war
has become one of the final pieces in
a long and painful Jenga puzzle, with
the prophetic early quivering of the
tower just beginning. These sighs of
being fed-up most poignantly found
within the brief titles of the daily
commentaries.
American historian Mark LeVine’s
seething article “Who Will Save Israel
from itself?” featured in Al-Jazeera
discusses the gun with which Israel
has shot itself in the foot, albeit with
an extremely unsatisfactory answer to
the title question. Robert Fisk’s repeat-
ed commentary in The Independent
has asked and answered age old ques-
tions from an insightful and firsthand
McGill Senate in determining who has
authority to ban study-related travel
to countries deemed risky. Principal
Munroe-Blum recently explained
why she thinks deregulating tuition
– or in her words, re-regulating it – is
a good idea. In addition, one reader
recently reminded us how last year
the McGill administration closed the
Architecture Café, one of the few
remaining student-run food services
on campus, only to reopen it under
the umbrella of McGill Food Services.
These events are all symptoms of the
fact that McGill is strapped for cash
and that the administration is doing
everything it can to raise funds and
cut costs. But not once, be it an edi-
torial or a commentary piece, were
these issues properly linked.
It’s not that The Daily has ignored
the proverbial elephant – the News
section has admirably covered the
issues. My concern is that The Daily
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
perspective, in such pieces as “Why do
they hate the West so much, we will
ask,” and “Why bombing Ashkelon
is the most tragic irony.” Gideon
Levy’s “The Time of the Righteous”
in Haaretz unwaveringly with silent
solemn anger lashed out against all
supporters of the Israeli so-called
“defensive war,” claiming that “anyone
who justifies this war also justifies all
its crimes.”
The BBC’s Paul Reynolds brought
to the public’s attention, early on,
the question of Israel’s propaganda
in “Propaganda war: trusting what
we see?” Khalid Rashidi’s “What you
don’t know about Gaza” in The New
York Times wrote a quick and to-
the-point piece with “a few essential
points that seem to be missing from
the conversation [in the press] about
Israel’s attack...”
Former Israel Defense Force
soldier and now Oxford professor
Avi Shlaim’s furious article in The
Guardian, “How Israel brought Gaza
to the brink of humanitarian catastro-
phe” labels Israel as a rogue state. Just
recently, the Times Online reported
that Israeli soldiers coming back from
the frontline were revealing the sort of
“ruthless tactics against Hamas” being
used. One soldier claims that he was
shocked to see the neighbourhoods
in Gaza as though “we [had been]
bombing them for years.” Naomi
resembles the three blind people
each describing an isolated part of
the other proverbial elephant. I can
understand that The Daily did not
receive any submissions critically
assessing the situation (read my last
column for my thoughts on that sub-
ject). However, the fact that The Daily
has so far failed to critically address
the problem is unacceptable.
What The Daily should be doing
is exactly what its Statement of
Principles mandates: to initiate and
provide a forum for discussion.
Our University is strapped for cash.
What do we think about this? What
can we do to counter the problem?
More importantly, how can we create
dialogue between the various actors
involved in order to understand and
solve the problem?
The Daily would have benefited
from an economics student explain-
ing how the monopoly McGill holds
Alison Withers / The McGill Daily
Klein also got in on the action when
she posted “Israel: Boycott, Divest,
Sanction” on her online blog. And the
list continues tirelessly.
This proposed shift is not solely
about politics, just as the situation in
Gaza is not. To approach the conflict
as such is to approach it with a nar-
row and propaganda-cluttered ideo-
logical mind. The Palestinian issue
is about a mounting humanitarian
crisis which has existed for far longer
than 18 days. Our governments (save
for the Venezuelans) may not be tak-
ing the appropriate action required
to address the atrocities being com-
mitted by Israel, but challenges to
the mainstream discourse through
the mainstream discourse allow for
the general populace to gain the
critical information necessary for
change in the policies of our own
states toward any country oppress-
ing another people. On January 14,
the president of the United Nations
General Assembly, Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, described the slaughter
of the Palestinians as genocide. The
tower begins to sway a bit more.
This is the silver lining in the
clouds of white phosphorous over
Gaza.
Sana’s column appears every other
Thursday. Send Jenga solutions to
aristotleslackey@mcgilldaily.com.
over food services results in a massive
transfer of wealth from the student to
the University. Similarly, I would have
liked to see an analysis by a law stu-
dent or professor as to how a lawsuit
against McGill could be instigated if a
student on a research trip or intern-
ship abroad were to be injured or
worse and just how expensive that
would be for our University. Further,
The Daily would have benefited the
most from an editorial explaining
how all these issues are related and
calling on readers to share their
thoughts and opinions as to how to
address the situation.
The Public Editor serves as the read-
ers’ representative. His opinions and
conclusions are his own, and his col-
umn appears every other Thursday.
Send him your thoughts to publiced-
itor@mcgilldaily.com.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
HYDE PARK
How the left lost its edge
Hartlee Zucker
L
ike any McGill student, I gener-
ally like to think I’ve got all the
answers – at least in whatever
narrow field of study I have chosen to
pursue. As an International Relations
minor, I’ve taken no less than seven
classes that have mentioned real-
ism, idealism, constructivism, and
any other “ism” you could possibly
imagine. Consequently, I have always
felt comfortable identifying myself
as a “liberal,” in some contemporary
sense of the word.
But I must confess that I’m baf-
fled by how we self-proclaimed
“liberals” seem to be currently rep-
resenting ourselves in the media. In
theory, I’m all for a liberal slant in
the news, keeping journalistic integ-
rity in mind, of course. Lately, how-
ever, being a liberal seems to mean
picking and choosing. It means
deciding when and to whom it is
convenient to apply our principles,
it means upholding human rights for
some while excluding others, and it
means valuing one human life above
HYDE PARK
Concordia’s earthly inspiration
Melanie Adelson, Christopher Columb,
Alexandra Wong, and Benjamin Wong
M
any McGill students frown
upon Concordia, seeing
it less as an institution for
higher learning and more as a quirky
school whose ranks teem with activ-
ists. McGill students’ attitudes toward
Concordia’s radicalism and its stu-
dents’ refusal to “fall in line” moti-
vates them to label Concordia and
its student body as inferior. In reality,
however, it is McGill elitists who must
battle their inferiority complex.
One issue that McGill sorely lags
behind Concordia is environmental
sustainability. In 2002, Concordia
students initiated the Sustainable
Concordia Project, further reveal-
ing their passion for action albeit
in a more peaceful environmental
manner. It took McGill students
three years to begin a similar project
on campus, and the Sustainability
Director position was not even craft-
ed until the end of 2007. McGill’s pro-
active deficiency is so inherent that
commerce majors in the Desautels
Faculty of Management are required
to take Social Context of Business
(SCB), a class that has an indirect goal
to educate them on the topic and to
motivate the business students into
“Taking Action.” Such “behind the
curve” behavior might lead one to
conclude that McGill attracts more
reactionary rather than proactive
individuals. However, our experienc-
another. This is not what I signed up
for.
Why is it that for nearly a decade,
as thousands upon thousands of
rockets and missiles have killed and
maimed civilians inside Israel, the lib-
eral press lay impotent? In the recent
wave of conflict, the press has sorely
lacked a comprehensive critique
of Hamas – a terrorist group which
exploits its own civilian population,
using them as human shields in order
to further their own political aims; a
group which plants explosives inside
its own schools, booby traps its zoos,
and hides in and among families.
These all seem fairly consistent with
liberal ideals.
I’m confused as to why “our”
press has chosen to omit certain
facts which seem relevant if we, as
progressive, humanistic thinkers,
actually claim to cherish life over
death. (Which is not the impres-
sion I get from Hamas.) We seem
to have completely overlooked the
fact that in a concerted effort to
minimize civilian casualties, the
Israeli military has dropped hun-
dreds of thousands of pamphlets
es in SCB last fall suggests a different
source for inaction.
For our SCB project early last
September, we aimed to implement a
composting system at McGill. In the
process of meeting and discussing the
matter with Sustainability Director
Dennis Fortune, we discovered
there already was such a proposal in
the pipeline. We were subsequently
redirected toward determining the
source of post-consumer food waste
on campus. Much to our disappoint-
ment, this task too had been initi-
ated by others in different depart-
ments. Unfortunately, administrators
failed to inform us of the overlap of
intent until too late in the semester
for any change to occur. Had we not
been tossed back and forth between
different administrators who were
unaware of the work outside of their
immediate departments, the admin-
istration might have been able to
constructively synthesize students’
energy on a specific issue. It is this
type of bureaucratic red tape that
fills so many McGill students with
chagrin, emasculating their spirit for
activism.
McGill’s organizational struc-
ture varies greatly from Concordia’s.
Their sustainability project takes on
a multi-stakeholder approach, where
students, faculty, and administra-
tors come together in a collabora-
tive effort. Advisory committees act
as liaisons between the administra-
tion and the students leading ini-
tiatives. In addition, administrative
policy is “open to comments from
Commentary 7
into the streets of Gaza, and made
tens of thousands of phone calls
to civilians in the region, warning
them of impending operations and
urging them to stay clear of terror-
ist enclaves. Nearly 40 Gazan civil-
ians, children included, have been
transferred into Israel for medical
care, but that has also escaped the
world’s attention.
Don’t misunderstand me – no
crisis is ever black and white. The
blame for war is shared by all par-
ties involved, and all actors should
be held accountable. But perhaps
someone can explain to other per-
plexed liberals why we are suddenly
expected to decry loss of life for only
one group, rather than for civilians
on both sides of this conflict. I am
ashamed, to put it mildly, that my
supposedly like-minded brethren
have sought to portray the situation
in Gaza as so appallingly one-dimen-
sional. If this is today’s liberalism, I’d
rather be unaffiliated.
Hartlee Zucker is a U2 Humanistic
Studies student. You can reach her at
hartlee.zucker@mail.mcgill.ca.
the community,” explains Concordia
Environmental and R4 Coordinator
Louise Hénault-Éthier. “Basically,
both grassroots projects and top-
down initiatives meet halfway,” while
You see it. Now be it.
established committee forums pro-
vide the necessary channel through
which opinions are expressed and
acted upon.
The issue, therefore, has now Graduate Diploma in Business
become one of McGill streamlin-
ing communication between stu-
Administration (GDBA)
dents and administrators. But are Concordia’s Graduate Diploma in Business
Concordia’s and McGill’s cultures
Administration is for all students wanting
fundamentally too different for a
similar organizational approach to to strengthen their undergraduate training
be implemented here? And if so, with solid business fundamentals. Prior work
what values lie at the heart of those experience and management tests, such as the
two cultures?
Whatever their differences, both
GMAT, are not required. No matter your field
universities are educational institu- of study, you’ll have the professional skills to
tions that seek to unlock the con- put your vision into motion in less than a year.
structive and intellectual capac-
ity of students. Before proceeding
further with any lofty projects, the Now accepting applications for September, 2009.
McGill community must first address Visit johnmolson.concordia.ca/gdba to find out more.
the failure of one of the most basic
needs of a active community: com-
munication and social interaction.
By improving upon those deficien-
cies, the University will be on its way
to reclaiming its stature as a leading
proactive university in Canada.
Melanie Adelson, Christopher
Columb, Alexandra Wong, and
Benjamin Wong are U3 Management
students and love the planet. You can
reach them at benjamin.wong2@
mail.mcgill.ca.
 8 Commentary
HYDE PARK
Smashing one piñata at a time
Ted Sprague
P
iñata Diplomacy has again
shown itself to be what it is: a
brightly-coloured donkey filled
with cheap bits of logic that perpetu-
ate opinions found on CNN and FOX
News. First, it was Kreitner’s piece
on Mumbai tragedy whereby he fell
into supporting Bush’s war on terror.
Then not surprisingly, his opinion on
the recent Gaza incident reeks just
the same. From now on, I have com-
mitted myself to publicly smash this
Piñata every week with all my might
and expose what truly lies inside it:
dirt! I will start with his latest piece
on Gaza.
First, let us put everything into
context. Since 1948, the Palestinians
have been forcefully driven out of
their home. They have been colo-
nized in all senses of word. Thus,
an oppressed people have the right
to resist their occupiers with all
means up to an armed struggle. The
Palestinians have the right to fight
against Israeli imperialism as much
as the Americans fought against the
British imperialism with guns in the
American Revolutionary War more
than 200 years ago.
Now, if we start from this premise
– that it is the Palestinians who are
the oppressed and the Israeli govern-
ment who is the oppressor – then we
shouldn’t even take the Israeli gov-
ernment’s words seriously that they
are “defending their citizens,” “fight-
ing fundamentalism,” “avoiding civil-
ians casualties,” etc. Throughout the
history of wars, all aggressors always
try to paint themselves as the victims
and the victims as the aggressors.
With that being said, with the
interest of the genuine liberation of
Palestinians in mind, I will have to
criticize the indiscriminate rocket
method of Hamas (and other indi-
vidual terrorism methods which have
been used by Hamas, and the PLO in
the 1970s), but not from a hypocriti-
cal moralistic point of view as the
international community has done.
I criticize it because this method is
not effective and counter-produc-
tive. First, it is not even denting the
military might of the oppressors.
Secondly and most importantly, it
The Daily has a
Public Editor.
Marc Selles is your representative, so get
in touch and help him critique the paper.
publiceditor@mcgilldaily.com
actually pushes the Israeli masses
to the hand of the Zionist reaction-
aries who are using these attacks as
a pretext for their rabid imperialist
agenda.
There is a section of Israeli mass-
es who are opposed to their imperi-
alist government, who are trying to
pry away their brothers and sisters
from the chauvinist demagogue of
their government. The rocket attacks
surely are not helping the cause of
these anti-war Israelis. In Israel, daily
demonstrations against the war have
been taking place, a fact that most
media and Kreitner fail to mention.
Maybe it is because of the “minimal
research” Kreitner has done on this
topic as he himself admitted. My dad
always told me: if you have nothing
better to say you should just shut
your mouth, or else you will just be
spreading ignorance.
The Palestinian masses and the
Israeli masses fundamentally have
a common enemy: the Israeli impe-
rialist government. On one side,
it plunges its own people into an
unending war on terror designed
to subdue any dissent at home,
and on the other, it continues to
oppress Palestinians after 60 years.
Understanding this starting point,
we won’t fall into Ricky’s cheap reac-
tionary logics. We have to be able to
wade through the chauvinist clouds
that have been thrown around by the
Israeli government (and their friends
in Washington, Ottawa, etc.) equally
by the fundamentalist Hamas (and
Hezbollah, Iranian regime, etc.). Just
as much as there are Israelis who
are fighting against the imperialist
policy of their government, there
are Palestinians who are fighting
against the growing fundamentalism
in their own backyard – if they have
one left.
I will state this bluntly: a revolu-
tion by the Israeli workers that over-
throws the imperialist government
of Israel will be required for the solu-
tion of the Israel-Palestine problem.
The only other alternative is a mutual
genocide – take your pick.
Ted Sprague is a Master’s II student
in Chemistry. You can reach him at
ted_sprague@yahoo.com.
COMMENT
Israel’s opaque politics
And the expulsion of UN Rapporteur Richard Falk
Aaron Vansintjan
I
srael’s bombing and occupation of
Gaza has dominated the headlines
since December 27. What escaped
the headlines and was obscured from
the public eye was Israel’s deporta-
tion of Richard Falk, the UN Special
Rapporteur, appointed by the United
Nations Human Rights Council, just a
week before the bombing started.
The rapporteur recently con-
demned Israel for its “flagrant and
massive violations of international
law,” and the Israeli government
claimed that they denied his entry
because they disagreed with his
appointment and stated that “the
mandate of the rapporteur is com-
pletely distorted...and directed as
a propaganda instrument against
Israel.”
To clear things up, the Special
Rapporteur’s job is to investigate the
condition of human rights in a certain
area. As of June 2008, when Richard
Falk replaced John Dugard, Falk’s job
became just that: to report on the
condition of the people of Palestine,
and to evaluate to what extent their
human rights are being violated.
Richard Falk was a good choice for
the position, because he would write
an objective report on the humani-
tarian problems Palestinians are fac-
ing, and his Jewish ethnicity would
remove the (Isreali) question of
racial favouritism.
Israel is, therefore, wrong to
accuse Falk of being one-sided and
biased, because it is his job to focus
only on the humanitarian problems
in Palestine. As Falk himself stated in
a Democracy Now! interview, Israel’s
complaints are clearly “part of a much
wider and...insidious pattern of try-
ing to shift the attention from their
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
objections to the person.” Falk calls
Israel’s method “politics of opaque-
ness;” by focusing on Falk, Israel’s
government is “trying to make the
realities of the occupation as obscure
and as speculative as possible.”
By looking into Richard Falk’s
deportation, we can more clearly
understand the current situation and
Israel’s long-lasting politics of decep-
tion. Take Israel’s recent bombing
and full-scale invasion of the Gaza
strip. They claim that it is justified,
because Gaza has been shooting
rockets at Israeli land for months, and
when the barrage reached a level that
was more than a slight irritation they
reciprocated. Once again, Israel’s
government shifts the attention away
from itself to hide its own actions.
By focusing the media’s attention
on Hamas’ rockets, Israel can hide
the fact that they actually provoked
Hamas by punishing all Gazans col-
lectively during a siege that lasted
nearly a year. Israel, by allowing no
more than a trickle of supplies to
reach Gazans – barely enough to
keep people alive – it’s almost as if
Israel was waiting for an escalation
so that they could be justified in their
attack. It is natural for a people occu-
pied to strike back at their aggres-
sors, be it with ineffective rockets or
with symbolic rocks.
Israel’s expulsion of Richard Falk
is a prime example of the “opaque-
ness” with which they have been
fooling the media and their own
public for more than 20 years.
When Palestinians are the “aggres-
sors,” then Israel is legitimized. If
Richard Falk’s words are twisted
into new meanings, then Israel can
justify his expulsion. What matters
are the facts that Israel is trying to
hide. I do not know the real reason
for Falk’s expulsion – only select
Aaron Vansintjan / The McGill Daily
Israel has called the
position of Special
Rapporteur “a propa-
ganda instrument.”
Israeli officials know that – perhaps
they are afraid of a Jew criticizing
Israel, perhaps they did not want a
scathing UN report just before their
invasion, or maybe they simply did
not want a UN Rapporteur to be in
danger during the occupation. The
question, then, is not whether Israel
was justified in attacking Hamas, but
whether the international public will
be fooled for long.
Israel is like a boy that accuses his
schoolmates of doing wrong so that
the teacher can see him as angelic
in contrast. The public, and most
importantly the Israeli public, has to
look beyond the benign facade and
be aware of Israel’s hidden wrongdo-
ings behind every single accusation.
The crimes of others (Hamas’s blind
violence) should not legitimize their
own: the Israeli army has victimized
a whole people.
As a last resort, I would like to
quote Robert Fisk, the Middle East
correspondent of the Independent:
“Have we forgotten the 17,500
dead – almost all civilians, most
of them children and women – in
Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon;
the 1,700 Palestinian civilians dead in
the Sabra-Chatila massacre; the 1996
Qana massacre of 106 Lebanese civil-
ian refugees, more than half of them
children, at a UN base; the massacre
of the Marwahin refugees who were
ordered from their homes by the
Israelis in 2006 then slaughtered by
an Israeli helicopter crew; the 1,000
dead of that same 2006 bombard-
ment and Lebanese invasion, almost
all of them civilians?”
Aaron Vansintjan is a U1 Philosophy
student and a Daily production &
design editor. Send him your love to
avansintjan@gmail.com.
 Letters
Concerns with pro-private
Couillard’s place at McGill
It has come to our attention that
McGill has recently cross-appointed
Dr. Philippe Couillard to the facul-
ties of law and medicine (McGill
Reporter, “Philippe Couillard Joins
McGill Ranks,” January 8, 2009). This
is an issue of significant concern,
as Dr. Couillard is currently under
active investigation for possible
conflicts of interest during the last
few months of his term (canoe.ca,
“Philippe Couillard sous enquête,”
January 9, 2009). The Lobbyists
Commissioner, André Côté, has
come out and said that he has rea-
son to suspect that private health-
care industry lobbyists had several
illegal contacts with Dr. Couillard
prior to his resignation in June 2008.
Less than two months after his res-
ignation, Dr. Couillard was hired
by Persistence Capital Partners, a
firm with aspirations of investing
in private healthcare in Quebec.
Legal investigations aside, we feel
it is unseemly for an academic insti-
tution to hire an individual whose
political actions contradicted the
prevailing evidence-based policy
research. The majority opinion and
the amalgam of scientific studies
in medical and health economic
literature support public healthcare
as the most equitable, efficient, and
cost-effective method of deliver-
ing healthcare. Private, for-profit
healthcare systems favour the rich
over the poor, result in unnec-
essary duplication of services,
lengthened wait times, inflation-
ary salaries and expenses, and the
siphoning of patient and taxpayer
dollars into private pockets.
McGill is a public university.
This appointment sends the wrong
message to McGill staff and stu-
dents, to its five affiliated teaching
hospitals, to its faculties of medi-
cine and of law, and to the general
population that relies on McGill
to provide high quality, equitable,
and unbiased health services.
Sincerely,
Adam Hofmann
MDCM ‘05, Clinical Fellow,
McGill Faculty of Medicine
Cory Verbauwhede
Law ‘06, LL.B./B.C.L., M.A.
Jews, Muslims, and Arabs
should stand together
Re: “Tadamon! is no paragon” |
Commentary | January 12
I was surprised to see that I had
become Blinkovitz on page 12 of the
recent issue. Then I realized the extra
“l” had just wandered over there from
the “athough” in the first line on
page 19. Aside from pointing out this
sadly displaced letter, I do have a few
thoughts about the topics covered
by Kreitner, Abukhdeir, and Kideckel
in their neighbouring articles.
I am sad to see the degree to
which discussion over the war in
Gaza is polarized. I both agree and
disagree with aspects of all three
articles. But I’ll try to reduce the
level of detail to save space. Rather
than try to explain all the reasons
why I oppose Hamas, oppose the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) bomb-
ing and invasion of Gaza, and oppose
both CUPE’s and Tadamon!’s (with
QPIRG funding) proposed boycott
of Israeli academics, I will instead
raise an often undiscussed outcome
of this conflict and the interna-
tional reactions to it: heightened
ethnic tensions for diasporic Jewish,
Muslim, and Arab communities.
I implore all those engaged in
protests or other forms of advocacy
to take special care to avoid dehu-
manizing, stereotyping, or otherwise
denigrating innocent civilians and
their diasporic counterparts. Though
I agree with many of the points
made by those protesting against
Israel, I am concerned by the acts of
intimidation and vandalism that have
been directed against diaspora Jews
in Paris, Chicago, Strasbourg, and
many other cities. I am concerned
that rising economic unease will play
into the hands of hateful racists.
The characterizations we Jews,
Muslims, and Arabs create of one
another can very easily be rede-
ployed by racists (of all political per-
suasions) against all of us. Though
we may try to emphasize our differ-
ences from one another, a caricature
of a Jew and a caricature of an Arab
look about the same to Joe Schmo,
who may well say, “fuck ‘em all.” As
absolutely miniscule minorities in
countries like Canada we must at
the end of the day be able to stand
together against racism in all its
forms, especially as we head toward
what may be a very tumultuous era.
Isaac Binkovitz
U3 Geography (Urban Systems)
Please limit the application of your
principles to the objects and subjects of your
coverage and try to avoid gratuitous digs at
the “authorities.” It just reinforces all the
negative stereotypes about your paper and
makes an interesting article seem, well, paltry.
It’s a partly Daily par-tay
Re: “MUNACA, McGill prepare for
strike” | News | January 12
So I was reading through the lat-
est edition of The Daily and marvel-
ling at how even with the current
brouhaha about your journalistic
objectivity, you still managed to
publish a fairly non-combative and
dry interview with our esteemed
HMB. I then turned the page to read
the also seemingly non-combative
and dry piece on the current fail-
ing negotiations between MUNACA
and the administration and saw this
sentence: “Currently, MUNACA is
requesting ten per cent over three
years...while McGill is presently
offering a paltry 8.5 per cent.”
“Paltry?” Seriously? The Daily’s
pledge to represent alternative
viewpoints has led to some fascinat-
ing insights you wouldn’t find in
the other journalistic outlets at the
school – although I do occasion-
ally enjoy the nearly Baghdad Bob
level of optimism about McGill that
The McGill Reporter provides. The
problem is just that even if it is a
deserved sentiment about McGill’s
offer, to use such a blatantly loaded
and unnecessary term is so beyond
the pale of respectable journalism
it seems bizarre to let it go to print.
Surprisingly enough, I know next to
nothing about pay scale increases
of university-based unions in
Quebec. I have no idea whether 8.5
per cent over three years is paltry,
enormous, overdue, undeserved,
or some combination of the pre-
ceding. The only evidence given in
support of the school’s stinginess
is a vague statement made by a
MUNACA member about a “similar”
Concordia union getting 20 per
cent over four years. Is that below
average? Above average? I can’t
know, because you didn’t tell me.
I realize that I might come off
a bit like a bitter old man, writing
angry letters to the paper about
the usage of a single word in an
article on page five of the paper, but
little things do make a difference.
Please, please limit the application
of your principles to the objects
and subjects of your coverage and
try to avoid gratuitous digs at the
“authorities.” It just reinforces all
the negative stereotypes about
your paper and makes an interest-
ing article seem, well, paltry.
Alex Silver
U2 Psychology
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
9
Re: “MUNACA, McGill prepare for strike” | News | January 12
Alex Silver “It’s a partly Daily par-tay”
Everybody, just quit it already
Re: “I’m so over it, really”
| Commentary | December 1
Ben Peck / The McGill Daily
Lisa Miatello is so right. We
should immediately stop under-
taking studies that risk produc-
ing results she disagrees with.
Mookie Kideckel
U1 Political Science
What the world doesn’t Israel is targeting them. But the
know about Israel unfortunate deaths of rescue work-
Re: “Israel’s moral high ground” ers and aid convoys have in no way
| Commentary | January 12 been the intention of the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF). The deaths
How unexpected and refresh- of innocent civilians seeking shelter
ing, I thought, to see the words in the UN-run school is also tragic,
“Israel” and “moral” in the same however, the world fails to recognize
line. It didn’t take long before my that, once again, Hamas strategically
contentment faded and I found hid among them with the expecta-
myself shocked and appalled at the tion of IDF fire, and consequently
many incorrect, incomplete, and innocent deaths that would lead to
distorted “facts” in this article. This strong international condemnation.
also seems to be the trend in most Every country has an explicit
of the world’s highly “trusted” media obligation to do the utmost in
such as the BBC, CNN, and even protecting its citizens – and Israel
The Globe and Mail. Additionally, is currently practising what most
the strategy of downplaying one countries claim to preach. The
side’s suffering (Israel’s) and using IDF, unlike Gaza’s Hamas terror-
emotional vocabulary and highly ists, make every effort to target
graphic descriptions and images the threat and warn and protect
(of the Gazans) with the purpose of innocent civilians prior to action. It
pulling at the emotional heartstrings is Hamas, not Israel, who is respon-
of the reader – is one that has no sible for the deplorable conditions
place in respectable journalism. in Gaza where they store weapons
In this article, the author fails among innocent Gazans, and use
to make mention of the weapon women and children as human
smuggling property of the tunnels shields. Let the world not forget
(“reduced to smuggling bare neces- that Hamas refuses Israel’s right
sities of food and fuel”). There is to exist and to cease terror attacks
also no mention of any humanitarian (including suicide bombings and
aid that Israel has indeed offered shootings within Israel, in addition
the Gazans both before and during to constant daily Kassam rocket fire
Israel’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. from Gaza into Southern Israel that
In terms of freedom of movement are now within the reach of over
between Gaza and Israel, the world one million Israelis). Both Israelis
seems to be unaware of the dozens and innocent Palestinians are the
of cases in which Palestinians took victims of Hamas – and until ter-
advantage by using health reasons rorism stops, Israel will continue
to try to carry out terrorist attacks to fight for its right to live in peace
in Israel. That Israel is targeting and quiet, with the same morals
bureaucrats, police, rescue workers, as any other Western democracy.
and aid convoys is entirely twisted.
If the world chooses to call Hamas Eden Sagman
terrorist leaders “bureaucrats” or U3 Management and Political Science
the terrorists “police” then yes,
Please send your letters from your McGill account to letters@mcgilldaily.
com, and try to keep them to about 300 words. The Daily does not print let-
ters that are sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise hateful. If you don’t think
300 words can contain your thoughts, write to commentary@mcgilldaily.com
about writing a Hyde Park. The Daily received more letters than it could print
in this issue. They will appear in the next issue (Thursday, January 22).
10 Features

Hamas must W
hen Barack Obama won the presi-
dential election, Hamas immedi-
ately sent a letter of congratulations
to the President-elect. In an interview with
Britain’s Sky News, Hamas politiburo leader
Khalid Mishal said that he was willing to hold
in its proposal for a halt to rocket attacks on
Israel. But the proposal was immediately shot
down by Israel. The spokesperson for the Prime
Minister’s office, Mark Regev, told Al-Jazeera
that the abatement of illicit arms smuggling
across the Gaza-Egypt border was a precondi-

be talked to
Niko Block weighs in on Israel’s repeat-
ed refusal to negotiate openly with the
Palestinian authority
talks with the new President, and that he hoped
that Obama would reciprocate. “Yes we are
ready for dialogue with President Obama and
with the new American administration with
an open mind, on the basis that the American
administration respects our rights,” he said. He
added that sitting down with Hamas would be
the new administration’s only option if it is seri-
ous about bringing about a lasting resolution to
the Israeli-Palestinian quagmire.
One of very few events that took place while
I was living in Ramallah last year that seemed
to give Palestinians some hope that a just solu-
tion to the conflict may one day come about
occurred in mid-April, when former-U.S. presi-
dent Jimmy Carter flew to Damascus and met
with Mishal, as well as Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
refused to meet with Carter during his trip to
the region; his official explanation was that he
did not want to be perceived as holding indi-
rect negotiations with Hamas.
Appeals for peace
When I went to cover the student elections
at Birzeit University that month, I spoke to a
member of the Hamas-aligned Wafaa Party.
It was one of few opportunities I had to talk
with a member of Hamas while I was there,
as the group has been forced underground in
the West Bank since June 2007. About a month
prior, “GKMH” had been released after four
years in Israeli prison. He had been arrested
when he tried to cross the separation wall to
help release a friend from an Israeli Defence
Forces (IDF) security compound.
“For any solution to come about, Hamas
must be talked to,” he told me. “Whether
it is negotiated by Carter, or Egypt, or the
French, the conflict will not end until Hamas
is approached.”
Carter’s visit came at a time of sporadic fight-
ing and rocket attacks around Gaza between
the IDF and Hamas, and he recommended
that the latter undertake a unilateral cease-fire.
The day following the meeting, Mishal pub-
licly announced that Hamas would be willing
to settle for a two-state solution. “We agree to
a [Palestinian] state on pre-67 borders, with
Jerusalem as its capital with genuine sovereign-
ty without settlements but without recognizing
Israel,” he was quoted as saying in Ha’aretz.
Two weeks after Carter’s visit, 11 other
Palestinian factions present in the Gaza Strip –
including the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine, and Islamic Jihad – joined Hamas
tion for the IDF to halt its ongoing bombard-
ment of the Strip. That any Israeli politician, fol-
lowing Israel’s 2005 pullout from Gaza, would
have the gumption to be legislating arms con-
trol there isn’t surprising; the degree to which
Israel’s ongoing blockade has brought the Strip
to its knees explains why some Israeli politi-
cians might think they have the prerogative to
dictate Palestinian domestic policy.
The siege
After Hamas won the Palestinian Legislative
Council elections by a landslide in January
2006, Israel did everything in its power to
undermine the new government. In late June
that year, the IDF moved into Ramallah and
arrested one third of cabinet members and 23
Hamas legislators, reinstalling Fatah as leader
of the Palestinian Authority.
Israel’s siege began when Hamas took con-
trol of Gaza a year later. The humanitarian situ-
ation there has since reached levels more dire
than any seen in the region’s entire recorded
history – barring, maybe, 1948.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated
places in the world. One-and-a-half-million
people live there, 70 per cent of whom are refu-
gees or descendents of refugees. There is not
nearly enough arable land for the region to be
self-sufficient, nor is there adequate access to
water and irrigation, and Gaza’s strawberry and
carnation crops have frequently been barred
from export. In the past 18 months, its residents
have resorted to digging tunnels into Sinai and
smuggling Egyptian goods across the border.
Israel has largely blocked the entry of fuel.
As a result, car and ambulance use has been
limited, and the only power plant in the Strip is
frequently forced to shut down.
Prior to this current spate of hostilities,
the UN reported that tens of thousands have
extremely limited access to water, and more
than half of Gazan children were undernour-
ished. For months it’s been reported that some
people have been scrounging in dumpsters for
scraps of food.
This policy is what Dov Weisglass, a top
adviser to Olmert, described in 2006 as put-
ting Gazans “on a diet;” I would call it collective
punishment and a war crime.
To bomb or not to bomb
Whatever talks led to the six-month cease-
fire – which was brokered by Egypt and expired
three weeks ago – they were done as covertly
as the Israeli government could possibly man-

age. The reason for this is that negotiating with
Hamas is more unpopular with Israelis than
the sort of conflict we’ve seen these past two
and a half weeks. With Israeli elections set to
be held next month, the ruling Kadima party
and its rival Likud, led by former prime minis-
ter Benjamin Netanyahu have both been jock-
eying for the support of an Israeli public that
has increasingly supported a hard line policy
toward Hamas.
Ten days after Operation Cast Lead began,
Olmert told Ha’aretz that he was speaking with
several international leaders to work toward a
“diplomatic solution” to the crisis. The same
day Tzipi Livni, Israel’s Foreign Minister and
incoming leader of the ruling Kadima party,
turned down an offer by Russia to relay mes-
sages to Hamas by saying, “We have nothing to
discuss with Hamas.” The contradiction points
to a chronic pattern in Israel’s policy toward
Hamas: bomb or don’t bomb, but never dis-
cuss.
Israel’s refusal to negotiate has prevailed
too in its relationship with the Syrian govern-
ment, which has offered on numerous occa-
sions to rescind its military support of both
Hezbollah and Hamas in return for the Golan
Heights, which Israel seized and has contin-
ued to occupy since 1967. Although Olmert
has insinuated that opening talks with Syria
would be in Israel’s interest, Hamas does not
believe he has the power in the Knesset, nor
the popular support, to pull off such a move.
As with Hamas, Syria’s appeals have been vir-
tually ignored.
Closed doors
Like most people, I do not condone the tar-
geting of civilians under any circumstance. Nor
do I believe that attacking civilian targets is
strategically wise. With the Obama administra-
tion preparing to take the helm in Washington,
Hamas’s rocket attacks on southern Israel
have been playing into its characterisation as
a group of psychopathic Islamist vigilantes in
the right-wing American press, and as a result
its chances of meeting with the new American
government are much slimmer now. Hilary
Clinton’s comments Wednesday, that the new
administration will not speak with Hamas,
indicate that Hamas may have already squan-
dered any opportunity for dialogue with the
States.
Even though, as an occupying force in the
West Bank, the IDF is a legitimate target under
international law, I have and will continue to
support the non-violent strains of the intifada,
which are very prevalent amongst Palestinians
there and deserve far more attention than
they have been given by the international
press.
But Gazans do not have the same means
of civil disobedience against Israel as West
Bank Palestinians; nor is the West Bank fac-
ing a humanitarian crisis of the scale that
Gazans have experienced in the past year and
a half. Save for the United Nations, which has
continued to report on the crisis and provide
humanitarian aid, Gazans have no friends in
the international community, and thus little to
no recourse to their suffering.
Hamas’s track record suggests that the
recent resumption of violence is largely a result
of the fact that Hamas has found nothing but
closed doors in the diplomatic sphere – in its
relationship with other countries too, but espe-
cially with Israel. Having exhausted all of their
available options, I am left wondering what
other means they have of bringing the world’s
attention to their plight.
What happened on January 10 was typi-
cal of the conflict. Both sides rejected a UN
cease-fire proposal, which called for a halt to
arms smuggling from Egypt and for an “unim-
peded provision” of aid to the people of Gaza.
Israel ignored the truce on the grounds that its
“objectives” had not yet been achieved; Hamas
on the grounds that it had not been consulted.
While far from being a prudent, or moral, move
on Hamas’s part, the failure of the UN’s pro-
posal underscores the necessity for open dia-
logue with the de facto government in Gaza.
Hamas knows it can’t beat Israel militar-
ily. With Gaza being the tiny enclave that it is
(about 25 per cent smaller than the Island of
Montreal), Hamas doesn’t stand a chance of
rebuffing the IDF as Hezbollah did in the sum-
mer of 2006.
Of the 1,000 deaths recorded by January
14, 40 per cent have been women or children
under 18. Roughly 300 of them were militants,
according to the IDF. Of the 4,250 Gazans that
have been injured, roughly half were women
or children. By contrast, 13 Israelis have been
killed, of whom ten were soldiers, (and four of
those died as a result of friendly fire).
Israel has maintained its absurd line that
it is carrying out the operation to destroy
Hamas’s ability to attack Israel’s border towns,
and has expressed that it has no intention of
reoccupying the Strip. Despite Israel’s military
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2008 11
might, Hamas has somewhere between ten
and 20,000 trained fighters in the Strip and
an operation to overthrow Hamas altogether
would come at an extremely high cost.
And yet, Israel would lose nothing by lifting
the siege.
The question of proportionality
All this leads us to the inevitable question
as to what Israel thinks it will get out of its
indiscriminate assault on the Strip – the lev-
elling of schools which had served as refuge
to dozens of civilians, the bombing of apart-
ment buildings and other non-military targets.
In essence, it is the same question that I was
hoping my Israeli family might answer for me
while I was there, although my patience for
their bullheaded racism eventually ran out.
It’s the same question that Israeli
Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, faced
during the 2006 war in Lebanon; his answer,
though disturbing and unsatisfactory, is prob-
ably as good as any other. The IDF was in the
process of killing 1,100 Lebanese civilians after
Hezbollah had kidnapped three soldiers and
kidnapped two others, and with charges that
Israel was perpetrating a grossly dispropor-
tionate counter-offensive coming from virtual-
ly every country on the globe, what Gillerman
said was, “You’re damn right we are.”
Niko Block is a U1 Economics student.
Another version of this article was origi-
nally published on his blog, nikonavi.
blogspot.com, January 12.
Evan Newton / The McGill Daily
 Mind&Body The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009

How to make breakfast for champions

Friends
with food
Sophie Busby & Olivia Hoffmeyer
What: The frittata (tatata).
How much: $2.59 for a carton of large eggs, plus whatever fillings you want.
Why: Because the most important meal of the day should last all day.
It’s the beginning of a new semester and a new year, so start the day off
right with breakfast! Omlettes are so 2008, so impress the brunch crowd with
a frittata. Not only is frittata a fun word to say, it’s also versatile – cut it in fancy
shapes for snacks or big slices for breakfast. My favourite thing about this
Italian omelette is that even though the preparation can be a bit tricky, if you
mess up, just stir it around in the pan and voila: scrambled eggs!
The recipe that follows is great for a big pan, a lot of friends, or leftovers.
If you just want to whip up an intimate breakfast for a few (or two) just divide
it in half and use a smaller pan.
Tips and Tricks:
Fritatta (tatata)
• 10 large eggs
• 3 tbs milk
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
Decide what combination of fillings you want. The
classic green onions, ham, and cheese or the Sunday
morning brunch fridge clean out (throw anything
that needs to be used up into the mix) are both great
options. One of our favourite combinations is any
green veggie (spinach, broccoli, etc.) and any cheese
(feta, chedder, etc.).
Cut the fillings you decide on into small, bite-sized
pieces. Heat the oil in a large pan on medium-high.
Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk with a fork until
they are mixed well. Stir in the milk, fillings, salt, and
pepper. Now for the most important step: test the oil.
The eggs won’t cook right if it isn’t hot enough, so
drop a bit of egg or water into the heated pan to test
it. It should sizzle; if it doesn’t, wait.
When the oil is ready, pour in the egg mixture.
Swirl it around to evenly coat the pan and let the egg
solidify on the bottom. When you can lift the edges
of the egg from the pan, run a spatula along the rim
of the eggs. Now pull the egg gently away from the
pan at one edge and let the uncooked egg run under
the edge. The idea is that you always want a cooked
surface on the bottom of the pan that you can lift to
let the liquid eggs run underneath to cook the frit-
tata in layers. Continue to do this while occasionally
swirling and tilting the pan for the first few minutes
of cooking.
Preheat the broiler of your oven.
Turn the heat to low, shake the pan to prevent
sticking, cover, and cook for about five minutes or
until the top is no longer runny. Make sure the bot-
tom doesn’t burn by loosening it with a spatula or
jerking the pan around.
To seal the deal, take the pan off the stove-top and
put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Watch it
very carefully so it doesn’t burn, but let it get to a nice
golden brown colour. It should puff nicely.
Shake the pan around a bit to make sure the egg
didn’t stick to the bottom during cooking and let it
cool for at least five minutes before removing it from
the pan and serving.
Serve hot or cold!

The broiler is your new best friend: finishing the frittata under the broil-
er will give it a perfect fluffy consistency with a golden crust on the surface.
But be careful! If your pan has a plastic handle it will melt in the oven.

Sally Lin / The McGill Daily

You can avoid this by leaving the oven door open while you broil the frit-
tata making sure that the handle of the pan in sticking out of the oven. Or
you can even hold the pan under the heat (wearing oven mitts, of course).
Besides, recipes that call for the broiler often recommend leaving the oven
door open.
As for serving your tatata, diamond shapes are a very classy way to present
this dish if you want to give it some extra pizzazz.

Can’t get enough tatata? More recipes and blog action from FWF will be com-
ing at you every other Thursday this semester, so gear up that broiler!

Study finds racial inequalities in cancer screening

Gay and bisexual African-American men are least likely to be screened for colorectal and prostate cancer

Emma Gray 19,410 men who self-identified as gay or Latino men, regardless of sexual December 2008 news release. be more conscious of the need for
Mind&Body writer or bisexual in the California Health preferences. Despite this study’s findings, over- screening revolving around sexual
Interview Survey. The Survey was “For blacks, being a member all, gay and bisexual men are more health, researchers say.
conducted through direct telephone of both racial and sexual minority likely than heterosexuals to receive Prostate cancer is the second largest

A
frican-American men are more
likely than men of any other
racial category to develop and
die of prostate cancer. A recent study
suggests that a lack of screening may
be to blame.
According to the study “Sexual
Orientation and Testing for Prostate
and Colorectal Cancers among Men
in California,” published in the
December 2008 issue of Medical
Care, bisexual and gay African-
American men are the cohort least
likely to be screened for prostate
cancer.
This study, lead by Kevin C. Heslin,
an assistant professor at Charles Drew
University, was based upon data from
interviews of a representative sample
of men over 50 years of age – the age
at which the majority of healthcare
institutions suggest that men begin
to undergo regular screenings for
both prostate and colorectal cancer.
The data examined revealed
that prostate-specific antigen (PSA)
screenings were done 12 per cent
to 14 per cent less often on gay and
bisexual African-American men when
compared to heterosexual African-
American men, and 15 per cent to 28
per cent less oftern when compared
to gay and bisexual Caucasian men.
The study also found that African-
American men on the whole are less
likely to be screened than Caucasian
killer of men in the United States, and
“For blacks, being a member of early access to PSA testing is impera-
tive for its prevention or detection and
both racial and sexual minor- treatment. However, the results of the
California colorectal screening study
ity groups represent a kind of reveal the discrepancies in access to
public health services for minority or
double jeopardy when it comes marginalized populations.
The conclusion of the California
to getting PSA testing.” study is aimed at making the statis-
tics more than just numbers. The
study includes the recommendation
Kevin C. Heslin Assistant professor, Charles Drew University that those responsible for health ser-
vice planning take race, ethnicity, and
sexual orientation into account when
groups represents a kind of double regular screenings for colorectal of developing screening programs,
jeopardy when it comes to get- cancer. This may be due to the fact especially those programs aimed at
ting PSA testing,” Heslin said in a that gay and bisexual men tend to high-risk populations.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009 Mind&Body 13
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that the men who love their dolls find that a

Q
uestion: If a vibrator is to women’s
sexual liberation as Gandhi is to
India, what then is a sex doll to
male sexuality?
A division exists between the way we
view women’s masturbatory sex toys and
men’s. A woman with a vibrator or a dildo is
“sexually emancipated;” a man who needs
more than a dirty photograph and his hand
to jerk off, however, is often seen to be fall-
ing short of an Alfie-style masculinity.
Blowjob imitators, fake vaginas, the
fleshlight, and sex dolls are all objects of
ridicule. Weird and creepy pervs have them;
real men don’t. Men who resort to artificial
implements for sex just don’t seem to have
that natural magnetic masculine sexual
energy the likes of James Bond. Or maybe
they just don’t buy Axe deodorant.
A lot of this has to do with the way
masculine sexuality is constructed in
mainstream society – as insatiable and
uncomplicated, needing only a hole and
some lube to get off. Society does not
think men require an emotional connec-
tion. Emotion? Pfft, that shit’s for women,
alright?
This view is reinforced in all sorts of
silly ways in society, porn being one of the
main playas. For example, porn, marketed
to men, focuses mainly on fucking and usu-
ally ends in more fucking. Erotica, on the
other hand, which is marketed to women,
generally focuses on relationships and ends
in marriage. If men are taking their sexual
cues from porn, then intimacy and sex don’t
belong in the same bedroom. Intimacy is
for girly girls; straight-up sex is for manly
men.
Feminist arguments aside, if a blow-up
doll is being used simply as a fuck toy, why
do some think it’s so much creepier than
a dildo, which basically reduces men to a
cock? The fact is that owners of sex dolls
often aren’t just using their lovely ladies
for sex; many form intimate relations with
keep a picture of “her” in their wallet.
RealDoll is a California based company
that manufactures life-sized, realistic look-
ing sex dolls that are made out of silicone
and come with a US$ 6,500 price tag. From
RealDoll’s web site, a client may choose
their doll’s hair style, breast size, pubic hair,
makeup, and skin tone. The skin tones range
from “fair” to “Light African.” Only “eth-
nic” tones like “Asian” are labeled by their
nationality – Dark African or, say, South-
East Asian are notable omissions. The FAQ
on the site has tips for maintenance and
care of the dolls, such as the proper way to
brush and style the doll’s hair, how to pro-
tect their fingers, what makeup best suits
the doll, and if it can be posed for doggy
style. Apparently, just like children’s dolls,
sex dolls require some tender loving care
and affection.
Obviously, the sex doll is disturbing
when being viewed from a feminist per-
spective, whether or not they’re being used
as a substitute girlfriend. These arguments
aren’t hard to draw out. Wait, your ideal
woman is one you created yourself?
Who has no opinion and never talks
back? Who has a personality you not
only created but also control? This is
all not to mention the Barbie-like pro-
portions of the doll (Barbie herself
was originally created as a German sex
doll, and in RealDolls her legacy seems
to have come full circle), and the binary
assumptions of gender and sex inherent
in RealDolls. Did I mention that their
male doll is out of production? RealDolls
does offer a penis attachment for female
dolls, but they problematically dub dolls
with this addition “She-Male Dolls.” To
me, this seems more like trans-fetishism
than a queer-friendly option. The point
is that all the aforementioned concerns
are valid, and in this light, intimate rela-
tions with sex dolls are decidedly creepy.
But let’s put those thoughts aside for
wet hole isn’t enough to get them off, which
leads them to give a personality to their sex
toy.
What sort of culture do we live in where
some men seek intimacy from dolls as
opposed to people? Often in popular cul-
ture, women are seen as domesticating
forces, attempting to marry and settle the
Eternal Bachelor character. The “iDolla-
tors” narrative counteracts this; here men
are domesticating themselves. As creeped
out as I am by RealDolls (just looking at
the site totally gives me the heebee jee-
bees), I think the phenomenon has some
interesting implications. Just as vibrators
have become symbols of women’s libera-
tion, perhaps, by some twisted sense of
logic, RealDolls are being used to liber-
ate straight guys from the constraints of
classical masculine sexuality, giving them
a foothold on sexual intimacy. Maybe it’s
even something along the lines of a good
thing?
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Sex,
them. This is much more problematic a moment and think about men cuddling
from the mainstream masculine point of their RealDolls in bed. There is no doubt
view. Lars and the Real Girl, starring Ryan that RealDolls, with their hairless bodies,

Drugs,
Gosling, is the story of a lonely man, his vacant expressions, and open suggestive
sex doll, and his emotional attachment to pumped-up lips mirror the female body
the intimate object. In the movie, Lars and emulated by the mainstream porn industry.

his doll never consummate their relation-
ship, but Lars still grows emotionally close
to her. It’s supposed to be a heart warming
story, yet Lars and the Real Girl parodies a
Cocoa
However, the relationships many men cul-
tivate with their RealDoll do not. As stated
before, masculine sexuality is supposed to
be about fucking, not cuddling. Yet men

Puffs
real-life phenomenon where men do grow who love their dolls, self-titled “iDollators,”
attached to their sex dolls, where they give are not only bringing intimacy into porn on
them names, call them their girlfriend, and their own terms, but are also performing

Explore your passions.

Write for Mind & Body.

E-mail mindnbody@
Evan Newton / The McGill Daily
mcgilldaily.com for
more information.
Culture
Rethinking the city, from the ground up
Actions exhibit presents fantastic yet feasible solutions for the urban landscape
Amelia Schonbeck
The McGill Daily
H
ave you ever wanted to scale
the side of a building with
a rope ladder? Ever wished
that sheep were being used to trim
the lawns on campus, instead of gas-
powered mowing machines? Can
you envision walking down a city
sidewalk knowing that the compres-
sion caused by your bodyweight was
producing electrical energy? These
ideas may seem implausible, but in
fact they aren’t; each of them has
been successfully realized and, along
with 96 other creative initiatives, they
are being featured as part of “Actions:
What You Can Do With the City,” the
latest exhibit at Montreal’s Canadian
Centre for Architecture. The exhibi-
tion, which gathers together the work
of 99 innovative architects, artists, and
urban planners, aims to challenge the
way that ordinary people interact with
the cities in which they live.
In putting together “Actions,” co-
curators Mirko Zardini and Giovanna
Borasi were focused on re-examining
seemingly mundane activities like
walking, playing, recycling, and gar-
dening, and investigating possible
links between these everyday acts and
bigger issues. “Even if these actions
are not now considered to be struc-
tural ones in planning and managing
our cities,” Borasi says, “they could
[provide] a different way to look at
and tackle common urban problems
such as pollution, traffic, food securi-
ty, waste management, employment,
and the tensions between a city’s dif-
ferent inhabitants. I feel that looking
at these issues from a different angle
will allow new, different, and unex-
pected answers to emerge.”
Thus, the exhibit features projects
and experiments that take a range of
approaches to rethinking the mod-
ern city, from using parkour for the
re-appropriation of abandoned build-
ings to guerilla gardening techniques
that can transform concrete lots into
vegetable gardens. There is also room
for the whimsical and outlandish, like
the inflatable pink rubber structures
that transformed a German field into
a temporary playground and meeting
place in 2004, or a Vancouver-based
design firm’s “suspend pants,” which
are fitted with high-tension cords,
metal clips, and a reinforced seat,
allowing nearly any surface to be
transformed into a space for people
to swing. “Our intention was to give
a new picture of urban phenomena,
things that are going on in our cities,
and the new needs of our society; we
wanted to inspire in designers, archi-
tects, planners, and city managers a
different way of looking at our built
environment,” Borasi explains.
Indeed, the exhibition is grounded
in all of the contributors’ individual
critiques of entrenched urban pat-
terns of production and consumption.
Though their methods and approach-
es vary, the artists featured are con-
nected by the common belief that suc-
cessful civic planning can be a grass-
roots effort. Borasi notes that all the
projects were accomplished “without
a huge budget or a complicated pro-
cess.” She adds that one of the exhib-
it’s goals was to “focus on something
that the public could see and relate to
with a certain immediacy.”
The exhibition’s dynamic title sug-
gests the importance that is placed on
taking an active stance in changing
the way society conceives of public
space. It is also fitting that the exhi-
bition’s curators established a web
site to accompany the project: cca-
actions.org. The site not only provides
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
Courtesy of Rachel Granofsky
short descriptions of all the contribu-
tors’ actions, but also features a virtual
forum where members of the general
public can submit their own under-
takings and discuss concepts and
projects. Borasi is excited about “the
idea that people could start tomor-
row to do something similar” to what
they’re seeing in exhibition. One of
her favourite actions exemplifies this
concept: “Oranges Lead Nocturnal
Walk,” by Los Angeles-based foraging
group Fallen Fruit. “They organize
public night walks around the city of
Los Angeles to harvest fruit from trees
with branches growing over fences or
across property lines into the public
domain,” Borasi explains. “It is a very
simple idea that introduces a new way
of treating public and private space,
while recuperating food that other-
wise would be wasted.” That’s the
“Actions” exhibit in a nutshell: a gath-
ering of creative and effective ideas
that brings people together to reclaim
their urban environment.
The CCA (1920 Baile, Metro Guy-
Concordia) hosts “Actions” through
April 19. For a schedule of the exhi-
bition’s accompanying lecture and
film series, visit cca.qc.ca.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009 Culture 15

Never trust a doppelganger

Atmospheric Disturbances follows one man’s offbeat quest to find the wife he thinks he married

called it “a poignant and very funny
Alyssa Favreau
Culture Writer journey inside a mistaken mind,”
“wonderfully sly [with a] magnifi-
cently skewed sense of humour.”
missing Rema and stop the Royal However, overall the novel does human hybrids, waitresses’ waists,
Academy’s nemeses, a group of devi- get its message across, showing us and canine emotions.
ant meteorologists by the name of exactly how difficult love is to main- Although endearing, Leo’s consis-
the 49 Quantum Fathers, from dis- tain. Leo’s unwillingness to love this tent denial of his own insanity and

S
earching seemed to be the
theme at last year’s Governor
General Awards, Canada’s most
prestigious literary prize, with works
of mystery, self-discovery, and loss
finding their place among 2008’s
finalists. One of these selected
works is Toronto-based author Rivka
Galchen’s first novel, Atmospheric
Disturbances. Though still relatively
unknown, the novel has been steadi-
ly garnering praise across the coun-
try: the Canada Council for the Arts
This unusual postmodernist
book follows the story of Dr. Leo
Liebenstein, a psychiatrist who
believes that the woman he is living
with is not his wife, Rema, but a per-
fect double unaware of her replace-
ment. In his search for answers, he
teams up with his patient, Harvey,
who has convinced himself that he
has the ability to control the weather,
and is working as a secret agent for
the Royal Academy of Meteorology.
Together they attempt to locate the
turbing regular weather patterns.
Although unconventional in its
approach to the topics of sanity, real-
ity, and perception, Atmospheric
Disturbances is a beautifully writ-
ten tale of a man willing to take his
convictions as far as necessary in
order to find comfort and the one
he loves. The book’s style is perhaps
better suited to a short story as the
diagrams, photos, and scientific defi-
nitions included tend to detract from
Galchen’s effortless prose.
new Rema exaggeratedly depicts
how couples often grow apart. He
often states that the doppelganger is
“not the woman I married,” mirror-
ing the usual sentiment expressed
when one’s partner seems to
change.
The first-person narration of
Atmospheric Disturbances further
blurs the line between Leo’s adven-
tures and reality, as he often juxta-
poses intelligent scientific observa-
tions against anecdotes on chimp-
pseudo-logical search for his missing
wife do become tiresome. However,
just when it seems like the charac-
ter has alienated himself from the
reader with his ongoing and upbeat
commentary, Galchen ends with a
chapter heartbreaking in its calm
resignation.
With its charming style and beau-
tifully tragic theme, Atmospheric
Disturbances is well worth the read
and certainly worthy of the recogni-
tion it has been given.

Half man, half cockroach

Montreal’s Rawi Hage pens an existential award winner

Jaime Maclean and down St. Laurent on the days

Sasha Plotnikova / The McGill Daily

Culture Writer when he isn’t working as a bus boy
at a local Iranian restaurant. The nar-
rator lives in an apartment building

C
ritics have received Montreal
writer Rawi Hage’s new book,
Cockroach, with open arms,
hailing it as a compelling new exis-
tentialist novel. But don’t let the label
and praise intimidate you – you can
still enjoy yourself while you read it.
Growing up in Beirut, Lebanon,
Hage endured nine years of civil war.
During this time he was exposed to
violence and the strain on sanity that
comes with an impossibly compli-
cated political situation. The reader
can clearly see that the violence
and thuggery that the author was
exposed to from a young age acutely
affected him.
Hage’s characters always seem
to be hiding something sinister, in
a way that makes the reader ques-
tion their mental stability. It is hard
to know what will happen next, how
each character will react to each
new event. This style is present in
Cockroach as well as Hage’s first
novel, De Niro’s Game, which was
published in 2006 and won a num-
ber of awards, including the IMPAC
Dublin Literary Award. De Niro’s
Game took place in Beirut during
the civil war of the 1970s and fol-
lowed the life of a young man named
Bassam, who is not so unlike the
narrator of Cockroach.
Cockroach takes place in
Montreal’s immigrant community.
We never know for sure where the
narrator is from (or even what his
name is); he spends time with Iranian
immigrants and refugees, but makes
it a point that he is not one of them.
He is free to casually talk to a profes-
sor from Algeria about welfare, chat
with a cab driver who once published
a magazine in Iran, and wander up
where he smells the strong spices of
the Pakistani family below and drinks
tea with the Russian lady in the base-
ment apartment.
The plot follows the narrator as
he grapples with the cold Montreal
winter. The most urgent events in his
life include collecting money that his
friends owe him, meeting with the
woman he claims to love, and break-
ing into strangers’ houses. However,
the majority of his time is spent wan-
dering the streets of Montreal, con-
templating life, and imagining that
he is half human and half cockroach.
This bizarre concept, evocative of
Kafka’s Metamorphosis, begins to
make sense as the narrator slowly
reveals information about himself
and the life that he lived before it was
committed to the page.
Among other things, we learn
about an unsuccessful suicide
attempt in his recent past: he tried
to hang himself from a tree in Mount
Royal Park. This action was not about
death or trying to end life, but curi-
osity about what it would be like to
escape the light. His attempted sui-
cide results in mandatory weekly
therapy sessions, leading to an inter-
esting relationship between the nar-
rator and his therapist.
The whole book takes place in
Delirious visions of life on the edge in Montreal.
a state of delirium. This could be
credited to the narrator’s occasional
substance abuse, but the end result is to readers who can recognize the ary world. In his acknowledgements, would be like to travel the streets of
a foggy style of narration that some- city’s landmarks and frigid weather. Hage thanks the Canada Council for Montreal in the dark winter while you
how reaches moments of lucidity. It Although the novel has a distinctly the Arts and the Conseil des arts et stay warm indoors, or to imagine the
tells the truth as the narrator sees Canadian setting, it is an example of des lettres du Québec. The contribu- world from a cockroach’s perspec-
it, but the reader must decide what a Canadian novel that branches off tions of institutions such as Canada tive. The idea is strange and a little
is real. from traditional Canadiana in its style Council have made it possible for terrifying at first, but this book tells
That Hage is Canadian and and subject matter. Hage is proof books to be written and art created a beautiful story told from a unique
chooses Montreal as the setting for that exciting [and unusual] things that may never have had a chance. point of view in words that glide eas-
his novel makes Cockroach relevant can happen in the Canadian liter- Don’t be afraid to imagine what it ily across the page.
16 Culture
Humanitarians can’t afford
to be neutral
Dr. James Orbinski’s
memoir questions
crimes of inaction
Ryan Mackellar
Culture Writer
T
he 20th century has seen war,
bloodshed, and humanitar-
ian catastrophe, carried out
by crudely armed tribal groups and
modern industrial superpowers. In
these situations, humanitarians find
themselves in a problematic position.
They can decide to remain silent and
continue to give aid to those who sur-
vive, or speak out against the atroci-
ties and risk being expelled from the
affected country. The position of the
Red Cross in Nazi Germany repre-
sented perhaps the epitome of such
moral dilemmas.
Dr. James Orbinski, former presi-
dent of Médecins sans Frontières, is
no stranger to these questions. His
latest book, An Imperfect Offering,
gives detailed accounts of his experi-
ences in some of the worst humani-
tarian disasters in recent memory.
Beginning his work in Rwanda inves-
tigating the condition of paediatric
AIDS, he realizes that much of the
widespread pain and suffering he saw
could have been prevented had the
right political and economic choices
been made. From there he travelled
to Peru during a cholera epidemic,
to Somalia during the American-led
intervention, and to Afghanistan,
which was still reeling from the
attempted Soviet invasion.
Above all, it was Orbinski’s expe-
rience in Rwanda during its 1994
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genocide that would fundamen-
tally change him. “The Genocide in
Rwanda was my undoing,” he writes,
“It was where I came to know inti-
mately the fullness of what we are
capable of as human beings. No illu-
sions or fantasies were possible after
this; no retreat into false hopes or
comforting yearning for a lost past.”
The failure of both the Rwandan gov-
ernment and the international com-
munity truly altered his understand-
ing of the world.
When governments like the
United States and France initially
blocked attempts to label the Rwanda
crisis as a genocide – a distinction
that would have made it obligatory
for the Security Council to intervene
– Orbinski decided to take a differ-
ent approach. Too much emphasis,
he believes, has been placed on the
need for humanitarian groups to
remain neutral – ultimately, such a
position is impossible. To not speak
out against atrocities committed by
regimes essentially legitimizes them,
allowing the acts to continue.
“The doctor’s role is to wit-
ness authentically the reality of
humanity, and to speak out against
the horrors of political inaction,”
Orbinski explains. “The only crimes
of equal inhumanity are the crimes
of indifference, silence, and forget-
ting.” Ultimately, governments will
act largely in their own self inter-
est, not within the realm of higher
humanitarian ideals. Orbinski calls
upon humanitarians present on the
ground at areas of crisis to tell the
world what is happening.
A 2008 nominee for the Governor
General’s Award, The Imperfect
Offering: Humanitarian Action in
the Twenty-first Century is $35.
A Quebec youth struggles with the suicide of four friends.
Troubled waters in Davis Inlet
Reflections on life and death in Tout Est Parfait
Pamela Fillion
The McGill Daily
O
nly a few days after New
Years, reflections on the
most memorable films
of 2008 began, and amongst the
contenders one title stands out:
Yves Christian Fournier’s Tout Est
Parfait. The film, which centres on
the life of a Quebec youth after the
suicide of four of his friends, espe-
cially in light of recent events, is
the single most important Quebec
film of 2008.
2009 was christened with the
shocking news of a murder-sui-
cide in the Saguenay, a region five
hours north of Montreal, seeming-
ly reflecting Tout Est Parfait’s
graphic images. On January 1,
2009, a 9-1-1 call was made by a
woman leading police officers
to her home in Chicoutimi,
Quebec where her husband
and the couple’s three young
children were found dead.
According to the police, the
deaths were a result of a pact
between the couple to commit
suicide for the new year.
Tout Est Parfait, an award-
winning film written by Guillaume
Vigneault and directed by Fournier,
unfolds a plot which chillingly
echoes these recent events, as well
as those of a 1993 suicide pact,
when six children in the commu-
nity of Davis Inlet attempted to
commit suicide on the anniversary
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
of the deaths of their friends who
had earlier died in a house fire.
Mainly concerned with the
aftermaths of youth suicide in a
typical industrial town, the film
focuses on the emptiness and
silence that befalls the commu-
nity and on the space in between
choosing life or choosing death.
The film sees Josh (Maxime
Dumontier) struggling with the
deaths of his friends Alex, Simon,
Thomas, and Sacha. Through
his interactions with Sacha’s ex-
girlfriend and Thomas’ father,
Josh tries to come to terms with
how to live “normally.” Although
the group of boys at the centre of
the storyline are not often depict-
The film focuses on the
silence that befalls and
the space in between
choosing life and death.
ed alive, for the brief moments
that these characters are on the
screen, they leave an intense
imprint, which remains even after
the credits have rolled.
Music drives the emotional ten-
sion in the film; music and silenc-
es serve to demonstrate the diffi-
culty of speaking about the emo-
Akhil Virani for The McGill Daily
tions tied to suicide and turmoil
that follows such a dramatic event
in the lives of those left to mourn
a friend’s suicide. Notably, singer-
songwriter Cat Power sets the
mood for two climactic moments
of the film with her song “Maybe
Not” and her cover of “Troubled
Waters.” Reflecting on the events
that began 2009 in the community
of Saguenay Lac-St-Jean is easily
likened to the emotion found in
the songs of Cat Power, which was
masterfully chosen by the film’s
music researcher Phil Electric.
The original score, composed by
Patrick Lavoie, is also an impor-
tant factor in the way that the film
manages to establish its setting
and mood so expertly.
Tout Est Parfait addresses
the difficult subject of suicide in
Quebec in an engaging and artis-
tic way. Its importance for those
who have lived or know those
who have lived similar circum-
stances cannot be overstated.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
Cinema on the edge
Marie Brassard’s provocative selections explore the fringe of German film
Nicholas van Beek
Culture Writer
W
alking into the Goethe
institute you can’t help
but notice the immacu-
lately clean floors. After exchanging
some formal pleasantries with adroit
receptionists while flipping through
a German language course pamphlet,
you hang your jacket nicely into rows
of waiting hangers. Surgically cut half
muffins present themselves next to
percolating coffee. Anticipating the
films to come, the guests sit waiting
for a cultural experience. Downing a
dry mash of doughy coffee, I begin
to choke in my comfy chair. Canine
cunnilingus flashes on the screen.
Outstretched legs accept a lapping
dog to the overdub of a young woman
describing herself as a young revolu-
tionary. The first short film of Marie
Brassard’s selection for The Goethe
Institutes’ Carte Blanche has begun.
If the films reveal anything about
the woman who chose them, I
would have to peg Marie Brassard as
a natural outsider. Isabell Spengler, a
Berliner teaching experimental film
at Universität der Künste, has three
offerings in this selection. Latouy is
seven minutes of detached and beau-
tiful images while a somewhat more
linear plot follows The Natural Life
of Mermaids and Psychic Tequila
Tarot. The pseudo-plot of the latter
follows the idealist Leila through a
western road trip. She acts as a ves-
sel, filling herself with the desires
of others – from ex-sorority girls to
drunken gamblers – by creating fic-
tive fortunes and wedding them with
reality. Whether performing a blow-
job or trying to convince a prostitute
her life is perfect the way it is, Leila
is striving to reach the unreachable
innards of others. Refusing respon-
sibility for her “own existence” is the
way she deals with a sense of discon-
nect from society. And she’s pretty
much naked the whole time.
If you’re counting on plot and style
as clean as the welcome rug guarding
the Goethe institute, this short film
may not be for you. There’s an ama-
teurish feel to Psychic Tequila Tarot
and Spengler’s other works, espe-
cially the playfully absurd Natural
Life of Mermaids. But if you can get
past the stylistic slush, you can for-
give Spengler on the grounds of her
far-reaching, bold messages.
The Nomi Song by Andrew Horn
presents a more linear film: a docu-
mentary bio. Clause Nomi has come
to be associated with elven space-
men for a reason – Nomi looked
like one while singing some of the
most inspirational pop-opera of
the New York New Wave age. The
trajectory of his career was fairly
short, but it reached its peak when
Nomi was a back-up singer for David
Bowie on Saturday Night Live, and
ended early with the devastation of
AIDS. He’s described as the “most
mesmerizing freak show in the his-
tory of Rock and Roll” and does not
disappoint. Andrew Horn had to
dig deep for this cultural nugget, as
very little footage of Nomi existed
outside his SNL performance. An
unsuspecting closet in Sweden held
an hour of footage on Super 8 film,
and Horn relied on six degrees of
Nadja Popovich / The McGill Daily
Culture 17
separation for much of his inter-
views and colouring.
Camera-ready and made up as
a style-minded invader, Nomi also
appears as an outsider – there’s the
persistent feeling throughout the
film that we can’t get beyond his
styled exterior. He is a challenging
character, but anecdotes of his voice
reverberating around his New York
courtyard on lazy afternoons give
this little-told story some ground-
ing in reality – a redeeming achieve-
ment, considering the surreal image
of Clause Nomi is about as believable
as a Psychic Tarot Tequila diva in his
Evan Newton / The McGill Daily
first appearances on screen.
The Carte Blanche begins January
15 and 16 with Berlin, Symphony
of a City, and Berlin Song, followed
by The Nomi Song and Spengler’s
three short films on the 22 and 23 of
January. A string of other selections
continue until March 13, closing with
The Wonderful Horrible Life of Leni
Riefenstahl. For the full program
check out www.goethe.de/INS/ca/
mon/enindex.htm.
CULTURE
BRIEF
Art around the clock
A week-long celebration of all
things “art” – with performances,
screenings, competitions, and more
– kicked off on campus Monday with
poetry and music, and continues today
and tomorrow with a series of student-
written, directed, and acted plays in
addition to short film screenings. The
ARTifact festival, hosted by McGill’s
Tuesday Night Café Theatre, closes on
Saturday with the famed 24-hour play-
writing competition, in which three
students are given 24 hours to write a
play for ten actors, and then another
24 hours to direct, stage, and perform
it. In addition, a gallery showcasing
McGill students’ visual art remains up
throughout the week – so come out
and support the arts in every form!
Tickets are $6 for students and $10 for
non-students. All shows are at 8p.m.
Contact TNC Theatre at artifact@tues-
daynightcafe.com, or call 398-6600 for
more information.
– Spencer Malthouse
TNC Theatre
 Compendium!
Lies, half-truths, and Gimli
My not-so-excellent holiday adventure
David G. Koch tackles airport boredom, chihuahuas, and watching inappropriate TV from coast to coast
T
he mysterious gods of Canadian
air travel spared me their worst
punishments during the holi-
days, but I too toiled, dear reader.
It started in Victoria. After hav-
ing gone through security, I found
out that my red-eye Westjet flight
was delayed by three hours. I killed
time in the airport bar, where some
drunk guy recounted to me his tale
of financial ruin, love gone wrong,
and hypnosis. He explained, ad
nauseum, how hypnotherapy had
brought about his “spiritual awaken-
ing.” Fortunately, we weren’t seated
next to each other when the plane
finally boarded. I got some sleep, and
made it to Calgary by 1:30 a.m.
But due to the delay, I risked miss-
ing my Calgary connection. This
inconvenience would’ve been costly,
forcing me to play Elvis Pinball in the
video arcade at 50 cents per game all
night long.
I thought the Canadian air travel
gods were smiling on me when I
found the Montreal-bound flight
waiting. But as I settled in, the PA
system crackled, and my illusions
were shattered. We weren’t moving,
our pilot said, until the maintenance
crew had fixed a damaged panel on
the hull of our jet. Groaning, I braced
myself for endless hours stuck on the
tarmac. But with festive good cheer,
I noted that trained technicians were
busy ensuring that our plane would
not fall apart in mid-air.
Anyway, I had lots of fun things to
distract myself from reality, notably a
personal TV built into the back of the
chair ahead of me. For a small fee, I
had my pick of several first-rate films,
such as Beverley Hills Chihuahua.
Tempting, because I knew from
trailers that this was the “Greatest
Chihuahua film ever made.”
Satellite TV was free, but it was
mostly trashy late-night fare aimed
at a viewership expected to be semi-
unconscious. Some Jerry Springer
knock off berated an irresponsible
pit-bill owner. CLICK. Fox News
served up coverage about a chi-
huahua that had survived a pitbull
attack. CLICK. Infomercials hawked
products of questionable merit, such
as Tony’s Total Workout DVD and a
vacuum cleaner with “super suction
power.”
CLICK. I eventually settled on the
Angel Chen’s illustrations appear every other Thursday. Send her your
thoughts on mediums and gas to angelclchen@gmail.com.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009
least distracting, but perhaps most
nauseating broadcast of all. The
Discovery Channel was featuring a
series of docudramas about great air-
plane disasters! It seems, dear reader,
that in the eighties, Air Canada Flight
143 was forced to make an emergency
landing in Gimli, Manitoba, after hav-
ing run out of fuel. Apparently some
incompetent jerk had confused his
metric and imperial measurements,
putting a brand new plane and some
people into jeopardy.
Just then, from deep in the belly
of the plane, I could hear what
sounded like a ratchet gun tighten-
ing bolts. “Ah, that’s the sound of a
skilled tradesman properly fastening
vital components onto the plane,”
I thought. Meanwhile, on-screen, a
computer animation recreated the
crash landing of Flight 143. The plane
lurched awkwardly in midair before
descending on a decommissioned
runway. Its tires blew out as the nose
grinded along the strip in a shower
of sparks, almost plowing through a
pair of bike-riding children, before
coming to a halt at the edge of a cliff.
“Maintenance is all finished,” the
pilot announced. The TVs flickered
off, and flight attendants happily
mimed the safety procedures. A baby
started crying, perhaps sensing our
impending doom.
As we blasted off into the cold
night, I remained preoccupied by my
angst. The TVs came back on, and Braden Goyette / The McGill Daily
I switched the channel to an info- For what they’ve gained in personal entertainment, planes have lost in tact.
mercial for “The Ultimate Oldies But
Goodies Collection,” featuring clas-
sic bands such as Buddy Holly. Hey,
didn’t he die in an airplane crash?
CLICK. Ah, the news. I wonder if I
could watch coverage of our immi-
nent demise live on CTV? CLICK.
An ad for some vacation company
plays a rip-off of Bob Marley’s “One
Love.” I was never a religious man
until tonight, dear reader, but never
did the Herbsman’s words mean
so much. (All together now: “Give
thanks and praise to the Lord and it’ll
be alright!”) Prayer seemed to be my
only option, as I neglected to pack
a parachute in the bulletproof back-
pack that I always bring on planes in
case of a terrorist attack.
You may call me a fool, but I think
the airline gods heard my call that
night. Unbelievers, get hypnotized.
Angel Chen for The McGill Daily
Sterling Street appears every Thursday. Send Margot your code to margot.nossal@gmail.com.
The McGill Daily, Thursday, January 15, 2009 19

Evan Newton / The McGill Daily

volume 98
number 27

editorial
3480 McTavish St., Rm. B-24
Montreal QC, H3A 1X9
phone 514.398.6784
fax 514.398.8318
mcgilldaily.com EDITORIAL
coordinating editor
Jennifer Markowitz
Stifling discussion won’t
coordinating@mcgilldaily.com
coordinating news editor
solve the conflict
Shannon Kiely
news editors Governments and media outlets have been nearly unanimous in
Erin Hale condemning the Israeli offensive in Gaza. As the humanitarian
Nicholas Smith crisis reaches new peaks, people are demanding strong stances
Alison Withers from their public institutions.
features editor This week the Israeli Central Elections Committee voted to
Claire Caldwell ban Arab political parties from its upcoming elections. With the
commentary&compendium editor world focusing on Israel’s offensive in Gaza, eliminating demo-
Max Halparin cratic dissent is no way for the country to rebuild its international
standing. However, there is little chance for the ban to come into
coordinating culture editor
Braden Goyette effect, as Israel’s Supreme Court is expected to overturn it.
Here in Canada, Sid Ryan, the President of the Ontario branch of
culture editors
the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), is also endanger-
Joshua Frank
Whitney Mallett ing peaceful dissent. In December, he proposed a motion demand-
ing all Canadian universities ban any Israeli professor who did not
science+technology editor
denounce the war in Gaza. While we recognize the right of CUPE
Nikki Bozinoff
executives to their own views, persecuting intellectuals in Canadian
mind&body editor universities is no way to further a political cause – not to mention a
Nadja Popovich clear violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
photo editor The diversity of opinion held by Israelis could easily be explored in
Stephen Davis Canada – but Ryan hopes to stop any type of discussion by threatening the
graphics editor livelihoods of those most qualified to participate. The motion disregards
Evan Newton the complex motivations that have led individuals to arrive at their political
production & design editors
beliefs, from heritage and religion, to nationality and political affiliation.
Will Vanderbilt Limiting discussion at a time like this doesn’t help Gazan or
Aaron Vansintjan Israeli civilians; rather than changing public opinion it forces peo-
web editor
ple with a variety of views into one of two rigid, polarized catego-
Ian Beattie ries. Universities have long been havens for critical analysis, and as
students this is a unique point in our lives when we will likely be
copy editor
Alexandra Kelp exposed to many new ideas. Now, as we find ourselves shaken by the
events in Gaza, it’s even more important to hold to that principle.
cover photo Students at Concordia protesting the war last week called for Montreal
Charles Mostoller
universities to cut ties with Israeli universities unless they make state-
le délit ments condemning the offensive, arguing that if Israeli universities
Maysa Phares remain silent, they are complicit in the outcome in Gaza. While these
redaction@delitfrancais.com demands rightly seek to raise anti-war sentiment in Israel, a multitude
Contributors of opinions and sentiments exist on any campus, and synthesizing them
Melanie Adelson, Julie Alsop, Niko Block,
Sophie Busby, Angel Chen, Christopher Columb,
into a single protocol may only serve to stifle the exchange of ideas.
Alyssa Favreau, Pamela Fillion, Emma Gray, Deborah Israeli students and professors are engaging in discussion over the
Guterman, Olivia Hoffmeyer, David G. Koch, Hayley
Lapalme, Sally Lin, Ryan Mackellar, Jaime Maclean,
war, and should continue to do so. At universities in Tel Aviv, Haifa,
Sam Neylon, Josh Nobleman, Margot Nossal, and Jerusalem, hundreds protested for and against Israel’s offensive,
Sasha Plotnikova, Sana Saeed, Amelia Schonbeck,
Marc Selles, Ted Sprague, Nicholas van Beek, Aquil as thousands have recently done in Montreal. These demonstra-
Virani, Rachel Wine, Alexandra Wong, tions hopefully reflect the opinions of people in Gaza and Israel who
Benjamin Wong, Hartlee Zucker
find themselves marginalized by their governments. We urge mem-
bers within institutions – be they universities, unions, and govern-
ments – to keep talking. Shutting down discussion helps no one.

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dps board of directors
Angel Chen, Ana Gray Richardson-Bachand,
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Jennifer Markowitz, Lawrence Monoson,
Maysa Phares, Perrin Valli, Eric Van
Eyken (chair@dailyproductions.org)

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