Canadian wins popularity contest in Middle East
On the cover of today’s Globe and Mail, the headline, “We Love Canada” is perched over a very large picture of Mark Budzanowski. Budzanowski is the Canadian aid worker who was kidnapped and subsequently released yesterday in Gaza. The kidnappers were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), acting in angry retaliation against the invasion of a Jericho jail by Israeli forces (The new Hamas-lead Palestinian government had threatened to set free several Palestinians who were responsible for the death of an Israeli MK last year, and Israel said "no way"). The PFLP blames the Americans and British for allowing Israel to complete the invasion.
Anyways, when the kidnappers realized that the dude they nabbed was a Canuck, apparently they were more than happy to let him go. Hence the extremely self-congratulatory article in today’s paper.
I must admit, at first I thought nothing of it. I skimmed through the article and felt a fleeting sense of smugness- the same sense of superiority I feel when Canada wins hockey gold at the Olympics, or when we’re not mentioned in scary Bin Laden tapes shown on al-Jazeera.
But then I got a call from a friend who read the article and was pissed. She “took exception” to the fact that the emphasis of the article was Canada’s good name, as opposed to the violence of kidnapping as a means of resistance. I listened to her argument, and despite my fondness for disagreeing with this particular friend, I thought she made a good point.
And it got me thinking…how many other Canadians (like me) read this article and responded to is as if they had just been told by an American that Canada makes a better beer? Because that’s really what this article is about. The story being told in the Globe today is not about the ridiculous and terrifying (not to mention increasingly popular) tactic of attacking innocent aid workers; it’s a smug and narrow-minded piece that celebrates the fact that the kidnappers think we’re cool.
On the cover of today’s Globe and Mail, the headline, “We Love Canada” is perched over a very large picture of Mark Budzanowski. Budzanowski is the Canadian aid worker who was kidnapped and subsequently released yesterday in Gaza. The kidnappers were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), acting in angry retaliation against the invasion of a Jericho jail by Israeli forces (The new Hamas-lead Palestinian government had threatened to set free several Palestinians who were responsible for the death of an Israeli MK last year, and Israel said "no way"). The PFLP blames the Americans and British for allowing Israel to complete the invasion.
Anyways, when the kidnappers realized that the dude they nabbed was a Canuck, apparently they were more than happy to let him go. Hence the extremely self-congratulatory article in today’s paper.
I must admit, at first I thought nothing of it. I skimmed through the article and felt a fleeting sense of smugness- the same sense of superiority I feel when Canada wins hockey gold at the Olympics, or when we’re not mentioned in scary Bin Laden tapes shown on al-Jazeera.
But then I got a call from a friend who read the article and was pissed. She “took exception” to the fact that the emphasis of the article was Canada’s good name, as opposed to the violence of kidnapping as a means of resistance. I listened to her argument, and despite my fondness for disagreeing with this particular friend, I thought she made a good point.
And it got me thinking…how many other Canadians (like me) read this article and responded to is as if they had just been told by an American that Canada makes a better beer? Because that’s really what this article is about. The story being told in the Globe today is not about the ridiculous and terrifying (not to mention increasingly popular) tactic of attacking innocent aid workers; it’s a smug and narrow-minded piece that celebrates the fact that the kidnappers think we’re cool.
posted by Emma Jo Aiken-Klar, PhD at 7:22 PM
4 Comments:
Yip, headlines sell papers. What I took from the article was Mark's courage in refusing to leave after what must have been a very scary ordeal. But is there anything wrong with an angle in a major canadian paper noting release was contingent on a canadian passport. Surely that says something. I felt just a bit relieved that even desperate people distinguish between first world nations based on their degree of perfidy.
FYI: we have been mentioned, and surveillance plans and targeting operations have been carried out in Montreal. Notably, a map of the Montreal metro was found.
But you know, that doesn't mean anything; just like the maps of London and Madrid's public transit systems found in al-Qaeda hideouts... those were just for tourist purposes.
Anyways, besides the slight naivete about us not being a target (read expert and investigative journalist Stewart Bell on the issue), you make some good insight, so I've linked to you in the latest edition of the Moderate Circus blogging carnival.
Sorry, the other link is broken. Here's the good link: Moderate Circus.
No doubt they were happy to leave the Canadian alone. We are ever so helpful in helping the global terror apparatus thrive.
Take, for example, the recent case of Mohammed Momin Khawaja, a Canadian who allegedly aided British extremists plan a series of attacks on western targets...one being a London based nightclub.
No, as long as Canada provides a relatively easy location to organize operations, we'll be fine. If that ever changes, watch out.
On another note, it is interesting to see that an allegedly democratic Afghanistan is considering trying, on penalty of death, one of its citizens for the unthinkable crime of converting to Christianity. And people wonder why there's such an uproar when Muslim groups in Canada express an interest in using Sharia law to solve thier own issues.
Boy, am i ever glad that our Canadian, primarily Christian troops are loosing their lives defending Afghani democratic values.
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