Inkless Wells

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Rights and Democracy: the other shoe drops

by Paul Wells on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 10:06am - 72 Comments

From the Jerusalem Post, today’s absolute must read. The recent uproar over conflicts among government-appointed board members at the Montreal-based “Gongo” (government-sponsored Non-Governmental Organization) Rights and Democracy gets a very different read from a conservative Israeli analyst. For the background on the Rights and Democracy spat, read this story. Then turn to today’s op-ed by Gerald Steinberg in the Jerusalem Post, which heartily praises the group’s new direction. Steinberg also helpfully links the Rights and Democracy controversy to the government’s recent decision to cut funding to the ecumenical group Kairos. Which is odd, because Jason Kenney has angrily denied he meant what he said when he said Kairos’ funding was cut because of its stance on Israel. Perhaps Mr. Steinberg is one memo behind in his Canada briefings. Or one ahead?

Tags: Gerald Steinberg, Jerusalem Post, KAIROS, Rights and Democracy

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http://intensedebate.com/people/TJCook TJCook

Where in that piece (or elsewhere) is it demonstrated that "Rights and Democracy was stacked with those prepared to side against Israel and further the NDP's agenda"?

I call bullsh*t.
Political Junkie

I find it very interesting that no one is listening to what the board members of Rights and Democracy are saying. They have clearly said that funds were abused and not only funds that went to organizations with a focus on the Middle East, but other sorts of funds as well. I am waiting til all the documentation comes out to see if the media and the so-called supporters of democracy and transparency apologize for the smears against these committed Canadians who sit on the board of this organization.

joops

Ahem – I assume you mean what *some* board members are saying. The others, and the employees (who are also "committed Canadians") are saying quite the opposite.

lifeonqueen

My apologies. The $11 million refers to R&D not Kairos.

http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

is lifeonqueen the same person as Susaan, the same person as Jim B, the same person as….

Canuckistanian

yes. i don't think it is Jim B though (not angry enough).

rule #1 of sock-puppetry: use the same pseudonym dummy ;-)

Johnny Canuck

Uhm, the idea that Ed Broadbent took the lead in "rejecting calls for accountability and transparency" exists only in Steinberg's head. If you read the Globe article Steinberg uses to fabricate this claim, you'll see Ed and three former presidents of Rights and Democracy signed a letter asking Stephen Harper to address “a subversion of the independence and integrity of the institution” through the insertion of partisan "Middle East politics" into an organization with a non-partisan, independent mandate from Parliament.
joops

Thanks for providing this. I hope an English-language paper will also pick this up.
http://intensedebate.com/people/TJCook TJCook

Did I miss something in the translation? There seems to be no allegation that the organization was stacked with anti-Israel types like you allege, much less anyone trying to further the agenda of the NDP.

Mulletaur

Yeah, you missed a lot, actually. The Harperites are purging the organization of anybody who could be considered pro-Arab, even going to the extent of inquiring whether employees speak Arabic, which is beyond ridiculous. That means that all those who agree with the Israel hating-NDP and their agenda are being purged. But if you want to continue to play stupid, you're welcome to do so.

http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

Mulletaur, let me see if I get this straight. If someone within that group speaks Arabic, they must be Israel hating-NDPers?!?!

Mulletaur

I'm not telling you what I believe, I'm telling you what they believe and are doing. The Conservatives are purging the pro-Arab lefties from the organization. Clear ?

http://intensedebate.com/people/Jack_Mitchell Jack Mitchell

Gad, can we please just leave these Israelis and Palestinians to sort themselves out (or not)? It's such a titanic waste of everybody's time in the West, caring about these two little terrier nations always at each other's throats. There are plenty, plenty of terribly poor and dysfuntional nations in the world for the NGO's to worry about, besides the Palestinians; and as to Israel, surely the disinterested partisans of ethnic authoritarianism could more effectively lobby for China, Burma, Serbia, Kosovo, or some other place that needs more positive press.

Mulletaur

Our political parties certainly should consider your advice. None of them comes out good from sticking our noses into this conflict. But I guess there are votes to be had in all of this somehow, so it's very unlikely to happen. That's even before any consideration of the strategic and moral importance of the questions involved.

http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

Mulletaur, your french must not be very good because NOTHING in the citation you provided points to an NDP agenda. What it does show is a board hell bent on purging the organisation of any funding of programs for Palestinians… and the Congo, apparently.

This is pretty much in keeping with what we've seen from this govt to date: "Israel at any cost" and "Africa? What Africa?"

Mulletaur

Once again, the point is that the Conservatives are purging the pro-Arab lefties. Question : Is Ed Broadbent a member of the NDP ?

http://intensedebate.com/people/PolJunkie PolJunkie

I got as far as the first paragraph before closing the window….
kcm

It might be helpful to point out that the guy who wrote the Jerusalem post article heads this organization, which has this said about them on the lib blog:
"Other organisations NGO Monitor attacks: Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, World Vision Canada, Oxfam Canada, etc, etc. NGO Monitor is a joke and KAIROS is in very good company"
That's a whole different ball game to just going after a couple of obscure Canadian NGOs.
I'm not taking any position concerning this mess. I just know i'd exhaust every conceivable fact checkng tool i had before i'd take Ezra's word on any subject…particularly Israel. I guess if you look at this purely from an Israeli pov it's survival by all means, which i do have some sympathy for, given their situation. But i can't except the premise that criticism of Israel equates to anti-semitism – and neither can a whole lot of Israelis.
http://intensedebate.com/people/sea_n_mountains sea_n_mountains

t'was classic indeed