WAP/PAF's Response to Jason Kenney and Israeli Apartheid Week

Dear Mr. Kenney,

It is good to have you come out against the Israeli Apartheid Week. The reasons you give remind us why it is so important for people to understand the purpose of this movement, and why so many Canadians should be concerned.

What you clearly demonstrate is the reverse of anti-Semitism. By using the word anti-Semitism you are proving how distanced you are from the reality that you refuse to acknowledge. Anti-Semitism is not what this is about. Maybe you do not remember what the apartheid ideology is. The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_of_apartheid)

Further to the failure of your arguments to take into consideration the real problems of apartheid, you minimize the issues to the point of appearing ridiculous in your ignorance.

At the core of the problem are the issues of justice and people's rights to be scandalized by apartheid. Hence the voices of the people will not be silenced, now or in the future.

Sorry that you are unable to think for yourself and demonstrate integrity on this issue. As a consequence, your credibility suffers great loss.

Respectfully,

Esther Matharu

Partisanship is Killing Canada

Dear Ms. May, Mr. Layton, Mr. Duceppe and Mr. Ignatieff,

Partisanship is killing Canada.

If you were approachable, if we the majority of citizens could simply give you a message, this is what it would be.

Now is the time to move beyond party politics that have ruined our country and join forces to defeat Mr. Harper's regime. I can't begin to tell you how disgusted the citizens are with the bickering and pettiness which abases and demeans our political space.

The electorate expects you to do nothing less than unite our country, not under party differences but under service to our country in safe guarding its resources, human and other. This is your civic responsibility.

The divide and rule methodology has been working well. If you truly care about Canadians, then refuse to be divided, get on with your job of serving the people, and show us that men and women of good will are able to put the interests of Canadians in first place.

If not, new people will come and take over and the old discourses and their authors will be relegated to the pile of disgraced relics of the 20th century!

We make this humble request that you agree on the common denominators under which you can work towards positive change in our country. For example, both Mr. Dewar and Mr. Naqvi have joined Fair Vote. This is a very positive and timely signal and shows that the fundamental question of fair representation of our marginalised and minority groups and people, and even the majority of Canadians, will be addressed for the betterment of all.

With hope and expectation

Esther Matharu
Women's Alliance Party

What's up in the 'hood?

There is much good to be done in the world and small groups of concerned individuals gather in the most unlikely spots and do the most unlikely things to bring about change.

Thus it is for the Radical Relics, a pro tem group of retirees who see the need to encourage our young people to stand up for what they believe and to "have their back" when the situation arises.

You can find out more about the Students Against Israeli Apartheid here: http://carleton.saia.ca/

WAP MAP

Not exactly a dead-registration in this photo but it is revealing how a capital W can so easily be inverted to create a capital M.

And if W stands for Women, what do you suppose the M stands for?

Yes, Man.

Of course, when one looks at the word, Woman or Women, the male homo sapien is prevalent, indeed, an integral part of the whole.

So who says that a Women's Alliance Party is something men would eschew. They are already part with every fibre and breath and soul.

Shero

	A hero/heroine is someone who fights for human rights in general. Expanding on general "heroism", a Shero is a man or woman who stands up specifically for female rights. In order to be considered as a Shero, one must DO something to help the women's cause, or be a historical figure who was unconventional in their thinking for that time of what females can do. Nothing historical about the Women's Alliance Party/Parti alliance femmes. So Join the Conversation NOW! www.womensallianceparty.com

International Women's Day

Excerpt from article in today's Globe and Mail
by Stephanie Nolen

Of course there has been change, particularly in the past 25 years, for women in the developing world. In China 100 years ago, almost all women were peasants; today they make up nearly half the list of the country's most powerful new tycoons. In Egypt, women have played a critical role in the political upheaval of recent weeks. In Rwanda, women hold more than half of parliamentary seats, and they are using them to put forward innovative policy in a number of fields.

The same things that brought change to the developed world - a shift from subsistence agriculture to an industrial economy, a gradual opening of access to education that created a class of women able to push for political change - lie at the root of the changes in the south.

Read complete article here:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/in-much-of-the-world-gains-in-womens-rights-elude-a-silent-majority/article1933117/singlepage/#articlecontent

Giving Pause for Thought

In reading some Facebook entries this evening, former city councillor and mayoralty candidate, Clive Doucet, wrote about a recent trip to the United States and how it left him feeling. Here is an excerpt which should make us all think about the Canada we want to preserve and build:

I wrote a book a few years ago called ‘Urban Meltdown: Cities, Climate Change and Politics as Usual about how modern cities are slowly but surely slipping into insolvency and decay. It is one thing to write about it. It is another thing to experience it in cities that are much further along the curve. The same pattern of destructive resource allocation is happening in Canada. Our military budget is flying straight up while civic investments head towards the toilet without anyone able to stop it. People want their taxes stable or reduced. The military and police forces are sacred…that leaves what?