"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Please note: All my writings and comments appear in bold italics in this colour

Monday, August 31, 2015

Nobel Laureate in Literature: Europe Will Soon Go Under – Thanks To Muslims

Muslim Issue
Nobel Laureate in Literature: “Europe will soon go under – The Muslims are flooding, occupying and destroying Europe”

Following Hitler Europeans no longer dare to discuss the disadvantages of alien races and religions, warns the Hungarian-Jewish professional Holocaust and Nobel laureate Imre Kertész in his new book, The Last Escape(?). [Photo of Imre Kertész as a child in the German concentration camps in Auschwitz, in Poland]

Nobel Laureate in Literature: 
“The Muslims are flooding, occupying and destroying Europe”

Published 
FriaTider.se

This text has been translated so there are a few problems with it.

Den Hungarian-Jewish writer and professional Holocaust Imre Kertész, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2002, now directs sharp criticism of the Western establishment’s decision to allow Europe to change population through mass immigration from the third world countries.
It’s in the book, the last to escape Kertész chooses to strongly condemn what those in power do with Europe right now.

In the book Kertész, who at age 15 was transferred to Auschwitz but survived and began a writing career, criticizes the liberal attempt to replace the European culture with mass immigration, particularly from Muslim cultures in the third world.

“Europe will soon go under because of its former liberalism that has proved childish and suicidal. Europe has produced Hitler, and after Hitler the continent stands there with no arguments: the doors are wide open for Islam, they no longer dare talk about race and religion while Islam only knows the language of hatred against alien races and religions,” writes Kertész in his book, according to a summary of the blogger Thomas Nydahl.


The 85-year-old Nobel laureate continues:

“I should say a few words about politics too … Then I would talk about how Muslims are flooding, occupying, in clear verbs, destroying Europe, and how Europe relates to this, the suicidal liberalism and the stupid democracy … It always ends the same way: civilization reaches a certain stage of maturation where it is not only (not?) able to defend itself, but where it is in a seemingly incomprehensible worship of their own enemy.”

Europeans don't see Muslims as their enemy in spite of the spectacular increase in rape in many countries, that parallels Muslim immigration. But they will; unfortunately, by the time they do it will be too late.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Facebook Must Stop AntiSemitic Posts - Germany

Facebook will have to abide by German laws banning racist sentiment even if it might be allowed in the United States under freedom of speech, Berlin's justice minister told Reuters.

(photo credit:REUTERS)
Maas, who has accused Facebook of doing too little to thwart racist and hate posts on its social media platform, said that Germany has zero tolerance for such expression and expects the US-based company to be more vigilant.

"One thing is clear: if Facebook wants to do business in Germany, then it must abide by German laws," Maas told Reuters. "It doesn't matter that we, because of historical reasons, have a stricter interpretation of freedom of speech than the United States does."

"Holocaust denial and inciting racial hatred are crimes in Germany and it doesn't matter if they're posted on Facebook or uttered out in the public on the market square," he added.

Maas sent a letter to Facebook public policy director Richard Allan in Dublin saying he received many complaints from users that their protests on racist posts have been ignored. He suggested meeting in Berlin on Sept. 14.

This is a problem in North America too, but our hate-crimes boards are run by leftists who are most likely anti-Semitic themselves. 

Maas is a leader of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). The party faced a flood of racist emails, phone calls and bomb threat after its chairman Sigmar Gabriel denounced an anti-refugee "mob" behind anti-refugee violence in the eastern town of Heidenau.

The town near Dresden was the scene of violent clashes last weekend as far-right militants, protesting against the arrival of around 250 refugees at a local shelter, pelted police with bottles and rocks, some shouting "Heil Hitler."

"The internet isn't a place where laws are ignored, where indictable comments can be spread with impunity," Maas said, adding he found it appalling that some were using Facebook to spread hatred against refugees and the Germans helping them.

"There's no scope for misplaced tolerance towards internet users who spread racist propaganda. That's especially the case in light of our German history."

A spokeswoman for Facebook said the company took his concerns seriously and it was interested in meeting the justice minister. Maas said he was looking forward to the meeting.

"It's in Facebook's own inherent interest that it is not used as a platform for racist content," he said.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Mass Shootings in the U.S.: Guns, Glory, Broken Dreams

A new study sheds light on why mass shootings in the U.S. are 
'an exceptionally American problem'
By Meagan Fitzpatrick, 
CBC News
A makeshift memorial with crosses for the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre
stands outside a home in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2013, the one-year
 anniversary of the shootings. Study shows U.S. leads world in mass shootings
The shocking murder of two journalists carried out on live television this week has Americans once again asking questions about why these kinds of crimes seem to happen with such frequency in their country.

Three people were shot, two of them died and the gunman killed himself in Roanoke, Va.

A few days before the shooting, researcher Adam Lankford was at the American Sociological Association's conference in Chicago presenting his study that found the U.S. leads the world in mass shootings.

His findings are even more relevant following Wednesday's events in Virginia, even though the deaths of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, journalists at a Roanoke TV station, don't technically meet the definition of "mass shooting" — four or more victims.

5% pop, 31% mass shootings

The University of Alabama professor found that despite having less than five per cent of the world's population, the United States was home to 31 per cent of the world's mass shooters between 1966 and 2012. 

His work discusses the reasons behind his finding, and in the context of the theory of American exceptionalism, he finds that there is indeed something uniquely American about mass shootings.

They are "an exceptionally American problem," he writes.

Using data compiled by the New York City Police Department in its 2012 report on active shooting incidents in the U.S. and around the world, as well as data from a 2014 FBI report, Lankford determined that the U.S. had 90 mass shooting incidents during that time frame.

That's more than five times the number of second-place finisher the Philippines. Russia, Yemen and France followed in that order. Another finding about the U.S. stood out: Of the cases reviewed worldwide, 62 per cent of all school and workplace shootings happened within the U.S.

"Overall, some combination of American exceptionalism, American gun culture, and American strains could potentially explain the commonality of public mass shooters in the United States," Lankford writes.

There are limitations to this study, Lankford noted in an interview.

For example, he only included shootings where four or more people were killed, and only looked at active or rampage shooter situations — killings in workplaces or movie theatres, for example, not gangs battling it out on a street.

Many Americans take their constitutional right to bear arms very seriously, and Lankford's study points out that the U.S. ranks first out of 178 countries when it comes to gun ownership. A 2007 survey showed Americans own 88.8 guns per 100 people. Canada ranked 13th, but is not even close to the U.S. with 30.8 guns per 100 people.

Failing to achieve 'the American dream'

America's gun culture and the widespread availability of firearms, contributes to the country's mass shooting problem, the study says. It found that American mass shooters were more likely to arm themselves with multiple weapons, though they killed fewer people than shooters in other countries.

Lankford said that may be because law enforcement is so accustomed to mass shootings now in the U.S. that they can respond faster and with more established procedures to prevent more casualties than in other countries.

While Lankford's study suggested a strong link between the civilian firearm ownership rate and the number of public mass shooters in the United States, he said there could be other factors that make the U.S. especially prone to public mass shooting incidents.

America puts more pressure on its citizens to succeed professionally and financially than other countries, Lankford discusses in his study, and when Americans have bad experiences at work or school and fail to achieve their goals, they are more likely to respond with acts of violence.

Aurora theater killer James Holmes was found guilty of the
mass shooting in August and sentenced to life in prison.
(Andy Cross/The Denver Post/Associated Press)
"Notably, these strains seem to transcend age and class. In America, students, adults, blue-collar workers and white-collar workers may all be somewhat more susceptible to the social pressures that, in extreme cases, can lead to mass shootings," he writes.

Different cultures define success in different ways, and while Canadians and Americans might seek the same things in life, achieving "the Canadian dream" isn't a national ethos the way "the American dream" is south of the border.

"I'm not an expert on Canadian culture or history, but the American dream has carved out its own mythology and set of expectations," Lankford said.

Killers have often cited a failure to achieve a goal at work or at school, places where shootings happen more often in the U.S. than in other countries, as motivation for their crime, the study notes.

A focus on fame

Then there's also the idolization of fame, which appears uniquely American, according to Lankford. Increasingly in the U.S., especially among young people, becoming famous is considered the ultimate form of success.

"If being famous is one of your most important goals, it's setting up a lot of people to fail," he said in the interview.

"Unfortunately, due to some combination of strains, mental illness and American idolization of fame, some mass shooters succumb to terrible delusions of grandeur, and seek fame and glory through killing," his study says. They realize that the only way they will become a household name is by killing innocent people.

There is no concept of good and evil here! No concern whatsoever with morality! How did Americans lose their value system?

Lankford said understanding some of the social reasons that may contribute to the mass shootings problem in the U.S. is important for other countries such as Canada, given the degree to which American media and culture are exported around the world.

The Columbine shooters, for example, were considered vigilante heroes by other at-risk individuals in foreign countries who saw the fame the massacre brought them. The suspects in a plot to carry out a mass shooting in Halifax earlier this year were "Columbiners," devotees of the gunmen who carried out the 1999 school shooting in Colorado.

"If the lust for fame continues to spread from America to Canada, that would be something that people might need to watch out for," Lankford said.

He concludes in his study that the most obvious step to reduce mass shootings in the U.S. is to reduce the availability of guns — but that's an uphill battle politically. In the meantime, what is more realistic is trying to help those who are struggling to cope with their stress and their strains.

 "For concerned citizens, this provides an opportunity to get them the help they so desperately need, and to thereby make the world both a safer and healthier place," Lankford said.

Rainbow-flag Clad Calgary Transit Bus has Driver Threatening to Quit

Employee says his Christian values prevent him from driving bus decorated for Calgary Pride celebrations

The Canadian Press
Calgary Transit rolled out the city's first Pride bus on Thursday to help celebrate
Calgary Pride 2015, which runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 7
A Calgary man says he will quit his job if he's assigned to drive a bus wrapped in a rainbow flag.

The annual Calgary Pride Festival kicks off Friday and, as a show of support, a Calgary Transit bus has been wrapped in the symbol of inclusiveness.

The rainbow flag bus will operate through Sept. 7, the day of the parade.

Jesse Rau, who has worked for Calgary Transit as a driver for about a year, says he's a Christian and can't support homosexuality.

Rau hopes Calgary Transit and the Amalgamated Transit Union will support drivers who don't want to drive the rainbow bus.

Doug Morgan, director of Calgary Transit, says drivers can only refuse to work based on safety issues.

"What we would do is open a dialogue with them and chat with them and ask them about their issues and making sure we're being sensitive to their beliefs, but overall the service has to go out and we would ask them to drive the bus," Morgan said.

In other words, they would give lip-service to Rau's faith, then tell him to drive the bus or else.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture where if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, 
the accusation is that you hate that person."
- Jesse Rau

Rau said he hopes he would be assigned to another bus.

"I have a family to support and I am very concerned about losing the job, it's something I'm very proud to be a part of, but when it goes against the most important things I stand for, or if I'm asked to compromise in such a big way for what I believe to be right, then I have to lose my job," Rau said.

"I'm a Christian so, as a Christian, there are things like homosexuality that I just can't condone. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where if you disagree with someone's lifestyle, the accusation is that you hate the person."

Calgary Pride's director of government affairs, Craig Sklenar, says the bus is a symbol of progress.

'It's a sign of the change in Calgary," said Sklenar. "There's still much to do in as much as LGBTQ rights are concerned but we are excited there is such public displays of pride across the city over the next few weeks."

Oh, Calgary, how far you have fallen, and how quickly you turn on your own!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

India's Kerala Airport Runs Entirely on Green Energy

It is the world’s first airport to run completely on solar energy

An aerial view of the solar field. Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL)
currently uses 48,000 units of power it generates. (Akhel Mathew/Gulf News)
Gulf News
Akhel Mathew, Correspondent

Kochi, Kerala: The next time you wing into the Kochi airport in Kerala, on the southern tip of India, you will have another visual treat in addition to the majestic coconut palms, the meandering waterways and the multiple hues of lush green vegetation.

To those pretty sights have been added thousands of solar power panels spread over a 18-hectare area, combining a visual treat with the promise of clean energy. The achievement makes the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) the world’s first airport to run completely on solar energy, authorities claim.

The airport company hopes to generate 18 million units of power a year from its 12 megawatt generation facility on the airport premises. That will also cut 175,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over the next 25 years, according to CIAL officials. That, they say, is the equivalent of planting three million trees or running a car for 1.2 billion kilometres without the use of fuel.

“It has been a matter of satisfaction for us to be producing our own requirement of power. I am seeing the fruits of solar energy right in front of my eyes,” V.J. Kurian, managing director of CIAL told Gulf News.

“On an average, we produce about 52,000 units of power a day, and we consume about 48,000 units daily. The power produced is fed into the grid of the Kerala State Electricity Board, and we can draw power from the grid when the solar panels go to sleep at night,” Kurian says.

For a state that is perennially short of power, that is a significant window of opportunity. Kerala relies mainly on hydro power, with the Idukki hydroelectric station being its flagship power producer.

“It would be a good idea to add generation capacity at Idukki in the night, and rely on solar power during the day”, says Kurian, who feels Kerala should embrace more of solar energy.

The solar energy facility at CIAL was established by the German technology and services giant, Bosch. The Bosch Energy and Building Solutions team reportedly expects an average daily power generation of 50,000 units.

Kerala, India
CIAL is among the rare profit-making entities in the public sector in Kerala, and its latest initiative for self-sufficiency in power will further improve its bottom line.

“We invested Rs51.70 million [Dh2.86 million] per mega watt, or about Rs620 million for the 12 mega watt solar plant. We hope to break even in about five and a half years, but more than that, we realise it is a viable model for power generation,” Kurian says.

What is significant is that while different airports around the world have used solar energy to partially meet power requirements, CIAL is the first to generate all the power that is needed to run the airport, and even produce a little bit of surplus energy, point out CIAL officials.

Kerala state, India
CIAL is located some 30km to the north of Kerala’s commercial capital, Kochi and is the fourth largest in India in terms of international passenger movement and seventh largest in domestic passenger movement. In the past year, it handled 5.4 million passengers.

The 21-year-old airport company has two major subsidiaries, the Cochin International Aviation Services Limited (CIASL) and Cial infrastructure Limited. It also owns an 18-hole golf course and a trade centre.

Opening the solar energy unit at the airport, chief minister Oommen Chandy pointed out the need for more profitmaking, forward-looking ventures like CIAL. The airport company appears focused on a similar ambition: It hopes to be a Rs30-billion company by 2030. The solar farm that it has just established, not too far from the paddy fields nearby, reflects the sunny side of the airport company that has kept soaring since its take-off in the mid-1990s.

Congratulations CIAL, you obviously have some very intelligent people at the top.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Slovakia To Accept Only Christian Refugees

Could it be that a spark of sense is starting to sneak into the EU with regard to Muslim refugees and immigration, albeit a small spark on the very fringe of the EU?


Slovakia has declared that it will only accept Christian refugees from the tens of thousands seeking asylum in Europe. Slovakia has only a very small Muslim population and has no mosque. It appears they want to keep it that way, and who can blame them. A couple decades down the road and Slovakia may be the only EU country to retain any similarity to it's long-established culture, while the rest of the EU is merrily running head-long into cultural suicide.

I have been saying for several months now that Muslim refugees should be sent to Muslim countries, and Christian refugees to Christian countries. It's a drastic measure considering most Muslims are fleeing Muslim countries. But it should be at least a minimum requirement for Muslims fleeing Muslims to renounce Islam. If they leave Muslim countries because they are unfit to live in, let them leave Islam, rather than bringing their Muslim insanity with them.

BBC News interview with EU reporter



Islam Fastest Growing Religion in India

Hindu population in decline; Christianity growing slowly
As per the religious census data of 2011, released by the Registrar General and
Census Commissioner on Tuesday, the total population in the country
in 2011 was 1.21 billion.
Gulf News
PTI

New Delhi: The Muslim community has registered a moderate 0.8 per cent growth (as a percentage of the entire population) to touch 172.2 million in the 10 year period between 2001 and 2011, up from 138 million, while Hindus population showed a decline by 0.7 per cent at 966.3 million during the period, according to the latest census data on religion.

While the census figure on religion was released on Tuesday, more than four years after compilation of the data, the caste data is yet to be made public.

It's unfortunate that India is still collecting caste data; it ought to be abolished.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United)(JD(U)), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and some other parties have been asking the government to release the caste census figure. The data on socio economic status of the population was released on July 3.


As per the religious census data of 2011, released by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner on Tuesday, the total population in the country in 2011 was 1.21 billion.

Christianity is the third most popular religion in India making up only 2.3% of the population as a whole.

Hindu population is 966.3 million (79.8 per cent); Muslim 172.2 million (14.2 per cent); Christian 27.8 million (2.3 per cent); Sikh 20.8 million (1.7 per cent); Buddhist 8.4 million (0.7 per cent); Jain 4.5 million (0.4 per cent), Other religions and persuasions (ORP) 7.9 million (0.7 per cent) and religion not stated 2.9 million (0.2 per cent).

The proportion of Muslim population to total population has increased by 0.8 percentage point (PP) in 2011, the census data said.

The proportion of Hindu population to total population in 2011 has declined by 0.7 PP; the proportion of Sikh population has declined by 0.2 PP and the Buddhist population has declined by 0.1 PP during the decade 2001-2011.

There has been no significant change in the proportion of Christians and Jains.

Jainism is one of the oldest Indian religions. It teaches non-violence to all living things and asceticism. It has similarities to Buddhism.

As per 2001 census, India’s total population was 1.02 billion of which Hindu population comprised of 827.5 million (80.45 per cent) and Muslims were 138 million (13.4 per cent).

The growth rate of population in the decade 2001-2011 was 17.7 per cent. The growth rate of population of the different religious communities in the same period was as Hindus: 16.8 per cent; Muslim: 24.6 per cent; Christian: 15.5 per cent; Sikh: 8.4 per cent; Buddhist: 6.1 per cent and Jain: 5.4 per cent.

The distribution is total population by six major religious communities namely, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain besides ‘Other Religions and Persuasions’ and ‘Religion not stated’.

Obviously, Islam is doing a better job of evangelizing India than Christianity. We Christians ought to take note and pray about how we can reverse this trend.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Report Shows ‘5-Star Gaza’ for Billionaire, Millionaires, & Middle Class

The Washington Post exposes the truth of Gaza’s 
pampered middle class, with details of luxury car dealerships, 
ritzy hotels and stellar gyms.
Blue Beach Resort, Gaza - Reuters
By Ari Yashar

Western media has often been criticized by Israel for only on rare occasions presenting Gaza as anything other than an open-air prison suffering from Israeli blockades, but an unusual glimpse into the glamorous life of Gaza’s middle class made its way to light on Sunday.

Articles such as an Economist expose in 2012 detailing golden Porsches and Hummers cruising the streets of Gaza under corrupt Hamas rule were joined by a Washington Post report, revealing on Sunday how the “other half lives” in the terrorist enclave.

The article begins by noting how under-reported the middle class aspect of Gazan life is in Western media, commenting, “this is the Gaza outside the war photographer’s frame.”

There is a parallel reality where the wafer-thin Palestinian middle class here is wooed by massage therapists, spin classes and private beach resorts,” continues the expose, listing “a handful of new ­luxury-car dealerships, boutiques selling designer jeans and, coming soon to a hip downtown restaurant, ‘Sushi Nights.'”

In interviewing some of Gaza’s middle class that enjoys “personal trainers, medium-rare steaks, law school degrees and decent salaries,” the paper spoke with Samia Hillis, a 33-year-old counselor for children with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the fighting in Hamas’s recurring terror wars against Israel.

“I like to get out a night or two a month. You have to, if you can afford it. You have to live life, just a little bit, even in Gaza,” said Hillis, who spoke with the paper while sitting with her niece at a new open-air rooftop restaurant named Level Up, nestled on the high-rise Zafer Tower.

Level Up’s general manager Basil Eleiwa spoke about his exclusive clientele, revealing that at least 100,000 residents of Gaza lived in the lap of luxury as members of the middle class when Hamas took control in 2007. That number has since dwindled, but recently has been resurgent.

Another new hot item in Gaza is Grand Motors, a luxury car dealership that like Level Up has managed to make a go of it despite the media preoccupation with Gaza’s “blockade.” The dealership, which opened two months ago, features new models of Mercedes-Benz sedans.

Moemen Abu Ras, a partner in the dealership, said business is slow and the market is small, but nevertheless there is a niche of wealthy Gazans wanting to ride in style – and who have enough disposable income to do so.

One car in the lot is a black 2014 Mercedes E-class sedan that has logged 20,000 kilometers, and is on sale for $80,000. Abu Ras buys the luxury automobiles in Germany, and then ships them through Israel’s port of Ashdod from where they are let into Gaza.

He notes that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas charge him import taxes aside from the Israeli car taxes that are applied to dealerships in Israel as well.

Fatah: 1,700 Hamas Millionaires in Gaza from ‘taxing’ aid

Living “a dream” in Gaza

Nearby another new posh site has opened in the form of Techno Gym. There for $100 a month Gaza’s upper crust can enjoy the air-conditioned sports club’s amenities, including cardio workouts, hydrotherapy, spin classes, swimming lessons, and expensive weight machines imported from China.

The Techno Gym in Gaza City has separate hours for men & women and offers
swimming lessons in an indoor pool, a sauna, a massage room & gym classes.
- Photo: Heidi Levine/WP
“This isn’t a business, this is a dream,” co-owner Ammar Abu Karsh told the Washington Post. He teaches the cardio class at the gym, which has over 500 members despite its steep entry fee.

Gaza even features a five-star hotel named Mashtal, which has been around since 2011. Despite being temporarily closed it is open again and catering to Gaza’s elite.

Just across the street from the Mashtal is a new attraction, the Blue Beach Resort, which is replete with “an Olympic-size swimming pool, cabana boys and a private beach.”

The Blue Beach Resort - Gaza
The paper noted that after an Israeli TV report on the resort the management “decided to lower its profile,” with a hotel employee being quoted saying “Hamas security complained that journalists were giving the world the wrong impression about Gaza.” Apparently Hamas was upset with images other than war-bombed buildings getting out.

“I’d run out of Gaza if I could”

But Gaza’s middle class do not seem opposed to leaving the Hamas-run region according to the report.

Gaza’s millionaire leaders having left Gaza during conflict with Israel
Heba Ammar, 24, was quoted saying “if I could leave Gaza I would run!,” while taking part in a pool party at a beach villa last week with her family, which rented the villa for 20 hours at $140.

Her sentiment is in fact quite common according to a poll in June, which found a full half of all Gazans want to leave Gaza, marking the highest such margin in the history of the Palestinian Arab institute that managed the polls.

Not everyone enjoys the luxury of the middle class in Gaza, however. The World Bank reports that due to “blockades, war and poor governance,” unemployment in Gaza is at 43%, the highest in the world. Likewise almost 80% of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents receive social assistance.

Gaza has in fact been suffering under an Egypt blockade recently expanded in a buffer zone inside Gaza, that Egypt created by expelling residents and demolishing their homes.

Israel has been conducting a naval blockade to prevent the influx of weapons to Gazan terrorists, while monitoring its border crossings with Gaza and allowing humanitarian goods in – a facet that has been exploited by Hamas to rebuild its tunnel attack system and rocket arsenal.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Insanity Reigns as Trinity Western University & B.C. Law Society Face Off in Supreme Court

The case centres around a covenant students have to sign 
that rejects same-sex marriage
CBC News
The B.C. Law Society initially accredited Trinity Western University's law
program, but then reversed its position. (Trinity Western University)
A B.C. Supreme Court judge will hear arguments this week about whether future graduates of a Christian university's law school should be able to practise in the province.

At issue is the covenant Trinity Western University's law students must sign, which says marital sex can only happen between men and women. 

"It's not for everyone, but it is important for those who would like to attend such a school," said Earl Phillips, the law school's executive director.

Phillips said not allowing the accreditation of the program would be discriminatory against the school's students.

The B.C. Law Society initially accredited the program, but then reversed its position after members voted against accreditation.

Can you say: gay lobby?

The judicial review is expected to last five days.

An Ontario court has already upheld the Ontario law society's refusal to accredit TWU graduates, while Nova Scotia's law society is appealing a court ruling that stopped it from denying accreditation to graduates.

The proposed law school has yet to open.

It's tragically funny how much society has changed in just one generation. 20, 30, 40 years ago, Trinity's standards would have been considered excessively moral. They haven't changed, but they are now considered immoral, discriminatory against gays. Even though 99.9% of gays wouldn't be caught dead in Trinity Western University - they feel discriminated against. How absurd is that? And how absurd is it that law societies and courts agree with them? Insanity reigns!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Why Iraq is the 'Worst Strategic Failure Since the Foundation of the United States'

'The people at the top should be held accountable for what went wrong' former adviser says of Iraq
By Kevin Sylvester, 
CBC News 
The Sunday Edition
People evacuate the body of a victim killed in a bombing at Baghdad's Jameela
 market on Aug. 13. A massive truck bomb ripped through the popular
food market in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood, killing at 58.
(Karim Kadim/Associated Press)
Emma Sky was in the middle of the storm in Iraq, and she still isn't quite sure how she got there.

In 2003, Sky, a British civilian, volunteered to help in the post-invasion reconstruction of Iraq. She ended up spending much of the next 10 years there, watching the country collapse even further into chaos and violence.

Sky, who has written a new book about that time called The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq, says she was opposed to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but signed on to help in the reconstruction of the country.

"I wanted to apologize to the Iraqi people," she told CBC's The Sunday Edition. "But when I arrived, the Iraqi people didn't want an apology. They wanted their country to work again."

Emma Sky
Sky spent much of the next decade serving in a number of positions, from ad-hoc governor of Kirkuk to political advisor to numerous U.S. generals, including Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq. 

But so much of that journey seemed to happen by chance.

"When I arrived to Iraq I had no training, no briefings," she recalled. "I had no idea what my job would be, and then I was suddenly in charge of Kirkuk. It was a indication of the problems there. There was no plan."

Wishful thinking

Sky said the United States led the invasion of Iraq in 2003 to oust a dictator, Saddam Hussein, and to help establish a democratic beachhead in the Middle East. But after the invasion, it was the military that was left with the job of trying to keep the country together.

"They had been told to go in and take care of Saddam and that was it. They were completely unaware of the situation there. They had to make the best of the situation they found themselves in."

According to Sky, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush believed that democracy would take hold on its own; they had no road-map for how to make that happen.

"These plans drawn up in Washington were all wishful thinking," she said.

This is what I have been saying for many years - the US had no plan for what they should do after invading Iraq other than to capture Saddam Hussein. It's one of the most spectacularly stupid decisions ever made by an industrialized nation. It makes Pearl Harbor look like a brilliant move.

At one point, Sky recounts in the book, Donald Rumsfeld showed up for a military briefing in northern Iraq, and didn't know where neighbouring Iran was on the map.

In Emma Sky's book, 'The Unravelling:
High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in
Iraq,' she details the country's collapse into
chaos in the wake of the U.S. invasion
and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
"No one has ever been held accountable for the decisions, for the false intelligence that led them to invade Iraq," she says. "They should be. The people at the top should be held accountable for what went wrong."

Sky was blunt in her assessment to General Odierno, telling him that America's blundering in Iraq was the, "worst strategic failure since the foundation of the United States."

His response, said Sky, was, "What are we going to do about it? We're not going to leave it like this."

In Sky's view, the army began to adapt to the reality, changing their focus from attacking "the enemy" to protecting Iraqi civilians and supporting the Iraqi armed forces. The so-called surge, from 2007 to 2009, put more U.S. troops into Iraq and helped to stabilize the country. Things looked hopeful.

But the biggest missed opportunity happened following the first national elections in 2010, when the sitting Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, failed to gain a majority.

"Iraqis had become convinced that politics, not violence, was the way forward." she says. "All the various groups came out to vote, and the bloc that won ran on a platform of 'no to sectarianism.'"

Sky was blunt in her assessment to Gen. Ray
Odierno, the top U.S. commander in Iraq (centre),
 telling him that America's blundering in Iraq
 was the, "worst strategic failure since the
foundation of the United States."
 (Karim Kadim/The Associated Press)
Sky believes this presented an opportunity to oust Nouri al-Maliki, a man who was consolidating his own power base, in favour of a true - or at least fledgling - democracy.

"But it was a close result. Maliki refused to accept the results," she said.

The U.S. decided that backing al-Maliki, even with his faults, was the best chance for stability. This wasn't something the military supported.

"The ambassador at the time, Chris Hill, had no experience of Iraq and didn't really want to be there."

Sky writes that Hill spent most of his time trying to make the embassy in Baghdad "normal." He even brought in rolls of sod to make a lawn where he could practise lacrosse.

"General Odierno was adamant that the U.S. should protect the political process, allow the winning group 30 days to form the government. Hill didn't have the same feel for Iraq and he said 'Maliki is our man, the strong man the country needs.' In the end Biden went with the ambassador's recommendation."

Sky believes it was a huge mistake.

"Maliki's politics were poisonous," she said.

Fading confidence

Sky was disheartened as she watched the Iraqi people lose confidence in the country's leaders, especially groups such as Sunni Muslims, who felt there was no place for them and no chance to be part of the government.

"If you were Sunni, you made the unfortunate decision that supporting ISIS was a better option than supporting the central government in Baghdad," she says.

Current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has been trying to reform the government. This week he cut the cabinet in an attempt to oust some of the old guard, and dropped quotas for government positions that were based on ethnicity.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Iraq's parliament unanimously 
approved an ambitious reform plan on Aug. 12 that would cut spending
and eliminate senior posts following mass protests against corruption 
and poor services. (Karim Kadim/Associated Press)
Sky is cautiously hopeful that the new government may help turn things around, but says it will not be easy.

"It is difficult in Iraq. The best case scenario is some form of confederation of Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq, with power taken away from a central power.

"The near future is pretty grim, but Iraq has an incredible history of different groups working together. Hopefully that past can inspire a new future. But it's going to take an awful long time."

Thursday, August 20, 2015

AP Exclusive: UN to Let Iran Inspect Military Nuke Work Site

It's like putting the fox in charge of hen-house security

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
By GEORGE JAHN

VIENNA (AP) — Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.

The revelation on Wednesday newly riled Republican lawmakers in the U.S. who have been severely critical of a broader agreement to limit Iran's future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections.

A skeptical House Speaker John Boehner said, "President Obama boasts his deal includes 'unprecedented verification.' He claims it's not built on trust. But the administration's briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient - and it still isn't clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents."

Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce: "International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period."

But House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi shrugged off the revelation, saying, "I truly believe in this agreement." That's helpful. Thanks, Nancy; I feel much better now.

The newly disclosed side agreement, for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, is linked to persistent allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear-limits deal.

Evidence of the inspections concession is sure to increase pressure from U.S. congressional opponents before a Senate vote of disapproval on the overall agreement in early September. If the resolution passes and President Barack Obama vetoes it, opponents would need a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has suggested opponents will likely lose a veto fight, though that was before Wednesday's disclosure.

John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican senator, said, "Trusting Iran to inspect its own nuclear site and report to the U.N. in an open and transparent way is remarkably naive and incredibly reckless. This revelation only reinforces the deep-seated concerns the American people have about the agreement."

The Parchin agreement was worked out between the IAEA and Iran. The United States and the five other world powers were not party to it but were briefed by the IAEA and endorsed it as part of the larger package.

On Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the Obama administration was "confident in the agency's technical plans for investigating the possible military dimensions of Iran's former program. ... The IAEA has separately developed the most robust inspection regime ever peacefully negotiated." Yeah, for all the non-military nuclear sites!

All IAEA member countries must give the agency some insight into their nuclear programs. Some are required to do no more than give a yearly accounting of the nuclear material they possess. But nations— like Iran — suspected of possible proliferation are under greater scrutiny that can include stringent inspections.

The agreement in question diverges from normal procedures by allowing Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence of activities it has consistently denied — trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Olli Heinonen, who was in charge of the Iran probe as deputy IAEA director general from 2005 to 2010, said he could think of no similar concession with any other country.

The White House has repeatedly denied claims of a secret side deal favorable to Tehran. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told Republican senators last week that he was obligated to keep the document confidential.

Iran has refused access to Parchin for years and has denied any interest in — or work on — nuclear weapons. Based on U.S., Israeli and other intelligence and its own research, the IAEA suspects that the Islamic Republic may have experimented with high-explosive detonators for nuclear arms.


The IAEA has cited evidence, based on satellite images, of possible attempts to sanitize the site since the alleged work stopped more than a decade ago.

The document seen by the AP is a draft that one official familiar with its contents said doesn't differ substantially from the final version. He demanded anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue in public.

The document is labeled "separate arrangement II," indicating there is another confidential agreement between Iran and the IAEA governing the agency's probe of the nuclear weapons allegations.

Iran is to provide agency experts with photos and videos of locations the IAEA says are linked to the alleged weapons work, "taking into account military concerns."

That wording suggests that — beyond being barred from physically visiting the site — the agency won't get photo or video information from areas Iran says are off-limits because they have military significance.

While the document says the IAEA "will ensure the technical authenticity" of Iran's inspection, it does not say how.

The draft is unsigned but the proposed signatory for Iran is listed as Ali Hoseini Tash, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for Strategic Affairs. That reflects the significance Tehran attaches to the agreement.

Iranian diplomats in Vienna were unavailable for comment, Wednesday while IAEA spokesman Serge Gas said the agency had no immediate comment.

The main focus of the July 14 deal between Iran and six world powers is curbing Iran's present nuclear program that could be used to make weapons. But a subsidiary element obligates Tehran to cooperate with the IAEA in its probe of the past allegations.

The investigation has been essentially deadlocked for years, with Tehran asserting the allegations are based on false intelligence from the U.S., Israel and other adversaries. But Iran and the U.N. agency agreed last month to wrap up the investigation by December, when the IAEA plans to issue a final assessment.

That assessment is unlikely to be unequivocal. Still, it is expected to be approved by the IAEA's board, which includes the United States and the other nations that negotiated the July 14 agreement. They do not want to upend their broader deal, and will see the December report as closing the books on the issue. Closing the books without it ever being resolved.

As I have said before, if President Obama were a Muslim sleeper agent hell-bent on destroying Israel, there is little he would do differently.

I feel safe, don't you?

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Israel in Talks With Hamas for Long-term Gaza Truce

In the "I never saw this coming' category...


Israel and Hamas are reportedly negotiating a long-term deal that would end Israel’s blockade of Gaza in exchange for an end to Hamas attacks on Israel.

Based on Arabic-language news sources, Israeli papers are reporting that negotiations on the agreement are in their final stages, and that the agreement has been approved by the Shura Council, Hamas’ legislative body. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is meditating (mediating?) the accord, and Hamas is negotiating it in partnership with Turkey and Qatar.

The agreement would reportedly include the construction of a port in the Gaza Strip. En route to Gaza, ships would pass through another port in Cyprus, where they would be examined by either Turkish or NATO authorities. According to the Times of Israel, the agreement would also include permits for thousands of Gazan day laborers to work in Israel. In exchange, Hamas would commit to ceasing all rocket attacks and tunneling into Israel.

Negotiations, according to Haaretz, recieved encouragement recently from Saudi Arabia, which aims to create a broad, Sunni-based alliance to counter Iran’s regional ambitions. Haaretz also reported that the Israel-Hamas agreement would improve Israel’s ties with Turkey, which deteriorated after the Israel Defense Forces stormed a Turkish boat aimed at breaking Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza in 2010.

Senior Hamas Official Treated at Private Israeli Hospital

This could never happen the other way around

Special to WorldTribune.com

A senior leader of Hamas is recuperating in an Israeli hospital after undergoing spinal surgery, a report said.

Nayef Rajoub, a top member of the terror group and brother of senior Palestinian Authority (PA) figure Jibril Rajoub, was operated on at Assuta Medical Center’s Ramat Hahayal hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel Hayom reported.

Nayef Rajoub
Israeli hospitals have treated high-ranking Palestinian officials in the past, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s wife, Amina Abbas. In February 2015, a Fatah official was treated at the Rabin Medical Center. In 2013, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s granddaughter was treated for a rare disease at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Israel.

Rajoub has been on Israel’s radar since he was first arrested in 1989 and subsequently convicted of several terrorism-related charges. In 1992, he was among the hundreds of Hamas terrorists who were deported to Lebanon after the organization killed an Israeli police officer.

Rajoub used his time in Lebanon to ascend to a leadership position within the organization and in 2006 he was elected to the Palestinian parliament as a Hamas candidate and named religious affairs minister.

After Hamas captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid, Israel placed Rajoub in administrative detention along with other senior Hamas officials. He was released four years later.

Last summer, following Hamas’s abduction and murder of three Jewish teens, Rajoub was arrested during an Israeli sweep in Judea and Samaria. He was released earlier this year.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Canada's Next Prime Minister (Maybe) Declares Evangelical Christians UnCanadian

OTTAWA – NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair lashed out at evangelical Christian groups Monday, accusing them of going “completely against” Canadian values and law with their beliefs about homosexuality.

Current Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair
could become Prime Minister after the October federal elections
Mulcair’s anger spilled over when reporters asked about Crossroads Relief and Development – a group that’s received $389,000 from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to build wells and provide clean water to 11,000 people Uganda.

Crossroads has called homosexuality a sin, a belief the NDP connects to anti-gay violence in Uganda and a stalled Ugandan bill to prohibit gay rights promotion.

“We don’t understand how the Conservatives can … subsidize a group in Uganda whose views are identical to those of the Ugandan government,” Mulcair said.

This is a remarkable statement; he seems to be saying that Canada should only be supporting people in Uganda who oppose the government. Isn't that supporting insurrection in a sovereign state?

Mulcair's statement is troublesome for another reason. The views of government and media toward homosexuality have changed dramatically in the last 2 decades. Evangelical Christians believe the same thing they believed 2000 years ago; the same thing Canadians believed from it's first European settlement until the end of the last century - homosexuality is sin! 

The Canadian media's 100% about face on the subject is shaping the opinions of Canadians and leading us down the garden path. It is based on untruths - gays are born gay; and it is based on a singular hatred for anything genuinely Christian - especially Evangelicals.

This is a shot across the bow of the good ship evangelical, and is a sign of the full barrage awaiting us should the SS NDP be permitted to pull alongside.

It’s not clear how Mulcair drew that conclusion.

Crossroads’ water project partner group in Africa, Victory Outreach Ministries, states on its website that while homosexuality is sinful, gays are “created in God’s image, and we condemn the activities of those who are violent towards gays.”

The CCRF called on Mulcair to apologize in the House to traditionally-minded Christians across Canada.

Spokesman for the Canadian Council for Religious Freedom, Father Geoffrey Korz, expressed concern over Mulcair’s attempt to perpetuate a stereotype of Canadian evangelical Christians.

“One can only imagine if Mr. Mulcair called Canadian Muslims ‘terrorists’, made a slur about Sikh turbans, or attacked the financial integrity of Jewish Canadians. Such statements are unbecoming of the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition,” he said.

Don Hutchinson, with the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said Mulcair should know the Supreme Court has ruled religious beliefs don’t disqualify Canadians from engagement with government.

He adds that Canadian evangelicals have spent more than $535 million on development work overseas.

“When you work with organizations that function on the ‘love your neighbour’ principle, you get a better return on your dollar,” he said.

CIDA has frozen another $156,000 in Crossroads funding until it can review the organization’s work.

A government source told QMI Agency the review is to ensure Crossroads isn’t denying aid to Ugandans based on sexual orientation.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Jihadi Known as 'Mrs Terror' Returns to Britain

Is 'Mrs Terror' back in Britain? Special Branch is on full alert 
after 45-year-old ISIS recruiter was 'seen in Birmingham 
with two jihadis' 

By RICHARD SPILLETT FOR MAILONLINE

British jihadi Sally Jones (pictured before her conversion to Islam)
is feared to have returned to UK from Syria
A British woman who ran off to join ISIS in Syria is feared to have returned to the UK with two jihadis in tow.

Sally Jones signed up for the extremist group in 2013 with her husband Junaid Hussain, who together have been dubbed 'Mr and Mrs Terror'.

But reports suggest she may have been seen in Birmingham this week with two other people, both said to be aged around 20.

Jones fled to ISIS-held Syria in 2013 with her husband Junaid Hussain,
a computer hacker from Birmingham 

Former rock musician Jones, 45, and Hussain, 21, were this week named as two ISIS recruiters seen boasting online about a planned terror attack in the UK.

They told undercover reporters posing as wannabe jihadis to carry out so-called 'Lone Wolf' attacks, and even sent them bomb-making guidebooks.

The militants also revealed that the Queen and the Royal Family would be targeted with pressure cooker bombs at tomorrow's VJ commemorations.

Police are believed to be investigating the reports Jones has returned to the UK and airports are being watched.

A source told the Daily Mirror: 'This is worrying but Special Branch officers are working on this to track her down.'

The current terror threat level for international terrorism is 'severe', meaning an attack is 'highly likely'.

Jones, pictured before converting, was caught by undercover reporters
boasting about planned UK attacks

Jones, a former punk from Chatham, Kent, who now recruits militants from the terror group's de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria. She also revealed that the Queen would be targeted this weekend

The Metropolitan Police are yet to comment on the reports but Police Scotland said this week that it is working with the London force to deal with the threat.

Counter Terrorism officer ACC Ruaraidh Nicolson said: 'We remain alert to all terrorist threats that may manifest here or where individuals overseas may seek to direct or inspire others to commit attacks in and against the UK.'
Sally Jones when she was part of a punk band
in Chatham

Earlier this week it emerged that Sky News reporters posing as male and female jihadis on Twitter and in chatrooms had communicated with Hussain, a 21-year-old from Birmingham, and Jones, a former punk from Chatham in Kent.

Hussain runs the ISIS recruitment arm in the terror group's de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria and is a top-five target for the U.S. Secret Service. Jones is working alongside her husband in Raqqa recruiting female militants.

In a series of conversations on encrypted messaging sites over a four months, the reporters convinced Jones that they wanted to make a bomb.

Jones then gave detailed instructions on how to construct a pressure cooker explosive and insisted on seeing receipts to prove they had bought the materials.

She revealed she had another potential bomber in Scotland and two others who had so far failed to carry out attacks and urged the undercover reporters to start a gang themselves.

She later sent details of the plot to attack the Royal family at the VJ commemorations on Saturday, which were passed on to the Metropolitan Police's anti-terror branch.

Jones after conversion in her
Islam invisible suit
One reporter later travelled to the Turkish city of Urfa near the Syrian border to meet an ISIS security chief tasked with looking after foreign jihadists while they underwent terror training.

He claimed four or five recruits were British who had returned to Britain to carry out an attack.

MR AND MRS TERROR: HOW AN UNEMPLOYED MOTHER-OF-TWO FROM KENT MARRIED A BIRMINGHAM COMPUTER NERD AND THEY BECAME ISIS CHIEFS

The couple behind fresh claims ISIS is plotting attacks on UK soil are unlikely jihadists.

Sally Jones is a 45-year-old former punk band guitarist who has spent her life on benefits. Her toyboy husband Junaid Hussain, 21, is an ex-computer hacker from Birmingham who she met online.

In recent years, Jones had become sucked into a fantasy online world, adopting alternate personas and calling herself Skya and Catgel. She starting contributing to forums on conspiracy theories, witchcraft and black magic. 

I think maybe she had a few too many drugs in her punk-rock days.

Jones with her son and her former partner just hours after the baby was born
on December 19, 2004
Hussain was meanwhile the leader of a shadowy computer hacking group known as Team Poison, which had claimed responsibility for hacking attacks on politicians, businesses and a humanitarian agency.

He was jailed in 2012 for stealing personal information from Tony Blair and publishing it online. He also admitted making hoax calls to the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorist hotline.

After the pair starting exchanging messages online, Jones seems to have become radicalised and later claimed Britain and America were 'terrorist' nations.

It is unknown whether the couple, who are believed to have Jones's son with them, travelled to Syria together, but Jones at least is thought to have sneaked into ISIS-held territory at the end of 2013.

She later posted a message online claiming she wanted to behead Christians with a 'blunt knife'.

It is a million miles from her former life in the Medway towns.

Hussain, pictured outside at Southwark Crown Court,
was a computer hacker who was jailed in 2012
In the early 1990s she was the lead guitarist in an all-girl rock band called Krunch who played a series of gigs in the South East.

A clip of one of her performances posted online shows her with a shock of blonde hair and wearing a leather mini-skirt. In recent years she developed an interest in art, attempting to sell fantasy pictures as well as T-shirts, mugs and key rings through a niche website.

Last year, her brother Patrick, 52, who runs his own paving company, said his family were deeply shocked by her conversion to radical Islam.

Speaking at his £500,000 home in Oxted, Surrey, he said: 'This is a very upsetting and distressing time for my family and I just don't want them to be a part of it. She fell in love and went away.'

Thursday, August 13, 2015

United Church of Canada Passes Israel Divestment Resolution

This policy by the UCC is just wrong on so many levels. It reveals a remarkable lack of knowledge of what is going on in the middle east. It also reveals an inherent antisemitism that is extremely unbecoming of a Christian church.

Protesters shout slogans during a rally in Paris, France, Thursday, June 3, 2010, as they demonstrate against Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, and man in foreground wears a t-shirt calling for a boycott on Israel. (Jacques Brinon/AP)Protesters shout slogans during a rally in Paris, France, Thursday, June 3, 2010, as they demonstrate against Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, and man in foreground wears a t-shirt calling for a boycott on Israel. (Jacques Brinon/ AP)

Josefin Dolsten
RSSNEWSROOM

Nonbinding decision by country’s largest Protestant denomination 
further expands a three-year boycott policy

The United Church of Canada passed a resolution Tuesday during its 42nd General Council encouraging divestment from Israel in order “to address the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories by the State of Israel.”

The new resolution called for “initiating and developing a program of education and advocacy in cooperation with our partners, related to divestment from and economic sanctions against all corporations and institutions complicit in and benefiting from the illegal occupation,” according to the UCC 42nd General Council website.

The UCC is Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, with more than two million members. In 2012, the organization passed a resolution boycotting settlement-produced goods.

The statement also urged members to discourage “tourism which bolsters the oppression of Palestinians.”

The new decision was meant to be understood as focusing on “advocacy and encouragement, rather than a mandatory or binding direction to the church.”

United Church of
Canada logo
Not all UCC members, however, were in favor of the resolution.

Rev. Andrew Love, the founder of Bridges Not Boycotts, a group that opposes anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) policies in liberal Protestant churches, said, “The ugly face of anti-Semitism has found a warm embrace in the BDS campaign against Israel.”

“Now the United Church has added a divestment strategy to its boycott campaign. It is targeting Israel for attack; yet, it still thinks it can be in genuine dialogue with the Jewish community in Canada,” added Love.

The anti-BDS organization noted in a press release that UCC had also approved a policy to strengthen the relationship with Canada’s Jewish community, which the organization saw as being in “obvious contradiction” with the divestment policy.

Rev. Love, you are right-on. You are my hero for today for trying to speak truth and sense to a pathetic, uninformed policy.