I sent this piece to the Hamilton Spectator as an Opinion article. They did not publish it.
What’s driving antisemitism in schools?
HARRY SHANNON
Gustavo Rymberg, CEO of the Hamilton Jewish Federation, is right to call out the antisemitic incidents directed at Jewish children in our provincial schools (A call to action on antisemiti…
Category: Israel-Palestine
Getting a start on the Nobel Peace Prize
Harry Shannon
Donald Trump seems to have his heart set on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In support, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has even written a nomination letter for him.
Most people scoff at the prospect that Trump could get the award, given his record. Perhaps, but there are things Trump could do to justify the Priz…
Accusations meant to intimidate
And this is the second letter, which is in today's print version of the Hamilton Spectator. I have been concerned for some time that many Gentiles are appalled by what Israel has been doing, not just since October 7, 2023, but also long before. But because they don't want to be accused of antisemitism, they are cowed into silence. My letter aims t…
Gaza war statistics
Harry Shannon
You’ll occasionally hear arguments about the accuracy of the numbers of casualties in the Gaza war. Media reports tend to refer to the “Hamas-run” Gaza Ministry of Health when quoting its statistics, as if that makes them suspect.Several central points:
Israeli military intelligence considers the numbers from the Gaz…
“Israel has always sought a peace settlement.” Really?
Harry Shannon
I keep hearing people saying that Israel has always been ready to reach a peace settlement with Palestinians, but there’s no “Partner for Peace.” This argument is best exemplified by former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban’s sly and often-repeated saying that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an oppor…
Responsibility for the war is not one-sided
Harry Shannon
An Opinion article I wrote, published in the Hamilton Spectator.
On October 7, I nearly lost my brother and sister.
My brother lives with his wife on Kibbutz Saad, near the Gaza border. That weekend, my sister was visiting from Jerusalem. Saad is right in the middle of some 20 or so villages and kibbutzim which were attacked…
BDS is not antisemitic
There was an OpEd in the Hamilton Spectator recently on BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel). There’s been a campaign attacking Sara Jama, an MPP (member of the Ontario legislature) who is black and wheelchair-bound. She’s a supporter of BDS (the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel), hence…
Simplistic propaganda
Harry Shannon
My latest letter in the Hamilton Spectator. It's pretty much self-explanatory, though see below for some background as well as the paragraph that the newspaper edited out.
Simplistic propaganda
The letter writer (Death toll is ‘window dressing,’ February 27) claims that the sole cause of violence on the West Bank is Pale…
Israeli apartheid?
Harry Shannon
A few weeks ago, Amnesty International (AI) issued a report that concluded that Israel is guilty of apartheid in its treatment of Palestinians. Of course, the term apartheid is loaded, and you can agree or disagree with AI’s conclusion. Notably, Human Rights Watch and the Israeli NGO B’Tselem have also accused Israel of aparth…
A better instrument for fighting antisemitism
Background:
This is my OpEd that the Hamilton Spectator published on April 20. I was responding to an article written by Mike Fegelman, described as Executive Director of HonestReporting Canada, a non-profit organization ensuring fair and accurate Canadian media coverage of Israel. Of course, if you have to describe yourself as honest, …
F…