I make this statement as an anglophone having lived my entire life in Quebec and having travelled across this province from La Sarre in the northwest to Sandy Beach in the southeast on a weekly basis for over thirty years.
I do not wish the following article to convey a false sense of what Quebec is. It is always easy to fall in a trap of exaggeration and to visit the sins of the few, on the many.
I will have more to say on that particular subject tomorrow.
For those who aren't familiar, vigile.net is a left-wing, separatist web site that aggregates and republishes stories generally favourable towards sovereignty, as well as original articles, submitted by readers, stridently anti-Canadian, anti-American, anti-Israel, xenophobic and of course, the familiar standby, antisemitic.
The free speech section is where most of the controversy occurs, as a handful of radical separatists spout their special brand of hate, all wrapped up in the cloak of journalistic freedom.
The editor, Bernard Frappier, cleverly includes opposing news articles to give the impression that there is some sort of balance and fairness related to the site.
This veneer of objectivity has successfully provided cover for some of the most vicious antisemitic rants that have ever been printed in Canada. Had these rants been printed in English, outside Quebec, there's little doubt that the writers would find themselves before a human rights tribunal or the courts.
In October, I wrote about the racist tendencies of the website, citing a particularly virulent antisemitic article, reprinted from an American hate site. Hidden among other legitimate stories the article was pure and naked antisemitism depicting Jews as rats and responsible for the entire world's ills.
That article seemed to be a turning point for Mr. Frappier and perhaps he was emboldened by the lack of reaction and perhaps it led led him to up the antisemitic ante, so to speak.
Since then, article after article has been published depicting Quebec's Jewish community as a villainous fifth column, hell bent on imposing 'Jewish' and ''Canadian' values on a hapless, defenceless and unsuspecting Quebec.
While the number of writers contributing these antisemitic and xenophobic articles are few, they are prolific. Most of them, aside from being White, French and Catholic, seem to share Mr. Frappier's age demographic which gives weight to the old Brian Mulroney phrase... "There's no whore like an old whore."
I mention the age thing, because it seems that where racism does occur in the sovereignty movement, it is generally found in these frustrated old codgers who dream of the good old days, when Quebec was racially pure and who today, are furious that minorities have some say in Quebec politics.
The controversy over antisemitism on vigile.net was actually started by a reader, Louis Champagne, who wrote an eloquent rebuttal in response to another moronic and antisemitic article by Ivan Parent. You can read the article (in French) as well as the complete rebuttal, but please note that the original text has been redacted of the most virulent antisemitic parts. LINK{FR}
Here's part of what Mr. Champagne wrote in response;
Last week the Canadian-Israel Committee complained in public that the site has crossed the line in terms of free speech and had embarked on a policy on publishing antisemitic texts. They provided several examples, which were quite jarring and had quite an effect in the sovereignist community."...Jewish international lobbies control banks which divert huge amounts of money, cutting the throats of countries and God knows what else, to dominate the world? .....He must have fished that concept out of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a twentieth century reference for antisemites of the order of Hitler, Henry Ford and tutti quanti. This document is patently false, as the author well knows, but pretends to ignore!
...We must question the editorial policy of Mr. Bernard Frappier regarding hate texts that target not only groups but also individuals. It will not improve, in the very least, the credibility of Vigile....Even stripped of his antisemitic prose, this text is incoherent, comes to nothing concrete and confuses ...."
Louis Champagne Ing
An article written by Joël-Denis Bellavance for Montreal's La Presse newspaper described the concerns of the Canada-Israel Committee and cited a number of disturbing quotations;
"In an article published Jan. 6, one of these contributors, Ivan Parent, bluntly denounced the influence of Jewish organizations in the world: "We know that Jewish lobbies are very powerful and in fact, control through international banks, almost all countries. They change interest rates at will, which is also why the euro zone countries are in a desperate situation... "Rich Jews in Laval? Hmmmmm...
Mr. Parent is the author of more than about 190 texts on Vigile.net.
In another letter published Feb. 17, 2008, he said: "I am not racist but when I see that the hypocritical Jews shamefully exploit and vampirize the countries in which they live, it is not surprising that they have been hated wherever they lived. "
The Canada-Israel Committee also cites Robert Barberis-Gervais, in an article published December 13, 2010, which accused the Jewish lobby as responsible for the misfortunes of Yves Michaud, "The Jewish lobby is responsible for the Michaud Affair in 2000 and 2010. Rich Jews of Montreal and Laval treat French Quebecers as Palestinians, not recognizing their right to self-determination (and their own language and culture) with the same contempt as the Jews of Israel where they have all rights and that Palestinians have none, it is high time to tell the truth: it is the Jewish lobby which used the money it gave to the Liberal Party, the money it controlled in banks and elsewhere in the society, which is responsible for the Michaud affair. "
David Ouellette writes an excellent and interesting blog in French and has been in the forefront in pointing out the antisemitic rants on vigile.net.
If you think the above citations are out of the ordinary, they are not. Mr. Ouellette has referenced some of the most egregious posts LINK{FR}
At first Mr. Frappier reacted rather effectively, claiming that he was just one editor and that sometimes things slipped into the website that perhaps shouldn't have.
He then proceeded to remove the offending passages from the articles in question, adding a footnote that the paragraphs were deleted because they were 'controversial.'
It was a half-hearted effort, but would probably have satisfied those sovereignists uncomfortable with the antisemitic missives.
But Mr. Frappier couldn't leave bad enough alone and proceeded to issue an ill-thought press release which made his true opinions ever so clear;
.......the Canada-Israel Committee would be far better advised to worry about anti-Semitic history of at least one own staff members and seek to understand the motives that may lead some Quebeckers to experience "mixed feelings" towards certain practices and behaviours of members of its community... "There's been much discussion of Jewish schools which do not meet the standards of the Ministry of Education and the Jewish community's attempted to change the school calendar for all young Quebecers to meet the requirements of its religion. One can also wonder about the unfairness of the privilege granted to many foreigners and their families belonging to this faith who have free access to health insurance during their stay in Quebec" LINK{FR}Mr. Frappier then decided to go on the offensive and published a series of rebuttals that made eminently clear that the writers were not only unapologetic, but characterized their hatred as legitimate because Jews were enemies of sovereignty. No mincing words here;
Les juifs : la tribu la plus flyée du Québec (Jews, the most eccentric tribe of Quebec) LINK{FR}
VIGILE RÉPOND AU COMITÉ CANADA-ISRAËL (Vigile responds yo the Canada-Israel Committee) LINK{FR}
Most Pequistes and journalists ran for the hills with precious few ready to defend vigile.net.
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| Richard Le Hir |
"Yes, Vigil bothers. More than you think. The accusations of antisemitism made by the Canada-Israel Committee this week over two people who were criticized for remarks that everybody can recognize at first glance as unwise, we should certainly not be fooled by the manoeuvre and should recognize the real issue at hand." LINK{FR}"Unwise?" Methinks Mr Le Hir is too modest!
In defending vigile.net, he uses a common deflecting device, changing the subject. He goes on a rant attacking Israel as an illegitimate because, notwithstanding that it was created by the world after a vote in the United Nations General Assembly, this happened only because of Jewish terrorism in the preceding months.
What Israel has to do with the situation in Quebec and the antisemitism directed at Quebec Jews by vigile.net regulars remains an open question.
Perhaps he attacks Israel in sympathy to the Vigle band of idiots who have the audacity to compare Quebeckers to Palestinians.
PALESTINIANS NO LESS!!!
Whatever side of the Israeli/Palestinian debate you are on, I think you'll agree that comparing the condition of Quebeckers to Palestinians, in any way shape or form is the product of a paranoid, twisted and delusional mind!
I wonder if Mr. Le Hir, the apologist, would characterize the following quotes from vigile.net as 'Unwise?'
"I'm sure if one of my grand-sons died in Lebanon or Palestine, I would spend the rest of my days trying to blow up every Jew in the world, and even the children of each Jew, so it would make him feel as bad as I." -André Vincent
"...the very history of the Hebrews, the ancestors of the Jews and later the Israelis, is one of massacres, killings, genocide under divine inspiration of their god Yahweh"- Ivan Parent
"...The Anglos are no more at home in Quebec than Jews living in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip"... - Simon Girard
"When I hear my fellow Quebeckers say they will vote for the ADQ because they want change, I feel like running away to Palestine to become a suicide bomber." RedactedFor those with very good French, this page on vigile.net is perhaps its most interesting.
It seems that the current controversy has in some way liberated vigile.net to manifest its true essence.
In reaction, the website has been flooding the Internet with a slew anti-Jewish diatribes and rehashed conspiracy theories. Mr Frappier is busy scouring the Internet to find anti-Jewish stories which he is publishing as fast as he can. LINK{FR}
Not surprisingly, this defensive strategy has had the exact opposite effect that Mr. Frappier desired.
Vigile.net is now selling the idea that it is being attacked because it is such a powerful force and that Jews and Anglo Federalists are making unwarranted accusations in order to bring it down.
While his like-minded regulars may be enjoying a masturbatory celebration of hate, those sovereignists who are not racist (the vast majority) are angered and humiliated at rank stupidity of Mr. Frappier's actions, which has turned the site from a legitimate arena of discussion, to a gathering place for haters, rendering the website pathetic and irrelevant.
The pompous, self-important fools!
More tomorrow......
