Monday, June 27, 2011

Separatist Parade a Sad Humilitation

There are those in the militant French language camp who maintain with perfectly straight faces that the Fete St. Jean celebrations are open to all and are inclusive, as long as participants agree in advance that 'tous passe en français.'

Unfortunately, such is not the case, the government in all its wisdom handed the organization of the festivities to radical sovereigntists. In Montreal, Mario Beaulieu (president of the Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste, of Montreal)  is president of the organizing committee, the Comité de la Fête nationale du Québec à Montréal and so, it should come as no surprise that the festivities have a separatist bent.

In this regard the government has only itself to blame.

The real problem is not that anglos and ethnics are not welcome per se, it is that federalists are not welcome and as a result of that reality, Anglos and Ethnics become excluded.

I took a bit of heat in the comments section last week for telling Anglo and Ethnic readers that we are not welcome and we are not wanted at these festivities. I stand by that assertion and offer a critique of the parade as rebuttal to those pretending that the parade and the celebration of the St. Jean Baptist Day, aka the 'Fete Nationale,'  is something other than a separatist manifestation.

Nothing reflects this separatist ideology better than the parade, which celebrates Quebec history to the point of distortion, eliminating the English from the narrative and whitewashing the fact that Anglophones were instrumental in building Quebec, particularly Montreal.

It's a bit of fantasy, akin to Photoshopping a divorced partner out of the family album.

The parade centers around twenty or so "giants,'  ten to fifteen foot high representations of famous Quebec historical figures. These garish floats look as if they were conceived in an amateur art class, ugly and fearsome. I never knew that Jacques Cartier suffered from acute acne and that he was bug-eyed!

If you think I'm being unfairly cruel, a sad anglo trying to 'rain on the parade' I defy anyone to justify this 'giant' on the right.
I've no clue as to what it represents, but it seems that some Quebec ancestors must have arrived from   ORK, which obviously must be a French-speaking planet!

Of all the 'giants' paraded, there was not even one representing an Anglo, Scot or Irishman, apparently we don't rate.

Considering that Montreal was largely built by these three English-speaking groups, it is an unpardonable re-writing of history.
Shame! It is an unconscionable travesty to pretend that Quebec's history is devoid of anglos contributors.

So thank you very much, but we'll have no more platitudes about the inclusiveness of the parade from organizers.  
To paraphrase OJ Simpson's lawyer- "If you are not French, Sit on the bench!"

Last year, the patron saint of the Quebec, John the Baptist, was present, but curiously even he was absent this year (according to the TV version of the parade.)

The Rocket Richard float remains a curiosity, with the famous hockey player bedecked in a Canadians jersey, sans the famous "CH" crest. Did the hockey team refuse permission to use the logo or was the organizing committee offended by the fact that the symbol was representative of the word 'Canadiens'?
A curious public wants to know.....

The first clue that this was a separatist celebration was Chantale Trottier president of the  Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois waving merrily to the crowd from one of the convertibles filled with Quebecois 'notables'
Her organization is dedicated to four principles; 
  1. Quebec sovereignty
  2. Protection and promotion of French
  3. Promotion of national pride
  4. Coordination of the Fête nationale du Québec
The parade lasted barely an hour, a sad testament to revisionist history, ugly and amateur floats, enthusiastic but poorly choreographed students plucked from various amateur dance schools, who were paid $25  plus a meal, according to the SSJB website.
So much for patriotic zeal. Pitiful.

As is the tradition, notable politicians march together to signal the end of the parade. This year several personalities were notorious by their absence.
Last year I published a photo of Jack Layton and Uncle Tom Mulcair marching arm in arm with the likes of Amir Khadir and Mario Bealieu.
I've heard through the grapevine, that the publication of that photo, memorializing that association did not sit well with the powers that be in the NDP.
This year both leaders were nowhere to be seen. Mulcair made it a point to tell a Radio-Canada reporter that he was too busy in Ottawa to attend!
Last year(top) Layton, Mulcair and  Khadir front and center. This year, Khadir alone, banished to the sidelines.
Interestingly, Amir Khadir was relegated to the end of the line and was forced to march far, far, from Pauline Marois.
Gilles Duceppe was there, giving credence to a news report that he's interested in a political comeback.

As final proof of the separatist bent to the parade I offer these pictures. You be the judge.




Now compare this sad parade to that of the St. Patrick's Day parade, which interestingly uses the same optic as the St. Jean Baptiste parade, that is, the idea that everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day.

This camaraderie and honest inclusiveness makes the Irish parade the most successful parade in Canada, with sponsors and groups lining up to participate to the point that there is a waiting list. Marching bands, military groups, community groups, corporations, small business, bars and restaurants,  media and politicians of all stripes from Quebec, Ontario and the Northern American states are welcomed to participate, whether Irish or not.

When I see the colonial Yankee fife and drum corps, march down St. Catherine street,carrying the American flag, playing a historic chord,  it sends chills down my spine. Not because I'm a Yankee, but because these are our valued neighbours, who have proudly honoured us with their presence!
What a fine parade!
Everyone is welcome! Hurray!

It this open and non-political attitude that makes the difference!

The message of the Fete St. Jean parade is not a celebration of Quebec culture. It is not a celebration of the French fact or the French language.

It is a celebration of Francophone separatists and as such enjoys the exact success it deserves.

Shame on the provincial government in abdicating its responsibility by allowing a separatist lobby group to hijack the holiday.

It is indecent.

32 comments:

  1. AMEN to EVERYTHING here, Editor. Spot on for telling it like it is.

    For the record, when I disagreed with you on Friday's post regarding things "anglos" could do, it was precisely so as not to accept or otherwise endorse the overwhelmingly separatist bent of the parade. Let me reiterate my opinion whereby we all proudly appropriate the "Québécois" label (especially those with little or no French-Canadian ancestry whatsoever).

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  2. I agree with the first two respondents, Apparatchik and Jason, this is a piece that speaks for itself.

    I came into Montreal early Saturday evening after my lady and I finally frequented that fine smoked meat establishment on Ile Perrot, Smoke Meat Pete's. We both found it excellent, very tender smoked meat, pungently spiced and there is a bit more of a story to it, a paradox as far as I'm concerned.

    It turns out Pete's is mere feet off the 20, but I drove a few blocks and finally stopped at an Ultramar gas station because I could not find Pete's. The station attendant said "hi" when I came through the door, figuring Ile Perrot has a heavy English speaking population. They don't!

    I mentioned at lunch with my bro yesterday what happened and he just figured the attendant saw my license plates. Nevertheless, he spoke near perfect English, wore a name tag "Roch" and had a small tatoo of the Quebec flag on his forearm.

    I finally found Pete's, and everybody in the place spoke English. So far, the only French I have heard since my arrival was the classical music station on 99.5FM. The music of course, has no language, only the radio announcers and commercials are in French. Nice classical pieces, and I understand the announcers anyway.

    So far, I've spoken NO French, not that I'm not capable of speaking French, I just haven't had to, not at the Marathon's Restaurant on Decarie where I had lunch, nor at the Walmart nearby. I guess our Western Montreal bastion is alive and kicking.

    My lady's parents are convinced the seppie thing is all over, or is drawing to a close. I'm skeptical, I just think separatism is currently at a low ebb.

    One disturbing thing I learned is that there are really no more "English" schools. English kids now MUST enrol in immersion schools where at least 80% of the curriculum is in French - no choice! According to them, "English" schooling the way we know it is dead, and kids who can't handle the French curriculum must leave Quebec. Is that true? I'm somewhat skeptical about this, but since this is what the parents of a small child I visited say this is so, I guess that's how things are now. I'll agree knowing French now is more important than ever, but has it really gotten to this? I hope someone can come out with an honest answer.

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  3. The St. Jean is an holiday made for Quebeckers just to remind them year after year that oh, we did not separate yet, and oh, we suck.

    :0)

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  4. @M Sauga,

    Its not that french immersion is mandatory. Its more that there is a higher demand for French Immersion then English core. The English core school might be further from the French immersion school which maybe a factor in where parents with ENglish eligibility certificates will place their children.

    The English Monteal School Board still has Core English schools, especially when nearby schools have French immersion and Bilingual programs available. You can go to the EMSB website and find english core, French Immersion and Bilingual schools. Some Schools share 2 or all three streams.

    Right now with looming school closures, the English Montreal School board is going to change boundaries to save as many schools as possible. By moving an English core school to a school that was French immersion and vice versa.

    Usually the English core schools are more in areas where there are more allophones then in the traditional anglo and francophone areas. For example Sinclair Laird my alma mater has stayed English core as there was always a flow now a trickle(constant though) of those communities that find ways to get the English eligibility certificates.

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  5. @m Sauga,

    Louise Beaudoin is only supporting Nesbitt because the school students are mostly those privledged francophones who have the golden English schooling eligibility certificates. The school is in the Rosemont area in the eastern part of Plateau Mont Royal.

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  6. Regarding what I wrote earlier about there no longer being "pure English" schools, replaced by 80% French immersion, I had a recollection late last night about what the late Claude Ryan said when he was Bourassa's Minister of Education: To paraphrase, he said that introducing English [in French schools before grade four] is not in the best interests of the development of the child. Interesting he didn't feel that way about English kids going to French schools.

    I guess the only thing to conclude in all this is English kids are far smarter than French kids.

    In a biological sense, that of course is untrue, but the endless sociopolitical engineering and conditioning of Quebec society, at least on the French side, is creating "provincial" thinking (pardon the pun) in the heads of the French kids, much like in the deep American south ware there are still people whose heads are still in the 1850s.

    Conclusion: The English kids will be able to take on the best jobs Quebec, and all of Canada for that matter, has to offer. After all, they'll be well versed in both of CANADA's official languages. Quebec: «Ici, on parle français, tabarwit».

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  7. Editor: "Considering that Montreal was largely built by these three English-speaking groups, it is an unpardonable re-writing of history."

    You're forgetting the Italians. They contributed greatly to the building of Montreal. Alas, the Italians didn't make the cut either. But no worries, all these will be featured at the Canada Day parade, which like Saint Patrick's parade, is an event open to all.

    I caught a glimpse of Robert Charlebois and Eric Lapointe's performance Friday night on TV. My ears bled. I also caught Guy A. making a couple of comments about not being political, and then proceeding to be political. When he thanked Duceppe for the years of "service", I switched off the telly. Enough was enough. Another effort of mine to give SJB a chance (open minded that I am) got swiftly aborted, just like last year when I proceeded to a Rosemount park to the celebrations that were advertised as "inclusive" and "non-political", only to find the posters of the PQiste riding representative (Nicolas Girard) plastered all over the park. That attempt of mine lasted exactly 30 seconds.

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  8. Yes M. Sauga,

    I noticed that about Montreal. The traditional West Island, West end and central Montreal (Park Extension, Mile End, Downtown, Lasalle, English is heard alot more. I was suprised to even see this phenomenon in areas like St Michel, Montreal North, Ahuntsic it felt kind of like central Montreal back in the 90s and 2000s. There is a definitive demographic change on Montreal Island.

    Something I never imagined back in the 80s and early 90s

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  9. ...to Anon @ June 27, 2011 9:10 AM: Thank you for that clarification. I didn't think this couple was right in their analysis of the situation, but since their little daughter seems to be handling the immersion curriculum, it's just as well they leave her in immersion.

    There was an article in the National Post that someone linked into this blog a couple of weeks ago that indicates multilingual people multitask and process information better than unilingual people. This should make her a better lerner throughout the dozen or more years of school ahead of her.

    To Anon @ June 27, 2011 9:18 AM: Thanks for that insight. I found it just too hard to believe there wasn't some kind of method behind Beaudoin's madness.

    On the flip side, it goes to show she has learned bilingualism is advantageous, although she knew this when she entered politics because I can't believe SHE doesn't already know this because SHE is bilingual. Beaudoin may have an accent, as do others like Landry, but despite their accents, their English is still on point.

    Hopefully, in the final analysis, the younger generations of today, and future generations of Francophones won't suffer the xenophobia their ascendants of the Baby Boom and pre Baby Boom generation have suffered.

    Too, if the older generations can't see it was the Roman Catholic Church and their condoning of subservience that caused their demise as opposed to the Protestant Work Ethic adopted by other members of society, including Jews, Greeks and Italians (Parasite's designated enemies), either they're missing the point, or they don't get it, and God bless them for their ignorance.

    Oh, and a final corollary. I got a parking ticket this morning while the car behind me did not. There is no sign on that part of the street, but take a 90 degree turn around the corner and there is a no parking sign there. Quite an ambiguity; furthermore, the car parked behind me did not get a ticket. He had a Quebec license plate. Mine is from Ontario. Of course, the ticket was entirely in French. In Peel Region (includes Mississauga and Brampton), tickets are bilingual. Hmmmm...

    Oh well, I plead not guilty the last time I was in Laval, no court date set, and I'll do the same this time. BTW, I have two witnesses signing an affidavit where and when I place my response in a particular mailbox, I'll do the same this time, and I'll make damn sure this time like the last I don't give my return address. If they want me, here I am come and get me...

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  10. @Mr. Sauga,

    Not at all true about english schools. We've always had the option to enroll kids in private english schools like kells academy and prep international located in montreal west. Bill 101 doesn't apply to all schools in quebec, just the ones funded by the quebec govt.

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  11. Here is why I have no desire to be Irish:

    MODERN IRELAND: PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL AND JEW HATING:BERNARD McCABE
    By Ruth King on June 25th, 2011
    http://www.thecommentator.com/index.php/article/252/modern_ireland_the_perfect_liberal_state_progressive_european_and_jew_hating_
    Ireland is a slave to history with regard to the virulent anti-Semitism problem. What makes it persist?
    Article
    ________________________________________
    ________________________________________

    In 1904, Limerick’s Jewish community was devastated by an infamous pogrom that saw them largely driven from the city. The words that catalysed this pogrom come as no surprise to anyone: the Jews, said Father John Creagh (who kick-started the activity), are usurers, freemasons, Christ-killers.
    But okay, that was 1904. Things have moved on, right? Certainly, modern Ireland is more accepting of homosexuals and has liberalised attitudes towards women. It’s not quite the same story for one group though. That’s right, the Jews. The JC reports that in a new study by sociologist-priest Father Micheál Mac Gréil, twenty-five percent of Irish people wouldn’t allow Israelis to become Irish citizens, and eleven percent of Irish men and women wouldn’t allow any Jew from taking up citizenship. Forty percent of Irish people wouldn’t allow a Jew into their family.
    All of this is of course shocking, but the most telling statistic is this: within the 18-25 age grouping, the percentage of people who couldn’t handle a Jew being in their family was higher at forty-six percent. These figures surely act as a damning indictment against the indoctrination of students by that unhealthy cocktail of Islamists, leftists and ‘liberals’. The Irish intelligentsia and liberalculturati are the same folks as the Islington social oligarchs who saw Arafat as the new Gandhi and Sharon as the new Hitler. Every corner of Irish culture is poisoned by this vile anti-Semitism.
    It’s hardly even worth saying that young people are more anti-Israel. Anti-Israel activity on British campuses has already been well documented, but at least in the United Kingdom we have some sort of history of (at least marginal) support for Israel. In the past, however, as in the present, Ireland has been vehemently anti-Israel politically and culturally. Indeed, it is the only issue other than appetite for more accession of sovereignty to the EU that truly unites the vast majority of Irish politicians. Ireland, for example, was the last EU country to grant permission for an Israeli embassy – in 1993.
    Where does all this hatred come from? Are my compatriots Nazi sympathisers? Has Ireland been taken over by a radical Islam that makes Ian Paisley look as harmless as Christine Bleakley? No, the truth is that anti-Semitism in Ireland has a long history.
    In the old days, it came from (as it did across Europe) an extreme Catholicism. Latterly, anti-Semitism has found its provenance from Ireland’s consistently pro-Palestinian position. Ireland was of course for 800 years oppressed by the evil hand of British rule (that brought us roads, education, some form of civilisation), and the fight to ‘free’ her could take as many lives as possible.
    As slaves to history, and in the great Irish tradition of storytelling, they (or I should say, we) look to the Middle East and localize that situation and apply the same logic. The Jews are just like the Brits, you see. Forget the actual Holocaust, they imply, the real Holocaust is actually carried out by the Israelis.
    Fr Mac Gréil’s study is of course shocking. But is it really surprising? Judaeophobia is the hatred en vogue of the bien-pensants.
    As Ireland ‘progresses’ socially, one is left wondering whether it really is the island of Chaim Herzog. It also makes one wonder whether we need a new definition of ‘progress’.
    Ben McCabe is a London-based Irish writer and student who tweets at @bernardmccabe and blogs at http://mccabre.wordpress.com
    ________________________________________

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  12. @ Anonymous at 2:55 PM:

    There is quite a discrepancy between the Irish in Ireland and people of Irish descent in Quebec/Canada. Equating the Irish of Ireland with those of Irish heritage in Quebec is like saying the Quebecois and the people of France are the same.

    There is also a considerable amount of anti-semitism amongst the Quebecois because the latter are Catholic and because most Jews in Quebec have chosen to become part of the Anglophone community.

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  13. "I guess the only thing to conclude in all this is English kids are far smarter than French kids."

    C'est l'évidence même et ceci me rappelle qu'un certain Hitler avait cette fâcheuse tendance d'évaluer l'intelligence et la supériorité selon la race et la génétique...Pas vous?

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  14. "Ireland is a slave to history with regard to the virulent anti-Semitism problem."

    Quebec also has a history of anti-Semitism. The Societe Saint-Jean-Baptiste was officially anti-Semitic during the Second World War.

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  15. Editor wrote:

    I took a bit of heat in the comments section last week for telling Anglo and Ethnic readers that we are not welcome and we are not wanted at these festivities. I stand by that assertion and offer a critique of the parade as rebuttal to those pretending that the parade and the celebration of the St. Jean Baptist Day, aka the 'Fête Nationale,' is something other than a separatist manifestation.
    __________________________________________________________

    I know this is tradition in Quebec, but why do Anglos have to accept the idea that St. Jean Baptiste shouldn't be translated, a la L'Académie Francais? Tradition holds that his given name was "Yohanan" and his name has been translated into other languages. Why not Quebec?

    If this holiday is and should be as inclusive as St. Patrick's Day, then maybe a start in the right direction should be calling it by its right name in English.

    The Feast of St. John the Baptist
    National Quebec Holiday

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  16. Editor said:

    "Shame on the provincial government in abdicating its responsibility by allowing a separatist lobby group to hijack the holiday.

    It is indecent"

    It's also self-defeating. The more racist they
    make it, the less people will attend it
    (because of all the bigots in attendance).

    Ran into one of these bigotted little morons
    back in the late '70, he's probably still got
    the scar (bet he hasn't said "maudits anglais"
    since).

    What made the "insult" ironic was he
    said it to someone who was born in France and
    had spoken to this dirtbag in French, got no
    response, so he spoke English.

    Biker wannabe screams "maudits anglias" and
    starts pulling a knife. My buddy, who'd spent
    his teenage years in Montreals tougher areas,
    pulled HIS knife and in one quick move sent
    biker boy (and his buddies) squealing into the
    night.


    DD

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  17. ...first of all, Press 9: It wasn't I who implied what I state in my truly fecitious conclusion, that honour belonged to Claude Ryan when he was the Minister of Education in the second iteration of the Bourassa government. It was HE who said "[...early enrollment in English] is not in the best interest of the development of the child". Naturally, you self-absorbed half-wit, you are blaming me for what others of YOUR ILK said. No matter. Most readers of this blog know what YOU'RE made of.

    As for that whole Irish malarky, hell yeah, those Irish are self-hating people. I met Jews who lived in Dublin. They said their lives were peaceful there. Why? The self-haters weren't concentrating their hateful energy on the Jews, they were concentrating and focusing on other Christians. The Orangemen, the IRA, the British Army, and on and on and on.....

    There is no shortage of Israel haters. Why? Sheer jealousy and envy. Israel, a piddling little country that started off as little more than sand dunes built itself an infrastructure...from sand dunes yet!

    In the meantime, like my Dublin acquaintances, Israel still exists. Why? Because the countries surrounding them, fools that they are, are constantly at war, with their neighbours and themselves! The so-called Palestineans (a peoples that never even existed before the 1967 six-day war) are factionalized. There's Hamas and Mahmood Abbas's factions, and they fight each other for the pittance of land they control. The only reason I won't call them damn fools is because they're doing Israel the favour of fighting themselves instead of their common enemy. Same goes for the other Arab nations surrounding Israel...they kill their own people like the Assads of Syria do and did, and the current Syrian president is an M.D.! So much for THAT hypocrite's hypocratic oath! Hussein was the same when he was Iraq's dictator. The Lebanese blew the bejeezis out of each other. I couldn't believe the destruction in Beirut when I saw a post civil war documentary on the subject. The whole place blown to bits!

    All the while, Israel has been building, building and more building. Irael has more university graduates per capita BY FAR than any other country in the world, including North America and Western Europe!

    That lunatic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the true leader of Iran, Ayatollah whatshisface, can't stand Israel because despite all their oil revenues, Iran is still mostly sand dunes. Why? The women need to wait for their men to tell them when to breathe, and just about everything else. In Saudi Arabia, women can't drive. In Afghanistan, women can't legally go to school. Small wonder these countries are backward, and if it wasn't for their oil money, they'd be flat broke and nothing but sand dunes, tents and starving people.

    Sadly, hatred of the Jews is part of life...always has been, always will be. Even the Magna Charta, the great charter of democracy, discriminated blatantly against Jews right in their document.

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  18. ""The so-called Palestineans (a peoples that never even existed before the 1967 six-day war) are factionalized."

    What if I were to say that the Holocaust was fictionalized, the gas chambers built only after the WW2 for the purposes of emotional blackmail, the footage and archives cooked up for them same reason, and David Irving is right on all counts?

    Denial cuts both ways, you see..."

    He wrote factionalized not fictionalized.

    BTW editor I haven't been able to log on with my profile as of late. Any thoughts?

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  19. "You're forgetting the Italians."

    Comment peut-on oublier les Italiens,ils font la manchettes depuis des mois avec leurs amis libéraux.

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  20. To Jason @1:34
    Just clicked on your profile on the right hand of the blog page (under Followers) and your profile came up fine.
    As for editing it, only you can do that, I can only read.

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  21. What I meant is that I log in fine and then when I go to NoDogs I'm not logged in under any profile. It just says sign in no matter how many times I log in.

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  22. I was referring to the "peoples that never even existed before the 1967 six-day war" part. You did notice that small bit buried in there, didn't you?

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  23. To Jason the Montreal Anglo
    The Blogger software is far from perfect. There are many features that Blogger offers that I wish to add to this blog, but they mysteriously don't work. That's what happens when you use free software!
    Give it a few days and if it doesn't resolve itself, send me an email.......

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  24. ...to adski: Find me the word "Palestinean" before the mid 1960s. If you want to be another revisionist à la Ernst Zundel and a host of others, line up and take a number!

    If the Arab world cares so damn much about the Palestineans,why are the ordinary Palestineans starving and living in squalor while the elite are living in mansions, driving top-of-the-line cars and eating well? The bastards that they are cry for more and more money ad nauseum yet the funds never seem to make it to the commonfolk. This has been going on for decades.

    You seem to forget it was THOSE people who descecrated the 1972 Summer Olympics (and it took that A.H., Juan Antonio Samaranche a f--king quarter century to offer an apology). It was THEY who in the 1960s and 70s were blowing up Israeli school buses with innocent little children in them. The ONLY reason they stopped that practice was because the international community threatened to stop funding them (the elite, of course, and nothing for the commonfolk).

    Yassar Arafat, the bloody bastard that he was, died in a private hospital room in Paris paying for the best medical care money could buy, in a country that was chicken chested enough to accept him. France doesn't exactly have the best relations with Jews either; and look how that vitriol has spilled over into Quebec.

    I reckon that you are simply another Palestinean sympathizer. Again, join the long line. Too, I guarantee you there will still be an Israel before long after your ilk is off the scene. Eat your goddamn heart out!

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  25. @ E.J. Cunningham:

    John the Baptist is not only the patron saint of Quebec. He has been a patron saint of Newfoundland even longer.

    Here's a link:

    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Patron+saint+exclusive/5020807/story.html

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  26. Mr. Sauga said:

    "The so-called Palestineans (a peoples that never even existed before the 1967 six-day war)..."

    From Wikipedia:

    "Between 1922 and 1948, the term Palestine referred to the portion of the British Mandate of Palestine lying to the west of the Jordan River; that is, all of what is now Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza Strip. During the period of the British Mandate of Palestine, the term "Palestinian" referred to all people residing there, regardless of religion, and those granted citizenship by the Mandatory authorities were granted "Palestinian citizenship". The term was used without any ethnic connotations."

    I don't see why Arabs living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip shouldn't continue referring to themselves as "Palestinians."

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  27. There never existed a Palestinian state.

    In the entire history of nations, Jerusalem was never the capital of any country other than that of ancient Israel and modern Israel. So how can there be a claim on Jerusalem as the capital of a state that never existed?

    One of the problems here is that so few people know the history of the world. Hence, lies and more lies, repeated often enough, are assumed to be facts.

    What makes a people? There are three elements that define a people: language, religion and culture. For example, the Chinese and Japanese are both Oriental. Still, they are two different peoples, because they each have a different language, a different religion and a different culture.

    The Palestinians speak the same language, follow the same religion and manifest the same culture as all other Arabs. They are really Arabs who happen to live in a region called Palestine.

    Palestine is not and never was the name of a country, or the name of a people.

    It is the name of a region. Just like Siberia is a region, not a country. There is no Siberian country, nor is there a Siberian people. It is a region. Just like the Sahara is a region, not a country. There is no Saharan country, nor is there a Saharan people. The Arabs living in that region are Libyans, Moroccans, etc. It is a region.

    Because Palestine is a region, not a country, England was able to carve out half of it and give it to the Arabs living on the other side of the Jordan River and call it the kingdom of Jordan. Because Palestine is a region, the United Nations was able to divide the rest of it between the Jews and the Arabs living there. Had the Arabs accepted the United Nations resolution, there would have been a
    newly created Arab state called Palestine. Instead, they rejected the United Nations compromise and went to war to destroy Israel. They lost the war. Hence, no Palestinian state.

    Here are some cold facts:

    King David built the city of Jerusalem, and King Solomon, David's son, built the holy temple. This commonwealth of Israel lasted for a thousand years. There was only one break, when, 400 years after King David, the Babylonian invaders occupied the land for 70 years. Then, with the help of Cyrus the Great of Persia, Israel came back to the land, rebuilt the temple and ruled for another 600 years.

    Then, the Romans came and ruled the land, then the Crusaders ruled the land, then the Ottoman Empire ruled the land, then the British Empire ruled the land, then Israel returned to its homeland and built a modern Jewish state. It was never, repeat, never a Palestinian state.

    So what is all this talk about occupied Palestinian land?

    They certainly have a right to live there freely and happily. Nobody wants to move them away from their land. But from where comes the right for a Palestinian state? Is it because they live there?

    Imagine if the Mexican American community in California, whose numbers are greater than the number of Palestinians in the West Bank, decides tomorrow to claim that the United States is occupying their land, because they live there and they want their own Mexican state. Imagine if, when the U.S. government says, "No, you can live here, but you cannot have sovereignty, you cannot have your own state," they start sending suicide bombers, shooters, mortars, etc. into the rest of the country. What do you think would happen?

    This is precisely why there was never any suggestion of a Palestinian state, not under the Romans, not under the Crusaders, not under the Turks, not under the English and not under the

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  28. Famous Scots-Quebecer ? Pas Anglo-Québécois, les Écossais ne sont pas des anglais à ce que je sache ? Quel est votre point ?

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  29. @ Anon. at 2:33 PM,

    The Scots, who contributed tremendously to the builing of Montreal and Quebec, are part of the Anglophone community (with a few exceptions).

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  30. Re: 2:30 PM Post,

    I meant to say that the Scots contributed tremendously to the BUILDING of Montreal and Quebec.

    Virtually all of the great Scottish movers and shakers in Quebec spoke English.

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