Canadian Protesters - Idiots Abroad

Tarek Loubani  and John Greyson...Idiots abroad

Sometimes we forget just how wonderful our country is and we sometimes take for granted the very real liberties and freedoms we have.

While idiot separatists rail on and on about how they are colonized by the evil ROC, I would imagine that 90% of the citizens of the world would switch their circumstances with the enslaved Quebecers.

As we fulminate over the harsh treatment of protesting students at the hands of our over-zealous police, I am reminded of how Egyptian police handle their rioters, not with pepper spray, rather with spraying machine gun fire.

I feel badly for the two Canadian activists, Doctor Tarek Loubani and filmmaker John Greyson, who are presently in jail in Egypt in utterly horrific conditions but have to ask the question that nobody will dare.

What the heck were they doing there? Read their story

"In a statement Saturday, the two men said they were observing an anti-government demonstration Aug. 16 when Loubani heeded a call for a doctor and began treating wounded demonstrators, while Greyson recorded the unrest on video." Link

Egypt was practically in a civil war with the army reconquering the streets with brutal force, making no distinction between observers and participants.

Only idiots would venture out into the melee, just to bear witness and stay out past the 10PM curfew. Perhaps it is their foolhardy activist belief that foreign governments operate under 'Canadian Rules,' where there is no unjust confinement or cruel and unusual punishment.

"The New York Times reports that officials in the current military-supported government are upset at how foreign press has failed to depict the conflict as a war against violent terrorists. Dozens of foreign journalists have been attacked or detained since the announcement." Link

Now their friends and family are clamoring for the Canadian government to get them out of a very serious jam, but who is to blame but themselves, our very own idiots abroad.

The truth is that  Doctor Tarek Loubani and filmmaker John Greyson are dedicated anti-Israel activists who were on their way to Gaza, another place that only idiots would go.
With the current Egyptian military dictatorship at war with Gaza's Hamas government, the border which the two Canadians were to cross is closed and so the lads decided to participate attend a deadly street confrontation, instead of hightailing it out of a city under siege.

After the arrest our two idiots proclaimed from their jail cell that they had witnessed the murder of dozens of innocent protesters, something even a simpleton should understand would anger their jailors.
Claiming that they were beaten, humiliated and forced to sleep on a concrete floor with cockroaches (which I've no doubt is true) is also something that is counter-productive to winning back  their freedom.

Then the two started a hunger strike, more foolishness which, sure as shooting, was to bring on more grief. After the Canadian government complained that the two should be freed because of the lack of criminal charges, the Egyptians took note, and promptly laid trumped up murder charges against the two.

Read their own account of how they ended up in jail and marvel at the utter naivete and stupidity. Link
They close the statement with this absurdity;

"We deserve due process, not cockroaches on concrete. We demand to be released." John & Tarek

Do they really think they are in a position to demand anything? Is there even such a thing as 'due process' in Egypt?

They need to understand that they are now subject to "Egyptian Rules' and when abroad one should always familiarize oneself with local rules and consider the very real consequences of pissing off the local gendarmerie.

By the way, under 'Egyptian Rules,' nobody is going to force feed hunger strikers, because the authorities actually don't care if they die. It would serve as an example to others activists.
The more arbitrary the arrest, the more cruel the conditions of incarceration and the more unjust sentencing, the more foreign journalists will mind their P's and Q's.
This is 'Egyptian Rules.'

I don't know if the two really understood the risks they were taking. Many will say that they bravely chose to face danger in support of what they believed was a good cause, but I suspect that they never fathomed as even remotely possible, that which has befallen them.
If they had, would they really have set out on their adventure?

I wish that the two would have screened Midnight Express before embarking on their mission to poke the eye of the beast. If you've never seen the harrowing tale of imprisonment in a foreign Hellhole, here's a link where you can watch the movie. Watch Midnight Express

And now to the case of more idiots abroad, Canadians Paul Ruzycki of Port Colborne, Ont. and Montrealer Alexandre Paul, who are part of a group of Greenpeace activists, who thought it would be peachy to storm an oil platform owned by the Russian state-controlled firm Gazprom. Link

Unlike in Canada where the police would allow Greenpeace protesters to unfurl their banners and block traffic for hours and hours on a bridge, resulting in a heroic trip to court and a fifty dollar fine, the Russians don't appreciate an attack on their reputation.

And so they sent commandos in by helicopter to board and seize the Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, arresting the activists, and trundling them off to Murmansk where they are now facing charges of piracy.

"Greenpeace has called the charges "irrational, absurd and an outrage". Link 

Ya think?......Welcome to 'Russian Rules'

Now for the benefit of these imprisoned 'pirates' I would remind them that the "Russian Rules' are very similar to the 'Egyptian Rules' in that the harsh treatment is meant to send a serious message to others considering similar actions.
The more pressure brought to bear by foreign governments, friends, families and media, the harder it will be on the activists.

French secret service sunk the Rainbow Warrior

Greenpeace seems surprised at their harsh treatment at the hand of the Russians, but they shouldn't. I'm sure they're an educated and well-read lot, so I only have two words to say... Pussy Riot.  

And even Western democracies are not immune from bending the rules when it comes to activists as proven by France's secret service sinking a Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior in 1985, resulting in the death of a crew member.  Wikipedia

Most of the world is uncivilized, the governments little more than fascist fronts, with corruption, illegal detention and a justice system in name only.

'Canadian Rules' just don't apply, so I hope that activists remember that fact when they undertake their foreign adventures.

Once in a foreign jail, there's not a lot that can be done to help. The Canadian government has been doing cartwheels to secure the release of  Loubani and John Greyson, to no avail.

I'm sure the two didn't bargain for what they got, the same for the Greenpeace activists, but in the real world, that's the way it is.

So for those considering going off to face the Israeli military in the Palestinian territories or on the high sea, understand that they are going to face "Israeli Rules"

If the activists are up for it, full speed ahead, but no complaining afterwards.

Still I'm crossing my fingers for all the detained and hope they get out soon and come back safely to the friendly confines of 'Canadian Rules.'