The Moral Authority

Canada has recently decided not to take part in the UN Conference on Racism citing that the conference will only be used to criticize Israel. I have not read the initiating documents of the conference so I will not comment on whether or not they are unjustly critical of Israel. However, what caught my attention recently was Conservative MP Vic Toews' comments on Canada's position towards Israel. Mr. Toews stated that "Defense of Israel is not a political choice for our government, it is a moral imperative." Now I don't know about you, but such statements frighten me. A moral imperative? What does he mean by this? Why is it a moral imperative to defend a nation that has slaughtered the people it occupies by a ratio of 100:1? We need to be aware of what this unconditional and uncritical support for Israel is really saying. It is claiming that there is no 'morality' among Palestinians. If it's not saying that, then what is it saying? Someone help me out here if I'm wrong...Vic are you there...hellooo? A 'moral imperative' to defend Israel automatically subjugates Palestinians to the realm of the immoral, or godless. Once a people have been deemed 'immoral' or 'godless' then essentially there are no limits to the amount of violent force used against them in order to defend the 'moral'. In biblical terms it becomes God (moral) versus Satan (immoral) - Good v. Evil. Evil must be destroyed at all costs. We assume moral authority, and thus determine who is moral and who is not. The language of morality in this context within democratic politics can be very scary as it's not too long before fascism rears its ugly head. Let us not forget that Hitler also used 'moral imperatives' to defend his ideology and actions. I'm not saying that the Conservatives are fascist, however, such language should not be tolerated by Canadian citizens. Once we start to tolerate this sort of language from our elected leaders how long before we tolerate the unlawful imprisonment of Canadian Muslims and Arabs in our own country or other countries?....Oh wait that's already happening...

Also, by boycotting this conference along with the U.S. and Israel we are effectively shutting down opportunity for dialogue, and our discourse becomes one sided and uninformed as a result. I would think that in the aftermath of the war on Gaza now is the time to really engage in discussion and reevaluate past policies and ideas. Although unwarranted criticism of Israel should not be tolerated, we need to move passed this idea that it is anti-Semitic or taboo to intelligently criticize Israel's government for some of their actions taken against the people of Palestine. Bottom line is, it should be our duty as citizens to continually question the actions of all governments especially those that claim to be guided by some moral agenda. This includes Canada, America, Israel, Palestinian groups, and other governments in the Middle East.

Some Middle East governments also want criticism of religion to be classified as a human rights abuse under the Conference on Racism. This too is scary, as someone that criticizes Islam or Christianity etc. could face legal prosecution. It would give theocratic states justification to rule with an iron fist, and thus push forward their agendas unchallenged. All of these propositions require our scrutiny. Without the willingness on behalf of our governments to accept dissent or engage in dialogue that may be counter to their ideas and ideology how can they be considered legitimate? If they have the right ideas, if they have the 'truth' then they should be more than willing to debate with people of differing views. Otherwise, what are they hiding?

When parties were campaigning during the last federal election some of the Conservative Party candidates in Winnipeg failed to show up at community debates where they would have to defend their party's views in front of the community and rival parties. Why is that? Maybe because if you don't give people the chance to challenge you, then you can continue to claim that you have the right vision while also criticizing your opponents without debate.

The way I see things right now, Canada is not heading in the right direction. Our political atmosphere is stale and the citizenry has been lulled to sleep. To us a line from Noam Chomsky we are the "bewildered herd". We follow along without raising much fuss, and frankly not really that interested to be bothered. After all, there's a reality TV show on somewhere we need to watch. Don't get me wrong, I'm as guilty as anyone of being apathetic, but perhaps this will be my catalyst to be more active in questioning my government on the decisions they make and actions they take.


I recently read an excellent book I recommend it fits very well with what I've just blogged about: American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America by: Chris Hedges

Here's to an uncertain future of Canadian politics and moral imperatives...