|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Previous <<-- Table of Contents -->> Next Dateline:
Middle East
Amitiés Québec-Israel
is a volunteer organization whose goal is to take a stand against the
misinformation Eight years ago, a group
of people including Jews and non-Jews, gathered in front of the Israeli
Consulate to protest against the second Intifada and the suicide attacks
on Israeli civilians. Amitiés Québec-Israel joined this
movement, eventually taking over the organization of the vigils and the
production of a weekly bilingual Amitiés Québec-Israel ran its counterprotests in order to fight PAJU’s propaganda. During those years, Amitiés Québec-Israel gathered as many supporters as it could to demonstrate outside the Israeli consulate, across the street from PAJU, in rain or shine. The vigils started with a significant number of supporters. Our numbers declined with
the years in proportion to the decreasing number of Israeli casualties
after the barrier was constructed and the suicide bombings diminished.
At the heart of Amitiés Québec-Israel was an enduring core
of people who would not leave the group, who knew very well that giving
up our protests would I am proud to have been part of those vigils. As a full-time student, I contributed as much as I could: lending a hand to distribute pamphlets, and painting some of the signs. Much like the famous quotation “Do not go gently into that good night,” I was not prepared to stand aside and do nothing while Israel‘s legitimate right to defend itself and even to exist was challenged.
There was no dialogue possible with them. With Amitiés Québec-Israel, it was different. We always maintained a calm and civilized approach, inviting anyone wishing to challenge our views to debate us openly. Now that the Israeli consulate has moved, PAJU has decided to continue their protests in front of the Indigo bookstore downtown. Amitiés Québec-Israel decided not to follow them, but rather to focus its efforts on the media who often misrepresent the situation and ally themselves exclusively with the Arab side, directly repeating propaganda or selectively omitting proper background information. Fighting misinformation is one of the best ways to help Israel. We all need to participate by holding the PAJU-type groups and other anti-Israel media organizations accountable when they try to spread hate and misinformation. Previous <<-- Table of Contents -->> Next |
|
AMITIÉS
QUÉBEC-ISRAEL
There
was never any doubt in my mind that I was on the right side. Even if I
had no knowledge whatsoever of the situation, I would have only needed
to see how each side reacted to questions to understand the situation:
PAJU threatened to call the police after anyone asked challenging questions.
Sometimes they became violent when confronted with stronger arguments.
