The Irony Behind al-Quds Day

al-Quds Day promoted as an International Day of Peace
is little more than an orgy of anti-semitism

This past week saw quite a bit of debate and controversy over the intention to hold an Al-Qud rally at Queen’s Park, the seat of Ontario’s provincial government. Founded by Ayatollah Khomeni, the al-Quds Brigade is the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and has been active in promoting hatred of Israel and Jews in general.

Canada is a nation that has fairly significant hate-speech laws in place but for some reason despite its history, the Al-Quds Day rally became an issue of free speech rather than hate speech. Even the province’s premier, Dalton McGuinty defended the right of the rally to proceed which sort of reminded me of all those city mayors who defended the vandalism and rioting of the Occupy Movement on the grounds of the right to protest.

Politicians are always eager to appear to be politically rather than morally correct.

The Best (Worst) Christmas Present Ever

We get so caught up in our days and our own concerns that we often take for granted the freedoms and the democracy we share and enjoy. We think of our own issues as a great struggle at times, overlookng the real struggle others have lived through to achieve the same democratic freedoms we have and live, sometimes carelessly. 

Camelia Miron Skiba is the author of Hidden Heart and a former citizen of Romania now living in the United States. Ms Skiba lived under the communist rule of Nicolae  Ceauşescu and through the transition of Romania to a democracy, a transition symbolized by Christmas 1989. For her, that Christmas brought both the best and the worst present and she writes about it here.

A Nativity Never Forgotten

Painting by El Greco of the Nativity

There is one thing about Christmas that never ceases to amaze me; a simple fact that is both remarkable and unique.

Almost half the world’s population celebrates Christmas and while at least a third of them celebrate it from a secular perspective, for more than 2 billion people, Christmas marks the birth of a baby some 2000 years ago in a stable in a backwater village that was a remote part of the Roman Empire.

The Truth About Christmas

I know it’s Christmas because Maggie is in full decorating mode which means that our place now looks like it would be more at home at the North Pole.