‘So, what do you do Camp, if your sworn enemy’s only goal is your destruction. As in the Iranians and by extension Hamas’, Hezbollah’ and any other Jihad’s group’s stated goal. They want the whole state of Israel and its Jewish residents annihilated and their whole country wiped off the map and replaced. It’s what they publicly stated over and over and what prompted the horrendous latest attack on Israeli civilians. Let’s face it Camp it was murder. Indiscriminate, pre-mediated mass-murder of woman and children, concert goers and farmers.’
‘Are you finished? Was that your question? And now you expect me to have the answer? I tell you what you cannot do. You cannot round up a population, half of which consists of children, and hope to find and kill the perpetrators of this horrendous crime. I agree, Hamas should be rooted out, their armed wing destroyed but that will be very difficult, especially if they hide amongst the civilian population or in hospitals, schools and shelters. These holy warriors are fanatics and nothing will deter them from their stated goals, one of which is to die as a martyr in the Jihad and go straight to heaven, into the arms of 72 virgins. Here is a quote I found: Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir of Surah Al-Rahman (55), verse 72, quotes “the Prophet Muhammad saying: ‘The smallest reward for the people of Paradise is an abode where there are 80,000 servants and 72 wives, over which stands a dome decorated with pearls, aquamarine, and ruby.
‘How crazy is that. Which goes to show that religion is the root cause of all evil in the world, closely followed by money and greed. In other words, there are no easy answers but the slaughter has to end at some point. Will some sane people from both sides sit down together and hammer out a path forward? Or will history just keep repeating itself?’
Both, Camp and I, entered our watering hole at the same time, ducking out of the rain. As soon as we sat down, I wanted to know what Camp thought about the latest war in the middle-east.
‘Is there a solution in Palestine? After the massive terrorist attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas, killing over 1400 Israelis, including foreign nationals, it seems that this war will go on indefinitely,’ I said to Camp who was slowly shaking his head.
‘I’ll give you some historical context. When British colonial rule ended in Palestine, in the late 1940s, violence intensified between Jews and Arabs, culminating in war between the newly created State of Israel and its Arab neighbors in May 1948. Tens of thousands of Palestinians took refuge in Gaza after fleeing or being driven from their homes. Then in the 1967 six-day war Israel captured the Gaza Strip. An Israeli census that year put Gaza’s population at 394,000, at least 60% of them refugees.’
A couple of weeks ago, both Alberta’s health minister Adriana LaGrange and BC’s Dr. Bonnie Henry rolled out their fall and winter vaccination plans for influenza and COVID. Although studies have shown that as much as 80 per cent of the population has been infected with the virus, at least once, and combined with the vaccines, there is a good level of immunity. Both, BC and Alberta residents can get the Covid booster in early October.
‘Did you notice that when a reporter asked Premier Danielle Smith and minister La Grange if they would get the booster, they were rather cagey with their answers?’ I asked Camp. ‘Look, I’m a healthy person, I tend to take care of my immune system,” Smith said at a news conference and La Grange echoed her and said: ‘I’m very healthy as well and have a healthy immune system. And you know what?’ she doubled down, ‘I also believe that this is a personal decision for individuals to make.’
‘No surprise there. They are both old school anti-vaccers, Covid deniers and Freedom-Convoy supporters, although they would never say it out loud these days.’
‘Yeah, I get that,’ I said, ‘what really bothers me is that they can be so wrong. It’s not about those two and their healthy immune system. It’s about if they contract the virus and pass it on to somebody vulnerable and compromised. They are just thinking about themselves. Calling the vaccine a personal choice, misses the target by miles. It’s a choice for the health of the community, for the others, for the common good.’
‘You’d think they would get that being politicians and representing their community but they are not alone. Many people mix up personal freedom with bad choices for the community,’ Camp said.
‘Between Sept. 3 and 23, there were 21 confirmed cases of RSV and 52 cases of influenza. For COVID-19, there were a total of 1,470 confirmed cases that resulted in 286 hospitalizations, with 13 ICU admissions. Twenty Albertans died during that three-week period because of COVID.’
‘I read that COVID-19 hospitalizations across Canada have increased since August from nearly 1,500 to more than 2,700 this past week. ‘Are you gonna get the booster,’ I asked.’
‘I probably will. I might even try and get the newly approved Novavax, protein based shot, rather than the mRNA from Pfizer and Moderna. Mix and match. Like Danielle Steel, I’m not really worried about myself but as a book store owner I do get to see a lot of people with health issues and I certainly don’t want to pass anything on if I can prevent it.’
‘Exactly. Not only that. It’s free.’
‘What’s free?’ Rosie asked when she took our empties but forgot to bring a couple of refills.
‘The Covid booster, and the influenza vaccine,’ I said.
‘Oh that. I’ve had Covid twice already and I think I’m immune now.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. Being a server, I would probably be more careful and get all the protection I could. If you get it and pass it on to us two, we won’t be happy.’
‘I shouldn’t have said anything because now Rosie ignored us and I had to get our refills at the bar.’
Camp thought it was funny until I told him I put them on his tab.
Camp, Muriel, Clare and I went for a walk in the woods yesterday and the two guys soon separated from the girls. We both had seen the news and I wanted Camp’s opinion. ‘Do you think the Russians and Iranians helped Hamas to stage and execute their assault on Israel yesterday?’
‘It doesn’t matter what I think but the fact is that now the eyes of the world have shifted to the middle-east and away from Ukraine. This cannot be good for their cause. Maybe this was the plan all along because this senseless attack will do no good for the Palestinians.’
We walked in silence but not for long. We looked behind us but Muriel and Clare were just as immersed talking to each other.
‘We cannot let our support for Ukraine slip into complacency,’ Camp said. ‘We all know what happened. Putin’s Russia invaded their cousins – Ukraine – unprovoked and without cause. The special military operation – the euphemism used by Russia – was supposed to be over in a couple of weeks but then that didn’t happen. The Ukrainians, under the leadership of their newly elected prime minister Zelensky fought back and destroyed the 20km long column of tanks and armoured vehicles who were driving toward Kiev in order to take over the city, the government and the country. Ukraine and the rest of the western world woke up to this horror show and condemned it unanimously. Support for the assaulted sovereign country was swift and immediate – from all the NATO countries as well as many others around the globe. On 7th April 2022, the UN General Assembly passed resolution ES-11/4 demanding Moscow to completely, immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine. The vote was 143 in favour, 5 against and 35 abstaining.’
‘Yes, I realize that now, a year and a half later, the unrelenting assault of Russian troops with the help of the mercenary Wagner group is ongoing and is wasting thousands of young lives on both sides of the conflict.’
‘Let me count the offences of Putin’s special operation,’ Camp said.
‘Millions of Ukrainian citizens displaced and uprooted. According to the UN, some
18 million people need humanitarian aid and protection. In addition to the more than 6 million refugees outside Ukraine, an estimated 5.9 people have been displaced within the besieged nation.
Thousands of hectares of arable land destroyed and mined, making it unhabitable for decades. According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the Russian war in Ukraine has created a minefield of 250,000 square kilometers in size in his country making it the largest minefield in the world.
Cities and ports destroyed. According to estimates by the Ukrainian authorities, over 350’000 facilities and millions of square meters of residential, educational, medical and sports infrastructures have been destroyed and thousands of km of roads and railways along with airports, ports and generating-stations have been destroyed or damaged.
Grain exports disrupted. Since Russia cancelled the grain deal which allowed Ukraine to ship grain from Odessa to the Bosporus Strait in Turkey across the Black Sea it is now shipping the grain along the Danube into and through Romania. Russia has stolen 6 million tons of grain from the occupied territories of Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion and war. Since March 2022, Canada has provided temporary asylum to over 166’000 Ukrainians.’
‘Let’s not forget the thousands of Ukrainian children abducted and relocated into Russia,’ I added. ‘In fact, Russia’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Ms Maria Lvova-Belova along with her boss Putin is accused of crimes against humanity by the International criminal court. They were charged with being responsible for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia — a war crime under international legislation.’
‘Yes, Ms Belova herself said that over 700’000 children have been taken into Russia since the beginning of the war.’
‘The well documented destruction and theft of Ukrainian cultural icons and artifacts from museums and galleries is one aspect of the war that is overlooked. It is a genocidal policy to deny the Ukrainians their separate identity, language and culture and the imprisonment of academics across universities and cultural institutions.’
Let’s be clear,’ Camp doubled down, ‘Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine the victim. Putin, the chief kleptocrat of the kleptocracy that is modern Russia is the villain. We need to keep supporting the victims and try and restrict, sanction, disrupt and destroy the warmongers in Moscow.’
We were looking around for our wives who were somewhere behind us. We were quiet because of the steep steps leading up to Soames hill.
‘Is it possible for Ukraine to win this war?’ I said.
‘Probably not in the long run but we cannot give up our support just because the war is too long, too expensive and too disruptive. Let’s face it, one man and one word could end this catastrophe.’
We finally reached the top and below us spread the glorious and beautiful view of Howe Sound, Gibsons harbour and the islands: Keats, the Pasleys and the long blue band of Vancouver Island in the distance. Above us the blue sky and a couple of eagles soaring, unperturbed by all the trouble in the world.
Bruno's point of view 