Tag Archives: Israel

ISRAEAL/PALESTINE

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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.’

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Old Wars, New Battles

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            When I walked over to our pub which is still only allowed to serve outside, I couldn’t get the radio interview I just listened too out of my mind. It was about the low number of bankruptcies compared to last year or the year before. ‘It’s a false picture’, the bankruptcy commissioner said. ‘It costs money to file for bankruptcy but thousands of small businesses just closed their doors and walked away: Restaurants, esthetics, fitness, yoga and dance studios, music and entertainment venues, catering and service businesses associated with sports and concerts, small retail stores, hair salons and many more.’

            ‘I’m just glad the bookstore is not one of them, actually we are doing as well or better than in a normal, non-pandemic year,’ my friend Campbell said. 

            ‘We drank our beers and looked out at the Gibsons’ Harbour and the pristine west coast wilderness right at our doorstep. I wanted to know what Camp thought about the recent escalation of an old war in the southern Levant, that’s been going on since 1948: Palestine vs. Israel. I knew Camp would have an opinion.

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Human Rights

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Finally, we can see some sugar coating on the mountains and the skiers are waxing their boards,’ I said.

‘More like you are waxing nostalgically,’ Camp said.

‘Well, the snow just reminds me of when I was a kid, my dad would melt this stick of red wax and apply to my wooden boards and let it dry overnight. I would get up in the middle of the night and put my finger on it, making sure it’s drying and ready for the morning.’

‘I guess you could ski before you walked,’ my friend Campbell, Camp as he is known around town, said, taking a sip from his beer.

‘Did you know that  last month the UN General Assembly voted to allow the Palestinians to procedurally act like a member state during meetings next year when they will chair the group of 77 developing nations.  The United States, Israel and Australia voted against the move, Canada and 14 other countries abstained and 29 didn’t vote.’

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