I sent this to the MPs listed below after the three of them when on a 'fact-finding' junket to Lebanon. The trip was sponsored by the National Council on Canadian-Arab Relations, an organization with close ties to Syria and, by extension, Hezbollah.
Mr. Wrzesnewskyj (Liberal) and Ms. Nash (NDP) were quoted saying a variety of statements that sounded to many, myself included, as sympathizing with and apologizing for Hezbollah. They even implied that refusing to negotiate with them indicated some misunderstanding or intransigence on our part.
CCd in my message were the leaders of the three main opposition parties, my MP Andrew Telegdi (Liberal), Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter MacKay.
I will edit this post if I hear from any of the recipients.
To:
Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Peggy Nash
Maria Moureni
I’ll start this letter by letting you know where I am coming from:
1/ I believe that a sovereign nation has the right to defend itself from terrorism
2/ I believe that a sovereign nation has the obligation to root out terrorism within its borders
3/ I believe that a sovereign nation has to be able to act autonomously (spare me the Bush-Harper rhetoric)
4/ The National Council on Canadian-Arab Relations has strong ties to Syria
5/ The National Council on Canadian-Arab Relations sponsored your visit and I believe it has no interest in giving you a balanced view
6/ The links between Iran and Syria and Lebanon and Hezbollah have been clearly established
Hezbollah attacked Israel from within Lebanese territory. So, that makes Israel ’s actions against Hezbollah justified (1) and it puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the Lebanese ‘government’ (2) for not rooting out Hezbollah. Clearly no one can call Lebanon a sovereign nation as they have no control over many parts of Lebanon . The Lebanese ‘government’ has allowed itself to be a vassal of Syria (3) and Syria allowed Hezbollah to exist and no doubt funds Hezbollah with help from Iran . Surely I’m not the first to fill you in on these details.
I understand that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj and Ms. Nash have called for the de-listing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. I have to wonder just what happened to make you come to such a misguided and myopic conclusion.
You have allowed yourselves to be sucked in by a tried-and-true propaganda machine. You were shown some bombed-out buildings and asked only who’s bombs they were. You are too simple and foolish to even ask why.
You and I will likely agree that Lebanese civilians are paying the biggest price in this conflict. But we would disagree as to why. I’m sure you believe that Israel targets innocent civilians.
Lebanese civilians are used, most cowardly, by Hezbollah as human shields and then their corpses and destroyed homes are used as propaganda to fan the flames of hatred and intolerance. Where does it end? Well I don’t know that, but collaborating and negotiating with and apologizing for Hezbollah will only encourage them to continue to target Israeli civilians and then hide behind Lebanese civilians. There is nothing in their agenda that makes them a legitimate group. They are no more interested in peace than you are in war. Hezbollah is bent on the destruction of Israel and the murder of as many of its civilians as possible. If Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization, then the work ‘terrorist’ has no meaning. Hezbollah and groups like it, whether Islamic or otherwise are cancers on civilizations.
And you let them use you. The National Council on Canadian-Arab Relations used you to further their political agenda.
Israel is a sovereign nation that has showed admirable restraint over its 58-year existence against many intractable enemies.
You suggest we should afford ‘elected’ members of Hezbollah some dialogue. But I encourage you to look at 20th century history and see just how effective appeasement can be with enemies of peace. The British, led by Neville Chamberlain, tried to appease Hitler and the Americans tried to ignore the problem and in the end nearly 50 million died in WWII.
I am convinced that we need to take a stand against hate and tyranny (this time in the form of Islamifascism).
Do I want war? No, absolutely not. But history tells us that you pay a big price if you are willing to say to an intractable enemy ‘I want peace at any cost’.
Your willingness to look at only one side of the conflict shocks me. Your short-sightedness and ignorance disappoints me. Your willingness to collaborate and speak for terrorists disgusts me. That you are Canadian shames me.
I defy you to respond to my message.
Paul Suggitt
Waterloo, Ontario
