CTV.ca | Israel ambassador's comments 'unjustified': critics
Well last I checked, everybody was equally welcome to come and live in Canada and if many Muslims are coming here to live, then that's how it goes. What does he want us to do? Close our borders to people who are Muslim just so he can voice his side of arguments better with little opposition? Seems a tad racist to me.
"Baker told CTV's Mike Duffy Live that Muslim communities have impacted foreign policy in countries like Britain, France and Scandanavia -- and that he "fears" Canada might follow."
^ Well wtf? They're not supposed to have a say in things or have a voice at all in the countries in which they live? Should we only be listening to Israel and the Jewish community and ignore the other side of the arguments they present that might relate to Muslims in that area?
Seems to me like racism has come full circle in the Jewish community.
Well, let's compare freedom of religion, shall we:
Lebanon (Christianity in Lebanon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Current political and religious issues
The
Taif agreement helped establish a power sharing system between the Christian and Muslim Lebanese political parties
[1]. The political and economic situation in Lebanon had improved greatly. Lebanon had rebuilt its infrastructure. The past affairs between Hezbollah and Israel have threatened to deteriorate Lebanon's political and economic situation, growing tension between March 8 and March 14 alliances are threatening Lebanon with strife. The Christian community is currently divided with some aligned with The
Kataeb party,
Michel Aoun's
Free Patriotic Movement, and the Leader of the Lebanese Forces Movement [Samir Gaegae], and others with the various March 14 Christian leaders. Although the taif has been considered by some that it would degrade the Christian role in Lebanon removing much of the president's role (which is given to the Maronites) and increasing the roles of the prime minister (a Sunni), but the Lebanese Christian President still playes a major role in the Lebanese Politics as he is still the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and no governments can be formed without his approval and the presidential seal. Many Lebanese leaders including world leaders are currently reviewing the reinstatement of some of the powers of the President of the Lebanese Republic that was removed at the Taif agreement.
Christians also holds the position of the head of the army which formes the role of the Head of all armed forces that reports directly to the Commander in Chief [ The President of the Republic], this position is given to the Maronites since the establishment of the Lebanese army.
The president of the Lebanese Central bank is also a position held by Lebanese Christians as the majority of the banking systems and private banks in Lebanon which formes the strongest and biggest banks in the middle east these banks are laregly owned by Christians.
Israel (
Religion in Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
[edit] Religious tensions
The State of Israel allows freedom of religion for all religious communities, both in law and in practice.
Freedom House reports: "Freedom of religion is respected. Each community has jurisdiction over its own members in matters of marriage, burial, and divorce." However, some minority religious communities face social pressure and, on occasion, obstruction from the government.
Religious tensions exist between Jewish
haredi Israelis and Jewish non-
haredi Israelis.
Haredi Israeli males devote their young adulthood to full time
Talmudic studies and therefore generally get exemptions from military service in the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Originally the exemption from uniform conscription was intended to apply to a small number of elite religious students. Many leaders of
haredi yeshivas encourage students to apply for exemptions from service, ostensibly to protect them from the secularizing environment of the IDF. Throughout the years the leadership of the religious public raised many times complaints on problems which were caused to the religious soldiers during the course of the army service and that the army should adapt itself to thus population - there have been complaints over certain soldiers not being permitted to display
tzitzit, there have been complaints over certain soldiers being forced to shave during the
omer period, and most of the complaints were thereon that the IDF's units comprise of mixed population of male and female soldiers and that the female soldiers are allowed to wear clothes (
undershirts and
pants) which are not considered to be modest by the religious and orthodox population in the units' perimeters.
Over the years, the number of exempt people has grown to be about 10% of conscriptable manpower. Many secular Israelis consider the system of exemptions to be systematic shirking of duty to serve in the IDF by a large segment of society. Because of uniform conscription the burden of defending Israel is intended to be shared by all social classes, giving everyone in society a stake in the
Zionist enterprise. The
haredi (theological) counter-argument is that it is
only in the merit of intense
Torah and
Talmud learning that
God grants the Jews the blessings of survival in a sea of hostile enemies.
Haredi couples tend to marry at a young age (usually late teens to early twenties) and often rely on government assistance sooner and to a greater extent than do secular Israelis.
Haredi Israelis are also represented by
haredi political parties, which like all smaller parties in a system of
proportional representation may tend to wield disproportionate political power at the point when government coalitions need to be negotiated and formed following national elections.
As of June 2008, the two main Haredi parties in the
Knesset are
Shas with twelve seats in the Knesset representing
Sephardi and
Mizrahi interests, and the
Ashkenazi party,
United Torah Judaism, an alliance of
Degel HaTorah (Lithuanian Haredi) and
Agudath Yisrael (Hasidic), which holds 6 seats in the 17th Knesset.
Secular Israelis often view
haredi Israelis with distrust or animosity. In recent years, the
Shinui party was created as a backlash to the perceived influence of the
haredi parties, and to represent the interests of secular Jews that supposedly were not seen to by the other non-religious parties.
Constant tensions also exist between the
Orthodox establishment and the
Conservative and
Reform movements. In Israel the Orthodox Jewish movements are by far the largest and strongest, with Conservative and Reform being quite small (in marked contrast to the United States). Only the Orthodox Jewish movements are officially recognized in Israel (though conversions conducted by Conservative and Reform clergy outside of Israel may be accepted for the purposes of the
Law of Return).
As a result, unlike Orthodox Synagogues (or Muslim mosques or Christian churches) Conservative and Reform synagogues do not receive much government funding and support. Conservative and Reform rabbis can officiate at religious ceremonies; thus their marriages, divorces, and conversions are not considered valid. In addition, there has been persistent tension, and even protests by outraged Orthodox worshipers, at the
Western Wall, preventing Conservative and Reform Jews from holding services which violate Orthodox norms.
The Israeli government often intervenes to stop the construction of new
synagogues,
mosques, and
churches for a variety of reasons. Often it may be due to safety and environmental concerns. All groups face the same governmental scrutiny for required building permits and correct construction methods. In May 2003, Israeli government officials destroyed a newly-built
Bedouin mosque in the village of Tal el-Malah after villagers defied a government ban on building a mosque to serve the local 1,500 Muslims. The nearest mosque was more than twelve kilometers away. Permission has been denied for Muslims to build mosques in other Bedouin villages.
[32]
Sure there are flaws on both sides, but clearly Christians have just as much freedom as, if not more freedom and even political power than, in Isreael.
