Ideologues on the Right and the Left both assimilate political information emotionally, not rationally. Conservatives and liberals alike tend to look at things through a partisan lens, and not in an unbiased way. Extremists, whether Marxist or fascist, are equally resistant to evidence that contradicts their worldview.
Thus the horseshoe theory: the far Left and far Right are closer to each other than they are to the centre.
So, we give you two groups who also seem very different but act very much alike: the Quebecois pro-separatism crowd and the pro-Palestinian gang. It is striking, to me, how similarly they behave.
(I speak from experience. For many years, I worked for and with Canada’s most-famous and most-successful separatist-fighter, former prime minister Jean Chretien. As his special assistant, I got to observe Quebec nationalists and separatists up close. Politically, they behave in a very predictable way)
Same goes for the pro-Palestinian – and, too, often, the pro-Hamas – cabal. I’ve been studying them for two years, for a book and a documentary. In the political arena, the pro-Palestine crew act in ways that are strikingly similar to Quebec nationalists. It is amazing, actually.
It’s not that they all act in a terroristic fashion – although it is true that both groups have a documented history of blowing things up, and killing people who do not agree with them. “Free Palestine,” too, has a distinct “Quebec libre” ring to it, doesn’t it?
How they are similar, verging on identical, is in the way they communicate demands, and receive concessions. This week is a good example.
In the past week, Canada and other nations decided to recognize the separate state of Palestine. The immediate result was Hamas thanking Canada at al. for rewarding its barbarism, and conducting public executions of dissidents. Israel’s government, for it part, became yet more defiant and talked about expanding settlements in the West Bank.
All of that was predictable (even if Mark Carney apparently didn’t see it coming).
But it was the reaction of the corrupt Palestinian Authority, and the Palestinian commentariat, that made for compelling viewing. Almost immediately, Carney’s chum Mahmoud Abbas – the great democrat who is now in year 20 of a four-year term – called on the West to pay reparations. The price tag, British taxpayers learned, could be as high as two trillion pounds. That was the money demand.
Then, like clockwork, came the diplomatic demand: “We demand support for Palestine to gain full membership in the United Nations,” said Abbas. Any countries that had not yet recognized Palestine needed to immediately do so, he said. Nobody else but the Authority should govern Palestine, he added, because they are “the only legitimate authority.” (
Hamas, for one, dispute this)
What was fascinating, however, was the post-recognition strategy of Abbas and his crew: swiftly acknowledge what they’ve received – and then even more swiftly demand more. The word “demand,” in fact, is found in Abbas’ published remarks no less than eight times.
It all recalled the strategy of Quebec separatists and nationalists, to this writer. They demanded constitutional recognition of their “distinct society.” Lacking that was a “humiliation,” they said.
So, persuading themselves that they could extinguish separatism, feeble politicians like Justin Trudeau declared: “Quebec is a nation.” Result? The separatist Parti Quebecois didn’t disappear – in fact, they grew in strength, and presently dominate the polls in Quebec. They are widely expected to form they next government there.
More control over immigration, Quebec nationalists demand, even though they’ve possessed the power to select, receive, and integrate immigrants since 1991. More control of health care, even though the Constitution already provides for that. More powers, more authority, more independence. On and on and on. Rinse and repeat.
And, if Quebec separatists don’t get what they want? They claim they have been “humiliated,” and turn up the volume. In this way, the Quebec separatists and the Palestinian separatists are the literal embodiment of that old cliché: give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.
Watching Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak to a near-empty United Nations General Assembly this week, an idea occurred to me: Israel should immediately recognize the separate “states” of Quebec, Scotland and Corsica, and establish diplomatic relations with them. Fair’s fair, after all.
How they are similar, verging on identical, is in the way they communicate demands and receive concessions
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