Israeli occupiers go to the polls

Gideon Levy is an outspoken Israeli journalist who writes opinion pieces for Haaretz. Called "heroic" by some, a "propagandist" by others, his weekly columns often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. He has been writing for Haaretz since 1982.

This piece appeared in yesterday's Haaretz, on the eve of the Israeli election.

The masters (and mistresses) are off to vote Tuesday, in what Israel proudly (but falsely) calls a “celebration of democracy” in “the only democracy in the Middle East.”

With all the desire to gloat and boast – and there’s a lot to brag about – we should remain grounded in reality: We must realize that this celebration is limited to the masters (and mistresses) only, that it is democracy in appearance alone.

There’s no such thing as half pregnant, and there’s no such thing as half democracy, and what will take place here today is barely half democracy. The occupying people will go to the polls. On a good day, the occupied people can only dream about the polls. Their fate will be determined in their masters’ elections. Their masters will determine their future; they have no right to participate in that process. In the meantime, their prime minister is to all intents and purposes an Israeli general who determines most of their daily lives.

The real hole in the ozone of Israeli democracy is the ongoing lives of over four million people living under a brutal, violent rule, all the while having not even the slightest amount of participation or involvement. There is no other country in the world in which millions of its subjects are denied the right to vote – while that country is labeled a democracy, and not just any democracy, but the only (!) democracy in the region.

During the term of the Knesset that will be elected today, the 20th, Israel will mark the jubilee celebration of this state of affairs; in two years, the Israeli occupation will be 50 years old. The way it looks now, it’s safe to assume that even the Knesset after this one won’t be elected based on the votes of the occupied, nor will it feature representatives who come from among them. And it will still be called democracy.

Four million people, in the besieged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, can perhaps vote for their "community council," the Palestinian Authority, but they can’t participate in the real game, the one that seals their fate.

For decades, their fate has been determined much more in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv than it has in Ramallah or Gaza. Their freedom, livelihoods, health, education, lives and deaths are determined in a place in which they have no status or rights. Only a system of denial, oppression and surprisingly effective brainwashing can conceal this eternal fact. Indeed, Israel has managed to deceive itself and the rest of the world for 50 years: It is a democracy, and today it is celebrating yet again.

It’s true that Israel is a democracy vis-a-vis all its citizens, with particular privileges granted to the Jews among them. It’s true that Jews are offered liberal democracy complete with many impressive freedoms. But what is all of that worth, with a terrible darkness looming in Israel’s very backyard, there in the glow of its democracy. Not only is the government in Israel’s backyard undemocratic, it’s one of the cruelest tyrannies in our world.

Was the United States a democracy before the 15th Amendment to the Constitution in 1870, which gave blacks the right to vote? Were all the Western countries considered democracies before they started allowing women to vote, beginning in 1893 with New Zealand, and lasting until 1971 in Switzerland? Is democracy for whites only? Or men only? Or masters only? Does anyone consider those things democracy?

But Israel in 2015 considers itself a democracy while ruling over the lives of four million people who lack the right to vote.

How ironic it is that some of them probably labored in recent weeks printing ballots slips for their masters in the colonial printing houses in Karnei Shomron. How ironic that Israel considers itself a democracy and Election Day a celebration, while all this goes on. How ironic that my mentioning these facts is likely to be considered treasonous by some, in this one and only and wonderful democracy.

By Gideon Levy. Published March 16, 2015 in Haaretz.

Abolish Daylight Savings Time

A week ago we stumbled into Daylight Savings Time. Oh yes, it's nice to have a bit more light in the evenings, but really, do we still need to do this time change thing twice a year? It's dark in the morning now and it is difficult to get up, there are more traffic accidents reported on the radio, and many of us are just more tired than before.

Increasingly, states, provinces and countries are changing their minds about the spring ahead and fall back routine we've had since around the time of the first world war when Germany started this debacle in an effort to reduce energy consumption.

Oddly, many of us grew up believing that the practice of DST was adopted for farmers. Growing up in Saskatchewan, where the time never changes, I know that to be untrue. The agricultural community in Canada and the United States was actually the only organised lobby against DST. Something to do with cows being confused by the time change, or chickens or...

Areas that use daylight saving time are marked in blue. Those that have used it in the past but stopped are in orange, while those that have never used it are in red. (Paul Eggert/Wikipedia)

Daylight Savings Time found favour in many nations with the belief that lighter and brighter evenings would mean lower demand for electricity. Studies in the US and Australia would indicate otherwise. A National Bureau of Economic Research study showed that while electricity demand dropped, the increase in air-conditioning use in the US actually increased energy consumption. The same thing was found after Australia extended DST for the 2000 Sydney Olympics; gains made in one part of the day were more than offset by energy losses at other times.

The more dangerous aspect of changing our clocks is that it is hazardous to our health. Stanley Coren, sleep expert at the University of British Columbia, recently said, "We live in a society that is chronically sleep-deprived, and very bad things happen when chronic sleep deprivation is an issue. Spring daylight saving time is a period when people lose a little extra time. Looking at different types of accidents, we found a five to seven per cent increase in accident fatalities during the three days following spring daylight saving time." This is not good, especially as pedestrians and cyclists are often the victims.

In 2008, findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that in Sweden, heart attack risk rose with every spring time change. A 2012 study by the University of Alabama found that the actual risk of heart attack rose by 10 percent on the Monday and Tuesday after moving the clocks ahead one hour. This is not good in a society with an aging population a health care system itself under financial attack.

There are studies at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, that show shifting a daylight hour from morning to evening only increases what is termed social jet lag; that a person's sleeping schedule is out of whack with optimal circadian sleep periods, making the person chronically tired. This is not good, and it's the way many of us now feel.

There are strong supporters of Daylight Savings Time and cash certainly rules the Excited States. For example, back in the 1980s when DST was expanded in North America, the golf industry estimated that an extra month of DST was worth between $200 to $400 million. During the same time the US barbecue industry suggested their increased profits were $150 million for that extra month. Those are 1980s dollars. True enough, outdoor activities for all demographics increase with the advent of extra sunlight in the evening, but that would happen anyway because of the naturally longer days of summer.

The way the world times itself is changing, and major trading nations like Japan and China have abandoned the practice of switching clocks back and forth twice a year. Argentina, Peru, Russia and many others have seen the light. It's time we abolished Daylight Savings Time too. We will all live a little longer, sleep much better, businesses will continue to function and summer will still be filled with long and glorious days.

Copyright 2015.

JJ Bean on Cambie

Finally. There's a coffee shop along Cambie, near the Park Theatre, Black Dog Video (one of Vancouver's few remaining video outlets, and probably the best) and the wonderful women's fashion boutique, Cocoon.

Surprisingly, no one, apart from a Starbucks on the corner of Cambie and 19th, has found a way to set up an independent espresso bar along this busy Canada Line corridor.







The new JJ Bean opened recently and is having its grand opening this weekend. Staff are friendly and efficient, and the coffees at this location are nicely done indeed. It is what you will find at other JJ Bean locations; some nice, rich flavours, adequate crema, and served appropriately with a glass of water and a spoon. Why other places can't get this coffee-serving-basic right is beyond me.






There is a recurring theme at JJ Bean stores of blond wood and this location is no exception. There are several long tables for the laptop and tablet people with suitable electrical outlets. The Wi-Fi must be adequate because everyone, apart from Sherry and Jeem, seemed to be on a screen of some sort.

A drawback, and it may be temporary, is the lack of outdoor seating. The large windows open onto the street, and are seemingly controlled by customers, at least on the day of our visit.








A bonus on our day at JJ Bean on Cambie was seeing an old friend, or someone who reminds us of an old friend in Argentina, named Tommy.







Locally owned by the Neate family, JJ Bean, the company, aspires to ethical business operations, including the way it sources its coffee and rewards the farmers.





Last year JJ Bean contributed to a variety of causes, including $8000 to the not-for-profit Seeds of Hope Foundation in Guatemala which provides educational opportunities to women and children. Over $12,000 was donated to sponsor the education, and room and board of 10 girls in Kenya and Tanzania through the Canadian Harambee Education Society. The company also made donations to coffee growing co-ops in Guatemala and Peru to improve conditions for the workers and their families. Some time this spring, twelve JJ Bean staff will be building homes in Guatemala through Habitat for Humanity Canada. The company contributed $18,000 to the cause, and raised another $5,500 through customers donations. All that, and the bunch of donations it makes to local concerns, makes for an even better tasting coffee, wouldn't you agree?

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2015.

Cherry Blossoms at Sunrise in Vancouver

It has been an early spring on the left coast.

The sun grows warmer each day and the return of daylight savings time signals the advance of spring and summer. Barbecues, beaches and late nights on the balcony.











These March mornings have been cold, with temperatures near freezing at sunrise. At that early hour the world is a quiet place; the air is still and the trees are full of light and colour and promise.












Vancouver's official Cherry Blossom Festival takes place beginning April 2nd. The real festival, nature's festival, is taking place right now.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2015.

Jeem goes to the Vancouver International Wine Festival

I've always wanted to attend the  Vancouver's Wine Festival, one of Canada's largest events of its kind, and this year it happened, as a gift to Sherry and Jeem. And so it happened that three of us journeyed downtown, by transit of course, on a fine early spring afternoon.
















The festival started in 1979 as a smallish fund raising event for the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company. Then, it was a two day event held at Hycroft, the mansion owned by the Vancouver University Women's Club. In 1988 the venue changed to the Vancouver Convention Centre, where it has remained, and today its primary charitable partner is Bard on the Beach.





This is no longer a small two day event. It is a big deal indeed. Thousands of people attend throughout the ten days of the festival. Special event tickets are sold out months in advance.















There are people everywhere. Queues form for almost everything, oddly reminiscent of Expo 86.






The price of admission gets pours at tens and tens of wineries, and some complimentary snack foods too (much needed with all that wine), and with the wine pouring freely, so to speak, Jeem was soon into the whole experience. Or debacle.

The main focus of our afternoon was the wines of Australia, the feature nation of this year's festival. To help geographically-challenged Canadians, and visiting Americans, a large map is positioned clearly to indicate the country, with a special arrow to highlight its wonderful national capital: Canberra.












Australia has some wonderful wine regions and all seemed to be represented at the festival. Time did not permit a full and complete circuit of the entire nation however.

Have I mentioned the large crowd of Vancouverites eager to slosh their way through a Sunday afternoon?

And then there was Jeem to contend with.

At a certain stage, the tastings, at least for Jeem, became confusing. "What exactly am I trying now, and what was the one I just finished?" and  "Am I still in Oz or have we entered Argentina?" were constant questions.

Hmmm.... Who let this guy in?

A notable highlight for the three of us was the wonderful Mad Fish Sauvignon Blanc Semillon. From Burch Family Wines, to which Jeem visited a number of  years ago, this refreshing wine features abundant fruit flavours and a citrus richness. The wine comes from the Margaret River region of Western Australia, and priced under $20, it's a great value.











A  BC winery that impressed us, for their whites, was 8th Generation Vineyard from Summerland. The owners are originally from Germany and their wines have a European flair. Stefanie and Bernd Schales have a passion for their craft that was truly intoxicating. Stefanie is a 10th generation winegrower, while Bernd is an 8th generation winemaker. They are the first generation from their families to create wines in the New World and their winery is one to watch.











All too soon it seemed, though not before stops in the Okanagan, France and Argentina, it was time to leave. Time in fact to pick up a free transit pass for the journey home. And not a minute too soon given all the wine consumed.













Possibly too late for Jeem however. Can't take him anywhere.

Photos by Jim Murray. 

Copyright 2015.

Man-down image staged. Photo by Susan Dickson.

Jeem was not harmed in the making of this post.