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Remembering Peter C. Newman, a deceptively complex buffoon
I’ve been reading the obits on Peter C. Newman — editor and columnist for the Star and Maclean’s, and bestselling author- who died last week at 94. I’m surprised to find him more compelling in...
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What were MPs thinking as they cheered the Nazi collaborator?
I don’t believe much in learning from history in order not to repeat it. If that worked, there’d be a lot less genocide, inequality and spin. Plus, it’s rarely clear what those lessons are. Take the...
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Is there any room for hope in Israel-Palestine?
The face-to-face slaughter of the unarmed by the armed seems like the epitome of terrorism. CNN reporter Clarissa Ward, at one of the shattered Israeli communities just outside Gaza, spoke about a...
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Whose rights matter in the fight over pronouns in school?
Saskatchewan’s “parents’ bill of rights” passed last Friday and cue the protests. It’s also known as the pronoun bill because that’s the only pertinent part, the rest is pablum that doesn’t need...
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There is no point in ranking genocides and acts of political violence
There is violence and, within its vast domain, there is political violence, which includes genocides and massacres that are intrinsically political. Hannah Arendt, who I studied with in New York in the...
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Speculating on the ceasefire moment in Gaza
What are we to make of the frustratingly delayed ceasefire in Gaza? It had seemed unlikely to happen. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his goal was to eliminate Hamas. That excluded a...
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The short history of the term ‘genocide’
The Gaza plotline has shifted somewhat, after South Africa’s charge in a UN court that Israel is guilty of genocide. That was incendiary, speaking mildly. Churchill called it, in 1941, the crime...
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It’s not life, it’s the Oscars
The Oscars are voted on by (harrumph) members of the Academy. In other words, people working in Hollywood. That means they’re ill equipped to judge the films they make, which are mostly not about...
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Is there any escape from the prison of history?
I met Rami Nashashibi 10 years ago at a U.S. Islamic congress in D.C. while I was exploring religion and politics. He was a panelist, founder of a grassroots Chicago group, the Inner-City Muslim Action...
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We are all living in Brian Mulroney’s Canada
Brian Mulroney would’ve surely approved — aside from the dying part — the many reverent assessments of his life. The Globe and Mail, which he always treated with tender care, called him “the last great...
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Despite its problems, the CBC may turn out to be the hero we need
The CBC is a unique Canadian cliffhanger. It’s unclear why it’s there and why it survives but the thought of its demise provokes anxiety. This anxiety, which is part of the national identity, gained...
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How much disruption and interruption over Gaza would be acceptable?
The levels of protest over Gaza seem not to be subsiding and perhaps expanding, especially on campuses. The University of Michigan’s president just announced a “disruptive activity policy” with...
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