A BURNING DESIRE

“PRO-PALESTINIAN” ACTIVISTS LOVE SETTING STUFF ON FIRE. BECAUSE CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT IS SO BORING.

“What are you doing this weekend?” “Oh, you know, the regular …”

You know what would be a great business to be in these days? Flags. If you watch the news, you would have to wonder how many Israeli flags are sold in, say, Iran. There seems to be an overabundance always available for wiping muddy boots or setting alight. Does Amazon have a algorithm that sets off a beeper somewhere saying, Gosh, there seem to be a lot of Israeli flags heading to Tehran this week.

But flag-burning is hardly limited to autocratic societies. Flags were burning in my town this week. A cluster of the usual suspects stood on the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery and — clad, of course, in face-covering keffiyehs because they are so courageous and so proud of what they are doing — set Canadian flags aflame.

Flags aren’t cheap. In a time when everyone is feeling the pinch of inflation and the high cost of living, where is the disposable income coming from for all these flammable flags? Again, it seems like a great business model. And there’s no return policy. It’s not like the customer can come back the next day and say, “I just bought this flag. I figured it would last a few years, but I took it to the art gallery and it disintegrated in seconds!”

You know what is cheap? Words. You can say anything you want, at no cost to yourself, and, although police are said to be investigating, little ever comes of such investigations. Probably nothing will happen to the woman at the Vancouver rally who demanded “Death to Canada. Death to the United States. And death to Israel.” Then she threw a Canadian flag on the ground and began stomping on it. (That’ll show us!) What’s that, another $40 down the crapper?! Jeez, I’d hate to see her monthly flag bill. Couldn’t you make the same statement with one of those little plastic handheld ones? Those have got to be a lot cheaper, but I suppose it would make less of a splash. And, I guess it would be another example of how shrinkflation is slamming even the pro-genocide consumer.

Just in case you were wondering what motivated this epidemic of ensign immolations, it was the anniversary of October 7. Yes, they were celebrating the mass rapes, beheadings, burning of living humans, kidnappings and mass murderers of Jews and others that took place a year ago. That’s the kind of people we are talking about here. Flag-burning, in context, is pretty mild compared to the things these people would apparently rather be doing.

Like other decent Canadians, I spent October 6 and 7 at vigils and commemorations for the innocent victims of the worst terror attacks in Israeli history — commemorations, I would add, where the loss of life on both sides in this war launched by genocidal Hamas terrorists was lamented, because normal people don’t celebrate death, beheadings, rape, immolations, kidnapping and mass murder. We grieve every innocent life lost.

When I got home, of course, I caught up on the reporting from the other events.

Here in Vancouver, crowds were chanting “We are Hezbollah and we are Hamas!” In case you were still under the misapprehension that these are peace activists who oppose terrorism.

Similarly, across Canada and pretty much everywhere that two or more gather in the name of beheadings and rape as political strategy, we hear the hackneyed “Long live the intifada!” Intifada, in case you don’t know, is a word that means blowing up Jews on buses, in discotheques, at festive meals and stabbing Jews walking down the street. Or, as “pro-Palestinian” activists call it, “resistance.”

Oh, and for those who still believe the Israeli government killed the dream of a two-state solution, the pro-massacre screamers want you to know it’s they who reject peace and coexistence.

This is a good one from last weekend — and it rhymes (sort of, almost): “We don’t want two states! Bring us back to ’48!”

Back to ’48? Why? So they can reject peace, coexistence and a Palestinian state all over again and relive the last 76 years of violence and war cuz it has been so awesome for the Palestinians? What was the definition of insanity again, remind me?

Then there’s this nugget: “There is only one solution! Intifada! Revolution!”

Uh huh. One solution. Ring any bells?

Suggest this obvious allusion to the Final Solution and wait for the “progressive,” “humanitarian” “peace activists” to clutch their pearls in umbrage. How dare you! That never crossed our minds.

Just like, when pressed, activists will tell you that “intifada” is really just peaceful resistance, there is always just a smidgen of plausible deniability in their rhetoric. It’s applying to international affairs and antiracism the “I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!” approach your brother took when your parents told him to leave you alone.

“We will honor all our martyrs,” they chanted. Ah yes. This again. It is always fascinating to see the White Saviors of the Canadian Palestinian movement “honoring” the martyrs. The more martyrs, the more honor. And this is key.

As I keep harping about, nothing advances the Palestinian cause overseas like dead Palestinians! The white suburban pseudoactivists and superannuated Raging Grannies who make up a chunk of these Palestinian rallies just love counting up dead Palestinians and declaring moral victory. For them, dead Palestinians aren’t a tragedy. They’re a system for keeping score.

And these are the people who have stolen the terms “humanitarian,” “progressive” and “peace activist” from people like us.

“Justin Trudeau, you will see,” they chanted, cuz they love the rhymes, “Palestine will be free.”

No matter, apparently, how many Palestinians have to die to make it so.

All of this brings to mind a few things.

Public opinion polls say most Canadians are on the correct side of this conflict. By fairly convincing margins, we stand with Israel and against mass rape, human immolation and attempted genocide of Jews. But when I go to the vigils and rallies that represent this Canadian consensus, our numbers are a fraction of those of the pro-immolation rallies. I guess it’s more fun to stomp on flags and celebrate dead Palestinians than to solemnly lament human losses and actually send hopes for peace and coexistence out into the universe, however fruitlessly.

I wish the people who say the right things when an opinion pollster calls them would take an extra step and get more involved in standing with Israel and the Jewish people.

I know we are all busy. I also know that it is not always easy to know what to do.

I’ve got some ideas. I’ll share them in upcoming posts.

In the meantime (especially if you are in Canada but of course doing the right thing knows no borders) check out this site.

If you follow my posts, you know I pump out the words. But words only matter if they lead to action. So that’s something I will be focusing on in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!