Buckdog

I would rather believe the voice of an Israeli who is calling for sanity in the region, then listen to a tory from Canada who thinks war is good idea.

I think the comparison to the UK's situation with the IRA has a real parallel - once ongoing talks started, the 'terror' ended.

Phil, I am not trying to portray you as some kind of warmonger - I did not mean to do that. As a Canadian I know that you love your children and you do want a good world for your kids to grow up in.

I have always thought that Hezbollah's call for the end of the Israeli state (same call from Hamas, and most of the Arab world) is because they believe that Palestine has a right to exist. If the world could hurry up and ensure that the Palestinians have some place to call their country - the calls for the end of Israel will subside and end.

The following was just posted on small deadanimals under the heading:
"Wrzesnewskyj and Nash "Death to Jews"
---(I smell lawsuits against sda)---

"Thank you for your email regarding my self-financed fact-finding mission to the Middle East.
Please find below my statement issued today, August 21, 2006 at 12 noon EDT. I also took the liberty of including my press release issued prior to my departure to the region.

Again, thank you for expressing your views and concerns on the Middle East.
Respectfully,
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P.
Etobicoke Centre
---------------
For Immediate Release

August 21, 2006

Statement from Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj

“CanWest News today reported that I support taking Hezbollah off Canada’s list of banned terrorist organizations. This is emphatically wrong. On the contrary, Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and I stated that it must remain on Canada’s list because it has committed war crimes by sending rockets into civilian areas."

“What I did say, however, is that the legislation surrounding our banned list of terrorist organizations must be evaluated to ensure our role as mediator is not compromised. Currently, the legislation forbids Canada from having any discussions with those on the list, and I believe this is not the way to achieve peace."

“Canada must be a partner in any efforts by the international community to bring peace and stability to the region, and we can not play that role if we are shackled by this legislation which forbids us from even speaking to those groups on our list. Discussion, negotiation and diplomacy are paramount to a lasting peace.”

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For further information:
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P.
Associate Critic for Foreign Affairs
(613) 947-5000


For Immediate Release

August 14, 2006

Parliamentary Fact Finding Mission Initiated by MP Wrzesnewskyj heading off to the Middle East

Ottawa – Etobicoke Centre MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj will be the self-financed Liberal representative on a multi-party fact finding mission initiated by Mr. Wrzesnewskyj to the Middle East from August 15 to August 22, 2006. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj is scheduled to meet with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Syria and Lebanon as well as Lebanon’s Parliamentary Speaker and the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniara. When asked what he hoped to achieve during these meetings Mr. Wrzesnewskyj stated that:

“Besides listening and fact finding, I hope to carry the message that Canada has never been “neutral” in our position on crises in the Middle East. Since the era of Pearson and the Suez Crisis we have always been on the side of patient diplomacy and peaceful resolution and not the simplistic cheerleading of one warring side or another.”

During the parliamentary mission the Members of Parliament will also be meeting with NGO’s and visiting displaced persons camps. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj concluded by talking of the civilian toll of the war:

“The only innocents in this conflict are those civilians and children who have suffered and died. Canada’s role should be to help bring about a future in which every child born in the Middle East, Lebanese, Israeli or Palestinian, can have the same hopes and dreams for the future that a child born in Canada can dream of.”

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj was the first Canadian Member of Parliament to call for a cease fire in the region on July 14th, 2006. Upon returning to Canada, it is envisioned that Mr. Wrzesnewskyj and the other Parliamentarians on this mission will submit a report to Parliament on their findings and how Canada can help be an instrument toward a lasting peace in the Middle East.

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For further information:
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, M.P.
Associate Critic for Foreign Affairs
(613) 947-5000"