Gaza Boatniks Try--and Fail--to Refloat Their Fortunes By Jumping on the "Robo-Call" Bandwagon

Sorry about the mixed metaphor, but it was the best way I could think of to describe the exploits of Cap'n Ehab and his first mate, who penned this unintentionally guffaw-and-snore-inducing post on the rabble site:

Canadians are collectively waking up to the fact that we faced an illegal blockade at the ballot box in dozens of ridings last May, which may have led to a stolen election.  

Meanwhile, Palestinians face illegal blockades and checkpoints every day, which steal their freedom of movement, preventing them from entering or leaving Gaza and impeding travel through the West Bank. As Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu touches down in Ottawa, the world is waking up to the complicity of the Canadian government in Israel’s violations of international law.

Stephen Harper and Netanyahu will try to convince the public that deepening military integration between Canada and Israel is about “security”. But we all know that their common agenda is really about the mutual support of the two governments for war, occupation, and entrenching the vested interests of the one percent at the expense of the 99 percent.

The legitimacy of the Harper government is increasingly coming into question as more and more doubts emerge about automated “robocalls” that had the effect (and possibly the intent) of suppressing votes by misrepresenting Elections Canada and misdirecting electors to incorrect polling stations. Meanwhile, this same Canadian government has expressed no concern to the government of Israel over a serious international incident involving Canadians: the forcible seizure of the Canadian boatTahrir while it was peacefully sailing in international waters toward the blockaded Gaza Strip. Despite multiple requests, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs under Minister John Baird has refused to ask Israel to release the Tahrir and its cargo of desperately-needed medical aid, saying that this is a purely private matter.

Canadians have a right to expect more from their government: more respect for our election process at home and more respect for international law abroad.

The Tahrir was bought with Canadian funds collected from people and organizations from coast to coast to coast. Israel has had more than enough time for a thorough inspection and search of the vessel, the ostensible reason used to justify the capture of the Tahrir, and has never found, nor even claimed to find, anything dangerous or prohibited on board. And yet the Harper Conservatives have once again granted Israel impunity for its reckless actions....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Update: You know the Gaza boatnik song don't you? No? Well then just...

Sit right back and you'll hear tell a tale,
A tale of a feckless boat,
That started when some Zion-loathers
Gathered here to gloat.

They raised a heap o' money
For a vessel dubbed "Tahrir".
They wanted a blockade to bust,
A mission they made clear.

The mate was a flighty socialist,
The skipper full of rage.
The passengers who boarded it
Were on the 'xact same page:

"The Zionists are starving them,
The Gazans we will save!
If not for the courage of our fearless group
Their plight will be quite grave."

No sense, no brains, just Zionhass
To drive them to their goal.
Alas, the Greeks waylaid them
And they didn't get to roll.

So join us here again, my friends,
You're sure start to grin
When batty Gaza boatniks gloat--
Same old boatnik spin.