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Harper Supports Canadians Joining Israeli Military

As published in the Victoria Standard: March 2, 2015.

The Harper government recently announced sweeping new “anti-terrorism” powers for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), expanded no-fly lists and uncertain extensions of preventative detention. Such developments resurrect the danger of surrendering freedoms for safety since such harsh policies are rarely rescinded.

One of the most interesting security developments is a new policy to prevent Canadians from travelling overseas to engage in terrorism. Unknown to most people is the Harper government’s tacit approval of the fact that numerous Canadians exploit a legal loophole to join the Israeli Defense Force (IDF); technically a foreign army. These Canadians serve in a wide verify of IDF units, including sections whose members; horrified by civilian casualties, have rebelled and refused to serve in Gaza or the West Bank.

It is widely-assumed that the IDF regularly invades Gaza to stop Hamas rocket and mortar attacks but the complex reality is rarely-reported in the Western press. The IDF has traditionally antagonized Gaza to evoke a violent Hamas response that can be answered with another punishing incursion or “cutting of the grass” as it is called. Palestinians correctly in categorize these IDF’s retaliations as state terror. The situation is periodically-noted in the Israeli press.