Good luck to Don as he heads back to Ottawa for what is sure to be interesting days.
Don Davies MLA Office in Vancouver:
Vancouver, BC
E-mail: davied@parl.gc.ca
Don Media Bits:
Local blood boils over Gaza as MP pays price
Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier
Excerpt:
Moments later, the NDP arrived. Don Davies, MP for Vancouver Kingsway, stepped up to the microphone and onto the political minefield of Middle East politics, where nerves are frayed and semantics matter.
Davies, whose suit and tie ensemble seemed oddly inappropriate, spoke for 30 seconds before his speech blew up in his face. After condemning the escalating violence in Gaza and calling for an Israeli ceasefire, he said "and Palestinians must also stop violence against Israel."
A brief silence was followed by a smattering of boos. A bearded man, with an umbrella in one hand and a Palestinian flag in the other, shouted "Shame on you! Shame, shame!"
Davies abruptly surrendered the microphone and a female voice thundered from the loudspeaker. "Israel is waging war on the Palestinians! Our resistance will not be criminalized!"
The crowd cheered and chanted. Davies limped back to the mic. "My friends, do not take anything I've said to justify Israeli actions that we've seen."
But the damage was done. The crowd, already suspicious of federal politicians, dismissed Davies with silence. Pale and wet, he descended the gallery steps, nervously scanned the crowd, and disappeared into the sea of umbrellas.
************************************Response from one of our regular readers & constituents in Vancouver-Kingsway:
Vancouver Courier. Published: Friday, January 23, 2009
To the editor:
Re: "Local blood boils over Gaza as MP pays price," Jan. 16.
It comes as no surprise that Don Davies' message of peace should have raised the hackles of at least some of those attending the recent rally protesting Israel's military offensive in Gaza. What is surprising is the derisive tone of Mark Hasiuk's account of Davies' address. Hasiuk even takes Davies to task for wearing a suit to the rally, describing it as "inappropriate." I wonder what he would have had Davies wear. Battle fatigues? A Hawaiian shirt?
In contrast to Hasiuk's mean-spirited narrative, I would say it took courage for Mr. Davies to decry the shedding of civilian blood on both sides of the conflict and to demand a just and balanced solution to the crisis. Such an approach, after all, used to be a hallmark of Canada's policy on the Middle East--a point recently underscored by Paul Heinbecker, former Canadian ambassador to the UN. Since the advent of the Harper government, however, Canada's voice on this issue, and many others, has merely parroted that of the Bush administration.
Don Davies should be commended for insisting that Canada resume its traditional role in world affairs as a peacemaker.
Stephen Phillips,
Vancouver
© Vancouver Courier 2009************************************
Last word from Vancouver-Kingsway
I give Don a lot of kudos for having the courage to get up and publically speak to such a contentious issue.
It also shows his integrity and commitment to speak up for peace and end to the violence.
Truthfully, there are many people who have become too fearful to speak out about anything to do with Israel and Palestine for fear of being labeled anti-semitic. That is a tactic I've seen used to silence other courageous folks who've waded into the fray and thorny discussion about the complicated situation in the middle-East.
Thanks for your bravery Don and like they say, the only bad press is no press at all. ;-}
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