Monday, September 14, 2009

Naomi Klein and Judy Rebick must be sending out the secret police

Yes, Mesdames Klein and Rebick are prepared to send out secret death squads to go after all people who support the Toronto International Film Festival's choice of Tel Aviv in the City-to-City Program. I must infer this truth based on a column that I read in the Toronto Star by Martin Knelman. In the column, Mr. Martin writes:

In the view of those who have fought back by protesting the protest, those objecting to TIFF's Tel Aviv series have stooped to the methods of the most notoriously repressive regimes of past and present, from Stalin to the Taliban, all of whom sought to silence artists and stifle free expression.

Since Toronto is in North America, I don't think Klein and Rebick would send out the death squads to murder supporters of TIFF and Tel Aviv. They'd probably send out bounty hunters in order to snatch these supporters and place them in front of death panels. Punishment could include a transfer to the Attawapiskat reserve in Northern Ontario. The supporters could suffer a slow and painful death if held inside the empty but contaminated school in Attawapiskat.

One may revolt at my twisted sense of humour. Mr. Knelman made some convincing arguments until he compared the protesters to the repressive Stalin and the Taliban. He wrote about some Israeli film makers who produced films that were critical of the Israeli government. One example he cited was Ari Folman's animated movie Waltz With Bashir.

Personally, do I object that Tel Aviv is not represented in a miserable plight? No, I don't. Everyone's version of Tel Aviv may be different from others just as my version of Toronto--suburban and relatively well off--may be different from someone else's--downtown and down-'n'-out. If someone wishes to make a movie about the lives of Israeli-Arabs/Arab-Israelis living in Tel Aviv, they can choose to do so. Four years ago, when I was in Paris, France during the riots, I saw two different versions: the poor suburbs that with flames shooting up from burning vehicles and a city-centre with a tentative sense of normal peace. On the television in my hotel room, it looked like all of Paris was burning.

Thankfully, Mr. Knelman didn't call the protesters "anti-Semitic." He should be careful when he compares these people to the evils of Stalin and the Taliban. I believe "Comrade" Klein and "Suicide" Rebick would agree.