Hilarious BDS Fail

You hopefully know about the Canada case, whereby a Jew has taken upon himself to effectively halt the import of Psagot Wines and other products that are produced in Judea and Samaria.

I mentioned it here, with a solution. The issue has been referred back to legal and political consultations which has angered the Pals.  Israellycool noted a problem with the Nadim Winery and it continues, as Daoud Kuttab has tweeted.

Read on, here:

‘PRODUCT OF PALESTINE WINE’ DELAYED 

IN ONTARIO OVER LABELLING

In a case of unexpected blowback, products from the Taybeh winery and Taybeh Brewing Co. in Ramallah are being withheld from shelves in Ontario, as officials work out whether they can be labelled as a “Product of Palestine.”
Taybeh products that have been delivered to Canada “are currently on hold due to uncertainty surrounding labelling of products from the Israeli-occupied West Bank,”...

 (and Haaretz did a story about the Nadim Winery two-and-a-hlaf years ago)

...In an Aug. 29 post on its website, Palestine Just Trade said the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s (LCBO) World Destination Program arranged to include five “Nadim” wines from Taybeh and five varieties of Taybeh beer earlier this year – all labeled “Product of Palestine.” The products were ready for release in early August, when notification came that they were put on hold.

“… the LCBO informed Palestine Just Trade that ‘due to the recent decision by the Federal Court regarding labeling requirements for wines from this region, we have placed these products on hold,’ ” the group stated...

"...In an Aug. 28 letter to the president of the CFIA, Lascaris enclosed a certificate from the Palestinian Authority confirming that Taybeh is based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, “which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. We can assure you that the Taybeh products that have been placed on hold have not been produced in any Israeli settlement.”

Lascaris also enclosed a list of 60 wines made in “the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights or Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory” that are still sold in Canada, despite the Federal Court ruling.

“In our view, the manner in which the CFIA and LCBO are dealing with accurately labelled Taybeh products and falsely labelled products from Israeli settlements in occupied territory is plainly discriminatory,” Lascaris wrote.

Oh, well.

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Canada Attempts to Halt Flow of Shiloh Wine

Shiloh is in the news, as is our wine [see Update below]:

LCBO CRACKS DOWN ON SALE OF ISRAELI WINESBy Ron Csillag, Staff Reporter -  July 13, 2017

In a replay of controversies seen in Europe, a federal agency in Canada has called for an end to the labelling of wine made in the West Bank as a “Product of Israel.”

The directive from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) came to light via the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), which has asked its sacramental wine vendors to stop importing and selling wines labelled “Product of Israel” that are made in the West Bank and other “occupied” territories.

In a July 11 letter that lit up social media, the LCBO’s corporate affairs office requested that sacramental wine vendors – independent sellers who order wine used in religious ceremonies through the LCBO – stop any importation or sale of bottles labelled as a “Product of Israel” from two West Bank wineries, “or others located in the same region, until further notice.”

The LCBO says it is following a July 6 notification from the CFIA regarding products from the two Israeli wineries.

“The CFIA clarified that ‘Product of Israel’ would not be an acceptable country of origin declaration for wine products that have been made from grapes that are grown, fermented, processed, blended and finished in the West Bank and occupied territory,” states the letter to vendors from Vincent Caron, a policy advisor at the LCBO.

Named in the LCBO directive are the Psagot Winery in Psagot, north of Jerusalem, and the Shiloh Winery in Ma’ale Levona, a West Bank settlement southeast of Ariel.

Critics have angrily denounced the move as bowing to the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli products made in lands captured in 1967.

Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East, a pro-BDS group, has in the past placed stickers on Israeli wines, advising consumers not to purchase them.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said it is “important to note that this does not appear to reflect government policy...”

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center says it is contesting the move with both government bodies. “We consider any action which promotes the so-called BDS campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic. This would be out of step with the existing government policy, which has vigorously condemned the BDS campaign,” president and CEO Avi Benlolo said in a statement...

Yaakov Berg, Psagot Winery’s CEO, said he was “amazed” at Canada’s decision.

“We are living in Judea and Samaria by historic right,” Berg told the Times of Israel on July 12. “Canada, of all places, which was established and developed on basis of occupying and sacrificing the homeland of another people and which has no roots or historical validity to its existence there, doesn’t recognize the right of a Jew to live and cultivate vines on land inherited from his forefathers?”

I have been advised that

The legal basis of the LCBO's letter is mistaken. The non-recognition of sovereignty does not have any direct implications for labeling, or make labeling misleading. Indeed, a French appellate court and the UK Supreme Court have held that "Made in Israel" labeling for Judea & Samaria goods is not misleading under comparable labeling requirements. Thus the EU labels products from West Sahara "Made in Morocco" while not recognizing Moroccan sovereignty.

And

B'nai Brith Expects Disturbing Canadian Food Inspection Agency 

Decision Against Israeli Wines to Be Reversed Soon

UPDATE

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regrets the outcome of the wine labelling assessment which led to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's (LCBO) response regarding products from two wineries labelled as "Product of Israel".
In our assessment, we did not fully consider the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA).
Further clarification of the CIFTA (Article 1.4.1b) indicates that these wines adhere to the Agreement and therefore we can confirm that the products in question can be sold as currently labelled.
The CFIA will be following up with the LCBO to correct our original response.

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Harper Did Find Apartheid in Israel

January 21, 2014, Toronto — Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Kotel (Western Wall), Judaism’s holiest site, earlier today. Mr. Harper received a hero’s welcome as he visited the Kotel Plaza and stopped to place a note in the wall as he took a moment of silent introspection. The Prime Minister had also planned to visit the Dome of the Rock located on the Temple Mount, a site holy to both Muslims and Jews. That part of the tour was called off after Mr. Harper was told that his Jewish guards would not be allowed to enter the area. 
...“It is a shame that the Prime Minister’s visit to the Kotel was marred after he learned that his security detail would not be allowed in to the Dome of the Rock because they are Jewish,” said Frank Dimant, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada. “B’nai Brith delegations have also faced moments of discrimination and harassment on previous missions. We have raised this issue with Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom. Equal access must be given to Jewish worshipers wishing to ascend the Temple Mount. This incident serves as a stark reminder of the religious discrimination going on at the hands of the Islamic Waqf responsible for administering the site."

Oh, well.

But at least Harper finally found apartheid in Israel.

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Canadian Chutzpah

No, not in the case of the Shafia Family slaughter.

In the matter of the Ramallah Showdown:-

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty journeyed to the West Bank on Monday to beard the Palestinian lions in their den. Over lunch with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, then later with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Foreign Minister Riad Maliki, the Ottawa tag-team went out of its way to impress upon the Palestinian leadership that it should abandon its efforts to obtain United Nations recognition and return to the negotiating table with Israel “without preconditions.”

It was chutzpah of the highest order.

Adopting a harder line than any of Canada’s allies, Mr. Baird told Mr. Maliki, then repeated it in front of reporters, that it was “profoundly wrong” to take the case for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations, and it is far preferable to resume negotiations with Israel than insist that Israel halt settlement construction before resuming direct talks.

“Unilateral action by either side is not helpful,” Mr. Baird acknowledged in an apparent reference to new Israeli settlement construction. “But the two sides would be better off talking [to each other] rather than not talking.”

As for Hamas, many of whose members are being held in Israeli and Palestinian prisons, Mr. Baird said, “We have no interest in interacting with Hamas. It is a terrorist organization.”

...“You’re not a terrorist organization,” he said, “if you renounce terrorism ... if you recognize the right of Israel to exist ... if you support a Jewish homeland in the state of Israel ... if you respect and honour peace treaties entered into with Israel.”

The list is in keeping with that set out by the Quartet...But it has one significant addition: the acceptance of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, an addition that was carefully noted by Palestinian officials...A Palestinian official later said they found Mr. Baird’s bluntness “refreshing.”

“There’s no mistaking where he stands,” the official said, somewhat admiringly.

-   -   -

...In a presentation on Monday evening to a private gathering at the Herzliya Conference, Mr.Baird, who is on his third visit to Israel, explained why the Harper government “believes so passionately in Israel’s right not only to exist, but to exist as a Jewish state and to live in peace and security.”

...“The easy thing to do,” Mr. Baird said, “would be simply to go along with anti-Israeli sentiment to get along with other countries.

Taking a swipe at Canada’s own historical stands on Middle East issues, Mr. Baird, who has been Foreign Minister for eight months, said “it would be easier to pretend that engaging in anti-Israeli rhetoric is being somehow even-handed and to excuse it under the false pretence of being an ‘honest broker.’”

“But Canada will not ‘go along to get along,’” he said.

O Canada!

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Is That A Baird Birdbrain?

It's tough when your intelligence quotient hovers and your familiarity with history is negligible, I guess.

Baird seems to reverse language on Israel

Canada wants Israel to use its 1967 borders as the starting point for negotiations with Palestinians seeking independence, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Wednesday, just days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper is said to have prevented such language from being included in a G8 statement on the matter.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill, Mr. Baird backed U.S. President Barack Obama’s call for Israel to either return East Jerusalem to the Palestinians and dismantle settlements in the West Bank or hand over other territory in compensation as part of the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

“We support, obviously, that that solution has to be based on the ’67 border, with mutually agreed upon swaps, as President Obama said,” Mr. Baird said.

...Mr. Baird said his statement was not an about-face in Tory policy, but he appeared not to be familiar with Resolution 242, the 1967 UN declaration calling on Israel to pull its troops back.

Why does Israel need to compensate through land swaps?

Mr. Baird, if they started the war in 1967, if they founded the Fatah terror group in 1964, if they engaged in fedyeen-style terror in the 1950s, if the refused the UN 1947 Partition recommendation and initiated a war, why does Israel have to be the only one compromising in territory - even if we ignore Jewish rights in Judea, Samaria and Gaza? Even if we ignore Israel's security needs?

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Waving About in Canada

First, the lyrics of Canada's national anthem:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

And now this story:

B’nai Brith Canada calls on Toronto police to investigate display of flags of all banned terrorist groups

TORONTO, March 18, 2009 – B’nai Brith Canada has called on
Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair to expand its investigation into the display of
flags belonging to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a banned
terrorist group in Canada...“We commend the Toronto Police for launching an investigation into the display of the flag of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group outlawed in this country,” said Frank Dimant, Executive Vice President of B’nai Brith Canada. “However, there have been many other instances of flags of other banned terrorist entities, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, that have been in full public view at rallies, most recently early this year during the period of the Gaza conflict. The appearance of the Hamas and Hezbollah flags at public rallies has often been accompanied by chants of ‘Death to Jews’.

“We call on Chief Blair to expand his police investigation to include the display on our city streets of the Hamas and Hezbollah flags as well. We hope that other jurisdictions will also take similar action...

Canada can be such a multi-cultural country at times.

Invading?

Did you know that the United States had attempted, thrice, to invade Canada...in 1812?

War of 1812
IV. First Phase of the War

The first phase of the fighting began with the declaration of war on June 18, 1812, and continued through the winter of 1812 and 1813. During this time, Britain was preoccupied with its engagements in Europe and tried to end the American war by diplomacy, sending few reinforcements to North America. As a result, the United States decided to invade Canada, and U.S. naval vessels operated effectively to stop British commerce to North America.

A. Attempts to Invade Canada

Soon after the war began, American leaders began to worry about the exposed Western fort of Detroit, a strategic settlement in the Michigan Territory. The U.S. hastily dispatched Brigadier General William Hull with reinforcements to the fort. In July General Hull decided to cross the Detroit River into Upper Canada. Hull's men, many of whom came from the Ohio militia, were poorly equipped, and, except for one small regiment, proved insubordinate and unreliable.

When Hull learned of an approaching force made up of British troops, Canadian militia, and Native Americans, he quickly withdrew to Detroit without fighting a battle. Major General Isaac Brock, an able and energetic officer, led the British unit. He followed the retreating American army with close to 1300 men, nearly half of whom were Native Americans. Brock boldly ordered Hull to surrender Detroit, and on August 16 the American general gave up, never firing a shot. The United States thus lost control of the entire Great Lakes region, and British troops soon invaded northern Ohio.

In October the Americans made a second attempt to invade Canada, this time on the Niagara frontier at the eastern end of Upper Canada. A small force crossed the Niagara River and with great gallantry stormed the key British position on the heights above the city of Queenston (see Queenston Heights, Battle of). The British promptly sent in more troops to counterattack, but the Americans received no additional support. A New York militia officer named Stephen Van Rensselaer, who commanded the reinforcements, could not induce his regiments to cross into Canada to assist the advance unit. The militia, stubbornly maintaining that they could not legally be sent out of the United States, stood on the riverbank and watched the defeat and final surrender of their comrades. In the same engagement British general Brock, who had used his naval command of Lake Erie to transfer troops by water from the Detroit area to the Niagara River, lost his life.

Major General Henry Dearborn led a third American effort to invade Canada. This expedition also ended ingloriously in November north of Plattsburgh, New York. Once again the militia refused to cross into Canada in support of a small advance force, and instead marched back to winter quarters at Plattsburgh.