Disinvitation: Tainted by 'Complicity' in Palestinian Suffering in Opposition to Lionizing Hamas

"I was hurt, I was angry. But most of all I was heartbroken."

"I don't believe you hired me because I was a soldier and a cop. While these jobs are part of my story [and I'm very grateful to have had these experiences], they do not define me as a human being."

"As a Jewish woman, I would never be offended if a Palestinian woman were to speak about her obstacles and life journey. I thought that's what women were supposed to do for each other -- listen and support!" 

Bicycle racer Leah Goldstein, Israeli-Canadian

Leah Goldstein in 2005. Photo by Mark van Manen/Vancouver Sun

"Our focus at INSPIRE has been and will always be to create safe spaces to honour, share, and celebrate the remarkable stories of women and nonbinary individuals."

"In recognition of the current situation and the sensitivity of the conflict in the Middle East, the Board of INSPIRE will be changing our keynote speaker."

INSPIRE statement disinviting 55-year-old champion bicyclist from invitation as keynote speaker

"Just another example of the erasure and silencing of Jews going on across Canada and around he world."

"Leaders must speak up against this insidious form of anti-Jewish organizing."

Deborah Lyons, Canadian envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism

Invited as a keynote speaker to an event in Peterborough, Ontario for International Women's Day, an accomplished Israeli-Canadian woman, born in Vancouver to Israeli parents and now a permanent resident of Vernon, British Columbia, was jolted out of her sense of community with other women when she was advised that her speaker-invitation had been retracted, resulting from lobbying of Palestinian women who made it clear to the event organizers they objected to her presence.

Several years ago, this professional bicyclist won the solo category of Race Across America on behalf of her gender, as the first female winner of one of the longest endurance races in the world. Raised in Israel by her Israeli parents, achieving age 18 she had served in the Israel Defense Forces, as a legal obligation for all Israeli men and women obtaining majority age. She returned to Canada in late 1990, but prior to that, she had also served in Israel as a police officer.

 

According to the Jerusalem Post, which had interviewed the event organizers, "a small but growing and extremely vocal group" was behind the unfortunate disinvitation. They had taken umbrage with the issue of Leah Goldstein's military service. Which is a far more polite way of assigning the state of indoctrinated antisemitism to them. 

 

Leah Goldstein (right) during her IDF service. (Courtesy of Leah Goldstein via JTA)

Former ambassador to Israel Deborah Lyons, more recently appointed by the current Liberal-led government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the post of special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism laid out the situation as it truly is: pure antisemitism hard at work. She urged Canadian leaders to 'speak up against this insidious form of anti-Jewish organizing', but on the record it is a faint hope.

Evidently, the group that had protested Ms. Goldstein's invitation to speak at the event, had asked her to comment on her opinion of the Israel-Gaza war. Not that, had she commiserated with the loss of Palestinian life and suggested that the cause of the war was not of Israel's making would have mollified her detractors; in their obvious opinion the IDF and Israel represent a deadly, hostile aggressor; the role of Hamas by invading southern Israel for a brutal romp of rape, slaughter and hostage-taking is to be taken as a noble act by an embattled 'occupied' people.

Only when and where Israel is the principal, is the act of self-defense considered an 'occupation'. Even Israeli police and military preventive tactics seeking to avoid just such savagery with its horrifying sadistic component thrown in for good measure, is the self-protective attempts to secure safety for its citizens from the ravages of Palestinian indoctrinated hate and endemic violence seen as an 'occupation force' denying the attackers their human rights.

 

Leah Goldstein, the 2021 winner of Race Across America, had her invitation to speak at a Canadian women's empowerment event rescinded after Oct. 7 because of her past IDF service. (Screenshot)

 

"If I were to make a statement, I would say that I'm very proud of my training with the IDF, being the first woman to train the commando soldiers."

"So, yes, if they want that kind of statement, I'd be happy to say it."

"But to diss Israel and say, 'It's genocide, we're killing 20,000 innocent children and women and whatnot', it's a freaking war."

"That's what happens."

Leah Goldstein

London? Oh, London, ONTARIO!

"[The London force's participation in the event] damages the image of Canada. [There is] no reasonable justification [for it even if little taxpayer money was spent]."

"When you are doing anything internationally, you have to also be aware of the image of the country, it's not just a local matter. And so there's an extra duty [for due diligence]."

"So I don't know what motivated participation here, whether it was negligence -- gross negligence -- utter stupidity, or what."

"In Ukraine, the Kadyrov clan is a great supporter of aggression, they are a great supporter of the Putin regime. So how on Earth can we ... consider it justified participating in the event where these people are featured?"

Aurel Brain, professor of international relations and political science, University of Toronto; associate, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

"I am prepared to engage fully in the board's review as we continue to ensure our members receive the best possible training to perform their duties effectively and safely."

"As chief, I am committed to ensuring our members have access to world-class training opportunities and I supported the opportunity for our members to train, compete, and learn from over 70 different [Emergency Response Unit] teams from around the world in Dubai, who are considered among the best internationally."

London Police Services Chief Thai Truong 

This image posted on the event's YouTube page shows members of London, Ont., police's emergency response unit competing in the UAE Swat Challenge this week. (YouTube)

 

Just incidentally, the London Police Services was in the news recently on a domestic matter that shone a light of questionable police practise in that southwestern Ontario city. It would appear that hundreds of complaints from London residents of sexual assaults were given short shrift; attention obviously elsewhere much to their discredit and the relief of local rapists. Fully 43 percent of 587 sex assaults reported were resolved quaintly; no charges laid. One rather special case involving a group rape of a young woman by five then-junior hockey players, which though reported, brought no action.

Six years later, it brought a contrite apology from the current chief of police in London: "I want to extend on behalf of the London Police Service my sincerest apology to the victim and her family for the amount of time that it has taken to reach this point", (prosecution) Truong told a news conference. "As a police officer working in this space for many years, I can tell you that this is a difficult, difficult situation for all victims and survivors of sexual violence." 

 

A London police officer competes during a shooting exercise as part of the UAE SWAT Challenge, which took place this week in Dubai. London was the only Canadian police force to send a team. (YouTube)

 

Now they're in the news for an entirely different reason, highlighting questionable decision-making; the decision to send a team to an event where the London team trained and competed against a Russian special unit, the members of which have been accused of atrocities in the Ukraine conflict. This unsavoury situation prompted the London Police Services Board to launch an approval process review of their force's participation in the UAE SWAT Challenge where international units face off in tactical rescue and obstacle course events, late January and early February.

While the London service was the only Canadian participant, two American police forces also sent delegations -- from the New York Police Department and the San Antonio Police Department. Other participating countries included Belarus, China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Akhmat unit from the Russian republic of Chechnya also took part; a group known to commit atrocities in Ukraine.  On the fourth day of the event their victory was celebrated, the ceremony attended by the son of the Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin both of whom have been sanctioned by Canada.

 

London police were among police forces from more than 70 countries to compete in the 2024 UAE SWAT Challenge. Competitors from last year's competition are show in this photo. (UAE SWAT Challenge photo)

 

London Mayor Josh Morgan sits on the police board and stated his support of the decision in "directing administration to outline specific financial and procedural considerations governing not only the approval of this specific training competition but also the approval process governing similar training opportunities for our service". Hard to fathom how the police board would fail to be both informed and involved in an exercise of this magnitude, but they're all running to hide any possible complicity, leaving their chief of police to manage the fallout as best he can.

According to the competition's website, the event is meant to "foster an exchange of tactical techniques and skills among international SWAT teams". From Dubai two units placed first and second, the Chechen team arriving at eighth place, while the London force lingered in the bottom ten. Chief Truong explained that the trip's cost had been reduced from $115,000 to $15,700 after the event's hosts, the Dubai police, proved amenable to discussing costs.

The event includes $260,000 in total prizes for the competing teams. (UAE SWAT Challenge)

Toronto Rally for Israeli Hostages

"On October 7, at the Nova Festival, in the kibbutz [Hamas] was raping, mutilating and destroying the souls and bodies of women, elderly and men and they're still doing that."

"It's not a one-time rape or a one-time lesson. It's happening now, as we speak."

"The [hostages] that have returned, they tell their stories of the women that are still left behind and people are still not willing to accept it ... People are walking like horses [with blinders on ...]."

"They prefer to close their eyes and continue to be bystanders without understanding that it's happening now."

Maayan Shavit, Toronto rally for Israeli hostages

Carmel Gat was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from her parents' home in Kibbutz Be'eri (Courtesy)

 

This is 39-year-old Carmel Gat's cousin speaking to a crowd of onlookers and supporters. She was captured by Hamas terrorists running rampant through the kibbutz where her parents and other family members lived, in southern Israel. An occupation therapist by vocation and by avocation a yoga practitioner from Tel Aviv, she happened to be close by the border with Gaza when the Hamas attack took place. Her mother was murdered and she was kidnapped.

While her brother and her niece escaped, her sister-in-law was taken, among other hostages. When a pause in fighting took place after prisoner-exchange negotiations in November, her sister-in-law was released, among other women and children and the elderly. Among the released hostages were a number who had interacted with the missing Carmel Gat. They related that she is being held among children held as hostages. She used  her skills in yoga to teach them to practise it daily, in an effort to calm their spirits.

 

Naama Levy was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023. (Courtesy)

 

At the Toronto rally there were fourteen women, each representing those 14 Israeli women remaining in captivity, held by Hamas. Canadians for Israel who had arranged the rally orchestrated the fourteen women in a tableau resembling in part the situation of the Israeli hostages. Each of the fourteen simulated the hostages' condition; their hands bound, a cloth mouth-gag and bloodied sweatpants reflecting the horrors seen in a video that showed 19-year-old Naama Levy, bound, gagged, bloodied sweatpants ushered into a vehicle by a Hamas terrorist.

 

Naama Levy, seen in a video shortly after she was taken hostage to Gaza on October 7, 2023. (Screen grab/X)

Heart-shaped cards with pictures of a hostage on one side, and on the reverse the message: "Our hearts are broken, read their stories", were handed out to onlookers and passersby. "Bring them home NOW!" completed the message. There is a QR code detailing all the hostages remaining in Hamas' custody, linked to a Times of Israel article. Stapled to the back of the card another QR code links to a document with contact information for Members of Parliament from the Toronto Area as well as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Minister of Women, Marci Ien.

"The only thing that is going to help is if people call out, speak to their government officials, and at the government level, urge them to speak out."

"Because they have to pressure the international community and they have to say to Hamas, 'Release the hostages'."

"We don't hear [them] doing enough on any level, anything that we've heard from the Canadian government feels like lip service, it feels like a minimum to fulfill some basic requirement."

Daphna Pollak, Toronto Rally for Israel organizer

Israelis demand all of the hostages taken to Gaza be released. 60 Minutes

Does Schizophrenia Lead to Smoking? Does Smoking Lead to Schizophrenia?

"Your brain processing power is divided into two. One is intellect, the other is cognition. Intellect tends to be more stable. Cognition is a more malleable or changing type of processing power of your brain: attention, short-term memory, decision-making. Things can fluctuate from day to day."

"Smoking improves your cognition in the short term. It could be that they're trying to boost their cognition by smoking. Unfortunately, long-term smoking makes the condition worse. They already have cognition problems, and they're smoking. Patients with schizophrenia smoke maybe two or three times more often. It's compounding the problems they have."

Dr. Lauri Tuomenin, neuroscientist, Royal Hospital, Ottawa

Pathophysiology of schizophrenia and neurobiology of nicotine. Cureus

Dr. Tuomenin at The Royal has set out to discover with the use of brain scans what precisely the relationship is between nicotine and and the complex medical condition known as schizophrenia. What is known is that people diagnosed with schizophrenia tend to smoke at rates much higher than is the case within the general population. Schizophrenia is known by disturbing symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions and 'hearing' voices; the source of the illness is believed to be both genetic and environmental, affecting roughly one in a hundred population with an initial episode occurring at a point between the teens and mid-20s.

 

Part of the challenge facing the researchers is to determine whether smoking leads to schizophrenia or is a by-product of the mental illness in an effort to control its symptoms. Two theories are current; that smoking is a schizophrenia risk factor, the other, that those with schizophrenia smoke in an effort to self-medicate, in  hopes of focus acuity. Those suffering from schizophrenia often experience problems with attention, manipulating information, and decision-making. Even before the first episode of psychosis has been experienced in a schizophrenia patient, cognitive symptoms can be present.

 

Anti-psychotic drug treatments, in use for 70 years, have proven effective therapy in treating t he condition; however these drugs do nothing to improve cognition. Which is why researchers hope to discover more with brain imaging to help understand how nicotine affects brain processes. Brain images of about fifty people are to be part of the research by Dr. Tuomenin and his research colleagues; ten to twenty of whom would be habitual smokers without schizophrenia.

 

The cholinergic system is the focus of the research, for the vital role it plays in memory, digestion, control of heartbeat, blood pressure, movement related functions -- all of which are affected by nicotine. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans make use of a small portion of radioactive tracer to create a picture showing t he function of a specific brain process, and the MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves to capture the detailed pictures of the brain.

Starting with psychological and cognitive tests, followed by two scans, one of working memory testing how the brain functions, and another of the cholinergic system using the PET scans, the study takes about ten hours for each participant profile. Ironically enough it has become difficult to recruit smokers who are otherwise healthy for such studies given that the population of those who smoke is on the decline. As well, the researchers are searching for people who, while smoke or vape, do not use cannabis, since the focus is on nicotine.

Cannabis on the other hand, has an altogether other relationship with schizophrenia since its use can trigger schizophrenia in people genetically predisposed, particularly those who use it frequently, use potent products, or began using the drug at a young age. Which still leaves a number of unanswered questions relating to the relationship between smoking and schizophrenia. While the smoking rate has declined markedly in the general population, no indication exists that schizophrenia prevalence has dropped as well.

Some people self-medicate with nicotine to deal with the side-effects of antipsychotic medications; anxiety and restlessness. Those with schizophrenia tend to live isolated lives that tend to encourage nicotine consumption. Connections abound, those with schizophrenia end up with shorter life expectancies, partially attributable to excessive smoking. And then there are separate questions respecting how new ways to consume nicotine such as vaping, may affect schizophrenia risk.

Hopes are high for the discovery of a new class of drugs to treat the cholinergic system, to help those with schizophrenia with hallucinations and delusions, and also have the benefit of effectively treating  the issues of cognition. 

"We know much less about vaping because it's such a new thing. The way you smoke and the way you vape is different."

"People smoke a cigarette and then they wait for another. Vaping is much more constant."

Dr. Lauri Tuomenin

Canada's Car-Theft Epidemic

"The rise [in runaway numbers of vehicle thefts across Canada] over the last years has been alarming." 

"Organized crime is becoming more brazen, and the overseas market for the stolen cars is expanding."

"Cracking down on auto theft means bringing law enforcement, border services, port authorities, carmakers and insurance companies together."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

 

"[Criminal penalties typically handed down for car theft aren't strong enough]. It's highly profitable and there's very low risk."

"Only in Ontario, we saw 68 per cent of those convicted serve a sentence of six months or less. We need to see stiffer penalties. We absolutely need to have a deterrence for these crimes."

"This is a very complex criminal market facilitated by criminal organizations."

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Thomas Carrique 

"Organized crime for sure, but there's different roles within organized crime. For example, the kids — and for the most part they are young people that are involved in the theft  — I think we have to be in proportion on that."

"You know ... we're not in a position to be locking up 18-year-olds for extended periods of time when they may not even realize what part of the pecking order they're in there. I think we want to try to get up the pecking order a little bit and not just hammer away at the youth that are involved."

Danny Smyth, president, Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police

 

"Right now you have provisions that are set out in the Code that deal with the offences of theft and you have offences that deal with organized criminality. It's sort of bridging the two. It's looking at the specific focus of carjacking, which is unfortunately a new phenomenon here in Canada, but it is something that we need to address."

"It takes an individual to steal the car but it takes a complete criminal operation to get it out of the country for sales in parts of Africa or the Middle East. When we look at organized criminality, we have to look at those chains and how to disrupt them."

Federal Minister of Justice Arif Virani

Political leaders, law enforcement and industry players met in Ottawa to discuss the spiralling scourge of auto theft in Canada, but concrete solutions were scarce.

The first voice, that of Canada's prime minister deploring the huge and growing number of car thefts is that of a leader who found it politically expedient to reverse the initiatives taken by the predecessor Conservative-led government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to boost criminal law enforcement by doing away with minimum sentencing. Instead, Justin Trudeau brought to bear what law enforcement agencies now refer to as 'catch-and-release' laws. And the public is paying the price for that relaxed law enforcement.

 

New vehicles come equipped with keyless entries making them easier to steal. High-tech devices are capable of overriding any safety features, making cars vulnerable to theft. The illicit trade revels in their ability to easily use devices enabling theft. Little wonder that organized crime groups are invested in auto theft; the sheer scale of numbers, with an estimated 90,000 cars stolen annually, results in about $1 billion in costs to taxpayers and Canadian insurance policyholders.

Most of the stolen autos end up in Africa and the Middle East. The further the automobiles are taken to be sold, from the geography where they're stolen, the greater the profit for the organized crime groups. Shipping containers that at one time underwent interdiction with special border agents inspecting cargoes to ensure no illicit cargoes ship out of major ports like Vancouver, are no longer inspected. The special groups responsible for inspection were disbanded years ago, leaving illegal shipments of goods like stolen cars free rein for export.

 

The commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police revealed that spotters identify vehicles and their locations, rewarded by up to $100; the exporters themselves again up to $80,000 -- where the resale value of a prized model stolen car can double in resale value overseas.  The spotters and those engaged in the actual thefts are usually young boys in their teens who become skilled at car theft. They deliver the goods to their handlers in organized crime and the network of delivery, outward shipment and resale booms.

The issue of prevention and deterrence is hooked on young offenders who are arrested and then released; with incentives to go right back to the car theft operations they have become skilled at, and depend on to fund their addiction habits. Penalties are elusive; sharp and short; mandatory minimum sentences do nothing to reduce crime. Those who are out on bail and even those on house arrest, simply go back out again and repeat the offences for which they earn few penalties.

"We want to stop the revolving door of people coming back out on our streets and doing it again."

"We want to have them locked up, we want to have them in jail."

Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner

Security at Canada's ports has come under close scrutiny in a situation where stolen cars from Canada and the U.S. are being acquired by overseas terrorists. One car is stolen every three minutes in Canada, representing tens of millions of dollars in stolen cars shipped overseas yearly. "You've got twenty to thirty-thousand higher-end stolen vehicles leaving Canada every year and they are worth $50,000 each", said Richard Dubin, vice-president of investigative services of the Insurance Bureau of Canada,

Canada Border Services Agency Superintendent Jean-Francois Rainville removes a mattress used to hide a stolen Toyota Sequoia in a container. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

"Death Alley"

"Earlier this week, I was speaking with a friend who met with the parents of a young female hostage."

"Should their daughter not be released imminently, they are terrified that, on top of all the existing horror and trauma, if she is pregnant, an abortion may not be possible."

"Based on testimonies, it is believed that several female captives are pregnant."

Vivian Bercovici, former Canadian ambassador to Israel 

A covered body is seen lying on the ground in Kfar Aza.

Muhammad Darwish/CNN

 

Official Israeli investigations into the October 7 terrorist attack in southern Israel confirms that an estimated three thousand terrorists comprised of Hamas operatives as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups breached the border fence between Gaza and Israel in dozens of places, to enter Israel on foot, by truck, motorcycles and SUVs, followed by ordinary Palestinian men, in the presence of Palestinian journalists and photographers to document their entry as a tour-de-force of Palestinian 'resistance' against 'occupation'.

Those thousands fanned out in pre-arranged directions, following an orchestration of planned violence that had been endlessly rehearsed in mock villages set up near the border in Gaza as training events for the attack that would result on October 7. They were well prepared, in possession of maps laying out the areas with identification for the villages to be attacked. They had precise statistics of where weapons were stored in the villages and knew the location of homes of kibbutz security officers.

As they stormed those agrarian villages, the initial attention was given to secure the armouries, then to attack the homes of the security officers. An orgy of murder, torture, mutilations, gang rape, arson, looting and hostage-taking ensued in a murderous bloodbath of civilian populations. Early that morning a barrage of thousands of rockets had been unleashed from Gaza into Israel. That distraction gave cover to the thousands of terrorists run amok in mayhem and slaughter.

 

A screenshot from a video, geolocated by CNN, shows six Hamas militants arriving at Be'eri on Saturday morning local time. Obtained by CNN

The kibbutz of Kfar Aza was one of the worst-hit of the villages that had been methodically destroyed, its inhabitants killed, whether elderly and incapacitated or infants and children. A special drama took place in one of the besieged homes where the mother of ten-month-old twins exited her family's safe room planning to warm bottles of milk formula for her babies. A sniper shot her dead. Her husband followed and was shot dead.

The two infant girls cried for the next ten hours. The sniper shot at anyone who tried to attempt a rescue of the babies. When it was fully understand that anyone who would attempt to save the the children would pay with their lives, rescue efforts came to a tragic halt. 

In the village, rows of homes are now cordoned off with hazard tape, spray painted with codes and symbols indicating the dates they had been inspected by the military. Also noted is the fate of those who had occupied the area now called 'Death Alley'. Murdered. Missing. Taken hostage.

Doron Steinbreacher, 30, remains a hostage held by Hamas who released a video of her sitting alongside two younger women held a captive with her for the entire four months. Her mother in an interview initially felt relieved to see her daughter alive, yet seeing her condition, it was devastating; gaunt and pale. Hostages are known to have been starved, little water, no medicine, in unsanitary conditions.

From hostages that had been released in a prisoner exchange that took place in November, it is well known that the young women are repeatedly raped. They are given clothing like lingerie to wear. They are given Arab names; their identities are stolen, they have become violently-abused concubines. 

 

One young hostage released in November, 21-year-old Maya Regev, informed a group of UN ambassadors the conditions in which she existed in Gaza. She had her clothing ripped from her, her earrings torn from her ears, was given a new name. For laughs they would occasionally beat her over her injured foot and as she writhed in pain, they appeared entertained. 

Of the 750 residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, sixty-two were murdered. Eighteen of the residents were taken hostage. It had taken the Israel Defense Forces close to three days to finally ensure that all of the terrorist were cleared out of Kfar Aza. 

 Kibbutz Kfar Aza in in southern Israel.  David Necochea / NBC News

The Privacy Rights of Mass Murderers

"The report provides insight into Canada's shameful history of admitting many former Nazis and their collaborators to the country, almost all of whom lived out their lives in Canada undisturbed, without ever having to face justice."

Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

 

"The applicant's obligation is to satisfy the court that he is of good character. He is not required to satisfy the court that he, at no time in his past, committed an opprobrious act."

"[While I can appreciate the concern of Jewish Canadians relating to inaction on the presence of war criminals in Canada] it appears to me, on the other hand that it would be most ill-advised for the government to undertake this venture [removal of citizenship from war criminals]."

(Former) Justice Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1967)

The Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Canada distinguished itself for posterity during the years of the Second World War when it, along with the United States and most other Western nations declined an opportunity to save European Jews from extermination. It became well known that the Third Reich had established a priority program to rid the world of Jews, and it began the industrialized process of that institutional extermination with the Jews who had lived for centuries in WWII German-occupied Europe. When Germany in its early stages invited Jews to leave, there was no welcome extended to them elsewhere.

“Canada is where the Nazis are. Canada is the unknown haven for Nazis. Everybody knows about Argentina, but nobody knows about Canada.” 

War crimes investigator and private detective Steven Rambam. 1977

Canada's attitude at the time under Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King was influenced by his immigration minister, a staunch antisemite, Frederick Blair, who opposed and strictly limited Jewish immigration to Canada was clear. Mackenzie King was pleased to agree. And so was born the legend: 'One is too many'. Post-war, German Nazis fled the record of their past performance under Hitler's rule, hastily leaving for South America in preference to standing trial for their crimes. Canada's quiet motto then might have been 'More would be fine'.

Canada became notorious for its laissez-faire attitude on admitting Nazi war criminals. Recently, a 40-year-old report was newly declassified -- revealing the manner in which Canada handled Nazi war criminals. Canadian bureaucrats, it seemed, understood at the time that politics, not legal positions drove decisions on the harbouring of war criminals. The case of one such criminal stood out as an example, one that former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was engaged with.

A decision was made in 1967 not to extradite a man who had been convicted in the Soviet Union of Nazi war crimes. The revocation of his citizenship and expelling him to the country which found him guilty in absentia failed to materialize, based on advice from Pierre Trudeau, then-minister justice, when the minister of external affairs asked for his advice relating to a man identified only as 'Subject F' in the documents.

The 1985 Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada in a version of historian Alti Rodal's report had deleted mention of Mr. Trudeau's involvement in the case until 15 additional pages from the report were released by the present Liberal government, pressed to do so by B'nai Brith Canada and other Jewish groups which had been requesting that be done for decades. B'nai Brith and the Simon Wiesenthal Center renewed the request following an incident in the House of Commons.

On that occasion, when  Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to address Parliament, a Ukrainian war veteran had been invited as a special guest to meet Zelenskyy. Parliamentarians recognized the man's presence with enthusiastic applause. Only later was it discovered to their shame and embarrassment, that the elderly Ukrainian had been one of many volunteers who fought for a Nazi Waffen SS unit in Ukraine. At a time when Ukraine viewed Russia, then an ally of the West, as the enemy and Germany as their saviour.

 

Yaroslav Hunka, a former member of the Waffen-SS, seen sitting in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023. Photo by The Canadian Press/Patrick Doyle

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated the release of additional documents was made on the decision to balance public interest with privacy. "I think people understand that this is both an important part of the historical record, but also one that has implications around privacy, around community". Unsaid is the reality that within the Canadian-Ukrainian community there are those who venerate the memory of Ukrainians who fought against the Soviets, preferring to cast their lot with Nazi Germany. That is seen in the controversy over the newly-completed, not-yet opened memorial to 'victims of Communism'.

Where names and groups are memorialized, some honoured within the Ukrainian community, but known to be Nazi collaborators; those whose voluntary inclusion in SS units, did not preclude them from murdering Jews and others whom the Third Reich targeted for extermination. The newly-released pages of the report show that the current prime minister's father Pierre Trudeau said Canada should not revoke Subject F's citizenship, when he was asked for his opinion in 1967.

 

This is a cenotaph at Oakville, Ont.’s St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery honouring the Galician Division, which it refers to as the First Ukrainian Division, Ukrainian National Army. It’s one of two monuments in Canada (the other one is in Edmonton) paying homage to a division of the Waffen-SS. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

 

There was no evidence, said Pierre Trudeau, that the citizenship court that handled Subject F's application ever asked about the crimes, nor was there evidence that he knowingly concealed that information. Both can certainly be inferred, however, since to reveal such information would have disqualified the subject's application. Nothing in the Citizenship Act required Subject F  to confess the evil deeds he was involved in, reiterated the elder Trudeau.

There are times when political devices are downright immoral, and this was one of those times. Historian Rodal characterized Trudeau's logic as "highly abstract and contrived", since Subject F had been accused of direct participation in the deaths of thousands of people. A naturalized Canadian, Subject F immigrated from Latvia, convicted in absentia by the Soviet Union in 1965, the case identifying him as the "captain of a firing squad which murdered, 5,128 Jews" in Latvia during the Second World War.

Publicly accusing a Canadian citizen, said Trudeau Sr., convicted in absentia in Russia would strike fear into the heart of any naturalized Canadian, that something they were involved with in their past could become a reason for the government to revoke their citizenship. In actual fact, falsely attesting on a citizenship application or failing to include evidence that can be incriminating is in and of itself grounds for revocation. With Pierre Trudeau's intervention, the government reached the conclusion it could do nothing respecting the allegations against Subject F.

However, soon afterward, lawyers at the Department of External Affairs expressed their displeasure with the decision in a memorandum, wanting to have it reviewed on the basis it was not made for legal reasons, but for political ones. The unredacted pages show that External Affairs believed that requests from Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union to extradite four accused or convicted war criminals had been political, designed to embarrass Canada. Even so, they believed the four named were very likely "guilty of having committed atrocities".

Volunteers of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS are sworn in, 1943. As many as 2,000 members of the unit arrived in Canada in the 1950s. Photo courtesy the National Digital Archives of Poland

"In purely legal terms, it is arguable that the government is free to commence revocation proceedings under the Citizenship Act, notwithstanding the Attorney General's opinion."

"It appears to us that the government's decision not to do so is a matter of policy rather than law."

"[Subject F stood out for having been] an ardent Nazi lackey, not only co-operating actively with the occupying German forces but actually serving their Jewish and Gypsy extermination squads." 

Canada's (then) External Affairs Department

Aghanistan's Ministry of Virtue and Vices

"Women are banned from all walks of life. And, now, not only are girls deprived of education, but boys' rights are being violated because they're not learning the skills and knowledge that will prepare them for the workforce, for tomorrow."

"They should be raised with all the dreams and desires in their heart. If I find any chance, I want to do something for them."

"I won't stop talking about them."

Najia Haneefi, Afghan refugee in Canada

"People are facing extrajudicial killings, detention, calls for banishment. The Taliban keeps releasing decrees that replace laws."

"Women can' go to university, school, work, travel alone, be on the TV or radio."

"They're confined to their homes."

Razia Sayad, human rights advocate, PhD student of law and legal studies, Afghan refugee in Canada

"There was no reliable mechanism to which women victims of domestic violence could turn. Courts and prosecution units that were previously responsible for investigating and adjudicating cases of gender-based violence remained shut. The Taliban authorities and community-level dispute resolution mechanisms both punished women for reporting domestic violence."

"Institutions designed to support human rights were severely limited or shut down completely. Peaceful protesters faced arbitrary arrests, torture and enforced disappearance."

"The Taliban conducted extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, torture and unlawful detention of perceived opponents with impunity, creating an atmosphere of fear."

Amnesty International report

Women weave wool at traditional carpet factory/AP

When the United States and its allies left Afghanistan in 2021 and all troops were withdrawn, the Taliban returned to power, taking up where they left off after the U.S.-led invasion that led to the country being freed of Taliban oppression when al-Qaeda and the Taliban fled to the mountainous region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. With the return of the rule of the fundamentalist Islamist Taliban, sharia law was enforced, the previous justice system scrapped.

 

Repression of the population, and revenge meted out to those within the society who collaborated with the foreign presence, setting Kabul up to govern like a democracy, and introducing Western concepts of gender equality and justice saw women's place return to that of male possessions with no rights of their own. Girls in Afghanistan are now permitted to attend school up to Grade 6 only, banned from a secondary education and university attendance. Women may no longer serve as teachers to boys. 

 

Sewing workshop in Kabul/AP

 

Afghanistan has become a gender-apartheid country. Gender-segregation laws lock women out of social, political and economic life. Women are discouraged from working outside the home. And when outside the home they are expected to be accompanied by a male family member.The country's Ministry of Women's Affairs was disbanded and replaced with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice which "issues restrictive and abusive decrees on women's and girls' rights".

A strict dress code is enforced, one that requires women to have chaperones in public and which bans women and girls from public parks, public baths and other sites among restricted public venues. Women who protested against restrictions were faced with "unlawful detention and violence".  According to a 2024 report from the United Nations, Afghan women's access to public life, particularly targeted to single women and those without male guardians, have been further restricted. Single women have been restricted in some provinces from accessing  health-care facilities.

Bus terminals are regularly visited by morality police where drivers are forbidden from permitting unchaperoned women to board buses. Girls and young women face forced marriages and sexual assault, leading them to attempt suicide when shunned by their families for being 'unclean'.  Internet services, available to those who can afford them, offer an opportunity to girls to help educate themselves once they can no longer attend school. A more recent decree banned women's beauty salons.

 

Medica Mondiale

"Girls in Afghanistan have been banned from secondary school and women from tertiary education. Women and girls have been banned from entering amusement parks, public baths, gyms and sports clubs for four months. Women have been banned from working in NGO offices. Since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, women have been wholly excluded from public office and the judiciary. Today, Afghanistan’s women and girls are required to adhere to a strict dress code and are not permitted to travel more than 75 km without a mahram. They are compelled to stay at home."

"All over the country, women report feeling invisible, isolated, suffocated, living in prison like conditions. Many are unable to have their basic needs met without access to employment or aid, including access to medical healthcare and psychological support in particular for victims of violence, including sexual violence. It’s a sobering reminder of how swiftly and aggressively women’s and girls’ rights can be taken away."

United Nations Office of the High Commissioner

Winter Sleep

"From what we know, our internal biological need for sleep is pretty constant."

"However, during certain times of year, it's easier to sleep than it is at other times."

Jennifer Martin, clinical psychologist, spokesperson, American Academy of Sleep Medicine

 

"[Whatever the reason for the shift in circadian rhythms in winter] we should embrace that."

"We should take that signal that our bodies are giving us, respect it and try to get that extra sleep that our bodies are telling us to get."

Beth Malow, professor of neurology and pediatrics, director, Vanderbilt University sleep division

"Possibly one of the most precious achievements in human evolution is an almost invisibility of seasonality on the behavioral level." 

"In our study, we show that human sleep architecture varies substantially across seasons in an adult population living in an urban environment."

"Seasonality is ubiquitous in any living being on this planet. Even though we still perform unchanged, over the winter human physiology is down-regulated, with a sensation of ‘running-on-empty’ in February or March."

"In general, societies need to adjust sleep habits including length and timing to season or adjust school and working schedules to seasonal sleep needs."

Dr. Dieter Kunz, clinical psychiatrist, sleep researcher, clinical chronobiologist, Clinic of Sleep & Chronomedicine, St Hedwig Hospital, Berlin

 

People have the impression that they tend in the winter months to sleep more. Experts, on the other hand speak of a lack of conclusive evidence that changing seasons have any impact on the amount of sleep the human body requires. The average sleep duration in winter for North Americans increases by 1.9 minutes on weeknights, and 6.5 minutes on weekends, according to a study of sleep duration analyzing the 2003-2016 American Time Use Survey. 

It seems that increased sleep during winter may be related to our bodies' inclination to respond to light -- conversely the lack of light. Circadian rhythms -- operating on a roughly 24-hour cycle, informing us when to wake, and when to go to bed -- are set by light exposure or the amount and timing of light our eyes are accustomed to seeing from sunlight. Fewer hours of sunlight in winter spur our bodies to produce melatonin earlier in the day which helps to promote sleep, making it easier for people to fall asleep more readily in winter.

 

Participants with sleep disorders in a 2023 study of 300 people found that subjects experienced approximately a half-hour more REM sleep in winter than in summer. REM is that portion of the sleeping hours where most dreaming occurs, thought to  be vital in emotional processing, leading to better health outcomes. A shift in circadian rhythms in the winter may lead to an increase in REM sleep in a mechanism that is not  yet fully understood.

Our circadian clocks regulate sleep -- in that sleep deprivation and sleep deficiencies have been linked to an increased risk of dementia, depression, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and all-cause mortality. 

 

People who succeed in having seven to nine hours of consistent, quality sleep at night yet struggle during the day with  feelings of fatigue, irritability, concentration: "Those are all good indicators that perhaps you might need a little bit more sleep", observed Joseph Dzierzewski, licensed clinical psychologist, vice-president of research and scientific affairs, National Sleep Foundation.

 

While the researchers acknowledge the results would need to be validated in people with no sleep difficulties, the seasonal changes may be even greater in a healthy population. Photograph: WebSubstance/Getty Images

"The sun cycles through sunrise, daytime, sunset, (and) nighttime light, which all have different colors that our body interprets as stimuli for different energy levels and activities."

"Bluer light in the morning – like a morning sky – gives a boost of energy and helps get you to get out of bed. Daytime light, or bright light, with cooler tones help signal to your body that it’s time to be alert and help with productivity. Then at the end of the day, the amber colors of a sunset prepare you for sleep."

"If the city you reside in is closer to the equator, your winters may be slightly brighter than others, so it’s possible your sleep schedule may not change much. The amount of light pollution in your area could also affect your circadian rhythm."

Robert Soler, former NASA engineer who studied how lack of light in space impacted astronauts’ sleep cycles