Something Nice About Canada :: Twin Peaks Gazette Message Board

August 31, 2006

CanadaCalm

The Magnetism of Canada

According to the BBC,

Passengers on a Canadian plane had an unsettling in-flight experience after the pilot found himself locked out of the cockpit after a trip to the toilet.
Some people might find that scary. But this was Canada! The article concludes with the statement of Air Canada Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart,

“The safety and security of our passengers was never compromised.”
She added that passengers had remained calm during the incident, the AFP news agency reported.

What else would one expect?*

*I write that with the greatest respect for Canadians, who should be counted among the nicest, most genteel people on the planet — and probably the calmest.

New poll says most Canadians blame U.S. for 9/11 attacks

Thu Sep 7, 11:50 AM

A majority of Canadians believe U.S. foreign policy was one of the root causes that led to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and Quebecers are quicker to criticize the U.S. administration for its international actions than other Canadians, a recent poll suggests.

Those conclusions are found in a newly released poll conducted by Léger Marketing for the Association for Canadian Studies.

The poll suggests that 77 per cent of Quebecers polled primarily blame American foreign policy for the Sept. 11 attacks. The results suggest 57 per cent in Ontario hold a similar view.

When participants were given the option of choosing more than one cause for the attacks, two-thirds blamed Islamic fundamentalists and their anti-Western views, while a third pointed the finger at Israel and its position in the Middle East.

Canadian opinions have hardened against the United States and its role on the world stage, said Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for Canadian Studies. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have contributed to a change of heart among people, he said.

But Canadians are divided on whether their government should pay more attention to issues fuelling extremist organizations in the Middle East, he said.

"There are a lot of people who think we should be listening closely [to extremist groups] and that there is an opportunity to dialogue with these sort of groups," said Jedwab Wednesday. "So it is showing a real ideological divide on some of these issues."

There's a growing need since the Sept. 11 attacks for balanced public education about terrorism, added Jedwab. "There is a tendency to see in these movements something more romantic than actually exists. That's something we need to keep debating in the country."

Léger Marketing interviewed 1,508 Canadian adults from Aug. 22 to Aug. 27. The poll results are considered accurate within 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Row over 9/11 novel at Canadian university
Richard Lea
Friday September 8, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
Controversy over a novel depicting post-9/11 hysteria is mounting at the Canadian university where it is set.
Author David Bernans was due to read from "North of 9/11" - which describes panic and an anti-Arab backlash at Montreal's Concordia University in the wake of the terrorist attacks on New York in 2001 - at a campus venue on the fifth anniversary of the attacks, but approval for the event was withdrawn by college security services.
As the university vice president Michael Di Grappa explained in a letter on September 5, Bernans was sent an email at the end of July informing him that the request "had been denied by the university risk assessment committee".
This committee was created in 2002 after violent protests forced the cancellation of a visit by the former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But the university now claims that the risk assessment committee - whose membership and powers have never been made clear - made no attempt to censor the author, and was not involved with the rejection of Bernans' application to hold the event.
"In fact," continued Di Grappa, "this matter was never referred to the risk assessment committee." Blaming "a combination of human error and a booking system which needs to be improved", he said that Bernans was "welcome to hold [his] book reading on campus, as was the case from the beginning."
Bernans - who is a graduate student at Concordia - is now scheduled to hold a reading on September 11 at a smaller venue that does not require booking through the university system.
But the author is having "a hard time" in believing the university's explanation. "This kind of thing happens all the time," he said. "The risk assessment committee often bans controversial events at the last minute."
PEN Canada's David Cozac is also "suspicious" of the university's explanation. "Given the recent history of Concordia," he said, "the controversial speakers that have appeared and the friction on campus, I wouldn't be surprised if David Bernans had been censored because they were wary that some kind of incident would take place."
He is calling for the university to open up the workings of the risk assessment committee, a call flatly rejected by university spokeswoman Chris Mota "because when you're discussing risk that's not for public consumption".
She insisted that the risk assessment committee had nothing to do with the decision to reject Bernans's application. "We had no problem with his event then, we have no problem with his event now," she said.
Bernans is not convinced. "Concordia is not happy about the way that real historical events were portrayed in this novel," he claims. "It's pretty clear that the university used the 9/11 attacks as a pretext to target individuals they wanted to get rid of by fanning the flames of post 9/11 racism and paranoia."
He has kept all his email correspondence with the university after his experience of trying to organise events as president of the graduate students' association led him to suspect "something like this might happen". The university has failed to comply with his freedom of information request to see his files within the statutory 20-day time period.
Ms Mota just wants the furore to go away. "We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused Dr Bernans," she said, "and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that nothing like this happens to anyone else."
But as sales for the book continue to mount, Concordia's peace may be troubled a little further.

North of 9/11's fictional plot meets in many places with real (and often surreal) historical events that underlie the psychology of social panic and hysteria that is integral to the war on terror. Newspapers report beatings, targeted vandalism, and bigoted rants aimed at dark-skinned men with beards, women wearing hijabs, and students named Mohammed.

David Bernans received his PhD in Political Science from York University in 1998. The Gazette has referred to Bernans as a “political gadfly” for his high profile efforts at holding Prime Minister Paul Martin to account for the cuts to health, education and social spending he made as Finance Minister. A documentary film was made about Bernans’ shadowing of Paul Martin called Waiting for Martin. He has published numerous articles in Le Devoir, rabble.ca, The Parkland Post, Alternatives, the Gazette, and elsewhere. Bernans grew up in London, Ontario and now divides his time between St-Pacôme and Montréal, where he works as a researcher, archivist, and translator while studying for a graduate diploma in Concordia’s Études françaises Department. On December 27, 2001, he and his partner, Anne-Frédérique Provencher, became the proud parents of son, Sasha.

Why am I not surprised he has a "partner" rather than a wife? You can't really take this guy too seriously up North, can you? Here's some blurbs about his brave novel:

North of 9/11 is about: US draft-dodging, the bombing of Afghanistan, dark-skinned men with beards, social panic and hysteria, politics at Concordia University in Montréal, conservatism versus radicalism, military production for the US Pentagon, the Pinochet coup in Chile , anti-war activists, post-9/11 anti-arab backlash , censorship, failed risk assessments, and a whole lot more ...

REVIEWS

"North of 9/11 is a book about war, racisim, and hysteria -- and the people who fight against them... By bringing characters, people and movements to life, David Bernans has given readers an opportunity to understand why so many choose a life of struggle over a life of ease." — Macdonald Stainsby, The Dominion June 5, 2006

“North of 9/11 is political science at its best. Centred at Concordia University in Montréal during the tumultuous months following 9/11, this historical novel lays bare Canada’s complicity in the American-led war on terror and related state-sponsored repression of dissent. With its focus on a small group of pro-Palestinian activists and their Zionist antagonists, the novel brings to life the realities and subtleties of politics in our times. Bernans’ poignant description of the relationship between a conservative father and his radical daughter is reminiscent of Philip Roth’s American Pastoral.”
— David Noble, historian & author of Beyond the Promised Land

“If the film United 93 offends some Americans with its depiction of a 9/11 hijacking, David Bernans’s novel, North of 9/11, will have many fuming over his biting portrayal of racism and vengeance in the wake of the tragic September 11 attacks. The story takes place in the very real context of Montréal between September 11 and October 9, 2001, when the bombing of Afghanistan begins. Protagonists are Palestinian solidarity activists at Concordia University (known as “Gaza U”), who publicly question the approaching military engagement in Afghanistan.”
— Z Magazine

“The Gazette was correct when it labeled David Bernans a "political gadfly" and this political novel, set in Montréal the weeks immediately following 9/11, demonstrates just that. Filled with tons of factual information, it exposes the post 9/11 racist war hysteria and reactionary attempts by the state to silence all voices of dissent. The raw human emotions from both sides of the political spectrum in response to 9/11 are laid bare and set in proper context. Resist the temptation to flip to the end of the book for the surprise ending. B'nai Brith, The Gazette, Concordia University, Montréal's aerospace industry and the chorus of right wing commentators dominating the mainstream media will hate this book, but those who are looking for a politically engaging and highly readable
novel will love it.”
— Yahya Abdul Rahman - Editor, Montreal Muslim News

Okay, okay, I'll stop after this one! But this guy has captured my attention with his Onionesque self-righteous attitude and has actually given me more laughs today than I have any right to expect. Here he describes his persecution. Oh what a wry sense of humor he has! How witty he is! And so self important. It's like so surreal. And stuff.

Okay, I'm done with this guy.

Susan

Confession of a 9/11 terrorist

We terrorists are a resourceful lot, sharing tips and networking via the Internet. My network extends beyond Concordia to as far away as McGill.

by David Bernans
August 30, 2006
Because I believe so strongly in my cause, I didn't recognize it until now. But recent events have forced a stark realization upon me: I am a terrorist. This is my confession.
Since the events of September 11, 2001, I have been secretly plotting. My evil plan would have brought an explosion to the downtown Sir George Williams campus of Concordia University in Montreal. And to add insult to injury, the terrorist act was to occur on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Luckily for the innocent youth of that great university, my terror plot was foiled by a crack team of investigators. Concordia's risk assessment committee saw through the literary veil of the event booking request. The title, “9/11 Retrospective” sounded innocent enough. But they read the event description and saw that I would be reading aloud from my so-called “novel” (or, as security experts refer to it, a “blueprint of terror”).
The historical novel, North of 9/11, takes place during and in the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001. It is the story of Palestinian solidarity and anti-war activists who face repression at the hands of Concordia's draconian administration and become the targets of an RCMP counter-terrorism investigation.
How authorities allowed Cumulus Press to publish this terrorist propaganda escapes me. But the madness came to an end when Concordia's risk assessment committee put its foot down and decided to ban the public reading of the book I had secretly plotted for the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Concordia students, staff and faculty are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief now that they have been saved from my criminal scheme. They need not fear being subjected to critical perspectives on a day when only jingoistic patriotic slogans should be heard.
But we terrorists are a resourceful lot, sharing tips and networking via the Internet. My network extends beyond Concordia to as far away as McGill (a full five city blocks from Concordia) where security measures are much more lax. With a new title and new event sponsors (QPIRG McGill), we were able to conspire to do another explosive book reading. This time, authorities were not nearly as vigilant.
“Troubling Directions North of 9/11” will be taking place in McGill's Leacock building from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. And it will be taking place precisely as I had originally calculated for maximum impact, on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
Once the explosion hits McGill there will no doubt be a flurry of new security measures. International flights will ban all reading material except the National Post, universities will close down their libraries and book-sniffing dogs will be used by the RCMP's counter-terrorism unit.
But they cannot stop the coming battle between critically minded people and the war on terror machine. If we cannot read our books publicly, we will circulate articles and reviews clandestinely on the Internet. We will form secret book-reading societies with secret handshakes and decoder rings.
I did not write this confession because I have any remorse for my actions. In fact, I am more convinced than ever that the most dangerous terror we face in the world — from Afghanistan to Canada, from Lebanon and Gaza to Israel, and from Iraq to the U.S. — is war on terror terror. That is why I wrote North of 9/11.
I chose to write a fictional confession instead of an article because the new post-9/11 reality is so surreal that fiction is the only way to really make it understandable. That is also why I wrote North of 9/11.