How important to Canadians are the two major wars currently occurring in the world, one in Ukraine and the other in Gaza? How many remember today, how these conflicts started? How many of us are now apathetic about what is going on in these places and just wish the conflicts would stop regardless of the consequences?
Too many, I fear.
Piers Morgan a high-profile British journalist, responding to someone accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians, said this. “The correct genocidal comparison that you struggle to understand, is Russia and Hamas. Ukraine and Israel are both defending their countries from barbaric monsters who invaded and attacked them.”
We should not forget that. Nor should we listen to those, both in Canada and the United States, who downgrade the importance of these wars in terms of global consequences. In the last century, the genesis of two world wars evolved from conflicts not unlike the ones we are now witnessing.
Underlining the importance of this, American Senator Mitt Romney stated in a recent interview, “If Putin thinks he can invade his neighbours with impunity, he will not stop with Ukraine. Putin will invade a NATO nation which will draw our troops into a war with Russia. It is critical to our national security that Ukraine has the weapons it needs to put up a good fight.”
Former American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was equally direct when he said, “If Ukraine loses, the cost to America will be far greater than the aid we have given to Ukraine.”
Both of these men are right. And what they have said, refers to Canada as well. Any war in which a NATO country is involved will include Canada.
Yet, we are witnessing support for Ukraine waning, turning more to platitudes and less toward real military and financial assistance. Calls for a ceasefire are also increasing. The problem with that though, is that any peace agreement that gives Russia more than they had before they started this war by invading Ukraine is a win for Putin. And a win for Putin is a clear and present danger to many other parts of the world.
A similar situation exists in the war between Israel and Hamas. I wrote several weeks ago that I believed that public opinion and support would quickly move from Israel to the Palestinians. That is well underway.
It is important, in my view, to understand that Hamas is not only a terrorist organization, but it is also a government. In 2006 Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections and assumed legislative control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In 2007 Hamas ousted the ruling Palestinian Authority and without further elections has been the de facto governing body in the Gaza Strip ever since.
As well, most Palestinians not only support Hamas as their government, but they also support them in the current war. In a recent poll, a majority of Gazans and 85% of Palestinians in the West Bank resulted in 72% of Palestinians voicing satisfaction with the role of Hamas in the current war.
The reality then is that this is not just a war against Hamas but also against Palestinians, the majority of whom support Hamas which is a terrorist organization dedicated to eradicating Jewish people.
Many countries, sadly including Canada, are now calling for a ceasefire between the Hamas government and Israel. Of course, the killing of so many innocent people in Gaza is horrifying but it is a brutal reality of any war, this one started by Hamas themselves.
What many people may have forgotten is that there has been a formal ceasefire in place in that part of the Middle East for many years. It was broken, not by Israel but by Hamas on October 7 when they invaded Israel and brutally attacked Israeli civilians in the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust of World War Two.
The Hamas terrorist government has vowed to never stop fighting until Israel is destroyed. How then would a ceasefire work? Would it simply be a pause in what could only be described as an antisemitic Holocaust?
I am aware of those who argue about the evils of colonialism and empathize with Palestinians because they believe that Israel colonized lands that belong to them and therefore should be removed. But Israel, in one form or another, has been around for a very long time.
I recently saw one item online that caught my eye in relation to this. It said, “Billions of people around the globe are about to celebrate the birthday of a Jewish man, born in Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago but don’t believe Jews lived there before 1948.”
I’ll say again, as I said about Russia and Ukraine, any ceasefire or peace treaty between Israel and the Hamas government that gives Hamas more than they had before they started this war, is a win for Hamas and that is unacceptable and simply promotes more terrorism.
In my view, both Ukraine and Israel must win the wars they have been dragged into. For that to happen, allied support is critical. Ceasefires are only effective when they don’t appease aggressors.
One of the negatives, in my view, about the era of populism we now endure is that it encourages us to think inward instead of outward. Yet especially as our world grows smaller due to the wonders of technology, we cannot slam our doors and stick our heads in the sand. In many instances, what happens elsewhere will eventually happen here. We can stand up to it now or wait for the inevitable time when there will be attempts to impose changes upon us that we do not want.
The simple truth is that Canada is not immune from what happens in other parts of the world. We have seen it already since the terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7.
Antisemitism in Canada has, as it has in other countries, risen sharply since the terrorist attacks in Israel. Synagogues, schools and other Jewish establishments have been vandalized in increasing numbers. Yesterday, the RCMP arrested a young man in Ottawa who they allege was in the process of planning a terrorist attack against Jews.
We cannot afford apathy about what is going on either here or in the wider world. We cannot let the bad guys win. If we do, eventually, it will bite us in the butt.
History has proven that.
Hugh Mackenzie
![](https://media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2022/09/bapJ5qR6-Hugh-Mackenzie.jpg)
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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Leon Kushner says
Dear Hugh, thanks so much for having both the moral clarity and courage to stand up for Israel and Jews everywhere (especially here in Canada) where antisemitism has spiked!
I wouldn’t compare the 2 wars though. I’m no fan of Russia but equally no fan of Ukraine. Without going into details here, Russia had every right to push back on Ukraine. There were many factors that caused the invasion. Do I wish that Russia had not invaded? Yes of course. I have written extensively on this on my blog. My first post on this topic has been viewed by over 53,000 people. You can check it out here: https://leonupsidedown.blogspot.com/2022/03/why-are-so-many-idolizing-zelensky-and.html
The one common denominator between these 2 wars is the US government who along with other nefarious orgs like the WEF, UN, China, the world military complex, Soros and others have all done as much as they can to promote the wars so they can all profit.