Dear Mr. Mark Steyn,
It pains me to write this letter to an important friend and ally. It is critical to reduce infighting and to focus on real threats.
JDL has not always agreed with Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) but one thing we do know, CJC is not the enemy far from it. It is for this reason that we are very disappointed with the May 3rd column you wrote in Maclean's.
Mr. Steyn, you have written and spoken about the demographic problems in the world and the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood Ideology. I get it. And I work for unity and have seen concrete results in the battle to expose and confront all groups that support the Muslim Brotherhood Ideology.
Mr. Steyn you are an important friend and ally who has defended our beloved Israel as has CJC and its CEO Bernie Farber.
And yes from time to time we can all make mistakes. A few weeks ago you made a mistake by attributing words to CJC that it never said. Indeed you did it in a manner that was disrespectful. MacLean’s apologized, sadly you have not only remained silent but chose to go on the attack against both Bernie Farber and CJC. And there is no need for that action.
Mr. Steyn, you responded to a CJC letter to the editor and attacked Farber for his work on behalf of Israel when last summer he led over 100 Jews both gay and straight in the Pride march in support of Israel. He did this to counter the anti-Semitic, pro Hamas, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid. [Note: Antonia Zerbisias has suggested that this bit from the JDL letter was defamatory, and I have removed it] Despite this Mr. Steyn, you decided to attack Farber and even claiming in your article that you supported Antonia Zerbisias [same with this bit] over Bernie Farber who defends Israel! I am writing this on behalf of JDL Canada to ask you to Stop! Stop attacking those who defend Israel and continue pointing your well known wit and critical faculties at those who would deny Jews, Israel and the free world legitimacy. Our energies must remain focused on the proxies of Radical Iran.
Thank You,
Meir Weinstein National Director Jewish Defence League of Canada
Please, on this one occasion, be nice to Mr. Weinstein in the comments. We must all stand together in our efforts to bring Mark Steyn to tears.
64 comments:
Actually I am more disappointed with Maclean's. Both articles by Steyn attacking the Jewish Congress were more to be pitied than applauded. To me it demonstrated a magazine that has moved from a respected purveyor of Canadian and international comment and news to one embracing steamy innuendo and character assasination.
I for one am quite glad to see that the JDL is distancing itself from Steyn. I wish Maclean's would do the same.
I have no hesitation in supporting Meir. He has been a friend of mine for nearly 25 years. His JDL bears no resemblance to Kahane's.
Steyn, meanwhile, is a pompous ass who wouldn't know a fact if it bit him on one of his flabby, pasty body parts. Lots of folks I know at Maclean's consider him to be an overpaid, preening prima donna, whose hatreds are there for all to see.
Bernie's my buddy. What I find shocking isn't that a drop-out like Steyn is afraid of him. What shocks me is that the greater Jewish community is afraid to defend such a good man.
And Farber was soon attacked by the enemies of Israel. Toronto Star reporter, Antonia Zerbisias tried to suggest that Farber was gay, simply for marching in the parade.
Zerb, of course, did no such thing, but that's not the point. Weinstein's mask does slip a bit when he interprets an alleged suggestion that Farber is gay as an "attack."
Sad to see WK defending Weinstein. There is only one Jewish Defence League, not several, and Weinstein himself is not shy about proclaiming his devotion to the terrorist Meir Kahane. Is Kinsella unaware of this?
Silly JDL. Steyn doesn't care whether anyone is a friend of Israel or not. What counts is that Farber isn't a friend of Nazis.
A pox on all of them. Warren should tell his friend not to write lies about Zerbisias.
So here is my question...if the JDL is right and Zerbisias never even saw the "t-shirt" in question then why would she have deemed it OK to speculate about Farber's sexual orientation? And a little Google search is all you need to find the Toronto Star letter Mr. Weinstein refers to:
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/668141
Seems to me Farber got a raw deal from the left in this case simply because he supported Israel in the Pride march. And from the loony right (Steyn) simply because he attended the Pride March.
Lots of shame to go around here but its not Mr. Farbers.
Zerbisias saw the T-shirt and made an sardonic remark about Farber:
http://canadiandimension.com/blog/2439/
wiki has the exact quote:
"...columnist Antonia Zerbisias sardonically commented "imagine my surprise when I saw Bernie Farber identifying himself as queer by joining a pro-Israel gay rights group in the parade. Funny, because I had never seen him in the march before. Funny because I didn't know he was gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that."..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Farber
Zerbisias never even saw the "t-shirt" in question then why would she have deemed it OK to speculate about Farber's sexual orientation?
In her original comment, she may have seen it in Farber's twitter post.
There are a couple of pictures out there like this one and the one over here. Apparently, it's suppose to say in stylized text, "Nobody Knows I'm Gay," although the last word is cut out from these pics, so it's within the realm of infinite possibilities that it could be proclaiming Farber a Leafs fan, or a Blue Jay Booster. With the way those two teams have been playing recently, you wouldn't want to claim being a fan of either too openly. ;)
Sorry HollyStick, your quote does not make any reference to the T-shirt. Zerbisias never claimed to have seen the shirt and wrote her blog never mentioning the shirt. Here is your quote:
"...columnist Antonia Zerbisias sardonically commented "imagine my surprise when I saw Bernie Farber identifying himself as queer by joining a pro-Israel gay rights group in the parade. Funny, because I had never seen him in the march before. Funny because I didn't know he was gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that."..."
Where does she mention the t-shirt exactly? Her issue was his "...joining a pro-Israel gay rights group in the parade." no mention of any t-shirt is there?
May I straighten everybody out? (Heh-heh. I said straighten.)
The JDL lies. Its letter is defamatory.
Leaving aside the ''enemies of Israel'' bullshit and all that that implies, let's focus on the facts.
1. I was at the parade, as a VIP. This fact can be verified if anybody cares to bother. I saw both contingents march by. How many others who have jumped into this can say that?
2. I saw the T-shirt and, in the supposedly offensive comment, referred to a photo of Farber in the parade, a photo of him in the T-shirt.
3. I am misquoted. (Let Google be your guide JDL assholes.)
http://thestar.blogs.com/broadsides/2009/07/my-canada-includes-.html?cid=6a00d8341bf8f353ef011571d3b925970b#comment-6a00d8341bf8f353ef011571d3b925970b
4. Steyn used me in his battle with Farber. Meanwhile the JDL uses the occasion to defame me.
Two more things.
This certainly has become the battle of the T-shirts, hasn't it?
And Bernie Farber is still not gay.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
" in your article that you supported Antonia Zerbisias an enemy of the Jewish people "
A bit thick, eh?
So ... when do the defamatory portions of this post get removed?
Antonia, this is the FIRST time you make this admission of actually seeing the T-shirt. You never referred to it in any of your reports prior to the Star's critical review.
You just had to ask.
Sue,
This is how you suck eggs.
First you take an egg.
Then you prick a hole in it.
Then you apply it to your lips.
Then you suck it.
Understood?
How about you call Pride and ask them where I was standing, wearing my soggy wet VIP pass, hunh????
Thanks for removing the defamatory portions, BCL.
Antonia is becoming just a bit too prickly.
First, Sue never claimed Antonia wasn't at the Pride Parade. She simply noted and correctly so from all I read today that Antonia did not mention the T-shirt Farber wore in her original blog. That is true. Whether she was at the parade is inconsequential.
Secondly BCL, bloggers like yourself have a wide open berth in permitting much raucus debate on blogs and in the public realm. Who says so? None other than the Supreme Court of Canada.
I think your caving to Antonia's demands was totally unecessary. Read it all here:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/451016
Heck, Weinstein didn't refer to her in any negative way as Rafe Meir did with this woman and the SCC said it was all fair comment.
And of course the real irony in the end is how Steyn and yes even Antonia (who would have believed anyone would use their names as partners in comment)in fact did defame Farber though I suppose the same SCC case would prevail.
In the end the only one not whining about it and demanding changes is Farber.
Weinstein's letter made vicious defamatory remarks about Antonia. Did you not read them?
And BCL, why would you repoeat those lies in the first place?
Holly Stick, as Muscoca said the Canadian Courts seem to have taken a different view of what is fair comment on these matters.
And Antonia, I hate eggs. Perhaps you can demonstrate the sucking process. While you are at it the odd reading lesson would be helpful. I couldn't care less if you were at the Pride Parade. I'm not sure why you even mentioned this.
I stated that you never mentioned seeing Farber or anyone else for that matter wearing the shirts in question and there were many. The shot you took at him had nothing to do with the shirt and you know it!
sue you have reading comprehension problems.
Holly, because I really didn't realize that they were defamatory. The whole story of Bernie Farber and his big gay t-shirt is something I have tried to studiously avoid since it "broke" last summer. I mean, I graduated high-school back in the early 80s. I don't miss it. So I have not really tried to familiarize myself with the ins and outs of the controversy.
PS. My sink overflowed while I was writing the above. Don't feel guilty, though.
OK people let's all of us take a deep breath.....in...out....in...out....good.
Now, I have done some Googling and this tee-shirt fiasco is surely the damnest silliest thing I have ever seen. Holly, I hate to be the one to break this to you and please don't shoot the messenger but Sue is right. Despite what Antonia says now, she never made mention of Farber's tee until well after the Star's public editor reemed her out.
And Sue and Muscoca, yes the Supremes did rule in the specific case dealing with Rafe Meir but they also were very clear that a reputation cannot just be taken for granted and it is worth protecting.
As for Mark Steyn, I was once a fan, I am no longer. The more I have read from him lately the more arrogance and lack of elementary research I have seen. His article a few weeks ago where he basically misquoted the CJC and this most recent one where he tries to justify those misquotes are almost embarassing. I guess his diehard minions will defend him to the end but the fact that the JDL has taken him to task tells us everything we need to know.
Gerry, why are Sue and others making a fuss over whether or not Antonia said she had seen the T-shirt? It is irrelevent. She saw Farber in the parade and joked about it.
Since Farber wore the T-shirt in the parade and Antonia was there, why would anyone assume she had not seen it? sue says the JDL says she had not seen it; so where did they say so and why would I believe what the JDL saya? How would they know if she had seen it or not?
Antonia says she saw it and I believe her.
Holly the problem is with Antonia's silly remark about Farber's sexuality. If she just saw him at the parade she tried to out him. Gay or straight a reporter from a reputable newspaper ought not to engage in such silly behaviour.
Now she would have had a better excuse (still wrong though in my view) had she said from the beginning, "hey I saw Farber at the Pride Parade wearing a T-shirt which said 'No One Knows I'm Gay'. Hell I never knew Farber was Gay" get it?
By never mentioning the T-shirt her comment was plain ugly.
Now I too was t the Pride parade and I marched with Kulanu the LGBTQ group. I too saw Farber at the parade and was thrilled he was there. And yes for the first couple hours as Antonia says, it poured. I have no idea where Antonia viewed the parade but I can tell you if she was a spectator from yards or even feet away you could not very well read the t-shirt with its Hebreacized English script. She may have seen us but I highly doubt she would have seen the Tee-shirt and if she did it was pretty tame compared to the usual getups. Why would she notice it even if she could have read it.
Sorry from this woman's pov, Antonia may think she saw us with the shirts on but would never have read it properly. And even if she did she should have mentioned it not wait a full year to tell the story. Just does not have the ring of truth.
My my this discussion has really strayed...kinda jumped the shark. Steyn uses Farber's attendance at the Pride parade and this becomes an issue?
My dear friends Steyn played you. Who cares what shirt Farber wore. Isn't it enough that he was at the Pride parade marching against the "Queers Against Israeli Apartheid" and in support of Israel?
This is exactly waht I tried to say earlier today. Steyn had nothing to go after CJC with. he knew he screwed up badly so he had to change the channel and many of you fell into his rather well constructed trap.
Steyn is a poor journalist. The CJC caught him out. He made a bad error and he refuses to take responsibility so he needed to deflect. Let's get real and put the blame exactly where it belongs, with Mark Steyn!
"...If she just saw him at the parade she tried to out him..."
Bullshit. She made a sardonic remark about Farber. Anyone with half a brain would realise that she was not outing him; she was implying that he was using your group for his own political purposes.
You see Chapel, Farber had tried to get another group banned from the Pride parade:
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/andrew-brett/2009/07/gay-panic-cjc-and-toronto-star
And then Kulanu changed:
"...This didn't sit well with Shaindl Diamond, a Jewish graduate student at the University of Toronto. In an open letter to Apple, she wrote, "Now it seems that Kulanu is no longer a group for queer Jews - it is a group for queer Jews who have a specific political allegiance to the Israeli state."..."
http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/andrew-brett/2009/06/over-200-march-against-israeli-apartheid-toronto-pride
Roundup of posts:
http://creekside1.blogspot.com/2009/07/zerb-cjc-and-star-epic-flail-roundup.html
Anybody else notice an undercurrent of homophobia here?
If any of you were actually at Pride, you could have gone along Church street where Kulanu was selling the shirts.
They were also on the Kulanu website, which I was following since Bnai Brith put out its vile ''homosexual agenda'' news release.
If any of you actually knew anything about gay culture, you would also know that ''Nobody knows I'm gay'' is an old jokey slogan among gays.
All this is pretty damn sickening considering that, until very recently, CJC had a co-president who believes LGBTs can be "cured.''
And anybody who seriously thinks I was trying to ''out'' Farber must think there is something very very wrong with being gay.
Like I said. Homophobia.
So ... one more time slowly -- and maybe you might need to wipe the fingerprints off your screens first so you can follow along -- I never wrote about Pride after the parade. There was no reason to mention the T-shirt. I knew I was dealing with people posting from one IP belonging to then CJC employee Ben Singer.
I was dealing with with trolls on my blog.
Just like I am dealing with trolls here.
Trolls and homophobes.
http://drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com/2009/07/hell-freezes-over-again.html
Winnifred wrote: "Let's get real and put the blame exactly where it belongs, with Mark Steyn!"
Exactly, if he reads these comments and the way this conversation has gone, he's not gonna cry! Focus people!
Winnifred and BCL are right. I cannot tell you how foolish I feel getting sucked right into this stupid, stupid argument over an even sillier T-shirt.
If I were Steyn I'd be snortling.
No matter what anyone thinks about Farber he did catch Steyn in a huge blunder.
I take some of the responsibility for taking us off course. Let's get back on track. Antonia if you want to continue to deflect for Steyn that's your business. He doesn't strike me as your type but maybe I'm wrong.
Bite me 'Sue'' -- or whoever you are.
I said Steyn was using me.
I am merely correcting the record here, a record you helped to distort.
"Bite me Sue"....Antonia, give it a rest, you are not winning any friends with your attitude.
What is it with you Antonia? I at least apologized for steering us off course. You are so worked up explaining why you forgot to mention a silly shirt....
The "bad guy" here is Steyn. You seem to have more of a vested interest making Farber the bad guy.
Do you have a vested interest in making Farber the good guy, sue? Or is that winnifred's schtick?
wv = ropoutic yes, indeed
Yeah, Winnifred, if I had a nicer attitude towards those who defame me and misrepresent what I write, you'd be my friend, right?
And ''Sue?'' Could you be more obvious?
Thanks Warren.
So anyone who disagrees or is the least bit critical of you Antonia is the enemy and immediatley suspect? I would like you to point out anything I have written here about you personally that is, as you allege, defamatory. When you are unable to do that perhaps you can apologize though I won't hold my breath.
gerIt always pains me to see the level of debate meander into accusations and ad hominim attack.
I take no side in "The Great Tee-Shirt Fiasco". I would however comment on Antonia's hit at Winnifred. Antonia, Winnifred did not defame you. You are better than that. Save your bullets for when they are really needed.
Actually, Steyn has reprinted the letter here
http://www.steynonline.com/content/view/3245/59/
...with all the defamatory bits left in. Go get 'im, Zerby!
See if still talks with that silly accent after you abuse his Nads.
Yes Antonia, you were quick to take BCL to task. That's an easy one. Steyn is a lot scarier. But he seems to be on side with you so give it a shot. Let us know how it goes as well.
Still waiting for Antonia
''Incidentally, Antonia Zerbisias disputes most strongly the assertion that she "never knew about the shirt". She was, in fact, at the parade. But honestly, by the time you're defending Bernie on the grounds of who knew about his gay T-shirt when, you're not really helping.''
I think Mark is talking to/about you Sue, Winnifred, Martin, whomever.
And for the record, libel laws are different in the US.
This isn't over.
Talk amongst yourselves.
Hey sue, do you still have your t-shirt?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M89c3hWx3RQ
"I think Mark is talking to/about you Sue, Winnifred, Martin, whomever."
So what exactly are you alleging? A conspiracy?
And what do US libel laws have to do with Mark Steyn?
Oh Holly I get it, we Jews are all the same either we stick together or we conspire against people is that it?
Don't whine, Bernie.
Oh Holly I get it, we Jews are all the same either we stick together or we conspire against people is that it?
Gawd, I hate this endless, disingenuous snivelling.
Holly,if you are referring to Bernie Farber then all I can say is that you are out of your mind.
Let me understand this, you believe that someone here (Sue or winnifred or whoever....gawd maybe me or BCL for that matter)is secretly Farber who has nothing better to do but to hang out on the blogs all day(no offence intended BCL) and get into blog debates!!??
Honestly Holly you are embarassing yourself. Such talk remids me of the "Truthers" who believe that the American administration secretly planted explosive devices and brought down the twin towers.
Back to the deep breathing exercises Holly.
Neither "winnifred" nor "sue" are regular commenters at BCL's, nor at Dawg's.
Martin used to hang out at babble as "Winnifred". He was quite active there around the time of the 2009 Pride parade.
http://www.rabble.ca/search/apachesolr_search/winnifred
"sue" showed up at Dawg's post about the gay T-shirt affair, also parrotting Bernie's arguments there.
http://drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com/2009/07/hell-freezes-over-again.html
And you, Gerry Calderwood? Which CJC shill are you? That cute little rant you just posted is as fake as a three-dollar bill.
Is it possible for a blog to jump the shark twice? Thanks BCL and Gerry for trying to turn us back but now it seems we have strayed into the land oc martians and aluminum foil hats.
Is that so Holly? I think you will find that I have commented here before. And, so what if Sue supported Bernie, and any critical comment of you Holly means a CJC shill? Honey you really need to calm down.
Why are we getting sucked into your conspiracy fantasies?
Let me just add one final thought to what was a very interesting if not very strange set of comments.
According to Mark Steyn's excuse for misquoting the CJC, all the material on this thread published by you BCL are now your actual words.
Be prepared for Mr. Steyn to quote Meir Weinstein but claim in fact that you said it. Then he will invoke the "I didnt misquote you" rationale, you published it , you own it.
It almost seems to me that Salman Hossain feels immune. He should be watched and more. Please send any information about this aspiring terrorist to jdl@jdl-canada.com Today he posts yet another call for the execution of Jews http://filthyjewishterrorists.com/false-jewish-propaganda-helps-convict-more-than-two-dozen-muslims/ this time he goes one step further calling for the extermination of anyone even harboring Jews.
“This is precisely the reason why we need to start carrying out genocide against the Jewish people. They are carrying out terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, and framing Muslims for it. Their permanent extermination is the only solution. All Muslims locked up in prison because of terror-related charges must be immediately released. Otherwise, Western countries housing Jewish populations must be totally destroyed via nuclear devastation and nuclear radiation poisoning.”
It should be understood that Salman Hussein has boasted to being friends with the "Toronto 18" Terror Suspects. Salman Hussein lives in Mississauga as do some of the "Toronto 18" Terror Suspects. The Police have known about this aspiring Terrorist for over two years and no charges have yet to be given to him. But, Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant were quickly dragged through the Canadian Court system and accused of spreading hate. There is an obvious triple standard that we can not tolerate. In the case of Mark Steyn, he wrote a book about demographic changes that pose a clear threat and Ezra Levant reprinted cartoons from a Danish newspaper. The JDL requires assistance in monitoring Salman Hussein and his 'friends'.
Meir, you've said that twice now. The COPS are after Salman Hussein; Steyn and Levant had a couple of CHRC complaints levelled against them and tried to leverage them into new careers as free speech heros. You KNOW these are entirely different, but just won't admit it, right?
Thanks for the comment BCL. The JDL will host Bat Ye'or in Toronto on Thursday June 3. Come out and I will make the JDL position very clear for all to understand.
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