People sit at a cafe with the Eiffel Tower in the background in Paris, on Jan. 3.DIMITAR DILKOFF/Getty Images
On genocide
Re “The genocide libel against Israel” (Jan. 6): Canada and the United States both supported Ukraine’s genocide case against Russia on a fraction of the evidence contained in the South African application.
Scores of international legal experts have sounded the alarm over Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, with many of them declaring it is either a genocide in progress or evincing the real risk of genocide, such that the duty of all Genocide Convention state parties to prevent this eventuality is brought into play.
While double standards may “rankle,” they should be entirely irrelevant to the issue of whether Israeli conduct in Gaza, which I believe already rises to the level of war crimes, also reaches the level of genocide.
Peggy Mason President, Rideau Institute Ottawa
I consider myself neither pro-Palestine nor pro-Israel. I am pro-peace.
The Genocide Convention forbids “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” I think charges of genocide should be carefully considered as United Nations officials have deemed Gaza uninhabitable, and it may take over a decade to rebuild.
Likewise, international law should be applied to the heinous acts committed by Hamas, and its hierarchy should be brought to account.
Philip Duguay Montreal
There are enough people around to argue about whether a tree falling in the woods makes any sound. I don’t need more arguing about whether hearing a case at the International Court of Justice will make any sound.
Let due process work itself out, with complete trust in what the court does. That is what it is there for.
Karlis Poruks Edmonton
I strongly suggest that this excellent opinion be forwarded to our Prime Minister.
Ronald Birken Toronto
True, the accusation of genocide against Israel is contemptible. But semantics should not make that government’s actions any less so.
Michelle Walsh Ottawa
Access denied
Re “Better DNA access would have helped solve 1983 murders of two Toronto women, police say” (Jan. 8): A Senate committee voted against giving police access to familial DNA evidence, because it might have a disproportionate effect on racialized communities. But the Native Women’s Association of Canada supports this initiative.
Shouldn’t we be concerned, above all, about accurately identifying murderers and rapists, as quickly as possible, regardless of which group they may belong to?
Richard Harris Hamilton
Familial testing has been proven to be a valuable tool for police in their hunt for murderers, and in some cases freed those wrongfully accused from spending years behind bars.
Surely justice for murder victims and their families is the most important priority and outweighs other considerations.
Eric Paine London, Ont.
Say cheese
Re “A wedge issue: Canada should embrace free trade in cheese” (Jan. 4): Relentless productivity increases in a competitive free market leads to the concentration of firms, doesn’t it?
In the United States, without supply management, this means the growth of huge megafarms such as Fair Oaks in Indiana and the depopulation of rural areas. American small towns often atrophy.
Meanwhile, charming rural villages and quaint small towns in Europe persist. There, cheese producers and other farmers on stamp-sized plots are heavily subsidized by the European Union. The countryside remains populated, and villagers are able to keep growing geraniums in their pretty window boxes.
That’s worth something to Europeans. Canada’s small towns shouldn’t be written off by mere bean counters’ calculations, either.
John Palmer Ottawa
Plan afoot
Re “Plan for it” (Letters, Jan. 5): Whenever I read opinions of North American urbanists, I can’t help but wonder if they ever set foot beyond this continent.
Coming from Europe, I can attest that a light touch to planning (and especially zoning) leads to more affordable, vibrant and sustainable cities – the kind of places Canadians gush about while visiting, then long for after returning to their strictly planned communities.
Ionesco Serpieri Ottawa
Tombstone blues
Re “There was no halcyon age of university excellence” (Jan. 5): I think Nobel laureate Bob Dylan had it right when commenting on the effect of universities on imagination and creativity.
In a March, 1966, interview with Nat Hentoff in Playboy, he pronounced that “colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people die in colleges.”
Philip Berger OC Toronto
Man to man
Re “Men’s Shed movement helps in fight against loneliness” (Jan. 2): A feeling of loneliness is a longing for an emotional connection with others. One can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely, if they are not able to make any emotional connections.
On the other hand, one can spend time alone and still not feel lonely. I believe that experiencing loneliness, or not, has much to do with one’s level of emotional self-sufficiency.
Low self-sufficiency means having to work harder to stave off loneliness.
George Parker Cobourg, Ont.
I was delighted to read that other senior men are getting together like men in Sudbury.
FirstFriday is a men’s coffee klatch, inaugurated in 2000. There are about 20 members on the list, mostly from St. Peter’s United Church but friends and neighbours, too.
We meet for two hours on the first Friday morning of the month for similar reasons as Men’s Shed: to discuss mutual problems and get advice (on roofers, car undercoating, travel or estate planning, for example). We rarely talk about church matters.
The host supplies coffee and goodies. We rotate among members.
We have only one rule: One person talks at a time. It is a low-maintenance group. During the pandemic, we met via Zoom.
A fun time that makes few demands on attendees.
David Kechnie Sudbury
Well spent
Re “Don’t blame the boomers for the economy – they put in more than they take” (Report on Business, Jan. 2): One thing to add: Many boomers volunteer.
I live in a small town that runs on volunteers, mostly seniors, who provide community service. This year, I played clarinet and trumpet at two Christmas singalongs in long-term care.
I also play golf. But I bet it’s the volunteering that makes the most difference.
Let’s hear it for boomers.
Ed Dunnett Qualicum Beach, B.C.
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