...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Repatriation games: If you have some time to spare this afternoon, you might consider joining what is bound to be the throngs of “human rights” activists who will be protesting in front of the American Consulate. It's the kick off to a week of what’s being described as “pan-Canadian week of action.” The goal: to “repatriate” (heh) Gitmo detainee Omar Khadr. Lefty blog rabble has the details:

Human rights and civil liberties organizations in Canada and Quebec have recently formed the Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr, and are calling for a pan-Canadian week of action from October 5 to 11, 2008 to demand that the federal government request immediately Khadr's removal from the US military prison at Guantánamo.

Member organizations of the coalition include Amnesty International Canada (English and French sections), Council on American-Islamic Relations – Canada (CAIR-CAN), Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Islamic Congress, Canadian Muslim Forum, Canadian Peace Alliance, Council of Canadians, Muslim Unity, Parole Arabe and more.

As Canadians turn their attention to a federal election, the Coalition to Repatriate Omar Khadr plans to raise the issue of Khadr's detention throughout the campaign period. The Coalition is calling on the federal government to account for its refusal to support the rights of a Canadian citizen held in Guantánamo, and for all other candidates to show their support for human rights and international law.

In other words, a coalition of Islamists and useful idiots is trying to spring Omar before he has his day in court. Give it up, folks. Unless your guy Smilin’ Jack Layton manages to pull off a massive upset, Mudr Khadr’s little boy is staying put for the mo’.

On the Khadr family Website, the mishpacha answers a “frequently asked question” re their desire for re-repatriation (or, er, de-repatriation):

Q: So why does Canada hate your family?

A: To be honest, the people who claim that we are worthy of being hated and feared are almost always the people who have never spoken to us, never met us...they are people who rely on a few soundbytes and images they've seen flash across the television. They have built up an image in their minds of how they imagine us to be. There are a few people who actively seem to help spread the hatred and fear, radio hosts, politicians, reporters. The failure of the War on Terror has left them desparate for an enemy they can find and harrass; and unfortunately that means attacking the Khadrs for having once been friends with their targets.

   We have heard people say they are afraid of us, but those are people who have never met us, and whenever they come out and actually speak to us they always seem to realise the foolishness of the whole thing. We don't blow up Canadian malls, we shop in Canadian malls, and we aren't citizens of convenience, in fact every time we've tried to leave Canada the government has told us we're not allowed to be anywhere but Canada. It's very confusing, politicians yell at us to "leave the country", and when we meekly try to leave, we get told that we're not allowed to "flee the country".

“Meek” is not a word one would normally associate with the Khadrs, but, no matter. If indeed they are really being held captive in the country against their will, I say that, on purely humanitarian grounds, Canada should grant them their request to vamoose. Then maybe some other lucky country can have the pleasure of "repatriating" Omar.

Posted by: scaramouche at 11:31 | link | comments (1)

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