We had an awesome day today!
Our first real day off together in a really long time, we packed a picnic lunch of pitas and babaganouj and tzaziki and some grapefruit and pomegranate coolers and headed for the beach.
We found ourselves a nifty little beach on the side of the road just between Tantallon and Hubbards and hiked up the rocks out to a little point in the middle of the bay where we hunted for seashells, watched sea gulls and cranes, and watched the waves on the beach, and then we sat on a giant rock and ate our lunch while we chatted about all kinds of awesome things.
Afterwards we climbed a tree.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
In and Absolut World
I read in the news this afternoon that many Americans are calling for a boycott of Swedish vodka manufacturer Absolut because it launched an ad campaign in Mexico featuring a pre-1846 map of parts of North America.
I wasn't alive back then, but some of you might remember a time when most of the United States was Mexican territory. American settlers tried to annex the state of Texas into the United States in 1846. The two countries went to war when Mexico refused to recognize the annexation and Mexico City was occupied by American troops, ending the war in 1848. Mexico was forced to cede most of its territory including what is now California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Now, the United States is constructing a large fence along the border between the two countries to prevent illegal immigrants (otherwise known as undocumented Mexicans) from crossing.
This thing about constructing fences is vaguely familiar. Wasn't it in Israel that international controversy was aroused by the construction of a protective barrier around parts of the West Bank to prevent Palestinian terrorists from launching suicide attacks on the Jewish population?
We feel justified in giving sympathy to the poor Palestinians who get so oppressed by their Jewish neighbours but we forget that Israel is the only country in all of history that has won every time it has gone to war and gave up the land it has conquered.
In 1948 Israel was invaded by five neighbouring states but managed to expand its borders.
In 1967, the six day war further expanded Israel's borders to include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank--Palestinian territories.
In 1973 Egypt and Syria tried to invade Israel but were repelled. Israeli troops took the Sinai peninsula from Egypt but later returned it peacefully in a series of peace negotiations with that country. Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize the state of Israel.
Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel is in the process of giving the right of self-government to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Despite huge territorial gains in war, Israel has made many significant concessions to Palestinian Nationalism. Shouldn't this principle be followed everywhere? Should the United States be forced to return the territory conquered from Mexico? We could even take this further and assume that all descendants of Europeans should be forced to return to Europe and allow the Americas to be ruled by 'indigenous' Americans.
One thing we must remember is that every power that has ever existed, every nationality or national group that exercises control over territory has won that territory from whatever national group possessed it first. The only rights that any nation has over territory is the right of conquest. You keep what you conquer. N'est-ce pas?
I wasn't alive back then, but some of you might remember a time when most of the United States was Mexican territory. American settlers tried to annex the state of Texas into the United States in 1846. The two countries went to war when Mexico refused to recognize the annexation and Mexico City was occupied by American troops, ending the war in 1848. Mexico was forced to cede most of its territory including what is now California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Now, the United States is constructing a large fence along the border between the two countries to prevent illegal immigrants (otherwise known as undocumented Mexicans) from crossing.
This thing about constructing fences is vaguely familiar. Wasn't it in Israel that international controversy was aroused by the construction of a protective barrier around parts of the West Bank to prevent Palestinian terrorists from launching suicide attacks on the Jewish population?
We feel justified in giving sympathy to the poor Palestinians who get so oppressed by their Jewish neighbours but we forget that Israel is the only country in all of history that has won every time it has gone to war and gave up the land it has conquered.
In 1948 Israel was invaded by five neighbouring states but managed to expand its borders.
In 1967, the six day war further expanded Israel's borders to include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank--Palestinian territories.
In 1973 Egypt and Syria tried to invade Israel but were repelled. Israeli troops took the Sinai peninsula from Egypt but later returned it peacefully in a series of peace negotiations with that country. Egypt became the first Arab country to recognize the state of Israel.
Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel is in the process of giving the right of self-government to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Despite huge territorial gains in war, Israel has made many significant concessions to Palestinian Nationalism. Shouldn't this principle be followed everywhere? Should the United States be forced to return the territory conquered from Mexico? We could even take this further and assume that all descendants of Europeans should be forced to return to Europe and allow the Americas to be ruled by 'indigenous' Americans.
One thing we must remember is that every power that has ever existed, every nationality or national group that exercises control over territory has won that territory from whatever national group possessed it first. The only rights that any nation has over territory is the right of conquest. You keep what you conquer. N'est-ce pas?
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