The words of the German Pastor Niemoller

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

by Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

Seems the "Minister" of Transport should think a little.
If he deprives the RoPs of an El Al jet, then they will just go and see what flights are bringing the "people of choice" to Toronto and they will do the Imam's will and down that.
Just speculating; What happens if they down an American Co. plane? Will he reconsider flights of US airlines to Toronto?

For a previous chapter in this story, see Abella Irving and Harold Troper, None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933-1948

Can any of you give me some clues to this story? This is very worrisome, but what prompted Stefan to say "Jewish Canadians don't automatically qualify for the full protection of the Canadian government, apparently."?

Am I missing something obvious? Is this in reference to Colonette's decision to land the planes in Hamilton? I know it looks like surrender to terrorism, but doesn't anyone out there thinks that it is better to err on the side of caution? What could be done in such an instance? Obviously, cancelling the flights would be even worse. But trying to catch some guys in the peripheries of a large airport such as Pearson would involve a huge operation (and even if you catch them, it would still be risky because they can still fire the MANPAD).

I'm no big fan of Chretino & his cronies, and the current Canadian Middle East policy (I am all for what Mulroney and Harper advocate vis-a-vis Israel/Canada relations).

But in this case, what can be done against a threat like this? It is not an easy answer...

Here is an article from Janes on the threat of MANPADs (manportable surface-to-air missiles):

http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jir/jir021128_1_n.shtml

Barry-

The threat was specifically made against the El-Al plane. So what to do? Land or not land? Landing in Hamilton, IMHO, does not make these guys anti-Semitic - au contraire, it shows that they are worried (it also shows that they don't have any confidence whatsoever in CSIS, but hopefully, they will be able to be proven wrong and with a bit of help from the Mossad, will hopefully be able to grab these lunatics ASAP). BTW, the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa said it's getting involved with this (maybe that's a codeword for saying Mossad will be here to do something about this - let the fundamentalists do some sweating of their own now).

"Canada said on Friday it was assessing the future of El Al flights to Toronto after one of the Israeli airline's planes was diverted twice because of an unspecified security threat." That is what you missed, Ronnie. Instead of going after the terrorists who were threatening the El Al flight, they're thinking about not letting El Al fly to Toronto anymore. Clear enough for you?

More utter speculation to be found here: http://www.snappingturtle.net/flit/archives/2003_10_26.html#001197

In Collenette's defense, I believe he was speculating on whether El Al would continue to fly into Hamilton in future, or would be allowed back to Toronto -- not cease Canadian operations entirely. But he should certainly clarify his remarks.

When I think how far down on the Google site I had to go before I found any criticism of David Collenette, my blood boils. By suggesting that the future of El Al flights to Canada will be reassessed, he is capitulating to terrorists, who, it seems, don't have to do anything to get their way, just threaten to. What a pusillanimous nonentity that man is. And your site is the first place I've seen any outcry.

Sorry, guys - Barry, Stefan et al...

I stand corrected. I did not see the above stupid declaration from Collenette in the article. Of course, I agree 110% that he should have NEVER EVER said something STUPID like that. The original article I read stated that Collenette said that the flights would continue to be diverted to Hamilton until further notice, and my comments were based on that...

Of course, it is OUTRAGEOUS that a minister would go on public record and divulge something like that. This is like giving in to the terrorists and denotes cowardice and possibly even anti-Semitism...

Once again, my apologies - did not read the original thread very carefully, but once I saw the above statement and went back to another press article, things became clearer to me.