Canadian TV blames Israel for women stranded in S. Arabia

From Jonathan Kay in the National Post:

I don’t get much of a chance to bash the CBC for anti-Israeli agitprop anymore: The network has done a good job cleaning up its more tiresome Zionophobes over the last few years. But every now and then, they pop up -- often on The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti.

On today’s show, the subject was the very sad case of Nazia Quazi, a dual Indian and Canadian citizen who made the mistake of visiting her father in Saudi Arabia two years ago. Under the country’s Medieval rules, he has been able to assume “guardianship” over the 24-year-old woman, which means he is able to block her exit from the country on his whim. (Following the usual tribal/Islamist obsession with women and “honour,” the underlying issue is, of course, Nazia’s selection of the “wrong” mate back home.)

All in all, it was a good piece of CBC journalism -- until they brought in the usual, disgruntled Liberal-era suspect to blame the whole thing on Harper and his lack of “balance” on Middle East policy. To quote from Canadian Foreign Service veteran Gar Pardy, whom Tremonti interviewed:

“The other issue [aside from oil] that I think has diminished what little bit of influence we have in Saudi Arabia is our current policy toward Israel. Saudi Arabia plays a very important role on Middle Eastern issues, and they have been very active over the last five years in terms of trying to negotiate some sort of agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and Syria for that matter. And the fact that we have taken ourselves out as a balanced observer on those issues, I’m sure is not looked at with any degree of friendliness in Saudi Arabia.”

Tremonti, naturally, seized on this:

“Let me just clairfy then: Are you suggesting that Canada’s Israel policy could leave young Canadian women in limbo?”

Pardy: “Yes.”

So there you have it, folks. We’re not a “balanced observer” -- which I guess is the same as an “honest broker.” Which means that when a repressive Arab Muslim theocracy seizes a Canadian citizen under cover of blatantly misogynistic Wahabi Islamic rules governing women, the real villain can be traced back to … Israel.

Now you know.