Three Blind Mice

The reports from three opposition members coming out of the Middle East somehow struck a chord with the children’s’ rhyme concerning three blind mice who took after the farmer’s wife. In a kind of epiphany, these three Canadian politicians saw the devastation in Lebanon that we at home have witnessed on the evening news, describing it as a war scene. Apparently, they expected something else.

It comes as no surprise that these in-country agents of our government are criticizing the words and actions of the government and our leader, Steve Harper. They now want to remove Hezbollah from the list of terrorist organizations that the Liberals mistakenly drew up four years ago. They may find some resistance to that proposal from some back in Canada.

Without condoning the actions of the Israelis, we seem to be selective again in our condemnation of one side or the other in these regional wars. It can be not only politically expedient to only see what we want to see, but as a nation we can turn a blind eye whenever we wish.

That over a thousand people died in the short war in Lebanon seems an outrage and some are calling the devastation wrought by the Israelis a war crime. Meanwhile, in Darfur, where the loss of lives is a hundreds of times that in Lebanon and Israel, the homes of thousands destroyed, and people forced into refugee camps, we are blinded to that devastation. Can it be that we are colour blind?

The recent HIV / AIDS conference in Toronto is another example of being blind mice when it is convenient. The celebrities had their say early in the conference and a number of them blasted Steve for not being there to greet them. However, by the end of the conference, those who worked in the front lines in the fight against AIDS were saying the high profile people had taken the spotlight off the problem. They may have been concerned that of the billions promised by the Gates, not a whole lot would be going to the people in Africa who need medication and education on AIDS. Canadian First Nations people said they were ignored in much the same way.

Maybe Steve was using selective vision when he initially sided with Israel in the Middle East, and maybe he should have attended the conference opening instead of sending our Governor General. Maybe Steve thought that we, his first concern, were well on the road to handing the AIDS problem here in Canada. After all, we do have drugs to keep the victims of the virus alive and we are working on improvements to those treatments. That a segment of our society needs more attention may not have changed by him opening a conference that made headlines as much from bickering as raising awareness of the millions of people who are dying every year from the disease.

Stephen Lewis may be giving his all in trying to bring awareness to the world but I suspect that many of us are like the three blind mice. If not blind, we seem to be wearing rose-coloured glasses that only sees problems in the white world. We worry about West Nile and Bird Flu, taking our focus off the virus that is already among us, destroying a whole generation in Africa. Perhaps we should replace Hezbollah with HIV / AIDS on that list of terrorists.