Update: Ezra responds to comments from a well-wisher:... Maher Arar, the huckster who lied his way into $10.5 million of our tax dollars, has had less luck with the U.S. legal system than he had with ours. A U.S. appeals court threw out his nuisance claim against the U.S. government.
... had Arar actually gone to trial here, his case would have been thrown out, too. Arar's testimony would have been torn to shreds...
... Arar did not have good luck with our legal system. He had good luck with a politicized inquiry that bore his name -- the Arar Inquiry -- but in which he never testified. Of course he didn't: he doesn't want to answer questions.
Ezra Levant[,] You need to be sued right into the poorhouse. You need be be sued so your parents are living on the street. You need to be sued so your grandchildren will still be making payments.
Ezra's reply: I take it you think I'm defaming Arar. But truth is a defence. Have you bothered to look into the facts of his case? From his gun; to his lies about being whipped with a thick cord; to his refusal to be examined by an independent physician, etc., etc.? Do you really think a man who made out like a bandit would risk all of that by putting himself through litigation? And I mean real litigation, where he would actually have to answer questions, not fake litigation, such as a human rights commission, or his laughable "inquiry" in which he didn't even testify. Are you so naive as to think he'd jeopardize his life of luxury for that? Of course he wouldn't. He doesn't want to lose a lawsuit, to pay his lawyers and mine. And, more importantly, he doesn't want to lose the myth he has created: that he is a victim.
Does anyone have an answer to this question. My wife is a dual citizen and has been told many times that when entering a country she will be treated as a citizen of the country whose passport and/or visa was used to gain entry. My understanding is that this is commonly applied internationaly.
ReplyDeleteIt is then important to know what passport was he using at the time. If it was a Syrian passport, then the Americans would have been following generally accepted procedures in sending him to Syria. If not, then there might be an issue.
I have never been able to find out what passport was being used at the time? Does anyone know?
Why yes Richard, we do know.
ReplyDeleteThe Passport was Canadian.
A little something called research could help both you and JR.
http://www.maherarar.ca/cms/images/uploads/Arar_Complaint_FINAL.pdf
One of Arar's biggest claims in seeking compensation was that he had been subjected to torture by the Syrians - a claim that was endlessly and uncritically played up by the media. But we have no evidence of this. We have only Arar's word for it.
ReplyDeleteFrom the inquiry report:
Fortunately, the purely physical effects of the [alleged] torture suffered by Mr. Arar have mostly proven to be short-lived...
... Dr. Gruner reports that when he first examined Mr. Arar there were few physical signs of torture.
By the time Dr. Gruner saw Mr. Arar, the latter had been spared from torture as a part of interrogation for many months. What is more, Mr. Arar told me that during his detention in Sednaya Prison he had been able to “regain his physical shape.”
Much of Arar's story is similarly lacking in evidence. Hence, as Ezra maintains, the "case" would have failed in court had it made it there. Politics kept it out.
JR, when you post a comment and quote a section of the report, you should "quote" it correctly. The word "alleged" in parenthesis is not in the report, which means it was added by you! That is not a correct quote then, as the link you posted shows. Please refrain from adding commentary to quotes, it dilutes your argument to nothingness.
ReplyDelete"Much of Arar's story is similarly lacking in evidence."
ReplyDeleteNo it isn't, you liar.
There is one point that is true and irrefutable. And that is that when a person resorts to name calling all it shows is a lack of intelligence and a lack of a credible argument. The opposing view wins by default.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fact that no serious investigative journalism took place with the Arar file.
"when a person resorts to name calling all it shows is a lack of intelligence and a lack of a credible argument. The opposing view wins by default."
ReplyDeleteYou're talking about Ezra, right?
Richard, so I guess Ezra Levant lacks credible arguments, and is in fact not a serious investigative journalist (re: ("Maher Arar is a liar")
ReplyDeleteSo - I win by default?
"It is a fact that no serious investigative journalism took place with the Arar file."
ReplyDeleteHow would you know? You weren't even aware of one of the first details of this story that came to light years ago that is now a well-established matter of fact, that Arar had been travelling with his Canadian passport.
That you weren't paying attention is no one's fault but your own.
There's also been too little investigative journalism on what exactly is motivating Ezra Levant's campaign against Maher Arar. Does that mean there should be?
My question to those who do not believe that any serious research was done in this case. Do you think that Mr. Harper would part with a penny that he did not have to? Do you think that this government that so vilified Arar would not hesitate to crush him in court if they could?
ReplyDelete"...we have no evidence of this. We have only Arar's word for it"
ReplyDelete" Dr. Gruner reports that when he first examined Mr. Arar there were few physical signs of torture."
Maybe your time would be better spent expanding your vocabulary to include 3 letter words like "few".
It seems that Arar has some loopy supporters who like to troll for commentary on his "case". Ezra's article has attracted a few and he has responded to some. I liked this exchange:
ReplyDeleteEzra Levant[,] You need to be sued right into the poorhouse. You need be be sued so your parents are living on the street. You need to be sued so your grandchildren will still be making payments.
Ezra's reply: I take it you think I'm defaming Arar. But truth is a defence. Have you bothered to look into the facts of his case? From his gun; to his lies about being whipped with a thick cord; to his refusal to be examined by an independent physician, etc., etc.? Do you really think a man who made out like a bandit would risk all of that by putting himself through litigation? And I mean real litigation, where he would actually have to answer questions, not fake litigation, such as a human rights commission, or his laughable "inquiry" in which he didn't even testify.
Are you so naive as to think he'd jeopardize his life of luxury for that?
Of course he wouldn't. He doesn't want to lose a lawsuit, to pay his lawyers and mine. And, more importantly, he doesn't want to lose the myth he has created: that he is a victim.
All ...
ReplyDeleteBeing locked up in a dank rat-infested dark cell with a thin mat to sleep on, regularly threatened and interrogated, separated from children and wife, with no likelihood of return to them is the main torture that Arar spoke of. He was clear that physical torture only happened in the earliest part of his incarceration, and the syrians transferred him to a much better prison and allowed him exercise and recuperation before sending him back to Canada. All the same, he came back gaunt and fragile looking (check the press coverage, if you'd like). He was also clear that he met others, like Almalki, who were clearly treated worse.
Ezra Levant just has a hate on for muslims who have the whiff of anything other than bay street on them. He is the biggest lier, translating "applied for a gun permit" which is common, legal, and is quite commonly done by conservative voters into "gun nut" and "...his gun", despite the fact that Arar never had a gun ... just the legal right to acquire one if he wanted to (he let the permit lapse after a few years without purchasing one). I, for one, would have wanted one too if I had lived in a rougher area of Montreal at the time ... and I would have bought one too.
Ezra also lies about Arar's refusal to be examined ... he was examined (see that portion of the official inquiry). He just wasn't examined by Ezra's personal proctologist, that's all.
What's more, all the areas where Ezra has "doubts" are covered in the inquiry... the problem is that most of the inquiry was held "in camera" and most of the testimony was redacted due to the fears of CSIS and RCMP regarding "secrecy". Arar has been very plain on the record that he wants the full inquiry transcripts published, not just what passed through censors.
That's because he has nothing to hide. To those of you who have doubts, join with Arar to call for the entire transcripts to be made available ... otherwise, just keep making things up out of happy ignorance.
Ezra Levant likes to blow hot air, but it is sad to see him lie outright, as he clearly does. Maybe lawyers can't help it ... a tool of the profession that they can't put down. Probably doesn't even know when he's doing it and when he's not.
Ezra has his own myth going: that he's a victim of lawsuits that try to shut him up when he excecises his right "to be offensive" (he reserves that right, as should we all). However, just try to publish something that portrays Ezra in a dim light, and watch the lawsuit happen ... he has been quite busy in this respect in the past, but I assume that in his new role an martyr of free speech, he'll be a fair bit more restrained until his book sales slow.
Wow, this sounds like the same Pro-Arar rants by Kerry Pither who didn't like my Evidence from the Inquiry that debunked her Book that smear canada as if we caused Arar's plights.First off,any yahoo with 2 brain cells left can check the CBC archives from 2003 and read what Arar todl them about how well the USA treated him, and that after being rufused entry to the USA from Tunisia by himself on a canadian passport...it was only JORDAN that would take him back to be with his family he abandones in Tunisia.Why Jordan, because his wife is Palestinian and pro Shariah law orthodox and she was to meet her loving husband in Jordan.But they never showed up,Arar WAS NOT deported to Syria for torture because Arar's website even details his Lawfare suit against Jordan since he told the CBC that he was Torture for 14 days prior to kidnappers returning him to his homeland for a Military trial as a Draft-Dodger.The Arar's are on record in the Transcripts as fleeing canada to live in Tunisia with relatives,but the Muslim Brother friendly family there was being watched by the Police and when they closed in it was THEN when Arar fled to the Airport and tried to enter the USA at JFK Airport.Maher had a 2nd home away from his loving family that he abandoned back in canada,it was in Boston near a 9/11 Airport and the FBI saw him at the Al-Qaeda friendly Mosque in Boston,maher got a gun permit when he came to canada just after Gamil Gharabi did a Jihad to murder 14 female students in Quebec for Allah. Kerry Pither avoided telling the whole story of how the Arar's got to Tunisia and why they Fled canada after the RCMP found DATA disks and Hard Drives hidden in the wall and attic of their home. Kerry Pither also failed to mention the Arar's trying to smuggle a laptop into canada by car and they refused to give the password to see the drive when Customs caught them. They glob-trotted and went to the uSA by car to be undetected as they would by Plane from canada, they were close to CAIR, the CAIR now tied to....Palestines hamas for the Donations to Nihad Awad's CAIR-USA.
ReplyDeleteDr.Sheema Khan was with CAIR and was at the Arar Inquiry,so lets have Arar try to sue anyone because the Inquiry evidence backs my claims and Khan can explain her ties to hamas and CAIR and abetting in a $400'000'000.00 Jihad lawfare suit against canadian tax payers for what JORDAN did.Today we have Omar Khadr and Maher Arar calling each other a liar because Omar has the guts to admit he was in Afgahnistan while Maher Arar denies that Omar saw him at the Al-Qaeda training camp.
If you doubt me than it backs my view that the CBC is useless and should be cut loose because they drank the Arar Kool-aid of torture and rendition in 2006 when the CBC's own archive from 2003 disproved all of that.Are they that stupid to not even trust their own news stories???
ReplyDeleteArar was to stand trial in a Military Court, it was then his wife used the AlQueada tactic from the manula to allege Torture and sucker in the media that the evidence is all fake and his a victim.
If you flee Syria as a refugee for canada, it's pretty stupid to arrive here, get a gun permit,smuggle items across the border, hide data disk and hard drives in your walls,get a 2nd home in Boston,attend a radical jihad Mosque,and then refuse to help the RCMP expose Momin Khawaja in your Mosque because CAIR coached you to protect your Muslim brothers doing Jihad for Allah,plus...travel back to the M.E. to known terrorist producing nations on a canadian passport and then try to sneak into the USA to meet with Nihad Awad from CAIR.
Lets get Dr.Sheema Khan to answer for her links to CAIR and hamas funding because Alexa McDonnough is on a pro-hamas website in canada for her support with Arar's wife to attend a pro-hamas rally in Ottawa in support of the Feedom-Fighter in gaza and the West bank.
CAIR was also at the Muslimfest in 2005 to ask people to donate Zakat to the victims in Lebanon during Hezballah's illegal war against a U.N. democratic nation
via terrosim and not wear Uniforms to comply wot hthe geneva Convention.
Amazing how CUPE wants to Boycot Israel as Hamas murders gays in gaza and Iran hangs gays and females in public,plus Cuba used to jail Homosexuals with AIDS to hide them from canadian Tourists
like the CUPE members and teachers Union members. A note on the NDP, they actually used Arar's wife to run for them in Ottawa even when they knew she was anti-gay/against same-sex marriaged/pro-life/anti-feminist/pro-Shariah law .
I laughed during the news item when Layton tried a photo-op in Ottawa and she refused to shake hands with a male not related to her. Poor Jack, he was shocked and fumbled to recover from the Shariah law on our soil.
BTW
ReplyDeleteThere are so many holes in Arar's story that I could rip him apart
just by the bogus claims of torture in Syria and the dark lightless jail cell.Some people might wonder if Arar was a Government Mole with a cover story of the Vacationing family where dad was called back for a job offer. Arar was next to other suspect terrorism linked Muslims from Syria and the M.E., what better way to get Information and then pay him $10.4 million after a Inquiry charade to infer a guilt by canada and protect Arar's family.Today I see how the Arar's want a travel Visa for Saudi Arabia because they fled B.C. after getting OUR tax-dollar.
15 of the 19 9/11 Hijackers
were saudi nationals with ties to Palestine.
Things that make you go ...Hmmmmmmm?
Just one fact, if Arar was locked in a dark cell in the bowel of the prison, how did he know when sunrise was or what day it was because thye never let hime keep his watch on.When he heard screaming from alleged torture,he never actually saw the victim or confirmed it wasn't a audio as part of breaking him down.
Also, just try swinging around a 2 inch think cable with copper in it , you'll break your wrist from the leverage because it's not a garden hose that is hollow.
But whay should the facts get in the way of a CBC report.
Here's a off-topic fact that the Conspiracy folks don't want you to know.
ReplyDeleteThe rent-a-mob yahoos try to say that the CIA has secret Flights that land in canada on the East coast to carry Rendition victims to the M.E. .
Hmmmmm,I think they don't understand that Gander Airport is a Internal Recognized spot to re-fuel because some planes from New York City area take-off on low fuel for safety and to top-up befor
crossing the Atlantic in one flight. There is no Conspiracy by Transport Canada or the FAA to let "Secret" planes land in canada with Torture victims.
Ask any Pilot or look it up,747's from JFK leave on low-fuel to get airborn quicker and then top-up in gander.
Gee, I must be part of the Conspiracy and now the FAA and Transport canada will get me for exposing the secret. Oh wait, during 9/11 lots of planes landed in canada , were they all filled with CIA victims returning after Torture????
No, it's the Law that canada must allow planes to fuel up or land in a emergency. Too many geeks in mom's basement wit hall those Star trek or Star wars posters on the wall or Roswell Alien stories.
If you doubt me than it backs my view that the CBC is useless and should be cut loose because they drank the Arar Kool-aid of torture and rendition in 2006 when the CBC's own archive from 2003 disproved all of that.Are they that stupid to not even trust their own news stories???
ReplyDeleteArar was to stand trial in a Military Court, it was then his wife used the AlQueada tactic from the manula to allege Torture and sucker in the media that the evidence is all fake and his a victim.
If you flee Syria as a refugee for canada, it's pretty stupid to arrive here, get a gun permit,smuggle items across the border, hide data disk and hard drives in your walls,get a 2nd home in Boston,attend a radical jihad Mosque,and then refuse to help the RCMP expose Momin Khawaja in your Mosque because CAIR coached you to protect your Muslim brothers doing Jihad for Allah,plus...travel back to the M.E. to known terrorist producing nations on a canadian passport and then try to sneak into the USA to meet with Nihad Awad from CAIR.
Lets get Dr.Sheema Khan to answer for her links to CAIR and hamas funding because Alexa McDonnough is on a pro-hamas website in canada for her support with Arar's wife to attend a pro-hamas rally in Ottawa in support of the Feedom-Fighter in gaza and the West bank.
CAIR was also at the Muslimfest in 2005 to ask people to donate Zakat to the victims in Lebanon during Hezballah's illegal war against a U.N. democratic nation
via terrosim and not wear Uniforms to comply wot hthe geneva Convention.
Amazing how CUPE wants to Boycot Israel as Hamas murders gays in gaza and Iran hangs gays and females in public,plus Cuba used to jail Homosexuals with AIDS to hide them from canadian Tourists
like the CUPE members and teachers Union members. A note on the NDP, they actually used Arar's wife to run for them in Ottawa even when they knew she was anti-gay/against same-sex marriaged/pro-life/anti-feminist/pro-Shariah law .
I laughed during the news item when Layton tried a photo-op in Ottawa and she refused to shake hands with a male not related to her. Poor Jack, he was shocked and fumbled to recover from the Shariah law on our soil.
here's a statement from Arar, note how he admits he was taken to Jordan, but leaves out the CBC claim of 14 days of torture there. he fails to admit that his wife is Palestinian and the FBI saqw him at the radical Boston mosque and had a home near a 9/11 airport used that day.
ReplyDelete**************************
Shackled and Chained
And I remember on the plane I was most of the time I was shackled and chained except the last two hours when they offered me a shish-kabob dinner. Up until this day I do not, I cannot explain why they did that. If I was a dangerous person like they claimed in the beginning, why they would remove my chains and shackles the last two hours of the trip?
During also the trip, whenever I wanted to use the bathroom, one of the team members would go inside with me. Even though I complained that this was against my religious belief.
The plane landed in Jordan on three in the morning October 8th. And a couple of Jordanians were waiting, men, were waiting for me. They took me, they blindfolded me, they put me in a car and shortly after they started beating me on the back of my head. Whenever I complained about the beating they would actually start beating me more. So I just kept silent.
I stayed in Jordan for about 12 hours in a detention center. I still don't know what that place is.
I was always blindfolded whenever they took me from one cell to another or when they took me to see the doctor. But I felt something strange in that prison. I felt, what, that I used an elevator, which is quite strange for a Middle Eastern prison.
After 12 hours of detention, unlawful detention in Jordan I was eventually driven to Syria. And I just didn't want to believe that I was going to Syria. I always was hoping that someone, a miracle would happen--the Canadian government would intervene. A miracle would happen that would take me back to my country Canada.
*********************************
He was a Syrian Citizen flying on a canadian Passport, so please listen for what he doesn't say to you.
here's a comment by the Justice after the Arar inquiry.
ReplyDeletehe did not absolve Maher Arar,it was NOT a trial to prove any guilt.
And he does not demand a $ settlement for Arar.
The $10.4 milllion was to avoid a long and winnable case for canada but cost tax payer millions like the Air India farce. The money was NEVER an admission to guilt as the Arar's try to claim, CAIR and maher demanded $400'000'000.00 and got $10.4 Tax-free.
That's extortion and tax fraud to avoid income tax and bypass the courts.
Justice O'Connor
*Arar was properly a person of interest in the relevant RCMP investigation, as he was associated with suspects who were being investigated," O'Connor said. "Although the RCMP did not consider Arar a suspect, they had a legitimate interest in knowing more about him because of those associations. However, there was no information linking Arar’s wife, Monia Mazigh, to any suspect or activities being investigated. Thus, there was no basis to request a lookout for her."
In the post-9/11 environment, with the increased concern about threats of terrorism, some other countries may react to information connected with terrorist investigations in a far more aggressive manner than Canadian authorities might intend.
****************************
So terrorist now know the canada can harbour them and not inform other nations.
Thanks Arar,hope your on the same plane I am when it's blown up.
I browsing from the internet and I found your blog and I want to say that its entertain me a lot.
ReplyDeleteOne of Arar's biggest claims in seeking compensation was that he had been subjected to torture by the Syrians - a claim that was endlessly and uncritically played up by the media. But we have no evidence of this. We have only Arar's word for it. From the inquiry report : Fortunately, the purely physical effects of the [alleged] torture suffered by Mr. Arar have mostly proven to be short-lived... ... Dr. Gruner reports that when he first examined Mr. Arar there were few physical signs of torture. By the time Dr. Gruner saw Mr. Arar, the latter had been spared from torture as a part of interrogation for many months. What is more, Mr. Arar told me that during his detention in Sednaya Prison he had been able to “regain his physical shape.” Much of Arar's story is similarly lacking in evidence. Hence, as Ezra maintains, the "case" would have failed in court had it made it there. Politics kept it out.
ReplyDelete