GREEN PROTESTERS

When arrested in Russia, expect to be jailed with ‘real’ Russians. Rex Murphy,

Recently, two canadians — one a doctor, one a filmmaker, both of them pro-Palestinian activists — travelled to egypt en route to a planned visit to Gaza. upon their arrival in cairo, they found themselves in the after-tow of that country’s violent political unheavels, amid street protests and a police effort to shut down elements of the Muslim brotherhood.

both canadians were arrested, without charges, along with countless others. They are now enduring their second 45-day remand in an egyptian jail. In an open letter, they have described some of their torments and the frightening conditions in which they are being held.

I join the long and various queue that stretches from Sarah Polley to Stephen Harper, from John baird to Judy rebbick, in publicly urging their release. Long stays in egyptian jails, at a time of near civil war, is something none of us wish on fellow citizens, regardless of the carelessness these two demonstrated in undertaking a mission to the region during such a dangerous period.

We might also give some mind to two other canadian activists abroad — Greenpeacers how sitting in a russian jail. They were part of a group that went to protest russian drilling in the high north. Two Greenpeace activists tried to board a rig. The russian coast Guard was not amused, and promptly seized the Greenpeace ship and jailed all 30 of the activists.

They have been charged with piracy, which carries a woeful penalty of 15 years in jail. between a frigid russian jail cell somewhere inside the Arctic circle, and a hot egyptian one, there is not much to choose: Neither venue will be mistaken for the relative Shangri-La a modern Western detention facility (complete with Western standards of due process).

There are, in these two stories, elements that give some indication of the state of mind of today’s activists. unlike their forebears, today’s dogooders have rather extravagant expectations regarding the treatment

One Greenpeacer was quite distressed that he was sharing a jail cell with a smoker. Is there no end to Russian sadism?

they will receive. One Greenpeacer, for instance, was reported as being quite distressed, even outraged, that he and his fellow non-smokers were celled together with smokers. Is there no end to russian sadism?

Another complained that she was a “vegan,” and apparently russian prisons make no provision for those who deem meat a dietary and environmental sin.

And finally, another activist professed something akin to shock — but which I prefer to think of simply as witlessness — when he was put in a cell with real live “russian” prisoners.

russian prisoners in a russian jail: how inconsiderate.

To sail thousands of miles with the intent to board a russian oil platform and then expect to be treated as mildly annoying visitors, rather than criminals, was pure delusion. Venturing into Vladimir Putin’s russia, when he already has demonstrated his prickliness in regard to protesters (as the musicians of Pussy riot can attest) was a mix of folly and childish entitlement. “We’re Greenpeace and we’re saving the world. you can’t apply your laws to us,” seems to be their governing adage.

Is it possible they thought russia was downtown Toronto, where you can scale the cN tower and make the evening news, earn a hero badge, and by morning be enjoying a latte in a downtown fair-trade coffee shop?

Only minds marinated in a sense of their own personal exceptionality, their self-bestowed status as agents of conscience, could have harboured such ludicrous expectations.

Here in the West, protest has taken on many aspects of a game, wherein both sides — police and protestors — see demonstrations very much like a play pre-scripted for youTube.

Ignorance is not a fortress; naiveté is not a legal defence. Other countries have their rules, and will not bend them because someone unfurling a banner shrieks that they are “saving the world.”

The two canadians languishing in egypt — filmmaker John Greyson and physician dr. Tarik Lubani — are not so deep in that same narcissistic bubble as the Greenpeace activists. Still, to make their journey when they did was a silly thing to do. but that said, it is the hope of all reasonable canadians that their stay in an egyptian cell will be quickly ended, and that the efforts of our government and their supporters will bear fruit.

An injustice done to a naïve person is still very much an injustice.