The relationship between Israel and Palestine is a complex and chaotic situation which is not only fraught with acrimonious debate but continual violence. When we ask why this situation is so far from ever being solved, part of the answer, or the blame you might say, lies with the international community. That being the nations that proposed the partition of Palestine, the newly formed United Nations that backed it, and then the international community that stepped away from the ultimate objective of the plan: a two state solution, a Jewish and an Arab state. In this episode we look at how Canada was right there in the centre of the decision to partition Palestine and how it played a key role in supporting a solution that continues to be a trigger for both Jewish and Arab communities in the Middle East. 

BOOK RECO: Canada’s Foreign Policy and the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Kamaran K.M. Mondal, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in 2022.

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In September 2023 the Canadian parliament gave a standing ovation to 98 year old Yaroslav Hunka, who at the time was being applauded for his role in fighting the Soviets during WW2. This soon became a national and international embarrassment when it was realized that while Hunka did indeed fight the Soviets he did so as part of an SS regiment. In the aftermath of this scandal it came to light that Canada in fact opened its borders to Ukrainian veterans of the Waffen-SS in the post-war period. To dive into the complex history of this story I’ve brought on to the show one of the leading experts on this subject, historian Per Anders Rudling. In this part one of a two episode special Per takes us through the history of the First Ukrainian Division (also known as the 14th Waffen-SS Division Galician) and talks about how and why SS veterans were allowed into Canada and what this meant for our later understanding of their role in that war. 

Per Anders Rudling is a historian at Lund University in Sweden who focuses on the subject of nationalism, historical culture and historical memory in areas that today make up parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. He 2015 he published The Rise and Fall of Belarusian Nationalism which became an award winning work and he is currently researching Ukrainian nationalism during the Cold War. 

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In recent weeks a diplomatic row between Canada and India erupted as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly accused India of being behind the assassination of Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar’s involvement in the Khalistan Movement and the tensions within India over Sikh separatism have cast a spotlight on one of the most horrific terrorist attacks in North American history. On 23 June 1985 a plane was headed to Delhi from Toronto when it exploded killing all 329 persons on board, 280 of which were Canadian citizens. This bombing of Air India Flight 182 became the biggest mass murder in Canadian history, one of the most damning intelligence failures in Canadian history, and frankly, a near total travesty of justice. 

Book recommendation: Kim Bolan’s “Loss of Faith: How the Air India Bombers Got Away With Murder” 

 

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Sometime in the early to mid-19th century, thousands of Coast Salish warriors, from dozens of tribes, united in an incredible moment of Salish solidarity. They did this to stop an enemy that had been terrorizing the Salish people for years. In doing so, the Salish inflicted a devastating defeat on that enemy. The event that occurred has become a cornerstone of Salish history and identity. A story that has been passed down for many generations amongst many different Salish elders. A battle that proved to be one of the most decisive victories ever inflicted on any enemy by any military force in the history of the Pacific North West. 

Documentary recommendation: Tzouhalem 

https://www.knowledge.ca/program/tzouhalem

 

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Welcome everyone to the first episode of Season 9! In the late 1860s a man named Henri Le Caron was rising within the innermost circles of the Fenian Brotherhood. He had served alongside Fenian leader John O’Neill during the US Civil War and by the end of the 1860s found himself helping O’Neill organize and plan an invasion of Canada. Yet, what O’Neill and so many others didn’t know was that Henri Le Caron was really named Thomas Beach, and Beach wasn’t working for the Fenians, he was a spy working for the Canadian and British authorities. The work of Thomas beach would help foil a Fenian invasion of Canada and contribute to the collapse of that radical organization. 

BOOK RECO: Delusion: The True Story of Victorian Superspy Henri Le Caron by Peter Edwards published in 2008 by Key Porter Books

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In the 1770s the realization that sea otter pelts from the pacific northwest were fetching high prices in China led to an absolute bonanza of trading expeditions into the largely unexplored region. For many, the pacific northwest was one of the farthest places on the planet to reach. Yet, over the course of the last decades of the 18th century the pacific northwest became a collision of cultures and empires: from various Indigenous groups to European imperial spearheads, to an American republic, a variety of characters arrived in the region to chase their financial dreams. It was a place of danger and discovery and a place that could make or break one’s fortune. 

Book recommendation: Pacific Voyages: The Story of Sail in the Great Ocean by Gordon Miller published by Douglas and Mcintyre in 2023

https://douglas-mcintyre.com/products/9781771623476

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Thayendenagay was a Mohawk war chief, British soldier, tireless advocate and an accomplished diplomat who straddled two very different worlds that were colliding in the latter half of the 18th century. He witnessed the rapid expansion of imperial Britain and then the violent birth of the United States of America all the while attempting to lead his people through the geo-political complexities of that time. He would become one of the most famous Indigenous persons in the British empire and his name was both respected and feared from North America to Europe. 

Book recommendation: Joseph Brant: A Man of Two Worlds by Isabel Thompson Kelsay, published in 1984 by Syracuse University Press.

https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/1843/joseph-brant-1743-1807/

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Many Canadians know of the incredible bravery and courage that Canadian soldiers showed on 6 June 1944 when the men of 3rd Canadian Infantry Division seized Juno Beach as part of the largest combined-arms operation in the history of warfare: Operation Overlord, the invasion of northwest Europe. And while there are many incredible books and several podcast episodes talking about this invasion today’s episode is actually the product of a special request from a listener. This long-time listener was recently in Normandy and when searching for a podcast on D-Day felt that there was no episode that specifically talked in any detail about the actions of the first day itself, specifically related to the Canadian infantry assault on Juno Beach. Thus with the 6th of June only one week away here is an episode giving an overview of the actions on that 6th of June back in 1944 when the fate of the world changed forever. 

Book recommendation: Juno: Canadians at D-Day, 6 June 1944 by Ted Barris, Thomas Allen and Sons, 2009

https://www.amazon.ca/Juno-Canadians-D-Day-June-1944/dp/0887624138

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The recent passing of Gordon Lightfoot is the loss of one of the most important Canadian singer-songwriters in the history of North American popular music. Not only has he released dozens of albums, including over 200 songs, but his music has been recorded by a nearly endless list of artists from a wide variety of genres. His lyrics and melodies have been sung in honky-tonk saloons, dive bars, on legendary stages, in movie soundtracks, and reverberated in sound systems in some of the most elite clubs on the planet. He was an artist who was in many ways quintessentially Canadian, he loved living in Canada, he loved being outdoors, he loved hockey, he was a passionate advocate for the environment, he was a selfless friend and while he certainly had his demons, he was generous to a fault to those he loved. He was a musical leader in a generation of singer songwriters (and especially Canadian ones) who fundamentally influenced the direction of popular music.

Book recommendation: Lightfoot by Nicholas Jennings, Viking Press, 2017

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/541324/lightfoot-by-nicholas-jennings/9780143199212

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The words mutiny and cowardice are some of the most vile recriminations one could make against a ship and its crew. For years, these words were veiled behind the story of HMCS Uganda, Canada’s only naval vessel to fight against the Japanese. Yet, the story of HMCS Uganda is one of the most unique tales told in the history of Canada’s military and speaks to a strange time at the end of the Second World War, when a Canadian government prioritised domestic political interests over those of the ongoing military conflict and in turn put the sailors of Uganda in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation.The sailors aboard Uganda were given an unheard of choice in June 1945, one that would cast a controversial shadow over the ship, its crew and its role in the Second World War. 

Book recommendation: Mutiny: The Odyssey of HMCS Uganda by James W. Essex. Highway Book Shop. 2000

https://www.amazon.com/Mutiny-odyssey-Uganda-James-Essex/dp/0889544174/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

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