Israel and Iran 2012

The Arab spring riots are not by radicals but by moderates. Canada has just opened an Office of Religious Freedom under Conservative Prime Minister Steven Harper.  I forget that my friends include Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist, and Christian professors and doctors.  Only in countries where Christianity prevailed was religious freedom what it is in Canada today.  Even the Buddhist countries, despite the pacifist nature of that religion, have been generally intolerant of religous freedoms.  The restriction on religious freedom in the south has been called the 'Bamboo Curtain'.
Christians are routinely killed by radical Moslems.  The bombing of Christian churches on Christmas isn't new. The Voice of Martyrs tells of Christians killed all the time for their religious beliefs but this doesn't make the news here in Canada.  Canadians despite being overwhelming of Christian background  don't think in religious terms like so much of the world does.  Like Americans we' have separated Church and State.  The Radical Moslems don't want this.  I known many Moslems who were tortured in moslem jails. I honestly don't know of a Canadian who was 'tortured' in a Canadian jail. I suspect they exist but it's a matter of scale.  In many Moslem countries the abuse of power, rape and torture are systemic.
To put it in perspective the equivalent of the 'residential school system abuses 'are likely presently happening in a whole lot of the world and we don't hear about it.
When I asked a Moslem man whether Iran should have nuclear weapons, he said, "Iranians don't want the Iranian state to have nuclear weapons. The religous fanatics in charge are killing Moslems, their fellow Iranians. The more power these people get the more people they kill.  "
From talking with my friends the religious fanatics would prefer to kill Christians and Jews but when those aren't readily available they're kill a Moslem instead.  Aetheists are at greatest risk in Moslem countries. Wiccans and pagans wouldn't stand a chance.  In Canada we take religious diversity for granted but that's simply not the case in most Moslem countries.
When I was in Israel, I saw in Tel Aviv especially a modern and post modern city and country struggling to exist surrounded by neighbours where the abuses which we have heard about since the beginning of Arab Spring are normal.
When I objected to the Israeli governments piracy at sea and the propaganda to cover up that event of international terrorism I was aware that Israelis reacted even more strongly against their government.  Israel, like Canada, tolerates diversity and people can demonstrate and speak out against the abuses of state. There's opposition in Israel. It's a country like Canada is.  Not the same for Iran.  And not thes ame for Syria.  Talking with friends from those countries they describe 'disappearances'. It's like Argentina was.  If a person says something against the state they simply disappear.
I admire the Israelis who have spoken out against the rabbis who like the Catholic priests here were using their positions for rape and pedophilia.  In Canada we have laws and accountability.  Rape and torture seem to be norms of the prison systems and police forces in the Moslem world.   We're not soon going to have a vetting of the Imans who are raping or involved in pedophilia.  Our countries are so different and it's hard to remember that especially when a city like Dubai can aopear so modern on the outside with all the evidence of material advancement. Then doctors can be jailed and sexually abused for treating wounded people in another Moslem country just down the road.  The wealth of royal families in some Moslem states  is staggering compared to the  poverty in the streets  which can be horrific.
Israel is modern and post modern with the problems that go with that.  These other Moslem countries  are medieval with widespread abuse of power and corruption.  I'm not surprised that Israel would be as concerned about the growth of power of Iran.  If the way countries like Iran and Syria treat their own people is any example then Jews and Christians need be very concerned about the rise of fanatic Moslem states.  The Canadian Moslems I know, who are moderate and learned are much less concerned about Jews and Christians than they are about the radical Moslem religious fanatics.  That says alot to me.