Mark Vandermaas letter to London Free Press editor

From: Mark Vandermaas
Sent: Monday, July 11/2011  9:34 PM
To: Joe Ruscitti
CC: Gary McHale

Subject: letter re tomorrow’s protest – requesting your side of the story

Mr. Joe Ruscitti, Editor
London Free Press

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Dear Mr. Ruscitti:

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Earlier today I sent out an email (cc’d to you) confirming that my protest at the London Free Press tomorrow would go ahead as planned from approx 11:15-1:00pm. I have spoken to Cst Holland at the London Police Service CORE Unit to let him know about the protest, and to confirm I’m not anticipating any issues. We will keep the sidewalks clear and we will not be harassing your employees in any way other than handing out literature.

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I understand you are upset with me printing our emails and those of Leila Paul regarding your need to consult with Muslims before publishing her article. If the situation were reversed, I know I would feel the same. It was not something I did lightly, and I have never done it before. We have worked with media for years during the Caledonia crisis and I well understand that we need journalists on our side, not angry with us. Unfortunately, I had to weigh the public good against the consequences of burning my bridge with London’s only major daily. I’m sorry, but I would do it again in a heartbeat because the stakes are just too important.

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If the London Free Press believes it is acceptable not to report fundamental facts countering the anti-Israel hysteria, and the the role of a religious institution in our community – no matter what the denomination – in supporting a mission which, if successful, will ultimately result in weapons getting in the hands of a terror organization sworn to exterminate Jews, then I must take exception.

Jacob Peretz to London Free Press: Coverage of Gaza boat story shameful as voyage itself

Letter to London Free Press submitted by resident, Jacob Peretz, who was the first member of the London Jewish community to show support for the Blue Beret vigil outside the London (Muslim) Mosque, on Day 3 – June 25/11 (I have made some minor typographical corrections).

Jacob sent a copy to me after it appeared in the LFP.

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Middle East

Gaza

I would like to submit a letter Letter to the editor July 5, 2011. The London Free Press (LFP), daily coverage of the “Canadian boat to Gaza” is shameful as is the voyage itself.

Billed as a humanitarian voyage to aid the people of Gaza against “Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza”, this trip is nothing but a provocation against the legitimacy of the state of Israel. The people of Gaza are proud to say that they democratically elected this Hamas government and the world has to accept their votes. These people then have to live with the consequences of a government bent on the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jewish people all over the world.

Is free speech at London Free Press now subject to Muslim approval? The ‘Leila Paul’ emails

The ‘Leila Paul’ emails:

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UPDATE: Masters of Deceit (Leila Paul), July 07/11: True Patriot Love – Standing Up To London’s Mosque

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On Day 13 of the Blue Beret vigil to protest the London (Ontario) Muslim Mosque’s support for the Canadian Boat to Gaza, I released a statement announcing that the London Free Press had informed me that, despite two interviews (one by phone, one on site), and despite their publishing of several stories about the anti-Israel side of the London connections to the Tahrir, they were not going to report my vigil, or the evidence that led me to begin it:

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• VoiceofCanada, June 22/11:  MEDIA RELEASE: Former Blue Beret to protest London (Ontario) Muslim Mosque support for Canadian Boat to Hamas
• VoiceofCanada feature: UPDATES: ‘Blue Beret’ vigil

On Day 14, I published my email exchange with the editor of the London Free Press, Joe Ruscitti:

• Mark Vandermaas – London Free Press emails:  [PDF].

A former journalist named Leila Paul contacted me through a mutual friend and gave me explicit instructions to publish her email interaction with Editor Ruscitti in which he states – among other things – that he will not publish her opinion piece about the alleged terrorist connections to the funding of an Islamic Chair at Huron College at the University of Western Ontario until after he has had a chance to meet with the Muslim community to try to persuade them to also write a piece.
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Ms. Paul’s piece was never published by the London Free Press, but you can read it here in her original email to Editor Ruscitti along with his explanation of why he won’t run it:

• Leila Paul – London Free Press emails [PDF]

About Leila Paul

Leila Paul was born in Bethlehem in 1945 and baptized in the Church of the Nativity. She grew up believing she was a Palestinian Arab, yet became increasingly uncomfortable, feeling somehow that she did not belong.

It was this long ago feeling that would eventually bring her to the decision to speak out about her experience with the London Free Press after seeing the the paper’s decision to cover the anti-Israel London connection to the Canadian Boat to Gaza,  yet not report the evidence and facts behind my Blue Beret vigil

I asked Ms. Paul if she would tell readers why she decided to speak out now.

In her own words…

THE LEILA PAUL STORY

For years I tried to remain aloof from the issue after I started having doubts about the real, long term motives of Islamists. It’s only when I acknowledged the truth after Rory Leishman’s column [London Free Press, ‘Media Ignores Islamist Extremism, Sept 30/11 – also spiked by Editor Joe Ruscitti, leading to Leishman’s resignation] that I finally admitted I’d been wrong. Once the wall had collapsed, everything cascaded through. I did a second ancestry test and began to study the anthropology and archeological evidence to discover my instincts were right. My belief is that there is no Palestinian ethnicity but they’ve been indoctrinated by years of Arab Islamic domination. In fact, I’d long suspected that some of my ancestors were Jews and later converted to Christianity.

Kudos to London Free Press for Worthington’s ‘Truth and Consequences’ feature page re Caledonia, Islamic appeasement

The London Free Press today published a remarkable, full-page feature to highlight Peter Worthington’s ‘Truth and its Consequences’ column which connected the dots between the intimidation of victims in Caledonia, the persecution of Islam critics in Europe and our application of Dr. King’s teachings to confront extremists and their enablers.

London Free Press, page B3 (full page): ‘Truth and Consequences’

The hard copy of the LFP page – which has not been published online – has Worthington’s column in a box on the left side beside a large close-up image of a woman wearing a burka. Underneath, across the full width of the page, is a large photo of the occupation site in Caledonia, and below that is a smaller photo showing a riot in Pakistan.

The  title is ‘Truth and Consequences,’ and the tagline reads:

‘PROTESTS: Around the world are people under pressure to watch what they say or face incarceration’

The giant photo of the burka woman contains a quote from Denmark’s Lars Hedegaard:

“Hundreds of thousands of little girls in Muslim majority societies have been sold into marriage with much older men…” Historian Lars Hedegaard

My letter to the Editor of the London Free Press

I submitted the following letter to the editor of the LFP for their consideration. I have not yet been advised if it will be published.

Re: Worthington’s ‘Truth and Consequences,’ Feb 14/11

I am profoundly grateful to Peter Worthington and to the London Free Press – and other media in Canada, Europe and Israel – for running this column, and especially for devoting an entire feature page to it for two reasons:

London Free Press & Rory Leishman part company over Islamic extremism article

Columnist Rory Leishman and the London Free Press (Ontario, Canada) have parted company over a column exposing the willingness of community leaders to tolerate and even embrace those who express support for radical Islam. 

Since I live in London – which has a large population of Muslims – and have exchanged a few emails with him regarding Caledonia Leishman’s departure hits close to home.

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Media ignores Islamist extremism

by Rory Leishman

[Note: The following column was scheduled to appear in The London Free Press on September 11, but was rejected for publication by the newspaper’s Managing Editor Joe Ruscitti.]

Following the arrest of three more Canadian citizens on terrorism charges last month, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews warned: “We are not immune from international or home-grown radicalization. I have said this before: The threat is real and we cannot be complacent.”

Consider the evidence: The great majority of suspected terrorists arrested in Canada in recent years were either born and raised in Canada, or had spent most of their formative years in this country. And the same is true of all 11 of the Toronto 18 suspects who were convicted of conspiring to storm Parliament Hill and set off a series of devastating truck bombs in downtown Toronto.