Saints Sinners Muslims Jews Christians

When Edgar Bronfman went to his reward not too long ago, the papers were full of tributes to his great accomplishments as a businessman, philanthropist, and his leadership of the World Jewish Congress through some very difficult times. Nowhere in those accolades did I notice any references to a recurring theme in Mr. Bronfman's writings and speeches; the necessity of establishing a binding peace deal with the Palestinians.

Parse his writings and speeches carefully enough, and you can make a case for Edgar Bronfman being a great champion of Palestinian rights.

Mr. Bronfman's wealth earned him great respect, especially among the many recipients of his philanthropy, who loved his money but couldn't care less about his convictions about an Israel-Palestine "solution."

His wealth accrued from the fact that his dear daddy had the sharpest elbows and the roughest enforcers among the underworld clans who provisioned America with booze back in the prohibition era.

The good deeds of the son absolved the sins of the father...

And here's a good one; Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was recently voted world's best mayor. Nenshi is the Muslim mayor of the most red-neck big city in all of Canada... how does such a thing even happen?

What Nenshi's success tells me is that even among a population that is traditionally very conservative, excellence trumps stereotypes.

When a right-wing Christian city elects a Muslim as mayor; when a billionaire Jewish philanthropist champions Palestinian rights, you know hope is still alive...