Posted on 11/27/2002 9:16:00 PM PST by webber
Dear _______,
First of all, we would like to extend our apologies for not including the country of Israel on the list of countries and territories where there are YMCAs at work and to confirm that Israel will be included on the Peace Week t-shirt next year. Each year, when designing the t-shirt, we attempt to reflect the countries and territories where there are current national movements of YMCAs. At times, YMCAs are closed down because of internal wars and may not re-open for a number of years.
It is not our intent to exclude any country or territory where there is a presence of the YMCA. Our motivation is to promote peace and dialogue in the hope that the YMCA can act as a mediator in situations where conflict occurs, be it domestic or internationally.
We deeply regret the omission and please rest assured that this is not a political statement by the YMCA. The country of Israel will be included in next year's t-shirt.
The YMCA has been dedicated to peace efforts for most of its existence and we remain committed to this important endeavour.
Mary Stobbe Manager of Communications YMCA Canada
I give Ms Stobbe the benefit of the doubt to this extent: that she may be personally in the dark about this particular tee shirt (unlikely but possible), and that she will arrange for whoever is responsible to be employed elsewhere.
It is clear to me that what happened was deliberate and a political statement by someone or a group.
Paradoxically, I can't bring myself to ask if any muslims are in her employ, LOL... well, maybe not LOL, this is after all Canada; they might have been ordered by some minister to do it that way.
Perhaps I will send them another email.
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