Category Archives: Current Events

Articles on current events

Do not ask what freedom can do for you …

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Michel Botman

“Do not ask what freedom can do for you, … but what you can do for freedom!” To women in Paris, New York, Brussels, London – or Ottawa on “Hijab day” – who lawfully claim the freedom to wear the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Islam, Society | Tagged Burka, burqa, Burqua, Hidjab, Hidjab day, hijab, Hijab day, human-rights, Islam, Michel Botman, Nikab, niqab, Niquab, Ottawa Hijab day, Religion, Women's Rights | Leave a comment

Let’s Start a Country!

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Michel Botman

A Wimbledon Final of the spoken word.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged Al Lafrance, Gerard Harris, Holly Gauthier-Frankel, Jeff Leard, Let's Start a Country, Michel Botman, Michel Botman photographe, Michel Botman Photographer, Michel Botman photographie, Michel Botman Photography Toronto Fringe, Tarragon, Tarragon Theater, Tarragon Theatre | Leave a comment

Islamism, Feminism & Defiance

Posted on July 7, 2015 by Michel Botman

Few stories could be more heartbreaking than the story of Lisa Borch, the tragically misguided teen from Denmark, victimized for years by Muslim men twice her age, abused, manipulated, brainwashed and ultimately programmed to kill. The story of two victims … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Islam | Tagged Burka, burqa, coran, Democracy, discrimination, Education, femen, feminism, free speech, gender equality, Islam, islamism, Michel Botman, sharia | 2 Comments

This is not a Pipe … or a Prophet …

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Michel Botman

What is the punishment for drawing pipes?

Posted in Current Events, Islam, Israel / Judaism | Tagged Ahmed Merabet, Amedi Coulibaly, anti-semitism, antisémitisme en Europe, antisémitisme en France, antisémitisme français, antisemitism, antisemitism in Europe, antisemitism in France, Charlie Hebdo, Charlie Hebdo massacre, Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, Elsa Cayat, François-Michel Saada, Franck Brinsolaro, Frederic Boisseau, Georges Wolinski, Je suis charlie, Je suis Elsa, Je suis François-Michel, Je suis Georges, Je suis Johan, Je suis Philippe, Je suis Yoav, Johan Cohen, Kouachi brothers, Kouachi terrorists, Le Monde, massacre au super casher, Michel Botman, Michel Botman photographie, Michel Renaud, Mustapha Ourrad, Paris Kosher supermarket massacre, Paris massacre, Paris terrorist attack, Phillipe Barham, Phlippe Braham, Rene Magritte, Soren Seelow, the two terrorists, Yoah Hattab, Yoav Hattab, Yohan Cohen | Leave a comment

It’s life and life only

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Michel Botman

Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with a small cancer. Nothing major at all. Nothing grand. A pesky malignant nodule, the size of a shriveled plum, sitting insidiously over my Thyroid was surgically removed. It took a bit of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Family, Society | Tagged Michel Botman | 1 Comment

Mandela

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Michel Botman

A few weeks ago, on the way to school, Jesse, one of the many bright kids in our carpool, and our son Noah were discussing Machiavellianism. Jesse made a particularly interesting and surprising comment on human nature and political systems.

Posted in Current Events, Family, Photography, Travel | Tagged Apartheid, Cape Town, District Six Museum, Mandela, Michel Botman, Michel Botman photographe, Michel Botman Photographer, Michel Botman photographie, Michel Botman Photography, Nelson Mandela, Noah Botman, Robben Island, Robben Island Cape Town, South Africa | Leave a comment

Efi – The End of Processing

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Michel Botman

Last Saturday, we were invited by our friends Karen and Steve to celebrate Karen’s birthday at Walima, our favorite Moroccan restaurant on Avenue Road. As the evening progressed, the conversation meandered gently from place to place, from our lives back … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Digital Imaging, Family, Scitex | Tagged Alan Noon, Arazi, efi, Efi Arazi, Electronic for Imaging, Eli Baron, exscite, Imager, Imager III, Jean-Claude Van Holder, Kobi Milo, Lindy Amato, Liz Waterworth, Michel Botman, Michel Botman Scitex, Scitex, Scitex Europe, Scitex System, Sebastian Rockstroh, Shlomi Tauber, Shomo Buzaglo | 1 Comment

The Obama Yad Vashem Address

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Michel Botman

As many of our loved ones journeyed from Poland to Israel, traveling across the world from a somber Yom HaShoah commemoration in Auschwitz to a glorious Yom HaAtzma’ut celebration in Massada, we are also to remember the thousands of survivors … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Family, Holocaust, Israel / Judaism, Noah Botman | Tagged anti-semitism, Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, human-rights, Israel, Majdanek, majdanek poland, Majdanic, middle-east, Noah Botman, Obama, Obama Yad Vashem Address, Palestine, politics, President Obama, President Obama Yad Vashem Address, Religion, shoah, UN resolution 181, World War II, Yom HaAtzma’ut, Yom HaShoah | Leave a comment

The Political Correctness of the Hideous

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Michel Botman

The paradoxical “political correctness” of Israel bashing: new variations on an antediluvian theme.

Posted in Current Events, Israel / Judaism, Society | Tagged anti-semitism, antisemitism, Gerald Scarfe anti-israel cartoon, Holocaust, holocaust memorial day, human-rights, Israel security barrier, israeli airstrike in Syria, israeli security barrier, israeli strike in Syria, israeli wall, middle-east, political correctness, politics, The Sunday TImes anti-Israel cartoon | Leave a comment

Historical Accuracy – Please!

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Michel Botman

On November 30, 2012, the day the Palestinian Authority obtained non-member observer state status at the United Nations, I received an email from, Avaaz, a civic organization of which I have been a member for a number of years. (Email … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Israel / Judaism | Tagged 1947 partition of Palestine, 1948 Arab Israel war, 1948 Middle East war, British Mandate for Palestine, Gaza, Gaza strip, Israel, Jewish refugees, Jordan, Palestine, Palestinian refugees, Palestinian state, Palestinian statehood, Partition of Palestine, Transjordan, West Bank | 2 Comments

Not all equal

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Michel Botman

All deaths are not equal. There is tragedy, there is sadness… and there is nausea.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged body pulled behind motorbike in Gaza, death, Execution of Palestinian Civilians, Gaza, Gaza City, Murder of Palestinian Civilians | 2 Comments

Evanescence

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Michel Botman

On time, beauty and the permanence of photographic images For weeks, I resisted watching the unbearably sad video recorded by Amanda Todd. I knew her dramatic entanglement in a web she could no longer control. I dreaded the uneasy feeling … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Photography, Society | Tagged AIDS, AIDS campaign, Amanda Todd, bullying, Dangers of the internet, Dominique Bataille, loneliness, nudity, on-line bullying, revenge porn, SIDA, teen bullying, voyeurism | Leave a comment

Unveiling and Uprising

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Michel Botman

Dana Bakdounis; breaking free from the confines of the chrysalis. Giving a voice and a face to the uprising of women in the Arab world:

Posted in Current Events, Islam | Tagged burqa, Dana Bakdounis, niqab, uprising of women in the Arab world, veil | 3 Comments

Hair that should not be brushed away

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Michel Botman

Last Friday, I sent a letter to the Toronto Start in response to the following article on a recent Ontario Human Rights lawsuit:

Posted in Current Events, Religion, Society | Tagged Human rights vs religious rights | 1 Comment

Not just a number

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Michel Botman

Every afternoon, I drive to CHAT, the Hebrew Academy where my son Noah goes to school. It has been part of my hectic schedule for the last few years, and, despite the laborious routine, something I always look forward to … Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Israel / Judaism, Society | Tagged Auschwitz, Holocaust, Holocaust remembrance, Holocaust tattoo, Holocaust tattoo controversy, Tattoo | 2 Comments