Irving would like you to understand that the world has rules, and that these rules should not be ignored. You should not kill another human being. You should not steal. You should make an effort to look after your community and help it to flourish. And you should never, not under any circumstances, fly one country’s flag underneath another’s.
“It’s degrading!” he is yelling at the religious, Jewish man with the black velvet skullcap. “It’s disrespectful! I can’t even stand to look at what you’ve done. You want to honour Israel, but you’ve done just the opposite!”
The man, a principal in fact, principal of the very school Irving has barged into, is nodding his head politely, albeit with his arms crossed in front of his chest, his back very straight, feet shoulder-width apart. As Irving berates him, the principal wonders if the time has come to organize proper security at the school. Don’t ask how Irving (however elderly, short, inconspicuous) managed to just walk right into this building. Other schools in this predominately Jewish neighbourhood just north of Toronto have elaborate security checks, offices positioned right by the front door, secretaries with panic buttons. But Irving was just out on his morning walk. He was taking the route he always takes, past the elevated brownstone townhouses, past the strip mall filled with kosher shops, a bakery, a pizza parlour. Past the Lubavitch community centre and then past the houses on the boulevard, which are starting to look tired from all the children who...
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