In my view, it’s WW3: Zionism’s decades long march against our right to freedom of expression/free speech, democracy, humanity, compassion, decency and anyone opposing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and others and thefts of their lands and resources.
Zionism and Israel gov’t hate our right to Freedom of Expression (Free Speech in USA) because it interferes with their genocide of Palestinians. Opposing genocide is not allowed by Zionists, most of which are fake christian evangelicals.
Zionists control academia, politicians, media and more (too many Canadian judges), largely via funding and threat of removing that funding, and other threats. Thus why I think we are seeing university admins piss on charter rights of students, faculty, staff and supporters, and violently abuse them to try to silence them, via police racism, hatred, violence and intentional harm.
From 2014-2017, Steve Harper’s Zionist racist supreme court of Canada (7/9 at the time were Harper judges*; additionally, Rosalie Abella then also on the court, publicly made her Zionism clear) used me and my case, dragging it ruthlessly out, to damage Canadians’ Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I believe they did this serving Israel using our tax dollars, notably serving Harper’s monstrous buddy Bibi and his gov’t, set up making gravy for his firm that serves Israel spyware used to kill Palestinians, and to serve frac’ers here and there – Israel is stealing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of oil and gas (which must be frac’d) that belongs to Palestinians.
The terrorism, racism, hatred, mass murder and evil that is Zionism astounds me, more and more, every day. If you are not as terrified as I have been for years, you ought to be.
*Harper also appointed all the lower court judges that pissed on Canada’s charter and my right to freedom of expression, and worse, he shuffled them up and down and around, to benefit the defendants and their lying lawyers (including AER’s lawyer Glenn Solomon saying in their 2012 court filing, without any evidence or Affidavit, that I am a terrorist, thus have no charter rights).
The bad guys like to discredit the good guys by labelling them terrorists when it’s the bad guys that prove themselves to be the real terrorists; bad judges like to discredit litigants by smearing them as vexatious litigants even before they become litigants. What does that make bad judges?
Bruce Ryder@BBRyder:
Retired ABCA Justice Sheila Greckol calls out @UCalgary and @UAlberta and raises important questions: “Why the fear of public discourse? Of words and thoughts with which some might disagree? If not at universities, then where?” https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-alberta-universities-must-answer-for-police-use-of-force-against-protesters
Solidarity rally with student encampment at U of T
People’s Circle for Palestine / King’s College Circle
May 27, 2024 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
University of Toronto, St. George campus Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A1
The OFL is calling on trade unions, students, community members, and allies to join a solidarity rally to defend students’ right to protest, and to oppose attempts by the University of Toronto administration to remove the student encampment from campus.
On Friday, the University issued an ultimatum to the students: clear out by Monday at 8:00 a.m. or be in violation of a trespass notice.
We reject these threats and call on the University to choose negotiations and discussion over ultimatums and repression.
Solidarity rally
When: Monday, May 27
8:00 AM (when the trespass notice is supposed to take effect)
Where: People’s Circle for Palestine / King’s College Circle
University of Toronto, St. George campus
TTC: St. George | Map
Please be on alert for notice of an earlier emergency rally in the event the administration directs the police to clear the encampment before Monday at 8:00 AM.
OFL open letter to U of T President
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) issued the following open letter to University of Toronto President Meric Gertler on Saturday, May 25, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. EDT. Download the letter here.
Dear President Gertler,
I am writing in my capacity as the President of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), which represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario.
As the voice of Ontario’s labour movement, the OFL unequivocally supports the right of students to engage in peaceful protest on campus, as they call for a ceasefire and divestment from companies that are complicit in war and occupation.
I was therefore disappointed to hear about your ultimatum to the student encampment at the University of Toronto: clear out by Monday at 8:00 a.m. or be in violation of a trespass notice.
As trade unionists, we know what good-faith bargaining looks like. You should, too. In most instances at the bargaining table, our members and your representatives have successfully negotiated numerous collective agreements, without resorting to strikes or lockouts.
The same approach should apply here. Negotiations must continue in good faith, and without threats of police intervention. The recent successful conclusions to the encampments at Ontario Tech University and at McMaster University, for example, shows what’s possible.
By contrast, when administrators choose repression, it rightfully provokes a response well beyond the students. On Monday, thousands of academic workers at the University of California went on strike to protest their employer’s use of violence to clear the encampments.
Universities should be where we learn to debate and disagree with each other–without the fear of violence. For Canada’s largest university to decide unilaterally when the debate should end, and when police repression should begin, is a betrayal of the values we claim to uphold.
Indeed, your own Statement of Institutional Purpose describes these values clearly:
Within the unique university context, the most crucial of all human rights are the rights of freedom of speech, academic freedom, and freedom of research. And we affirm that these rights are meaningless unless they entail the right to raise deeply disturbing questions and provocative challenges to the cherished beliefs of society at large and of the university itself.
This is a mandate to support the students, not repress them. In this spirit, I urge you to reverse course immediately, and choose negotiations and discussion over ultimatums and repression.
As a gesture of encouragement, I am calling on all trade unions and allies to join a solidarity rally on Monday at 8:00 a.m. at the student encampment at the University of Toronto.
If, by then, you decide to move against the students, you’ll have to go through the workers first.
Sincerely,
LAURA WALTON
President, Ontario Federation of Labour
Laura Walton is the author of “Students are making history. All of us should join them,” which appeared on rabble.ca on May 17, the one-month anniversary of the student encampment movement.
Dr Ruth Marshall is Kicking Against the Pricks@wtfis2bdone:
These threats are not only unprecedented in @UofT’s history, but in the history of North American Higher Ed. As legal counsel told us yesterday, we are in “uncharted waters.”
We will not be intimidated!
We will not stop, we will not rest.
Disclose. Divest. Cut ties. NOW
@ClaytonBurnsPhD:
The insanity and criminality of donor influence
U of T faculty association alarmed as school warns of termination for those who don’t leave pro-Palestinian encampment before deadline by Joe Friesen, May 25, 2024 (updated May 26, 2024)
The University of Toronto Faculty Association reacted with surprise and alarm to a school warning that professors and staff who refuse to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus before a Monday morning deadline could face disciplinary measures, including termination.
The warning was contained in a trespass notice the university sent Friday to the protesters at the encampment on King’s College Circle, one of dozens of pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across North America that have been calling for universities to divest from companies connected to the Israeli military.
The notice said protesters have until Monday at 8 a.m. to leave their camp, which has been in place since May 2. The university has said that if the camp remains in place, it will seek an injunction from the Ontario Superior Court. Protesters were set to meet with school officials on Sunday evening, ahead of Monday’s deadline.
In a letter to its members late Friday, the faculty association executive said it’s the first time, to their knowledge, that professors have faced such a public threat from the university administration when exercising what they described as their rights to academic freedom and free expression.
They said they are committed to protecting the rights of faculty and have been meeting with legal counsel on how to do so.
According to the trespass notice, students who fail to leave by Monday morning could be subject to discipline, including sanctions as severe as a five-year suspension or a recommendation of expulsion. It also said faculty, librarians and staff may be subject to disciplinary measures up to and including termination.
“It is literally unprecedented in the modern era of the relationship between the U of T administration and UTFA that there has been a public threat of mass termination of association members for exercising their academic freedom,” said Jeff Bale, faculty association vice-president, university and external affairs.
“I was taken aback by the really sharp change of tone.”Zionism is a cruel monster that has had decades to grow out of control, globally.
The faculty association letter to its members said the university provided no advance warning that the trespass notice would include the threat.
Heather Boon, vice-provost faculty and academic life, said faculty members going about their normal activities would not be impeded by the notice of trespass.
“However they should refrain from engaging in unauthorized activities, such as encampments or the occupation of university buildings, as set out in that notice,” Dr. Boon said.
The faculty association represents more than 3,500 professors, librarians and other staff, and between 160 and 180 members have participated at some stage in the encampment protest, according to Prof. Bale.
While it has taken no position on the substance of the protest, the association has disputed what it says is the administration’s assertion that the unauthorized use of space on campus by protesters constitutes trespassing.
In an April 30 letter to University of Toronto president Meric Gertler, UTFA executive committee argued that a blanket ban on encampments is an unreasonable restriction on freedom of expression rights, which are also protected under the code of student conduct. By designating all buildings and lands on campus as private property, the letter said, the universityThus Zionismis seeking the power to decide which protests are or are not authorized.
In response, Kristin Taylor, university counsel and chief legal officer, said in a statement Saturday that any notion that the campus is not private property has no basis in fact.
Further raising the stakes surrounding this encampment, the Ontario Federation of Labour has called on all trade unions to join a solidarity rally at King’s College Circle at 8 a.m. Monday.
On Friday, Amnesty International Canada urged the University of Toronto not to issue the notice of trespass and not to get police involved.
“The university has a duty to respect the rights of students to peacefully protest and counterprotest on their campuses,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada.
“Law enforcement should not and must not be used to criminalize basic rights. We have seen how quickly this practice escalates tensions and seriously undermines the potential for any rights-respecting resolution. We also have seen several positive examples of universities using dialogue to peacefully address the concerns of student protesters.”
McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. announced Friday that it had reached an agreement with protesters to take down their encampment within 24 hours and to not disrupt upcoming convocation ceremonies.
The deal released by the university contains nine items related to disclosure, divestment and support for Palestinian scholars.
Encampments have also recently ended at Queen’s University and Ontario Tech University following discussions between protesters and university administrators.
On Thursday, U of T made public details of its offer to the protesters. It said it would expedite a review of the request for divestment and create an expert working group to consider how its investment holdings could which translates in my dictionary to mean “won’t be”be made more transparent. It rejected the protesters’ demand to cut ties with Israeli universities, saying that would restrict academic freedom and run counter to the goal of furthering understanding through dialogue.
The protesters did not accept the deal before its Friday afternoon deadline and have indicated they have no intention of leaving. They see the university’s offer as a starting point for further negotiation.
With files from The Canadian Press
Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories by Jung & Naiv: Episode 706, May 22, 2024
@paolosunda7762:
Francesca is a true warrior…..One that does not need guns to fight…..Her passion and commitment for the Palestinian cause will inspire generations to come…
@AlleLamb:
And she’s not even paid for that!!
Alberta universities must answer for use of force against protesters by Sheila Greckol, May 24, 2024, Edmonton Journal
I add my voice to the chorus of academics and community members dismayed over use of police force to crack down on peaceful student demonstrators at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta.
The students’ right to gather to express pro-Palestinian views on campus is prima facie guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The universities had reasonable options for response to student demands for divestment from interests linked to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians: dialogue to hear their concerns, perhaps a forum as offered at McGill University; respectful interaction as at University of British Columbia; or commitment to “a calm and measured approach to the encampment,” as at University of Victoria, to name but a few.
If there was credible evidence of threats to safety, the universities could have used civil process, with procedural safeguards, and sought injunctive relief, as McGill did, affording the students their day in court to advance Charter rights and to test the universities’ claims. Police use of force against demonstrating students must be a last resort, reserved for threatened or actual criminal conduct.
University of Alberta President Bill Flanagan alleged (Edmonton Journal, May 13) “serious and potentially life-threatening risks associated with encampment on the quad” and possession of “potential weapons,” including “hammers, axes and screw drivers, along with a box of needles.” In the national media (Globe and Mail, May 13), he claimed risk from “illegal drug use” as well as a “potential for violence from counter-protesters.”
Does anyone seriously believe the students had carpentry tools for harmful purposes, rather than to erect tents and hang banners; or that the needles were not part of “medical supplies brought by a certified first-aid provider,” as organizers said? And if true, where are the weapons and drug charges? Such claims painted all the students with the brush of illegality and are contrary to eyewitness reports.
To be clear, charges were laid against students after police interaction with them, not from any prior conduct. Whether they are meritorious remains to be seen, but there is no evidence that without police action, any charges would have been laid against anyone.
Inflammatory rhetoric is not leadership, but its opposite, suggesting the university has taken a position rather than remained above the fray.
President Flanagan further claimed “less than one quarter of campers were U of A students” without basis in fact. This is a familiar spin from the American playbook, especially used by private, wealthy universities, which relied upon claims of infiltration by external troublemakers to justify police use of force and to lock their wrought iron gates against the public.
Fortunately, we have public, taxpayer-funded universities in this country. Citizens are free to walk their paths, to demonstrate there, and to call our universities to account. American-style deployment of armed police with batons at the crack of dawn against students is wholly inappropriate to the Canadian, Charter-protected, public university context. The call by Alberta’s premier for precisely this response begs the questions: What pressure was put on the universities, by whom, and how were decisions made?
In Edmonton, these actions show profound misunderstanding of our community with its long history of peaceful protest for labour rights, abortion rights, Indigenous rights, 2SLGBTQ rights, and more. We complain about the disengagement of youth, yet when they did show up, they are shut down by arbitrary use of power and police force. Why the fear of public discourse? Of words and thoughts with which some might disagree? If not at universities, then where?
The universities chose a simplistic response to a complex problem, at a very high cost to their reputations, to free expression, and to the idealism of youth. As the University of Alberta, Faculty of Arts associate dean, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, wrote in her resignation letter, the encampment modelled solidarity between Palestinian, Jewish and Indigenous communities and allies, in contrast to its violent removal.
The University of Alberta should apologize to the students and our community, withdraw trespass citations or charges, and model civil discourse. And, together with police, should be held accountable for their actions at a public hearing where questions must be answered.
Sheila Greckol is a retired Court of Appeal of Alberta and Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta justice and worked over two decades as a labour and human rights lawyer. She received an honorary doctorate of laws and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Alberta.
Kirby Fell:
Putting the reasons for the protest aside, can someone explain why the Police allow various other protests without intervention? Here, I speak of the numerous protests within Edm, etc about lockdowns, that caused significant disruption to people and businesses Downtown and other places, but also that the RCMP allowed the massive and significant blockade of the Coutts Border crossing to go on for a significant period of time? It seems that there is a double standard here… perhaps I am wrong and so hopefully someone can explain why some protests see a very quick law enforcement effort and others not so much. Look at the ax the tax protest down South where people are camping along the road side or in rest stops for weeks already. If anything the law and law enforcement should be applied the same regardless of the protest’s intentions and goals and I am simply not seeing it.
… In the Coutts blockade 10’s if not 100’s of $M of trade was disrupted + there were elected Gov officials meeting and greeting the protesters. As I said, a double standard as far as I am concerned.
… I will say this again… Coutts Blockade was a permanent camp and was actually blocking and disrupting cross border transport. This went on for just over 2 weeks. Southern AB even now has a Carbon Tax protest where the participants are camping out on the side of the highway or in rest stops.
My point… since you cannot grasp it… is why the Double standard? The law is the law and so law enforcement are supposed to apply the law equally to everyone… or in this case protesters. And yet we see a significantly different approach to the U’s protest and other ones. THIS IS MY POINT and so the question is WHY?
In my view, it’s racism. Canada is a racist abusive genocidal country. Israel learned from us. And, there is video showing police hugging the law violating Coutts blockaders and federal and provincial con politicians gave the blockaders what they demanded, including harming and killing many via authorities removing health protections in a pandemic. Gross double standard. The students are harming no one, and no property; the Ottawa invaders and the various con blockaders harmed many and caused billions of dollars in losses to the economy. Some assaulted kids and health care workers just because they were wearing masks to protect themselves and vulnerable in communities. The police were also videoing many times aiding the illegal invasion of Ottawa, where many families and workers were harmed, and where organizers were attempting to overthrow our elected gov’t. It’s also obvious that policing, the rule of law, and our courts operate on different levels for different people. The rich, Zionists, rapists (of kids, women and environment), and misogynists get special treatment and are often above the law.