from Toronto Star
May 29, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (10) Antonia Zerbisias
If there is one group that well understands oppression, it's the gay community.
So understanding is it of the need for diversity that, according to Pride Toronto, it is the "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, intersex, queer, questioning and two-spirited" community.
LGBTTIQQ2S for short.
After attending 14 Pride parades – not in any official capacity but certainly in a drunken one – I have seen all kinds of groups participate. Some carry banners identifying members as everything from Catholic gays to Cambridge gays. Some groups have political affiliations. Some are controversial. Some are not.
Even though it's now become a glitzy event, sponsored by banks and beer companies, and, except for some hairy "bears" and their dangly bits, totally family friendly, it has never abandoned its grassroots.
Those roots lay long buried through many years of prejudice and persecution.
Never forget, in Nazi Germany, when Jews were forced to wear yellow stars, gay men wore pink triangles and lesbians black triangles. All were sent to the camps to perish together.
Indeed, gay pride marches began exactly 40 years ago in New York City, after a brutal police raid on the Stonewall Inn.
So it's pretty rich when the language of gay oppression is used against Toronto's Pride parade, to be held June 28, by another group that purports to champion human rights.
Especially a group that is openly aligned with anti-gay rights Christian fundamentalists such as Charles McVety, Canada's most vocal lobbyist against same-sex marriage, and John Hagee, who claimed God sent Hurricane Katrina to stop "a homosexual parade."
This is what happened last week when B'nai Brith issued a news release asserting that the gay community's "agenda" was being "hijacked by anti-Israel agitators."
In his statement, B'nai Brith executive vice-president Frank Dimant compared liberal gay rights in Israel with the non-existent ones in Arab countries, while ignoring the issue of Palestinian human rights in the occupied territories.
The release not only demanded that the gay community condemn the group Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, it also implied that this year's parade grand marshal, human rights activist and refugee lawyer El-Farouk Khaki, is "part and parcel of the anti-Israel machinery that continues to churn out hateful and divisive propaganda."
That's because Khaki , who founded a support group for gay Muslims, spoke at a Queers Against Israeli Apartheid event last Saturday.
Now you'd think B'nai Brith would be supportive of a man who not only is a progressive Muslim but who also wants to maintain peace in the Middle East.
Instead, Dimant, who is on the faculty of McVety's Canada Christian College, and accepted an honorary doctorate from the school, told the National Post yesterday that Khaki should be subject to "disciplinary action" by Pride Toronto.
But no such action is forthcoming, Pride's executive director Tracey Sandilands assured me, insisting that, contrary to the report in the Post, "Where we stand at this point in time is, we are not taking a side. We are not going to ban anybody from the parade."
However, all entrants, as usual, must meet the legal criteria for participating.
That said, the parade's voluntary security contingent and the city's police presence will be considerably beefed up this year.
As for participation by Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, spokesperson Corvin Russell told me that it intends to follow the rules – and that B'nai Brith's insistence that gays have more rights in Israel than in Arab countries is beside the point.
"If you're interested in queer rights in Palestine, then help them with their struggle and don't demonize them," he said. "Palestinian queers can't seek refuge in Israel."
See you all at Pride.
Antonia Zerbisias is a Living section columnist. azerbisias@thestar.ca. She blogs at thestar.blogs.com.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
False Allegations @ York
This is an exerpt from an article on the false accussations made against members of YFS and SAIA at York University in regards to an anti-DROP YFS demonstration that took place. Read the full article here: http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20755 This is a prime example of media hype and blatant lies being made to spin events towards an established agenda:
During the course of the strike, a group of undergraduate students critical of the YFS for its perceived association with CUPE 3903 had organized themselves as "York Not Hostage" (more of a facebook and media than broad organizational initiative, it seems). As students returned after the strike, York Not Hostage merged into a "Drop YFS" campaign anchored by the leadership of Hillel and a closely allied but subsidiary Israel advocacy group, Hasbara Fellowships. Drop YFS launched a petition drive to impeach the YFS executive. The rally of February 11, so broadly cited since, emerged in opposition to a Drop YFS campaign press conference in the York Student Centre. When members of the YFS and supportive students were barred from the press conference (whether by political decision or as a result of limited room capacity, various parties disagree), an ad hoc demonstration emerged which disrupted the event. This rally, again, is taken to have been the major display of the purported anti-Semitic upsurge at York, so it is worth reviewing the available facts. In examining the fall-out, I will not give attention to accusations that Israel advocates made racist comments, but will confine myself to the allegations of anti-Semitism.
To the best of my knowledge and understanding, there are four individuals who were actually present on February 11 who soon after published reports of what took place. Ali Mustafa wrote a brief, supportive account of the ad hoc rally for an alternative left newspaper on campus, the YU Free Press. Jonathan Blake Karoly wrote by far the most critical report of the rally, a student account which was published online by Jonathan Kay through the National Post. The main campus paper at York, Excalibur, had gone to print the night before, but an Excalibur representative was present, and a report of the event ran in the subsequent week's issue. Blake Karoly reports that a representative from the Globe and Mail was also present, presumably either Elizabeth Church or Omar El Akkad, who co-authored the report for the Globe.
No specific allegations of anti-Semitism appear in the YU Free Press report (Feb. 12), the Globe and Mail report (Feb. 13), or the Excalibur report (Feb. 18). Chants including "Shame on Hillel," "Zionism is racism," and "Racists off campus" are reported. (Not messaging everyone can get behind, but hardly anti-Semitic.) No quotes from Hillel spokespeople are relayed in any of these stories alleging specifically anti-Semitic statements. The most substantive implication of anti-Semitism is made by Jonathan Blake Karoly himself. He writes: "...one pro-Palestinian student stood at the glass door of the Hillel, visible to the students in the Hillel, with his Kaffeiyah scarf pulled all the way up to his eyes. This is a tactic used by terrorist organizations such as Hamas and al-Qaeda to intimidate others, and quite frankly I was completely taken off-guard by the sight of this student and at that point fear began to trickle into me as well. This is something that goes beyond free speech and being anti-Israel and is tantamount to racism and discrimination."
But soon, Israel advocates began giving statements to reporters -- published only in the reports of journalists who were not present at the event -- alleging actual anti-Semitism.
This began modestly. A National Post reporter who was not present on February 11, James Cowan, came to the demonstration on February 12 and solicited quotes. His report, published on February 13, quotes Hillel@York president Daniel Ferman asserting that not only did demonstrators chant "Shame on Hillel" and "Zionism is racism," but that "he was also referred to as a 'dirty Jew' and 'f---ing Jew' by members of the throng." Shame on Hillel -- fine. Zionism is racism -- in its current operative sense, it effectively is, but yes, one can play the Magnes card and quibble; still, an admissible position for engagement and discussion. Using "Jew" as a term of derision, in contrast, would of course be anti-Semitic, a comment which it would be necessary to sharply distinguish from such slogans as "Zionism is racism" (even if one dislikes the formulation) for specific denunciation. But was this actually said? It is difficult to verify. No reporters who were present at the event seem to have heard it. Indeed, among all the stories written on these "tensions" at York in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and Excalibur, none have mentioned the allegation. In any case, the snowball kept rolling from there.
Later on February 13 came a story from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), followed, on February 15, by the Jerusalem Post. Both add a new pair of alleged (and unattributed) quotes: "Die bitch, go back to Israel"; "Die Jew, get the hell off campus". (The first two online comments under the JTA story read: "Where is the JDL when you really need them?" / "At some point, the Jewish students should learn to crack a few heads, as needed.") Frankly, these allegations are extremely suspect. Both statements would be construed, and certainly publicized, as death threats. And yet they were apparently neither reported to the police who came on campus on February 11, credibly mentioned to any reporter from Excalibur, the Toronto Star or the Globe (none have mentioned any allegation of the kind), written up in an Excalibur opinions piece, nor accompanied by any effort to determine who said these things or to whom the threatening comments were directed.
Since, the fabrications have steadily become more shameless and outlandish.
Frank Dimant, explaining to an Ottawa Citizen reporter why it was necessary to ban the poster for Israeli Apartheid Week at two universities in the city, cited the events of February 11: "'This [IAW] is part of an ongoing, well-orchestrated campaign of intimidation and harassment and now, at times, even resulting in physical attacks.' Two weeks ago, he said, Jewish students at York University were 'held captive' in a room surrounded by Israeli Apartheid Week supporters. 'People were banging on walls and screaming things like "death to the Jews,"' Dimant said."[20] And so it became public record. In a February 27 article for the Calgary Herald titled "Anti-Israel protests show ignorance," Naomi Lakritz counterposes Palestine solidarity activists' ignorance with her journalistic reliability: "maybe genocide is really what the IAW supporters want to see. After all, just two weeks ago, IAW activists surrounded a Hillel office at York University where Jewish students had taken refuge from them, and pounded on the walls yelling 'Death to the Jews,' and 'Die, Jew! Get the hell off campus.'"[21]
In an article calling for pressure to ensure that "York is purged of its hateful elements," the National Post's Matt Gurney provides some commentary that is worth quoting at length. Describing an alleged anti-Semitic assault, he writes: "a Jewish student was physically assaulted on campus after confronting a group protesting Israeli policies." He continues: "I haven't been able to verify that it happened at all; everyone I spoke to said that they'd heard about it, but had nothing to offer beyond hearsay and rumour. Nevertheless, the reports of a student being assaulted, even if it was only a minor scuffle, has the Jewish community at York rattled, and rightly so. Such an assault would cross a line which has been very much thinned by the recent protests, but which has remained a line nonetheless. If it has been crossed, then it's a whole new ball game, and it speaks to how poisonous the York campus has become for Jews that they are so readily willing to accept this unconfirmed story."
And to the integrity of the likes of Gurney that he is so eager to circulate it.
And of course the media seems to say nothing about the fact that DROP YFS members were banging on the glass outside a YFS townhall a mere week before this. There is no mention of a DROP YFS member calling a black member of the YFS the N-word. There is no mention of DROP YFS members calling Jewish students who do not support Israel blindly "self-haters". There is no mention of the female activist students in YFS and SAIA who have been routinely harassed and followed around on campus. There is no mention that members of Hillel surrounded the York U radio station CHRY 105.5FM after I interviewed Sid Ryan in an attempt to intimidate myself and members of the radio staff, or that my co-host was followed to her car. Nor is there mention of any of the constant harassment SAIA activists have endured, racist comments towards Arab and Muslim students. Only one side of the story is told, a heavily concocted and hyped up event and accussations of anti-semitism which simply never happened.
During the course of the strike, a group of undergraduate students critical of the YFS for its perceived association with CUPE 3903 had organized themselves as "York Not Hostage" (more of a facebook and media than broad organizational initiative, it seems). As students returned after the strike, York Not Hostage merged into a "Drop YFS" campaign anchored by the leadership of Hillel and a closely allied but subsidiary Israel advocacy group, Hasbara Fellowships. Drop YFS launched a petition drive to impeach the YFS executive. The rally of February 11, so broadly cited since, emerged in opposition to a Drop YFS campaign press conference in the York Student Centre. When members of the YFS and supportive students were barred from the press conference (whether by political decision or as a result of limited room capacity, various parties disagree), an ad hoc demonstration emerged which disrupted the event. This rally, again, is taken to have been the major display of the purported anti-Semitic upsurge at York, so it is worth reviewing the available facts. In examining the fall-out, I will not give attention to accusations that Israel advocates made racist comments, but will confine myself to the allegations of anti-Semitism.
To the best of my knowledge and understanding, there are four individuals who were actually present on February 11 who soon after published reports of what took place. Ali Mustafa wrote a brief, supportive account of the ad hoc rally for an alternative left newspaper on campus, the YU Free Press. Jonathan Blake Karoly wrote by far the most critical report of the rally, a student account which was published online by Jonathan Kay through the National Post. The main campus paper at York, Excalibur, had gone to print the night before, but an Excalibur representative was present, and a report of the event ran in the subsequent week's issue. Blake Karoly reports that a representative from the Globe and Mail was also present, presumably either Elizabeth Church or Omar El Akkad, who co-authored the report for the Globe.
No specific allegations of anti-Semitism appear in the YU Free Press report (Feb. 12), the Globe and Mail report (Feb. 13), or the Excalibur report (Feb. 18). Chants including "Shame on Hillel," "Zionism is racism," and "Racists off campus" are reported. (Not messaging everyone can get behind, but hardly anti-Semitic.) No quotes from Hillel spokespeople are relayed in any of these stories alleging specifically anti-Semitic statements. The most substantive implication of anti-Semitism is made by Jonathan Blake Karoly himself. He writes: "...one pro-Palestinian student stood at the glass door of the Hillel, visible to the students in the Hillel, with his Kaffeiyah scarf pulled all the way up to his eyes. This is a tactic used by terrorist organizations such as Hamas and al-Qaeda to intimidate others, and quite frankly I was completely taken off-guard by the sight of this student and at that point fear began to trickle into me as well. This is something that goes beyond free speech and being anti-Israel and is tantamount to racism and discrimination."
But soon, Israel advocates began giving statements to reporters -- published only in the reports of journalists who were not present at the event -- alleging actual anti-Semitism.
This began modestly. A National Post reporter who was not present on February 11, James Cowan, came to the demonstration on February 12 and solicited quotes. His report, published on February 13, quotes Hillel@York president Daniel Ferman asserting that not only did demonstrators chant "Shame on Hillel" and "Zionism is racism," but that "he was also referred to as a 'dirty Jew' and 'f---ing Jew' by members of the throng." Shame on Hillel -- fine. Zionism is racism -- in its current operative sense, it effectively is, but yes, one can play the Magnes card and quibble; still, an admissible position for engagement and discussion. Using "Jew" as a term of derision, in contrast, would of course be anti-Semitic, a comment which it would be necessary to sharply distinguish from such slogans as "Zionism is racism" (even if one dislikes the formulation) for specific denunciation. But was this actually said? It is difficult to verify. No reporters who were present at the event seem to have heard it. Indeed, among all the stories written on these "tensions" at York in the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star and Excalibur, none have mentioned the allegation. In any case, the snowball kept rolling from there.
Later on February 13 came a story from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), followed, on February 15, by the Jerusalem Post. Both add a new pair of alleged (and unattributed) quotes: "Die bitch, go back to Israel"; "Die Jew, get the hell off campus". (The first two online comments under the JTA story read: "Where is the JDL when you really need them?" / "At some point, the Jewish students should learn to crack a few heads, as needed.") Frankly, these allegations are extremely suspect. Both statements would be construed, and certainly publicized, as death threats. And yet they were apparently neither reported to the police who came on campus on February 11, credibly mentioned to any reporter from Excalibur, the Toronto Star or the Globe (none have mentioned any allegation of the kind), written up in an Excalibur opinions piece, nor accompanied by any effort to determine who said these things or to whom the threatening comments were directed.
Since, the fabrications have steadily become more shameless and outlandish.
Frank Dimant, explaining to an Ottawa Citizen reporter why it was necessary to ban the poster for Israeli Apartheid Week at two universities in the city, cited the events of February 11: "'This [IAW] is part of an ongoing, well-orchestrated campaign of intimidation and harassment and now, at times, even resulting in physical attacks.' Two weeks ago, he said, Jewish students at York University were 'held captive' in a room surrounded by Israeli Apartheid Week supporters. 'People were banging on walls and screaming things like "death to the Jews,"' Dimant said."[20] And so it became public record. In a February 27 article for the Calgary Herald titled "Anti-Israel protests show ignorance," Naomi Lakritz counterposes Palestine solidarity activists' ignorance with her journalistic reliability: "maybe genocide is really what the IAW supporters want to see. After all, just two weeks ago, IAW activists surrounded a Hillel office at York University where Jewish students had taken refuge from them, and pounded on the walls yelling 'Death to the Jews,' and 'Die, Jew! Get the hell off campus.'"[21]
In an article calling for pressure to ensure that "York is purged of its hateful elements," the National Post's Matt Gurney provides some commentary that is worth quoting at length. Describing an alleged anti-Semitic assault, he writes: "a Jewish student was physically assaulted on campus after confronting a group protesting Israeli policies." He continues: "I haven't been able to verify that it happened at all; everyone I spoke to said that they'd heard about it, but had nothing to offer beyond hearsay and rumour. Nevertheless, the reports of a student being assaulted, even if it was only a minor scuffle, has the Jewish community at York rattled, and rightly so. Such an assault would cross a line which has been very much thinned by the recent protests, but which has remained a line nonetheless. If it has been crossed, then it's a whole new ball game, and it speaks to how poisonous the York campus has become for Jews that they are so readily willing to accept this unconfirmed story."
And to the integrity of the likes of Gurney that he is so eager to circulate it.
And of course the media seems to say nothing about the fact that DROP YFS members were banging on the glass outside a YFS townhall a mere week before this. There is no mention of a DROP YFS member calling a black member of the YFS the N-word. There is no mention of DROP YFS members calling Jewish students who do not support Israel blindly "self-haters". There is no mention of the female activist students in YFS and SAIA who have been routinely harassed and followed around on campus. There is no mention that members of Hillel surrounded the York U radio station CHRY 105.5FM after I interviewed Sid Ryan in an attempt to intimidate myself and members of the radio staff, or that my co-host was followed to her car. Nor is there mention of any of the constant harassment SAIA activists have endured, racist comments towards Arab and Muslim students. Only one side of the story is told, a heavily concocted and hyped up event and accussations of anti-semitism which simply never happened.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Massive Tamil Vigil
I was at the vigil down at University Ave. on Friday, May 22nd. It was incredible to say the least. There were thousands of people, from Queen's Park where it started I could see thousands of tiny lights southward along the stretch of road. It was breathtaking.
There was an eerieness to it all; one of tragedy and sorrow. I have been to demos for years, but never have I seen passion and emotions like I have at these ones. When I personally think of the horrendous injustices committing upon the Tamils in Sri Lanka I often think of the children I taught briefly at my stay in Kerala, in South India. Although they were slightly different cultures, they both have their Dravidian roots and are similar on a global scale. The kids there were polite and respectful in a way I've never seen and I think of them specifically when I hear of Tamil children being slaughtered in this genocide. Tommorrow's show is at 105.5 fm at 5pm is going to be dedicated entirely to the Tamil struggle.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tamils Continual Oppression
Jaffna
The Jaffna Peninsula being an open prison , landlocked and sorrounded by the sea , is militarily controlled by the Sri Lankan armed forces.As soon as news of the military victory was announced , soldiers stopped all vehicles , cyclists and pedestrians and asked them to buy Sri Lankan flags from the soldiers at exhorbitant prices , and hoist them in their houses and vehicles.
They stopped all the schoolboys and asked them to collect money from the public and buy firecrackers and light them in the streets.Everybody had to contribute towards the purchase of fire crackers.
Colombo
Thugs and hooligans went house to house in Tamil areas , such as Wellawatte , Bambalapitiya and Kotahena and demanded money from all Tamils for the purchase of fire crackers and liqour .Policemen visited all the blocks of Tamil owned apartments and shops and forced all Tamils to buy Sri Lankan Flags , and hoist them.
In the evening , when some Tamil ladies went to temple and were returning , crowds sorrounded them and forcibly removed their valuable jewellery.In some instances , the Tamil ladies removed the jewellery in fear , and in many cases the jewellery was snatched from the neck and hand , causing severe injury.
In Kotahena , a three wheeler ( Sri Lankan version of the Thai " tuk tuk " ) was stopped , and the Tamil driver was severely assaulted , and the vehicle was burnt , all because , the driver failed to hoist the Sri Lankan flag on his vehicle.
In Wellawatte , a gang of men molested a group of Tamil schoolgirls , who were returning from a tuition class.They forcibly kissed them , and further attempts to remove their clothing forcibly was stopped in the nick of time , due to the gathering of local neighbours who confronted the gang of men.
All the above incidents happened on Tuesday 19 May 2009 & Wednesday 20 May 2009.
The President of Sri Lanka declared Wednesday 20 May 2009 , as a National Holiday to celebrate the victory of the Sinhala dominated armed forces over the Tamil Tigers. Hundreds of thousands of Sinhalese were celebrating on the roads , but Tamils chose to stay in the safety of their homes , and did not participate in the celebrations.
The Tamils are a peace loving people , and never condoned violent actions.The Tamil Tigers were born , only as a result of the continous denial of the rights of Tamils for decades.However, even after the war is over , it appears that the Sinhala dominated Government of Sri Lanka , is determined to settle scores with the Tamils , and look the other way , while the rights of Tamils are further eroded.
The Tamils now fear , another Pogram or Holocaust similar to the July 1983 Holocaust , and fear for their lives.They also expect the Government to create a mass exodus of Tamils from Colombo , similar to the attempt made last year , to pack and send all the Tamil residents in the wee hours of the morning , to the North.
The Tamils appeal to the International Community to come to our rescue.
The Jaffna Peninsula being an open prison , landlocked and sorrounded by the sea , is militarily controlled by the Sri Lankan armed forces.As soon as news of the military victory was announced , soldiers stopped all vehicles , cyclists and pedestrians and asked them to buy Sri Lankan flags from the soldiers at exhorbitant prices , and hoist them in their houses and vehicles.
They stopped all the schoolboys and asked them to collect money from the public and buy firecrackers and light them in the streets.Everybody had to contribute towards the purchase of fire crackers.
Colombo
Thugs and hooligans went house to house in Tamil areas , such as Wellawatte , Bambalapitiya and Kotahena and demanded money from all Tamils for the purchase of fire crackers and liqour .Policemen visited all the blocks of Tamil owned apartments and shops and forced all Tamils to buy Sri Lankan Flags , and hoist them.
In the evening , when some Tamil ladies went to temple and were returning , crowds sorrounded them and forcibly removed their valuable jewellery.In some instances , the Tamil ladies removed the jewellery in fear , and in many cases the jewellery was snatched from the neck and hand , causing severe injury.
In Kotahena , a three wheeler ( Sri Lankan version of the Thai " tuk tuk " ) was stopped , and the Tamil driver was severely assaulted , and the vehicle was burnt , all because , the driver failed to hoist the Sri Lankan flag on his vehicle.
In Wellawatte , a gang of men molested a group of Tamil schoolgirls , who were returning from a tuition class.They forcibly kissed them , and further attempts to remove their clothing forcibly was stopped in the nick of time , due to the gathering of local neighbours who confronted the gang of men.
All the above incidents happened on Tuesday 19 May 2009 & Wednesday 20 May 2009.
The President of Sri Lanka declared Wednesday 20 May 2009 , as a National Holiday to celebrate the victory of the Sinhala dominated armed forces over the Tamil Tigers. Hundreds of thousands of Sinhalese were celebrating on the roads , but Tamils chose to stay in the safety of their homes , and did not participate in the celebrations.
The Tamils are a peace loving people , and never condoned violent actions.The Tamil Tigers were born , only as a result of the continous denial of the rights of Tamils for decades.However, even after the war is over , it appears that the Sinhala dominated Government of Sri Lanka , is determined to settle scores with the Tamils , and look the other way , while the rights of Tamils are further eroded.
The Tamils now fear , another Pogram or Holocaust similar to the July 1983 Holocaust , and fear for their lives.They also expect the Government to create a mass exodus of Tamils from Colombo , similar to the attempt made last year , to pack and send all the Tamil residents in the wee hours of the morning , to the North.
The Tamils appeal to the International Community to come to our rescue.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
61 Years of Nakba
To commemorate the 61st anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the ongoing tragedy, the dispossession and racist policies of the Zionist state of Israel, I present the final few minutes of an amazing documentary I recently came upon entitled 'The Zionist Story'. To watch it from part 1 find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK7JJea3Sz8
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
News on Twin Struggles
What happened this past weekend at the Gardiner Expressway was crazy, when Tamil protestors occuped the highway. When I first watched it on tv (I was too busy with schoolwork to attend) I thought in my mind, maybe they had gone a little too far. I don't think that now. Michael Ignatieff is has said he would bring it up in Ottawa, as have other politicians. Now, when I think about it, I know Iggy probably doesn't give a damn normally about the welfare of Tamil people in Sri Lanka...this demo got him to speak. That's what it akes sometimes to get anyboyd to speak for you, it seems. If it were my people being wiped out in such horrible ways you damn well bet I would be doing the same. I'm going down to show solidairty later this week, hopefully can get some footage for my show on CHRY 105.5 FM for Monday, let's hope there are no technical difficulties like on my last show!
Secondly, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at York University, just this past Monday had succeeded in ensuring an debate on the potential Academic Boycott of the Israel take place. It went forward, with two academics on the pro-boycott side and two on the anti-boycott side...I wont mention any of their names, hopefully may be able to get some video footage soon...but overall I'd say our side won. The anti-boycott Profs were two odd bunch, one insisted he was a replacement for someone else at the last minute and had merely researched the issue a bit on the internet before coming in. The other was one fo the most patronizing commentators I'd ever heard. He kept insisting that Iran is more terrible as they "threatened to wipe Israel off the map", so he's arguing with already debunked talking points http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mScWWtRfGQ At the end he starte don some rant saying more or less : "You'll never get a boycott going! I don't know what in the name of God, or Allah (to the hissing and booing of most of the audience)..." So it was pretty pathetic as an argument. One student asked where his source came from that, and recieved no answer in response. This debate, that has been repressed from the administration and rejected time and again, opens doors to turning this into action, at York Univeristy and elsewhere. Neutral viewers may have been swayed, of course critical thinkers that supported the Palestinian cause will continue to do so, whereas Zionist students will most likely continue to believe what their parents told them. We'll see where this goes.
Secondly, Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) at York University, just this past Monday had succeeded in ensuring an debate on the potential Academic Boycott of the Israel take place. It went forward, with two academics on the pro-boycott side and two on the anti-boycott side...I wont mention any of their names, hopefully may be able to get some video footage soon...but overall I'd say our side won. The anti-boycott Profs were two odd bunch, one insisted he was a replacement for someone else at the last minute and had merely researched the issue a bit on the internet before coming in. The other was one fo the most patronizing commentators I'd ever heard. He kept insisting that Iran is more terrible as they "threatened to wipe Israel off the map", so he's arguing with already debunked talking points http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mScWWtRfGQ At the end he starte don some rant saying more or less : "You'll never get a boycott going! I don't know what in the name of God, or Allah (to the hissing and booing of most of the audience)..." So it was pretty pathetic as an argument. One student asked where his source came from that, and recieved no answer in response. This debate, that has been repressed from the administration and rejected time and again, opens doors to turning this into action, at York Univeristy and elsewhere. Neutral viewers may have been swayed, of course critical thinkers that supported the Palestinian cause will continue to do so, whereas Zionist students will most likely continue to believe what their parents told them. We'll see where this goes.
Friday, May 8, 2009
JDL at York U
I just recieved word that the 'Jewish Defense' League (JDL) will be picketing and demonstrating at York University in the coming weeks due to an upcoming two-day conference entitled: Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace. The JDL feels this conference will end up being against the idea of a solely Jewish State, perhaps promoting a one-state solution for both Palestinians and Israelies. Speakers included in the conference are many prominent Arabs and Jews, including Jeff Halper, an Israeli who heads an organization that resists the demolitions of Palestinian houses.
This is really scary. The JDL is a terrorist organization in the list of terror organizations in the United States and even in Israel itself. Canada does not include them on their own list, in fact many members of the Conservative Minority Government have links to them, such as Peter Kent, Thornhill MP. The JDL had a big impact on the banning of George Galloway from speaking in Canada by Jason Kenney. The JDL moved to Canada from the United States and was founded by Rabbi Meir Kehane who himself used to shoot Palestinians in Hebron. Here are some pictures of grafitti done by the fascist JDL in the West Bank. Remember, this is the group that is coming to York Univeristy; this is terrifying and shouldn't be allowed.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Toronto May 2nd
Yesterday, May 2nd marked the No One Is Illegal march against the massive deportations of migrant workers and discriminatory immigration policy. We saw a crowd of about 2,000-3,000 people come out. At one point I raced to the front of the line to watch the procession go past. It took a good 25 minutes for everyone to pass by. It was a grand success, we'll see if things are picked up on in the next few days I imagine. At one point heavy rain started to fall, by this point the demo had marched along the streets towards City Hall. It dissipated after a bit and the sun shone once we were finished. A procession then proceeded to University Ave. to join the Tamil Demonstration.
This demonstration by the Tamil Community of Toronto had been ongoing for a few days and nghts now. Initially the demonstration had taken over the entire street in front of the US Consulate, but was recently rounded up along the sidewalk by the police. Today I read some sanitized article in the Toronto Star congratulating Toronto Police on their peaceful means of doing this. What I say yesterday from the police seemed far from peaceful.
I have been disgusted over the past few days hearing Torontonians complaining about being 'inconvenienced' by these protestors. If I was residing elsewhere and back home a massacre, perhaps a genocide, was unfolding in my home country, damn well I would do everything I could in my power, even in my limited power, to do something, anything about it. To many in this sheltered, inward-looking, overly individualistic society, concepts such as genocide and ethnic cleansing are but mild abstractions; events of a past or some distant region. One can imagine to Rwandans and Cambodians, survivors from the Nazi Holocaust, whether they be Jewish, Roma, Slavic, Poles, it is a far more real thing. To many in Toronto the Tamils are coined into the term of 'other' as are often Palestinians, Lebanese and other people who originated from elsewhere other than 'The Occident'. To them it is but an 'other' cause, not connecting the humanity to it and only concerned with one's immediate 'inconvenience'.
Do the streets of Toronto only belong to the European Canadians? I search myself and find this mentality is common...looking at some of the disgusting, racist comments I've seen on various youtube videos covering the Tamil Rallies.
Back to my narrative; I along with a good 30-40 or so other people made our way down University Ave, some with No One Is Illegal signs, others bearing Palestinian flags in a sign of solidarity between struggles, and other banners. From what we saw the Police were quite imposing, as one would expect them to be, friends of mine claimed they saw officers grabbing posters from some of the Tamil demonstrators, posters of blown up images of dead Tamil children and tearing the posters and disposing of them. The Police, who had penned the Tamil Protestors onto a large sidewalk area formed a human barricade disallowing the demonstrators from our demo into the Tamil Protest. Why? The official reason they gave us is: "we had too many sticks".
Ali, a friend of mine, with a megaphone made a speech, announcing that the Toronto Police here were complicit in this (their disposal of the Tamil's signs and posters was evidence of this) and that they wanted to prevent our two movements from merging. With that, the police leapt upon him and made an arrest. Within moments the police human barricade gave through and the crowd filtered into the space, a mere metalic makeshift barricade between them and the larger Tamil rally. The people from the Tamil community came to the forefront, giving out their hands in welcome, thanking us for coming to support them. The police horses then came in. We'd walked into a trap. Children were trampeled on by police horses and we witnessed a young women hit by a cop and kicked on the ground.
Congratulations Toronto Police. As usual, lacking an holistic sense of things, you have radicalized yet another community with overt and plain-to-see brutality. There is a great movement in the works, against racism, brutality & poverty. I am ashamed to be Torontonian today, this is the first time I've ever felt it and I will continue to be ashamed until it's accepted that this city belongs to everyone. I'll hope to have pictures up soon. If anyone lives in the area around York U/Jane-Finch listen to my radio show tomorrow at CHRY 105.5fm at 5:00pm I'll have a bit on it and on the larger Tamil situation in Sri Lanka and in Toronto. If you cant listen on radio stream it at www.chry.fm
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