Sunday, October 10, 2010

 

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT TORONTO:
SPEAKING IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE ?:
The following call for solidarity with an Ontario activist is from the Toronto Community Solidarity Network.
TOTOTOTOTO
Subject:
For Immediate Release: G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ cond
http://www.facebook.com/l/3e8b0K5jQ1YORLPTCh6-rBa8OWQ;g20.torontomobilize.org/node/549

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 08, 2010

G20 defendant Alex Hundert found to have breached ‘no demonstration’ condition for speaking at a university panel event

October 8, 2010 – Toronto, Mississauga New Credit – G20 defendant and alleged ‘ringleader’ Alex Hundert was found to be in breach of his ‘no-demonstration’ bail condition today for speaking as an invited panellist at two recent university events. A new bail hearing is now underway at the Scarborough Courthouse at 1911 Eglinton Avenue East in courtroom 405. This hearing is now expected to drag into next week and continue on Tuesday October 12, and Wednesday, October 13.

According to Yogi Acharya “We are outraged at this ruling. He was speaking at a panel discussion in a university classroom alongside professors, which is clearly not a public demonstration. This is yet another attempt to silence Alex, and is a strong indication of the police's intent to criminalize ideas, dissent, and effective community organizing.”

In a previous media statement, Hundert has stated “They are targeting me and because I am part of communities that are effectively organizing across movements. Whether it is the criminalization of anarchists and community organizers like me, or the daily demonization of Indigenous peoples, poor people and migrant communities, we are living in the midst of an increasingly aggressive and openly racist Harper regime that serves only to protect property and profit, not people. We have to show them that our resolve and our solidarity can be stronger than their intimidation and repression.”

Several other G20 defendants remain behind bars, including Indigenous sovereignty activist Ryan Rainville of the Sackimay Nation, punished by the criminal justice system for being poor and unable to afford exorbitant bail, while others face the possibility of deportation as a means of stifling their dissent.

Hundert is currently facing politically-motivated conspiracy and counselling charges in relation to the Toronto G8/G20 protests. He was arrested pre-emptively at gunpoint in a violent house raid on the morning of June 26th, before the protests began, and is being targeted as a member of the community group AW@L and Southern Ontario Anarchist Resistance.

This latest attempt is not the first time the Crown has attempted to send Hundert back to jail. On July 28, 2010 the Ontario Provincial Police warned Hundert that media interviews him and his co-accused Leah Henderson did with CBC radio, Toronto Sun, Vancouver Media Co-op, and Rabble were a violation of the no demonstration bail condition and threatened to re-jail them. A day later at a press conference, Hundert and his supporters decried this media ban as a blatant violation of his right to free speech and of freedom of the press. On August 20, the Crown had appealed Hundert and Henderson’s release from jail in the Ontario Superior Court and was seeking pre-trial incarceration. However Federal Court judge Todd Ducharme dismissed the Crown’s appeal.
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For more information and interview requests:

Yogi Acharya 647-764-0488, Rachel Avery 519 616 5549

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# posted by mollymew @ 8:39 PM 0 comments

Sunday, October 03, 2010

 
PERSONAL MOLLY'S TRIP TALES:
FUN AT THE AIRPORT WITH GOD BOY AND GOD GIRL:


We're off and running, or at least hanging around in a lineup waiting for boarding at the airport. Putter, putter, putter, eavesdrop, eavesdrop, eavesdrop.The plane will be flying from the wilds of Winnipeg to a gentle civilized land of milder weather...with an unfortunate stop over in that northern extension of Alabama known as Alberta. Or at least that is what is believed by those that think Noah's Flood deposited it there. The pair in front of us are, appropriately enough, two evangelicals just returning from praying up a storm down east somewhere, and they are in full Jesus mode.


My nose starts twitching when God Boy opens his mouth to launch into his Muslim conspiracy spiel connected with the Cordoba Islamic Centre in New York which he, of course, calls a mosque. Now understand that Molly grew up out in the country on the Canadian prairies. I have also spent over 40 years listening to leftist hogwash of various sorts from 'dialectics' to 'abolishing civilization' with all the nonsense in between. What I can say is that my nose is so good that I can smell the excrement from the hind end of a male animal of the bovine persuasion from 5 miles away...upwind.


The old nostril hairs stand erect as God Boy jumps from the North America continent to (I think) Europe with his concern that "10 years ago there were only 800 mosques and now there are 80,000". He is, of course, off by a factor of about 10. Yet he goes on about how this is true for everywhere in Europe "except Russia".Uh Yeah ! This is prefaced with what really set the old nose hairs tingling. He was "there on a security job for the American government". All that I can say is if the US Empire has been reduced to hiring idiots who brag about such things in public lineups then it is in even more trouble than I could imagine or even want. Sorta reminds me of some of my braggart would-be revolutionist anarchist "comrades".



The conversation goes on, and God Boy has the floor. To my horror he says what may be the only true part of his monologue...he's apparently a "teacher". That I can believe. It doesn't take much smarts to bullshit in front of a bunch of kids at the 'Holy TV Hour Bible School' in Constipation, Alberta. Then we're off into the ozone again about the dastardly Islamic plot concerning the naming of the 'Cordoba House' in New York.



A little aside and a small history lesson here. The Moors invaded Spain in 711 AD, overthrowing the ruling Visigoth kingdom who were not a great source of fun for the average downtrodden peasant. The new rulers were a slight improvement over the Visigoths, particularly the Emirate of Cordoba who set some sort of standard for the day of enlightened rule and tolerance to other religions (Christian and Jewish). The Emirate, however, ceased to be in 1031.Muslim rulers who followed this emirate were at least half as nasty as the Christians. I have a sneaking suspicion that the example of this emirate was high in the minds of those who decided to set up the centre in NYC, in more than childish ignorance of what country they lived in and the equally childish innocence of their belief that Americans would "get the message" of tolerance and living peaceably together. This in a country in which the majority of its citizens can't identify their own states, let alone tell that 'Bahrain" is not a weather condition.

But back to God Boy. He's on a roll. What according to him is the "reason" for naming the centre (mosque-sic) after Cordoba. Well, it's because "in the Second Crusade the Moslems took Cordoba". The Second Crusade (another boring history lesson) by the way was from 1145 to 1149, and its object was the recovery of Edessa which had been recaptured subsequent to its capture in the First Crusade. Let Molly remind you that the Emirate of Cordoba was overthrown by another Muslim power in 1031. Lest you think that God Boy simply is not only about 3,000 kilometers and 100 years out to lunch (or is it 400 years out to lunch) consider the following.

I've already spoken about the naivete of the Muslims who set in motion the idea of the Cordoba Centre. Their ignorance might be compared to that of say a Canadian immigrant to Greece or Turkey ignorant of history who was to praise the wrong country in public company. One could adduce other examples as well. There is what may be described as "honest ignorance", but then there is something that might best be described as "deliberate ignorance with malevolent intent". In such cases one believes a rather treacherous "authority" because the statements of said authority accord with what one wants to believe. If the reader has some slight knowledge of either medicine or anthropology he or she can find great and grievous examples of such malevolent evil and deliberate ignorance amongst the American perversion of anarchism called "primitivism", and their bizarre idea that their fantasy of "traditional healing" can more than replace modern medicine (a great evil in their pretty well religious point of view). But that is certainly another subject.

Where the Holy Rollers of Alberta get their perversion of history is from a peripheral event in the Second Crusade. The crusaders had already acquired a well deserved reputation for treachery, brutality and thievery in the First Crusade. The main efforts of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel during the Second Crusade were to get the armies through Byzantine territory with the minimum of pillage on other Christians. The greatest effort of "fighting for God" of the crusaders, of course, occurred in the Fourth Crusade when the armies of God sacked Constantinople. But during the Second Crusade a number of those bound for the so-called 'Holy Land' saw an opportunity for profit in hiring themselves out to the King of Portugal in his campaign to conquer what is now Lisbon. They were, of course, promised the opportunity of looting. They succeeded, and the inevitable happened.

Sometime, somehow some ill intentioned "authority" amongst the Evangelists got hold of this peripheral factoid, and through great distortion, both deliberate and inadvertent it got worked up into the nonsense that God Boy believes. Somehow Cordoba got thrown into the mix, particularly as it was ideologically useful in present day America. God Boy is, of course, just as unlikely to check his facts as a true believer in the great wisdom of so-called "primitive" people is.

Well let's just say that I was "hot to trot" to get at this guy. The wife told me that I had "the look" on my face that signals that I am about to attack either verbally or physically. It's the same look that I use to deal with street demons in Winnipeg. God knows that I hate to leave gross bullshit uncorrected. On the other hand the self preservation instinct was operating as well. It actually DID go through my mind to call out to security when the argument got too heated and they gathered around that I suspected God Boy of being some sort of "fundamentalist terrorist" who planned to blow the plane up. All that would have accomplished, however, would be for BOTH of us to be in the back rooms. So I shut my face.

Hooray for self control because I would have missed the best part. God Boy was doing his best to be impressive to God Girl, all the way from his "secret agent man" pose to his "intellectual" lectures. God Girl, however, was not to be outdone, and she pulled one of what I assume is a great trump card in such circles...healing. While she was down in Ontario she went traipsing down to a revival meeting at about the same time the rest of us would be heading to the bar. Her problem according to her own view of her condition was that she had had years of "bleeding in the knee" whatever that means. YET...when she prayed and went before "Brother X" (I forget the name) she was "healed". Better than that EVERYBODY, her doctors, her relatives, her friends, strangers, EVERYBODY had always told her that it was her right leg that was the problem. Brother X, however, "discovered" that it was her LEFT leg that was lame. He prayed for its healing, and YES it was healed. Praise God !

At this point the line started to move. God Girl moved forward with the rest of us limping severely ON THE RIGHT LEG. We boarded the plane. God Girl sat forward from us. As we tried to get past God Boy was saying his goodbyes to God Girl. I couldn't escape the impression that I had witnessed some sort of primitive and crude sexual display behavior gone seriously wrong.
Ah well, that was my adventure in anthropology during this trip.
Just as a note to the wise...I have as little sympathy for Isalamic loonies as I do for evil "Christian" loonies. It's just that THEY would NEVER spew their bullshit in a public lineup AND MOST IMPORTANTLY nobody with knowledge would ever suffer consequences for correcting them. Unless, of course, they lived in one of the theocracies that mirror the USA in the Middle East. Consider what you have to fear the next time you travel.

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# posted by mollymew @ 11:20 PM 1 comments

Thursday, July 08, 2010

 

G20 AFTERMATH ?:
THE FUTURE OF FREE SPEECH IN CANADA ?:

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# posted by mollymew @ 9:43 PM 1 comments

Friday, April 16, 2010

 

LOCAL NEWS WINNIPEG:
ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK PRESS STATEMENT:
The following press statement from the Israeli Apartheid Week Winnipeg gives their point of view about the mercifully recently concluded debate in the Manitoba Legislature about a statement of condemnation of the event. The motion, sponsored by the provincial Conservatives was (let's say it again- mercifully ) defeated. The outstanding thing to my point of view is how few people see that the proposers of the motion should be set to work cleaning latrines for at least six months (the equivalent in minimum wage as opposed to their bloated salaries) for wasting the public's money on such nonsense. Is a university debate really a matter of pressing priority for a provincial legislature ? You be the judge.
All that being said this whole subject makes me "itchy" and not just because both sides operate from the twin assumptions that a)one has to chose sides in a dispute on the other side of the world where both opponents have their unsavoury aspects and b)that doing this side choosing actually has a real effect on the world. It also makes me itchy because over the course of decades I have seen that neither pro-Israel nor anti-Israel nor right nor left in this country seems to have much respect for the principle of free speech. I've expressed myself on this matter before, both in terms of the local IAW and on other matters. I have little to say to the "right". Let them conspire away and depend on the likes of Sneaky Stevie Harper to push their agenda that is barely hidden. I have a lot to say to the "left" whose general response to assaults on free speech from their side is cheerleading rather than criticism. In terms of recent events, totally unconnected with the subject at hand, I am not so much disgusted by fools who give a right wing clown the publicity she thrives on as I am by apologists who try to explain away what happened and pretend it was something other than what it was. I can think of better uses for language fluency than low evasion.
That's beside the point. I'm a firm believer in free speech, and I find the attempts of IAW's opponents to stop it before it began and to waste the time of the Legislature when it was over as good evidence that they shouldn't be trusted with power over anything beyond their own bodies. Perhaps not even that. Any volunteers for bathroom monitors for the Conservative caucus ? All that being said I hope though not expect that at least some who oppose Israel's policies will remember their arguments about this sort of thing when they are tempted to do similar things.
OK enough pontificating. Here's the press release.
WWWWWWWWWW
Israeli Apartheid Week organizers saddened by debate in Manitoba Legislature


While organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week in Manitoba are temporarily relieved that the Manitoba Legislature did not pass Heather Stefanson’s anti-free speech motion to condemn Israeli Apartheid Week, there is still concern that this motion will return at a later date.


While Stefanson and Leader of the Opposition Hugh McFadyen spoke in favour of the motion, they claimed to support free speech in Manitoba. Sadly, their actions in the weeks prior to IAW contradict these claims. Stefanson has stated on her website that she wants to “eradicate” IAW, and McFadyen stood next to David Matas of B’Nai Brith as he called for IAW to be banned. “Despite their protestations to the contrary, this motion is clearly part of a campaign to prevent IAW from occurring in the future,” stated Brian Latour, spokesperson for the Winnipeg IAW Coordinating Committee.



Organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week were saddened by the tone of the debate. During the course of the debate, various MLAs made false accusations of anti-semitism, harassment, and intimidation, and MLA Ron Schuler even made the absurd and offensive on many levels comparison between IAW and its organizers and the Nazis through his references to Neville Chamberlain.



“The entire debate in the Manitoba legislature was a depressing display of ignorance and slander,” stated Latour. “It is a sad day in Manitoba when so many members of the legislature decide to single out a small group of dedicated people fighting against oppression with so many false accusations. Had any member of the legislature even bothered to contact IAW organizers or done the most basic of research, this harmful and pathetic display could have been averted.”



Israeli Apartheid Week is an anti-racist event designed to educate people about apartheid as a system of oppression which Palestinians face on a daily basis, and promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against the apartheid practices of the Israeli state which was initiated by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations and is now supported by hundreds of organizations around the world. Palestinians face many forms of racist discrimination on a daily basis in the Occupied Territories and Israel, including discrimination before the courts, restrictions on access to clean water, and a system of checkpoints, walls, and travel restrictions.



Last month’s Israeli Apartheid Week was the sixth one held since it was started at the University of Toronto in 2005. It was held in 60 cities in 2010, including Winnipeg for the first time. Events in Winnipeg discussed Israel as an apartheid state, as well as connections between gender discrimination and apartheid, Canadian apartheid and indigenous solidarity, and the freedom to speak and organize against apartheid on campus. The Winnipeg events were sponsored by ActLeft, the Canada-Palestine Support Network, and Independent Jewish Voices.



There were zero incidents of racism, threats or harassment during IAW at the University of Manitoba. The events put on during IAW not only upheld the University of Manitoba's Respectful Work and Learning Environment Policy and the Manitoba Human Rights Code, but were also opened with a statement opposing racism and other forms of discrimination. Minutes of the March 16th meeting of the University of Manitoba Board of Governors cited the University President stating that the IAW events had "proceeded as anticipated and were orderly" and that the University's position to not shut down IAW was the correct choice. Contrary to the fear-mongering by some individuals at the time, IAW turned out to be a positive discussion of the issues around Israeli Apartheid.
Media contact:
Brian Latour
iaw.winnipeg@gmail.com
phone: (204) 226-4186
http://winnipeg.apartheidweek.org/

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# posted by mollymew @ 5:47 PM 0 comments

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