Anti-Omar Khadr Rally Planned For July 16 on Parliament Hill: An Examination of One of the Organizers

The story that has dominated much of the media cycle during the early days of this month has been the settlement made to Omar Khadr who at 15, was accused of killing American special forces soldier Sgt. Christopher Speer. Khadr was held at Guantanamo for a decade before he was returned to serve the rest of his sentence in Canada. During this time the Supreme Court ruled that the Canadian government's interrogation of Khadr, "offends the most basic Canadian standards about the treatment of detained youth suspects." The settlement and apology were as a result of a civil suit Khadr brought against the Canadian government claiming the government had worked with the American government to abuse his rights. He also suggested that his plea agreement was based on his belief that it was the only chance he would have to be transferred back to Canada from Guantanamo and that he had no memory of the firefight that resulted in the death of Sgt. Speer. To be sure, there has been a debate not only about the treatment of someone who would be considered a child soldier, but also whether or not he actually threw the grenade in the first place.

Obviously this story has polarized Canadians. While I agree with the settlement and with Prime Minister Trudeau's justification that the Charter needs to be protect all Canadians, including Khadr whom the Supreme Court ruled had his rights violated, there are a number of people who I normally agree with and whom I respect a great deal who disagree with the settlement. I have had some very good discussions with these individuals about their concerns and while I don't agree, I understand where they are coming from. However there also those who are attempting to use this issue as a cudgel to win political points. Personally, I don't believe Ezra Levant, Andrew Scheer, or the people this blog covers who are apoplectic about the settlement actually give a damn about Sgt. Speer's widow and simply view this as a means of attacking the government. In fact, the rhetoric involved clearly indicates an antipathy towards not only Omar Khadr, but Muslims in general and the virulent Islamophobia that has been a feature of conservative politics since Stephen Harper first began talking about "old stock Canadians" and Kellie Leitch tried to emulate Donald Trump's xenophobia in her failed bid in the Conservative leadership race.

And so it isn't at all surprising to see two extremely partisan Conservative operatives and activists organizing a rally on Parliament Hill for July 16:

I'll get to Georgeanne Burke and Debbie Jodoin in a moment, but some of the initial comments left on the page are as follows:

Considering Khadr was born in Canada, deportation would be difficult, then again....

.... Ms. Burke seems to agree with you.

Racists and Antisemites Attending June 3 Event in Calgary

Tomorrow the protests planned for Ottawa, Calgary, and other Canadian cities should all be under way by noon. Though billed as "million Canadian" marches (thereby attempting to co-opt past progressive events), this writer suspects the numbers will fall far, far, short of one million people. In Ottawa, I suspect there will be between 300 and 500 people, though that is perhaps a generous estimate. In Calgary, perhaps 50 to 100.

Then again, I've never been good at these kinds of estimates, so I may be surprised either way.

In Calgary, WCAI and the Canadian Combat Coalition have been whiny because their event has been referred to by ARC and others as racist and bigoted, a charge WCAI clumsily refutes:

Yeah.... you probably shouldn't do live videos while drunk because this alone undermines everything you just wrote:

Wow.

Rape jokes too.

Just.... wow.

Well, the WCAI videos MAY have been directed towards Trudeau (and based on the above video, homosexuals, the mentally challenged, and of course, Muslims), but the rhetoric coming from the participants and the possible guests tells another story.

For example, Karyn Draper, someone ARC has discussed in the past, will be attending the June 3 protest. In one post she says there will be another individual who will be attending but that she would like someone to accompany her to the event.

Let's see if you can spot the name I and others working with ARC noticed?

Actually, Merle is a name familiar to many, but let's let that slide for a bit.

It looks like Kyle McKee, founder of the Aryan Guard and current leader of the Calgary chapter of Blood & Honour may be attending the event. Kyle McKee, convicted of such crimes as possession of bomb making materials, possession of prohibited weapons, uttering threats, fleeing police, and assault. Kyle McKee, a man charged with attempted murder and other crimes. Kyle McKee, suspected of being involved in a violent home invasion, vandalism, and the firebombing (directly or having provided orders) of an anti-racist's residence.

Naw! It couldn't be THAT Kyle McKee, could it?

Yes, THAT Kyle McKee.

Infighting Amongst Canadian Islamophobes: Part 3

This is as much a bit of a PSA to Anti-Racist Canada's allies as it is a spotlight on Islamophobic bigots.

I'm going to post the screen shot of a fake Facebook group:

Whoever created this group has no affiliation with anti-fascists in the city of Calgary. It is in fact one of a number of fake sites created (we know of ones in British Columbia, Edmonton, and two additional fake page in Calgary) over the past couple of weeks. The consensus amongst activists is that these sites are intended to both gather intelligence on anti-fascist supporters as well as to smear the anti-fascist movement:

"Naed Nayr's" profile photo is a symbol used by the ridiculously named Canadian Combat Coalition, a group (such as it is) affiliated with WCAI Canada. The head of the group was once a member of the Soldiers of Odin but, as has been happening frequently during the past several months, broke (or was kicked out, depending on whom one believes) and started his own hate group.

The fake Calgary antifa group was taken down by Facebook, but not before images such as this were posted to the site and disseminated in Islamophobic and racist circles:

 
While anti-fascists have been wary of such disinformation campaigns, our opposition is far more naive it seems, as evidenced by Meir Weinstein who appears to accept without question a tongue-in-cheek article making fun of the idea that George Soros is cutting checks for every leftist protester who is able to participate in a drum circle:

There has been an effort to push back against this campaign, though the effort is more focused on keeping anti-fascists in the loop since the bigots tend to believe whatever confirms their biases anyways:

Again, the consensus is that Pegida Canada Watch is on the right track:

Soldiers of Odin: Terrorist Organization Supporters?

On Sunday, I reported on the April 1 anti-Muslim protests that occurred in both Toronto and Calgary. At the protest in Toronto was this fella:

Zaza Vili, pictured here with Sandra Soloman, has attended at least two of the anti-Muslim protests in Toronto with Canadian Jewish Defence League leader Meir Weinstein. Vili himself serves as the Canadian JDL's Head of Security:

This blog has written about JDL violence in the past and the reason why it is considered a terrorist group in the United States. If anyone is interested, that article can be found here.

Vili also recently attended AIPAC in Washington D.C. where fellow Canadian JDL member Yosef Steynovitz assaulted a Palestinian-American college instructor (and because she's drawn to anything the is even vaguely anti-Muslim like a moth is drawn to a flame, Sandra Soloman was also in attendance).

Also at the three Toronto anti-Muslim events, the last two in some force and acting far more aggressively, were the Soldiers of Odin, an organization founded by a Finnish neo-Nazi and which is Canada has become increasingly strident in their targeting of Muslims and refugees.

And the SoO loves them their JDL:

I'd suggest those are faces only a mother would love, but (a) I've been admonished already about being mean when writing about fascists and (b) I'm not entirely convinced that the sentiment is actually true.

In any case, the mutual love-in sort of presents a bit of a problem for the SoO in that one of their key claims is that refugees from Muslim countries, and really Muslims in general, are a Trojan Horse and that by their very nature Muslims either are terrorists or support terrorist organizations, with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood acting as the key boogeymen.

Here is Zaza Vili while in Israel visiting the grave of Meir Kahane, founder of the original JDL as well as the Israeli political party Kach.

Actually, to be more precise, here is Zaza Vili while in Israel visiting the grave of Meir Kahane, founder of the original JDL as well as the banned Israeli political terrorist organization Kach.

March 19 Anti-Muslim Rallies: Some Victories, Some Hard Lessons

By this point ARC readers know that any time we mention Kevin "The Chairman" Goudreau on the blog, it is probably because he did something profoundly stupid or embarrassing but isn't self aware enough to realize that this is the case:

Yep, the Goudreau held a rally in Peterborough while wearing an ill-fitted suit because he now wants to project gravitas.

Though really, to refer to what the Goudreau held as a rally is sort of like polishing a turd and calling it a diamond:

Still, despite holding his "rally" (word is they were there for less than 5 minutes) in what looks to my uneducated eye as a relatively empty street with few people to witness it, and what few people who did witness the event simply mocked him and his merry band of short bus passengers, the Goudreau appears to see it as a massive success and his first step towards his inevitable rise as der Kanadisch Führer:

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At least one person however, seemed to imply that the Goudreau was sort of gilding the lily:

That's right folks. There were more anti-Muslim rallies in select Canadian towns and cities this past week.

Kevin's explanation for the pathetic nature of his rally is flimsy at best, but it is telling in that he really believes (and is likely correct) that some of the kind of people who would attend a "White Pride" march would also be attracted to an anti-Muslim protest. It's sort of a Venn Diagram, but of hatred. For example, Goudreau has some prominent anti-Muslim activists amongst his own friends:

Brad Salzberg, the leader of the Cultural Action Party of Canada, isn't just anti-Muslim but is also anti-immigrant in general. He held a very small anti-Muslim protest in Vancouver this past Sunday. And Sara Smith is better known as Sandra Solomon, an especially vocal and virulent anti-Muslim protester associates with Eric Brazau and Ron Banerjee; she was a key speaker at the anti-Muslim event that took place Sunday in Toronto.

When analyzing the anti-Muslim protests that took place this past Sunday, I think it is important to look not only at the victories scored by those who opposed the xenophobes and Islamophobes, but it is equally important to recognize that there were some setbacks.

Rise Canada and Other Islamophobes Celebrate Their Islamophobia At Toronto Mosque

On February 17, Ron Banerjee, Eric Brazau, Sandra Solomon, and other Islamophobes protested in front of a mosque in Toronto. As of Saturday the Toronto Police Service claimed to be investigating the protest as a possible hate crime.

And since Banerjee was kind enough to provide video of the event, this writer decided to provide our readers with the pertinent excerpts interspersed with Banerjee's tweets and screen shots from the Facebook profiles of some to the other participants.

Yep, this writer made a video:

Yeah, it isn't great; poor production value, editing, and all that (including a rather unfortunate lapse in memory regarding the year that we are currently residing, as the first text page has the date that the rally took place as 2016 rather than 2017 UPDATE: fixed). It's my first time so cut me a little slack. But we think it provides our readers with the general tone of the protest as well as the bigotry of at least some of those involved in the protest:

Meir Weinstein and Ezra Levant, unsurprisingly, thought the protest was supper kool:

Though they wouldn't have needed the excuse be hateful towards Muslims, Banerjee and co. were reacting to M-103, a private members motion condemning Islamophobia.

Actually, lets, post the full text of the motion:

That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a) recognize the need to quell the increasing public climate of hate and fear; (b) condemn Islamophobia and all forms of systemic racism and religious discrimination and take note of House of Commons’ petition e-411 and the issues raised by it; and (c) request that the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage undertake a study on how the government could (i) develop a whole-of-government approach to reducing or eliminating systemic racism and religious discrimination including Islamophobia, in Canada, while ensuring a community-centered focus with a holistic response through evidence-based policy-making, (ii) collect data to contextualize hate crime reports and to conduct needs assessments for impacted communities, and that the Committee should present its findings and recommendations to the House no later than 240 calendar days from the adoption of this motion, provided that in its report, the Committee should make recommendations that the government may use to better reflect the enshrined rights and freedoms in the Constitution Acts, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That's it. And it is similar to the wording of another Liberal motion condemning the rise in antisemitism around the world:

a) there has been, in the words of the Joint Statement issued following the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on January 22, 2015, “an alarming increase in Antisemitism worldwide,” including the firebombing of synagogues and community centres, the vandalizing of Jewish memorials and cemeteries, incendiary calls for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people, and anti-Jewish terror; 

b) this global anti-Semitism constitutes not only a threat to Jews but an assault on our shared democratic values and our common humanity; 

Therefore the House: 

a) declares its categorical condemnation of anti-Semitism; 

b) reaffirms the importance of the Ottawa Protocol on Combating anti-Semitism as a model for domestic and international implementation; 

c) reaffirms, in the words of the Ottawa Protocol, that, “Criticism of Israel is not antisemitic, and saying so is wrong. But singling Israel out for selective condemnation and opprobrium – let alone denying its right to exist or seeking its destruction – is discriminatory and hateful, and not saying so is dishonest;” 

And the House further calls upon the government to: 

a) continue advancing the combating of anti-Semitism as a domestic and international priority; 

b) expand engagement with civil society, community groups, educators, and other levels of government to combat anti-Semitism and to promote respect, tolerance, and mutual understanding.

That motion condemning antisemitism was, rightfully, adopted unanimously.

So it would make sense that M-103 would be similarly accepted. I mean, given that this motion will be voted on in the aftermath of what appears to be a likely Islamophobic mass shooting resulting in the death of six men as well as numerous assaults on Muslims and vandalism of their places of worship, who could possibly have a problem this this non-binding motion?

Right?

Nope. People are losing their shit. Or to be more specific, demagogues such as Kelly Leitch and some other Conservative Party leadership candidates as well as Ezra Levant and his merry band at "The Rebel" are ginning up fear that this, I once again stress, non-binding motion will take away people's free speech, become an anti-blasphemy law, and impose sharia on Canadians:

Except this happened in 2015.

And despite the efforts of reasonable Conservative such as Michael Chong and rather valiant efforts by some media outlets such as the CBC, "Globe and Mail," "The National Post," and Global to inform the Canadian public as to what M-103 is and what it is not, the folks who are inclined to believe Muslims are hiding under their beds and in their closets ready to jump out one day to dress their women up in niqabs and force feed them kabobs are having none of this rational discussion and have fully embraced the crazy:

In the meantime, Liberal MP Iqra Khalid who tabled the motion spoke about the death threats she has received ("The Star" also covers these threats and sexually demeaning insults) as a result of her motion as a reason why she would not remove the word "Islamophobia" from the motion as requested by the Conservative Party. She has since been offered police protection.

You know, threats (as well as other lovely comments) like these posted yesterday:

March 2016 Bits and Bites: PEGIDA/JDL Protest Bust, Your Ward News in Warman's Cross-hairs, and Free Dominion News

We'll be posting an article detailing Canadians United 4 Canada's links to racist boneheads and an article to be published soon, but in the meantime we thought we would provide our readers a little bit of irony today:

But we do digress.

When we reported that the JDL was holding an event featuring PEGIDA UK speaker Paul Weston, we noted that there were plans to protest outside the location where the presentation was taking place.

Ron Banerjee, noticing that we had provided details about the counterprotest, claimed that his one man organization Canadian Hindu Advocacy and his mostly one man organization Rise Canada would discuss providing security for the event.

The JDL's Meir Weinstein, a man who has helped to promote Banerjee in the past and who has also both justified and refused to condemn Banerjee's racist, misogynistic, anti-Sikh, Islamophobic, and now Christophobic rhetoric.... well.... he seemed rather unamused:

The event did take place though and Banerjee did attend, as did it seems at least a few members of PEGIDA Canada:

Three Canadian Racists Supporting Donald Trump: Sort of Funny

This past Saturday Republican primaries were held in Kentucky, Maine, Kansas, and Louisiana. Donald Trump managed to win both Kentucky and Louisiana by fairly comfortable margins. It was amusing then when we listened to the talking heads on MSNBC pontificate on whether or not the endorsement by David Duke would hurt Trump in Louisiana, a state where the former Klan leader was once elected to the state legislature and where he was the Republican nominee for governor.

Of course it wouldn't hurt Trump.

David Duke is only the most prominent American racist to come out in favor of Trump. Others include Jared Taylor of American Renaissance and  Matthew Heimbach who recently was caught on video assaulting a protester at a Trump rally. But Trump is also getting some love internationally from the far right including xenophobes in the UK, France, the Netherlands, and elsewhere.

Here in Canada, the folks with PEGIDA Canada and posters on the anti-Muslim/refugee/government sites we've started monitoring have come out strongly for Trump. So too have members of our racist movement including Paulie. From last month's London Forum where he was a featured speaker:

And a recent post:

On that note, we thought we would profile three other Canadians who support Donald Trump's race to the White House, though it could be easily argued that there influence in the Canadian movement, already on the fringes of society, is minimal to nonexistent.

We sometimes like to amuse ourselves.

Protest Organized in Response to JDL's PEGIDA UK Event in Toronto

On Saturday we posted an article which included information regarding a PEGIDA UK event organized by the JDL. At this event the leader of PEGIDA UK, Paul Weston, would be speaking.

Looks like there's another welcome committee being formed, though one decidedly not sanctioned by the JDL and unlikely to be particularly welcoming to Mr. Weston:

No fascists in Toronto. Shut down Paul Weston of anti-immigrant Pegida (UK)
Thursday, March 10 at 6 PM in EST
788 Marlee Avenue (one block west of Lawrence West subway station, just south of Lawrence)

On Thursday March 10, the extremist Jewish Defence League will be hosting British fascist Paul Weston at a meeting at 788 Marlee Avenue - around the corner from Lawrence West subway station. Weston will be attacking Syrian refugees as a "threat" and opposing immigration generally. Weston is a notorious fascist, and conspiracy theorist whose articles mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik cited in his manifesto. Weston is the former chairman of the British Freedom Party, a splinter group founded by former member of the neofascist British National Party and is active with the racist English Defence League.

Come out to protest this meeting and make it clear that fascists are not welcome in Toronto. Bring banners, signs, noisemakers, and friends. 788 Marlee Avenue is the Toronto Zionist Centre and is around the corner from Lawrence West subway station - when leaving the subway go one block west on Lawrence and then turn left on to Marlee.

The Goat-Blood Drinking Senate Candidate and the PEGIDA UK Leader Who Was Too Much Even For UKIP

Sometimes we learn about some particularly odd characters when receiving information from our readers:

Meet Augustus Sol Invictus, a Libertarian candidate for the senate seat being vacated by Marco Rubio.

Aside from changing his name to a Latin phrase which is loosely translated as "Majestic Invincible Sun" and, thus, indicating that he has an ego that Donald Trump might envy, Augie here is an interesting cat for other reasons:

Meet Augustus Invictus, the Florida Libertarian Who Loves Paganism, Civil War, and Goat Sacrifice

A few relevant points:

There are a few reasons why Wyllie finds Invictus such a distasteful character. "Mr. Invictus has repeatedly vowed that it is his destiny to start a second civil war in America," Wyllie wrote in a Facebook post announcing his resignation. He continued, "He has described himself as an American Fascist... He has expressed support for a eugenics program... Many of his supporters are known members of Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups."

While the Florida Libertarian Party didn't out-and-out eject Invictus from its ranks, it did issue a press release Monday condemning the Senate candidate's views. "The LPF has not endorsed Augustus Invictus and has not provided him with any support," the party's new chair said in the statement. But, the party added, "Under the law, we cannot prevent him from running as a Libertarian and he is not required to enter our certification process."

The impetus for all this was apparently a post on Invictus' Senate campaign website titled "A Declaration of the Failings of the US Government." In it, the candidate does display some pretty racist views, like accusing the federal government of abandoning "its eugenics programs & elitist mindset in favor of a decadent ideology that rejects the beauty of strength and demands the exponential growth of the weakest, the least intelligent, and the most diseased."

Still, weird name and racist views aside, Invictus might have gone unnoticed by the public at large if it weren't for Wyllie's assertion that, "Mr. Invictus was ejected from Ordo Templi Orientis for brutally and sadistically dismembering a goat in a ritualistic sacrifice." Naturally, this got people's attention, piquing the interest of the national news media....

Now we generally don't write a lot about the American nutters unless there is a direct link to Canada, so you all know where this is going:

Ron Banerjee, André Drouin, and Rise Canada

We had mentioned in our previous article that we were working on a new story. In fact, it's a story that sort of fell into our laps, though initially we didn't quite realize how significant it would turn out to be:

Before being sent the above unsolicited link we had been aware of Rise Canada though we didn't pay it a lot of attention as it was yet another Islamaphobic project of Ron Banerjee:

Ron Banerjee holding pamphlet

We've discussed Banerjee on the blog in the past. He styles himself as the director and spokesman of Canadian Hindu Advocacy, a virulently Islamaphobic "group" which is, for all intents and purposes a one man show. Banerjee attended last summer's Ford Fest where he was heard shouting homophobic slurs at protesters, one of whom he appears to have physically assaulted. And he is occasionally found in the company of the Jewish Defence League. 

While he has been able to snooker some into believing CHA is actually a legitimate interest group representing Canadian Hindus before his behavior gives him away as a fraud, most people who know of Banerjee know him as a self-promoter with limited influence. 

So with this in mind we generally ignored Rise Canada since it seemed simply to be just another one of Banerjee's delusions of grandeur. We didn't even bother looking at the website which we assumed would be as devoid of content as that of CHA.

However one of our members did eventually decide to take a look, again assuming there wouldn't be much there. 

That assumption turned out to be incorrect. What we did find took us on a rather interesting ride.