John Ivison: China’s alleged links to Canadian anti-Israel protests fit a subversive pattern - "The National Contagion Research Institute, an independent body that identifies cyber threats to civil society, says that a number of left-wing organizations that have united under the Shut It Down for Palestine (SID4P) banner are linked to Beijing through Communist Party associates, Neville Roy Singham and his wife, Jodie Evans. It concluded that organizations operating under the SID4P umbrella are members of the “Singham network” donor program, which is widely considered to be a conduit for CCP geopolitical influence... NCRI says Singham has been investigated by the U.S., Canada and India for his CCP-linked operations. Evans, his wife, is listed as a board member for the pro-China People’s Forum and as a co-founder of the anti-war Code Pink, official endorsers of SID4P. She is also the co-author of a forthcoming book: China is Not our Enemy. The report says SID4P uses loopholes in the U.S. non-profit system, such as anonymous donations, to facilitate the flow of U.S. dollars to organizations intent on stoking social unrest. The “conveners” of SID4P listed in the report include the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, the International People’s Assembly, Al-Awda NY, National Students for Justice in Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Palestinian American Community Centre... Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, said that the Revolutionary Communist Party, a new group established to “prepare (Canada) for revolution,” has been present at nearly every single protest, including encouraging walkouts at high schools... Charlotte Kates, a director of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Vancouver, is listed as an official of Al-Awda, another convenor of SID4P. She was arrested in Vancouver earlier this month , after making a speech on the steps of the city’s art gallery on April 26th in which she shouted: “Long live October 7th” and claimed that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. “They are resistance fighters. They are our heroes,” she said. Kates recently spoke at an event alongside a Hamas politburo member and she is married to an alleged official of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is listed as a terror organization in Canada, the U.S., Israel and Germany. Both Kates and her husband Khaled Barakat advocate the violent dissolution of Israel. The Samidoun website expressed its solidarity with Kates after she was charged with public incitement and wilful promotion of hatred for her comments. “This is the moment we must all fight back — by raising our voices in support of Palestinian armed resistance — including the heroic and momentous operation, the Al-Asque Flood launched on October 7th, by calling for the removal of Palestinian and Arab resistance movements from so-called terror lists,” it said. Where to begin in analyzing all this? It is clear that the West is facing unprecedented challenges that demand a vigorous response. Robertson, at B’nai Brith Canada, said there has been a maturation of the anti-Israel movement in Canada since October 7th, which may indicate more funding. “There has been a much more professional approach to branding, for instance,” he said. It is equally clear that the response so far from governments has been underwhelming. We have laws that guarantee freedom of speech but we also have laws that ban people from inciting violence and vilifying a specific group of people... As the NCRI report noted, the activities of SID4P highlight a trend in which “the instruments of democracy are being exploited to undermine its foundations.” It offered the example of the democratic protections offered to the non-profit system, such as anonymous donations that are being used to bolster anti-democratic ideologies. The report called for more accountability to ensure bad actors are not exploiting those protections to support terrorist activities or further the agenda of foreign powers... The late British historian, Arnold Toynbee, said civilizations die from suicide, not murder. They grow by meeting new challenges and responding, he said. But those that do not respond to internal strife and diverging values eventually collapse. There is a cohort in our society of what Lenin and Stalin called “useful idiots” — idealists who are being manipulated to pursue the agendas of our adversaries. Canadians need to wake up to the fact that their democratic principles are being exploited by people who want to dismantle them."
''Illegal, destructive, dangerous': UVic president cites complaints about encampment - "The president of the University of Victoria says a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on its campus is drawing an increasing number of complaints about harassment and intimidation, but also illegal and "dangerous" activities. Kevin Hall outlined the university's concerns in a statement on Wednesday, saying they included what he described as rising acts of vandalism, spreading misinformation and the unauthorized use of buildings at after-hours times. Police in Saanich say they arrested a man on Tuesday after he was allegedly threatening people inside an academic centre for Indigenous students. Hall says the man was believed to have set up a tent on campus earlier in the week and he was "showing signs of substance use" that required medical response from campus security and emergency first respondents. Hall's statement says that response was "hindered because of interventions from members of the encampment.""
Carson Jerema: Ignore left-wing 'experts,' there is no right to camp on university property - "A group of Alberta law professors, who signed an open letter Tuesday objecting to the removal of anti-Israel protest encampments at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary, are using their positions as “experts” in order to justify subordinating the law to politics. In claiming that the dispersal of the camps violated the Charter-protected right of free expression, they are not engaging in serious legal analysis... Justice Jack Watson wrote that even though the university is subject to Charter review, that “does not threaten the ability of the University to maintain its independence or to uphold its academic standards or to manage its facilities and resources.” The judge also noted that expression rights must be balanced against the need for the university “to be a suitably regulated, peaceful and safe environment equally for all its students, faculty, staff and visitors.” And a few paragraphs later, Watson added that being neutral as to which political causes are allowed on campus “does not condemn the University to ignore issues of safety, security and cost.” In other words, a university is within its own rights to manage its property and enforce its internal rules and codes of conduct, so long as any limitation on expression can be reasonably justified. The dictum that, “you can protest all you want, but you can’t sleep on the lawn” is an eminently reasonable position for a university to take. The law professors’ open letter complained that the anti-Israel camps “were served trespass notices almost immediately after setting up and without meaningful engagement.” Presumably, the professors seem to think, the protesters should have been consulted extensively before being tossed. Perhaps, but under what circumstances the university would be permitted to issue a trespass notice, the law professors do not bother to say. Besides, the Alberta encampments didn’t occur in a vacuum. Administrators would have been well aware of the dozens of other camps set up at universities across Canada and the U.S. Those encampments quickly took over university property and in some cases have prevented campus security from entering. They regulate who may pass through the camps, sometimes checking to see if a particular person is a “Zionist.” They are undeniably littered with fire hazards and other security concerns, not to mention being filled with non-students. In the U.S. they have taken over and vandalized buildings. If the U of A or U of C had waited, those camps could have become entrenched, immovable and potentially dangerous and volatile. While encampments are indeed a form of expression, courts in other provinces have recognized the need to manage and regulate the use of temporary structures for political purposes. A 2010 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling found a Vancouver bylaw regulating such structures was unconstitutional, but the court acknowledged the city’s interest in preventing “the unregulated and haphazard proliferation of structures of a political nature on city streets.” In 2011, the Ontario Superior Court upheld the City of Toronto’s trespass order issued to “occupy” protesters."
Of course, if right wing protesters had set up camp, the left would be screaming about far right violence
U of T has given into the radicals that have taken over their campus - "You can set up an encampment that takes over the central part of the University of Toronto but don’t dare bring in an opposing point of view. That’s the message from university officials as the takeover of their central campus hits the two-week mark. Mohammed Rizwan, a director of the group Council of Muslims Against Antisemitism, had come in from Mississauga with a truck trying to bring a different point of view to the campers at what has become known as Little Gaza... Officials at the University of Toronto weren’t interested in that kind of message being disseminated on campus. For two weeks now, the school’s administration has been happy to have this encampment not only set up, but also grow. While Rizwan’s truck with his dissenting message wasn’t let in, other trucks have been. A number of porta potties, obviously delivered by truck, have been delivered to the encampment site, a feat that could not have been accomplished without the cooperation of the university’s administration. “This country is not standing up to the values it holds,” Rizwan said after being told by officials his truck could not drive down what is normally an open street. “The answer was no from one security personnel, then there was another constable who manages the security of the campus, and without giving me any reason, he said that he can’t let us in,” Rizwan said. With decisions like this, it’s clear that University of Toronto President Meric Gertler has lost control of his campus to the radicals. Others were being allowed to drive onto school grounds, including a staff member who arrived while Rizwan’s truck was being blocked. King’s College Rd. is usually open to the public, but after the campers moved in, U of T officials closed off road access, via King’s College Rd. and Hart House Circle to public vehicles, unless it seems they are in support of the encampment."
Lorne Zeiler: Parents have a responsibility to help end the hate on university campuses - "My two daughters are currently in university. One, luckily, is in a co-op this year. They both have stories of Jewish kids being spat on, called names, yelled at, threatened, blocked from certain areas, losing friends and feeling ostracized and isolated. It is amazing that universities constantly preach about inclusion, the rights of the individual and fostering a caring community, but throw all this rhetoric out the window when Jewish students are being attacked and demonized. This year, Jewish students have had to choose between getting an education and their personal safety... The same people who a year ago would burst into laughter with my eldest daughter, ask for her help on assignments, advocate together for equal opportunities for all, go to parties and even discuss current events, have now blocked her from their social media, posted horrible comments about her and made her feel uncomfortable, unloved and in some cases unsafe. Interestingly, one of the groups that she really identified with was EngiQueers, which recently supported a BDS motion against Israel. Yet this group has no similar motion against any other country in the world. How about the dozens of countries that practice gender apartheid, make homosexual love a crime or forbid gay marriage?"
Carson Jerema: The Freedom Convoy was bad. The Hamas camps are much worse - "The convoy should have been contained, or cleared earlier, but instead lawlessness took over. It was bad, but not end-of-civilization bad. Even so, progressive journalists and professors were hysterically claiming democracy was within an inch of its life. Some demanded the army be deployed, and nearly all cheered on the government’s insane overreaction of invoking the Emergencies Act. Now that anti-Israel protesters are illegally occupying university campuses, and often celebrating Hamas’s October 7 massacre, many of those progressives want the same policing and political failures that so horrified them in 2022, to spread right across the country. For example, prominent University of Alberta law professor Ubaka Ogbogu posted on X Wednesday that even though universities don’t want the encampments on their property, they have no choice but to permit them. “There was never a doubt in my mind that the encampments are legitimate protest, if peaceful,” he wrote. “The point of protest is disruption and making people uncomfortable for the sake of change.” Back in 2022, Ogbogu expressed an entirely different opinion. “Freedom of Assembly does not just mean show up and start protesting. It is regulated for public safety,” he wrote. In a separate post at the time, he also suggested that the purpose of a protest should be a factor in whether it is considered lawful or not. “How are these white protesters getting protest permits for a cause that no longer exists?” he wrote. Yet, he included this in his Wednesday post defending the university protesters: “Just because you don’t like a form of protest does not make it unlawful.” When pundits complain about the growing lack of trust in experts, perhaps instead of blaming “populist” politicians, they should consider that it is the experts themselves, so willing as they are to use their credentials for political purposes, who are to blame. It isn’t, of course, just law professors who can’t keep straight whether occupying property is a legitimate form of protest or not. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said Thursday that police would not be removing an encampment at McGill University that has taken over the quad. “We don’t want that, and Montrealers don’t want that,” she said, adding later, “I think we should not abandon diplomacy to come up with a peaceful resolution here.” Back in 2022, Plante had a different view, as Freedom Convoy protesters rolled into Montreal. They were free to protest, she said, but in no uncertain terms would police allow for an Ottawa-style occupation. “It is out of the question that Montreal be plunged into the situation Ottawa finds itself in,” she said. If the Montreal convoy had succeeded in entrenching itself, would Plante have been open to “diplomacy”? Despite its lack of elite support, the Ottawa Freedom Convoy had more right to protest than the university encampments, as it was unambiguously on public lands, where the regulation of expression is clearly subject to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That is not to say it had the right to block roads, or deny or disrupt access to downtown businesses, or to make life unendingly unpleasant for regular people. But insofar as a protest occupation is considered a legitimate form of expression, the convoy had a case to make. The pro-Hamas university encampments have much less of a case. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that the Charter does not apply to universities. Though, that earlier ruling has been complicated in Alberta after a 2020 Court of Appeal decision ruled that for the purposes of regulating the free speech of students, universities must be Charter compliant. In any case, that ruling doesn’t apply to Quebec, where McGill University’s argument that its grounds are private property is on firm legal footing. In fact, Quebec’s Superior Court agrees with the university that the encampment is “unlawful.” The court just doesn’t think there should be anything done about it... because the university no longer needed the quad for graduation purposes, the judge deemed the injunction request unnecessary, as if it matters why the owner of property wants access to their property. “The circumstances of the present case do not justify the Superior Court to issue an order to force the evacuation of the plaintiffs’ land by the demonstrators,” he said. All of this is maddening. These responses to the protests, from the police, judges, politicians and legal experts, are insidiously wrenching at the rule of law in this country."
Doug Armey's answer to Why are colleges and other venues having such a problem with pro-Palestinians protesting? They have every right to protest to what they see as devastation and genocide in Gaza. - Quora - "The US Constitution grants the rights of free speech and peaceful assembly in public places. And those who want to protest Israel’s response to the attack of Hamas have the right to do that. But they don’t have the right to publicly advocate the annihilation of a country and the killing of a race of people. They don’t have the right to incite violence. They don’t have the right to illegally occupy private property. They don’t have the right to vandalize and damage private property. They don’t have the right to physically threaten and assault people. They don’t have the right to call for the overthrow of the country they are protesting in. They don’t have the right to claim they are part of an officially designated terrorist group. They don’t have the right to block streets and bridges and otherwise physically hinder people. They don’t have the right to do all the things the pro-Hamas protesters are doing. The question actually asks, “Why are colleges and other venues having such a problem?” It’s because they have faculty who side with the protesters. They have faculty who teach students to hate anyone who has a different world view than they do. They have faculty who shutdown the free speech of anyone who disagrees with them. And they have administrators who either side with the protestors and faculty or are afraid of them. And now all can see the festering infection many of our universities have become. The real question that should be asked is, “What can we do about it?”"
Austin Lewis's answer to Why are colleges and other venues having such a problem with pro-Palestinians protesting? They have every right to protest to what they see as devastation and genocide in Gaza. - Quora - "Do they, though? A professor recently commented that if he were to put on a white hood and say the same things that the ‘pro-Palestinian’ protesters are saying about the Jews about any group, he’d be removed from campus, fired, and unhireable by the end of the day. And he’s right. I cannot fathom any college allowing, say, a protest group made up of the KKK, Neo-Nazis, and various other and sundry white supremacist groups, to act in this way. To create such a threat on campus that schools are telling Jewish students and professors that they CANNOT come to campus. To tell them that because they can’t (read as ‘won’t’) do anything about it, and cannot guarantee their safety, these minority students must suffer religious persecution that gets in the way of their education. But because it’s a pro-’Palestinian’ (a lot of what I’ve seen of the protests seems pretty overtly pro-Hamas to me) protest, they get special treatment? Context suddenly matters? Horseshit. Here’s what would happen if, say, a group of white supremacists did the same thing; Widespread arrests, widespread expulsions, widespread bans from campus for non-students. So, let’s see colleges apply their standards equally, and treat the pro-’Palestinian’ protesters as they would any other."
HonestReporting Canada🎗️ on X - "In the @TorontoStar, Canadian Arab Federation staffers referred to the recent anti-Israel occupations at Canadian universities, as a “beacon of hope”, instead of acknowledging the violence, harassment, intimidation, support for terrorism, & hate speech."
Meme - Richard Hanania @RichardHanania: "Palestinians are the new hot thing. Despite being excluded from minority status by civil rights law, the political movements that lead them raped and killed enough to make it into the big leagues. Congrats, fam."
smustudentssolidaritypalestine: "SMU has various political science, history, social justice, and religion courses that include topics that are impacted by what we are seeing today. These classes includes topics on Zionism, Judaism, Semitism, Islam, and the study of the lived experiences of people in South West Asia and North Africa. We demand a full review of these courses by a council comprised of at least 50% +1 Palestinians. On top of an investigation of classes, we demand an investigation of all members of the board of governors. We call for the resignation of any member of SMU who has any ties to the israeli project."
This is the Southern Methodist University
VIDEO: Extensive look at the destruction left inside the PSU library - "New video taken inside Portland State University’s Millar Library shows a staggering amount of graffiti strewn throughout multiple floors of the building, which was occupied by protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza for more than two days before the Portland Police Bureau cleared the premises Thursday morning. Graffiti was marked across windows, walls, ceilings, floors, furniture, doors, bookshelves, computer screens and more. Additional damage seen inside the building included smashed windows, furniture tossed into makeshift barricades, a broken fire alarm system, piles of garbage and a flatscreen stripped from the walls of an elevator bank. Occupiers also left behind tents, pillows, blankets and large supplies of toiletries, food and water, suggesting that they could have remained inside the building for an extended amount of time. The protesters went as far as to mark off specific areas of the building for various needs, the video shows. Signs for a “lounge area,” “medic,” “safe rest space” and “bathroom” were labeled throughout the library. Stacks of wooden pallets, traffic barriers and other building materials also lined the building’s entryways. It’s unclear how much it will cost or how long it will take to clean the public library... When police began arresting occupiers Thursday, four of the 12 suspects initially arrested were said to be PSU students. The number of arrests has since grown to 22. One PSU architecture student who asked to go by the name T. Priest told KOIN 6 News that she’s devastated by the loss of the library. “I’m very, very lucky to be able to get my education here and these resources are going to be dearly missed by people,” Priest said. “… We don’t have these resources anymore and it’s a huge hit to us because [we] don’t have access to the things in this building. It’s not up to code anymore so it’s going to be shut down for months.”"
Nothing to see here. Just another peaceful protest. If you are against it, you don't support free speech
Why would the US government and Israel force the pro-Palestine protesters to do this?!
EXCLUSIVE: Internal Documents Show University Protestors Are Being Taught About Gay Nightlife In Palestine And How To Destroy University Property - "The documents, circulated via Google Drive, teach protestors about how to conduct an array of criminal activities, but also provides information on prison abolitionism and the gay nightlife in the West Bank. The extensive drive contains multiple categories, including those dedicated to information on Palestine, prison abolitionism, student militancy, and “strategies and tactics.” The information is presented “zine” style, complete with snazzy graphics and artwork. One file, titled “The DIY Occupation Guide,” contains instructions and methods on how to barricade doors, creating corrugated metal barriers, and forming “shields” from trash cans. Techniques also include how to break into buildings using crowbars, bolt cutters, and angle grinders. Vandalism and general criminal activity is celebrated in the guidance, with documents encouraging protestors to smash the cameras of media and bystanders who may be filming in one document titled “In Defense of Smashing Cameras.” The opening of the document reads: “Photographers at demonstrations will soon outnumber demonstrators, those who are willing to take action. This is something we need to take a stand against. Cameras are tools of surveillance, and whether it is us or the enemy that wields them, we are participating in our own surveillance.” It continues: “Next time you see someone thrusting their lens in someone’s face, getting a little too close and personal, blocking your path to assist your friends so they can get a winning angle, we ask you not to stand idly by. Fight back. Protect your friends. #smashcameras.” In other documents, protestors are taught how to break locks, open car doors, and immobilize tractors and trucks. But the protest leaders appear confident that arrests for criminal activity will not lead to harsh penalties, referring to being arrested as “easy.” The file instructs protestors to “just stay quiet and wait for them to let you out.” The Google Drive also contains advocacy information on prison, police, and University abolitionism. In perhaps the most bizarre file, titled “Queer voices from the Fight for Palestinian Liberation,” protestors are taught that the West Bank has a bustling LGBTQ+ scene, including claims that gay raves take place in Ramallah. The first page of the zine quotes Zaheer Suboh, a self-described “queer” Bay Area DJ who was born in the United States to Palestinian immigrant parents. At the age of six, his family moved back to Palestine but later returned to California during his teenage years. “What do any of you know of my Palestine? Of the late night queer parties in Ramallah? Of raves held in biblically aged buildings? Of lesbians in hijabs, of gay men in hoop earrings, of trans Palestinians dancing with joyful abandon?” Suboh continues: “We fear Israel first, before our families, always. We’re 100 times more likely to die at the hands of an Israeli gun or bomb than by western propagandized ideas of honor killings. I’ve seen White Christian Americans wish their child be dead rather than gay … Israel is the one that weaponizes the homophobia that Queer people all over the world of all religions experience to justify murdering Palestinians of all kinds, young and old, Christian and Muslim, Queer and Straight.”"
Damn far right violence!
Behind the Ivy Intifada - "With respect to the law, at least, their affiliation with Columbia University has already greatly reduced their “skin in the game.” Contrary to earlier claims by university and city officials about a large proportion of “outside agitators,” more than 70 percent of those arrested at Columbia had a direct institutional tie to the university. This was reflected in how they were treated after arrest. Most of those swept up were released without charges. Among Columbia affiliates who were formally charged, none faced more than a single misdemeanor charge. Meanwhile, those who faced charges at City College, the nearby public university raided by police the same night, were all hit with felonies. While it’s possible that the City College kids just engaged in more extreme and unlawful activity, it seems more likely that belonging to the elite paid criminal-justice dividends for the Columbia arrestees."
I like how this apologia for terrorism supporters whitewashes the facts, despite claiming to look at them. It doesn't mention, of course, Jews being assaulted at Columbia or protesters chanting "kill all the Jews", and claims that "intifada" is taken out of context because it has a broader meaning in Arabic because clearly English-speakers in the English-speaking world are using the Arabic context. It does point out the hypocrisy of campus histrionics, though.
Meme - "So the press conference jihadist is a PhD student named Johannah King- Slutzky (really) and this is what she's working on. Dying. Absolutely dying. Beyond parody. @TheBabylonBee couldn't top this if they tried."
"COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. Department of English and Comparative Literature. My dissertation is on fantasies of limitless energy in the transatlantic Romantic imagination from 1760-1860. My goal is to write a prehistory of metabolic rift, Marx’s term for the disruption of energy circuits caused by industrialization under capitalism. I am particularly interested in theories of the imagination and poetry as interpreted through a Marxian lens in order to update and propose an alternative to historicist ideological critiques of the Romantic imagination. Prior to joining Columbia, I worked as a political strategist for leftist and progressive causes and remain active in the higher education labor movement."
The Post Millennial @TPostMillennial: "Reporter grills Columbia student after she demands the university help feed protestors occupying Hamilton Hall: "It seems like you're saying, 'we want to be revolutionaries, we want to take over this building, now would you please bring us some food'"
Readers added context: "Her claims are misleading: (1) Per Columbia, campus dining is open (John Jay Dining Hall, Fac Shack, JJ's Place)
(2) Humanitarian aid is for saving lives in the most dire situations (violent conflict, natural disasters). The students can leave if they want."
