New statement from BCCLA: 2024-06-11-BCCLA-Letter-to-VPD-regarding-Charlotte-Kates-1.pdf
Community efforts to defend activist Charlotte Kates have all emphasized that her recent arrest, and the pending “hate charges” against her, are clearly part of a larger on-going campaign to delegitimize and ban Samidoun. In fact, the leading pro-Israel lobby group Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) lists this issue as one of the priorities on their website.
A March 27 report published by the Canadian Jewish News offered revealing insights into a Vancouver connection on all of this. In a private meeting with local Zionists, PM Justin Trudeau apparently “promised to follow up on the Vancouver group’s three main asks: renew and expand the permanent federal Security Infrastructure Program grants to include security guards stationed at Jewish buildings in light of Oct. 7; encourage provincial attorney’s general to prosecute protesters who intimidate Jews and use hate speech; add the Samidoun organization to Canada’s list of designated terrorist entities”.
Point 2 is already underway with Kates’ arrest and we take note of Point 3.
(Also attending this private meeting was Taleeb Noormohamed, the MP for Vancouver Granville, who was key in negatively influencing the March 18th House of Commons motion, and seamlessly moves from iftar photo-ops with Trudeau to meetings with Zionists.)
The pro-Israel lobby knows it is losing public support as each new massacre of Palestinians horrifies more people; their only response is to crank up efforts to criminalize pro-Palestinian activists. Last week, MP Anthony Housefather during a speech in the House of Commons on anti-Semitism, rushed to offer the ludicrous solution of designating Samidoun as a “terrorist entity”.
As the Vancouver Police Department VPD increase their violent repression of all Palestinian solidarity, most recently at the May 31 rail blockade, and even allow their officers who previously wore the “punisher logo” to attack our protests, do we really expect any fair treatment from such a body? Do we really think they can conduct an impartial investigation into charges against activists standing up for Palestinian rights?
We cannot and do not trust pro-Zionist government officials and politicians, and certainly not the cops that have been actively harassing our protests for almost 8 months. They must all be held to account.
We will rely on our ourselves and stand together to defend our right to speak up for Palestine!
(Cover photo Michael YC Tseng)