But Only If You Agree With Me

Free speech is great. It is a principle that most people claim to support, but sometimes that support is contingent upon the subject under consideration. In a shameful episode yesterday, it became apparent how fragile the concept can be as McMaster University showed its true and cowardly colours.

The union representing academic workers at McMaster University says three students who are also connected to the labour group have been banned from campus activities after they participated in a pro-Palestinian protest earlier this year. 

The students are elected leaders with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3906. CUPE 3906 said on social media late last week they each received a notice from the Hamilton university that they have been declared "persona non grata."

Personal non grata is a term I have not heard in a long time. Often a diplomatic sanction, it means that a person, often a representative of another country, has said or done something that has offended the host constituency.

In diplomacy, a persona non grata (PNG) (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: personae non gratae) is a foreign diplomat who is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplomatic mission (including the removal of diplomatic immunity). A host country may declare persona non grata status for any member of a diplomatic staff at any time without any explanation.

According to McMaster's Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities, that designation is given to someone who is "denied the privilege" of entering specific parts of the university. 

"If PNG individuals are found or seen in the area they are denied, then they will be subject to a charge by Security Services under the Trespass to Property Act," the policy states. 

Demonstrating on behalf of a people experiencing genocidal attacks by Israel has therefore become a crime at McMaster.

CUPE 3906 said the status effectively bans the students from participating in campus activities, ranging from extra curriculars to any protests, but they can attend classes. At least one of the students confirmed to CBC Hamilton by email he had received the notice from McMaster. 

In its online post, CUPE 3906 said the school is hoping to "use police violence to silence resistance to its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine."

According to McMaster spokesperson Michelle donavan, who refused to speak about specifics, such a sanction can be applied if the code of conduct has been violated.

The code lists activities which constitute a violation, including engaging in threatening behaviours or communications, failing to comply with safety regulations, failing to cooperate with university officials, trespassing and causing disturbances.

"A PNG notice is given if there are concerns, based on the evidence of the case, that an individual poses a potential risk to campus or members of the campus community," she wrote. 

The offending behaviour apparently was the encampment set up at the university, one of several across North America, to protest the killing of over 40,000 Palestinians by the state of Israel. 

The protest grew within a week to have over 100 people and close to 70 tents, with daily activities and speakers. It ended in May after two-and-a-half weeks.

At the time, organizers said they'd come to an agreement with McMaster which included commitments around transparency about its investments and human rights considerations in international agreements that the university is involved in. 

One of the students who says he received the notice is Mason Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick is the union's vice president. He said the other two include the co-chair of a tenant solidarity working group and the chair of a working group on funding for graduate students.

Fitzpatrick told CBC Hamilton he was involved in the encampment as a camper and a union representative. He and others with CUPE 3906 were planning to speak out about the decision Tuesday afternoon at a rally just off campus.

"We will not be intimidated. We will not back down. This move by the university only serves to clarify the need for workers to stand against imperialism," CUPE 3906 said on Instagram.

"We will use all means available to us to fight for the right to protest and look forward to seeing our members back on campus."

A sad day for people's Charter Rights, and a big black eye for McMaster University. 

Counteracting The Void

Yesterday I posted a mini-rant on people's general lack of awareness of the world around them. Today, I post two videos that put to shame those who willfully live their lives in bubbles of ignorance.

Here is 12-year old Knowa De Baraso. The first clip shows him vigourously challenging the falsehoods that Mr. Pillow guy, Mike Lindell, tries to spew:

The second is De Baraso showing his mettle in an interview with Sky News.

The bubble people should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, no matter how they justify their ignorance.

Living In A Void

Maybe I am in a bit of a mood today, but I can't help but be disdainful of those who live in a news void. Even if you don't subscribe to a newspaper, there are plenty of sources that can keep you reasonably well-informed, be it Google News, the CBC website, The Guardian, etc., etc. And I have no patience with the excuse that people are too busy making ends meet to know what is going on around them. To live in ignorance is to live in a void, one that can be unscrupulously manipulated by others.

What prompts my criticism today is the rail lockout that has affected commuter lines, most notably seen in the cancellation of the Go train on the Milton line. Apparently, many were caught unaware.

Some commuters arrived Thursday morning at GO Transit stations along the Milton line, which cuts through Mississauga to Toronto's Union Station, only to learn service had been suspended.

"This is completely unacceptable, and we should have been informed earlier, said Om Sangekar, speaking outside the Cooksville GO station. "I'll definitely be late for work."

The larger point here, of course, is that if people cannot even keep themselves informed about events that have an immediate and local impact, what hope is there for them when it comes to issues that affect all of us? 

The spread of misinformation, whether through AI or fake news, is facilitated when one has no context by which to evaluate it. In our country, little PP exploits the void relentlessly and sometimes skillfully. To accept his version of 'reality,' we are a highly taxed and failing nation that has been led to the brink by Justin Trudeau and his merry band of men and women. Only PP can save us from falling over the edge, because he will surely "bring it home."

To a much worse degree, the same is happening in the United States. To hear Trump and his minions tell it, only he can save America from the abyss that awaits it should they choose the "radical Marxist" Kamala Harris.

Again, if you live in a void, defining the country in stark and absolutist terms has much appeal, especially since it saves you from the hard work that real, critical thinking entails. But in my view, you are a citizen in name only, since you choose to excuse yourself from any real participation in the duties that real citizenship requires.

That's the end of my little screed. Regular programming will resume soon.

 

A Piercing Sound

I am almost deafened by the dogwhistle here, as a tired and deflated Trump blows as hard as he can.

You can provide your own translation of "suburban housewives" here, I am sure, to uncover the real message to the red meat Maga crowd.

Rather Effective

 ...don't you think?

More Genocide

While most of the mainstream media focus on the genocidal actions of Israel in Gaza, there is another taking place in the West Bank, euphemistically labelled '"settler violence." To call the actions by Israeli citizens and the IDF anything other genocidal is to do a grave disservice to truth.

The West Bank, under military occupation since 1967, has seen the spread of Israeli settlements over the years, in contravention of international law. Despite that, violence there has increased since the Hamas attack on Israel, yet has only drawn a mild rebuke from the U.S., calling it 'unacceptable.' In other words, carte blanche continues. And it seems this violence is happening with either the encouragement or the passive consent of the IDF.  

The latest violence resulted in one death and much property destruction.

Here is a brief video showing some of the horror:

  

So what is to be done? Is there the chance of a new direction, a new hope for a cessation of the widespread violence against the Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza?? Peter Beinart has some thoughts on the matter, in terms of the tightrope Kamala Harris is currently walking.

When it comes to Israel, Ms. Harris should simply say that she’ll enforce the law.

The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade. It prohibits the United States from assisting any unit of a foreign security force that commits “gross violations” of human rights. Aid can be reinstated if the foreign country adequately punishes the perpetrators. Passed by Congress in 1997, it bears the name of former Senator Patrick Leahy — and it has been applied hundreds of times — including reportedly against U.S. allies like Colombia and Mexico.

However, there is a problem:

....it has never been applied to Israel, the country that over the past eight decades has received more U.S. aid, by far, than any other. That’s not because the Israel Defense Forces don’t commit serious abuses. “There are literally dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross violations of human rights” and should thus be ineligible for U.S. aid, a former State Department official, Charles Blaha, told ProPublica in May.

Lastly, there is strategic value for Israel if its violence can be curbed: 

Those who believe killing Palestinian civilians makes Israel safer should remember that Hamas often recruits fighters from the families of the bereaved. As Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, wrote in 2020, “If we continue to dish out humiliation and despair, the popularity of Hamas will grow.”

One thing is certain. The status quo cannot continue. Too many lives are being brutalized and lost, and the only hope lies in a new direction from a new American government that is prepared to sanction and discipline the Jewish state.

 

Not For A Few Dollars More

Sunday sees the start of the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). Comprised of 444 municipalities, the conference offers the opportunity to discuss and make recommendations on a wide ranges of issues affecting cities and regions throughout the province.

Without doubt, high on their list will be the high costs of dealing with the massive opioid and homelessness crises Ontario  is experiencing, costs that are being increasingly borne by property tax payers thanks to the downloading that started under Mike Harris and continues to this day. It is an unsustainable model, one that the Doug Ford government is loathe to acknowledge.

Cities and towns across Ontario saw at least 1,400 homeless encampments in their communities last year, according to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), which is asking the province for guidance on how to handle them, as well as more help to house and support people.

"While municipalities did not create the homelessness crisis, they are being forced to manage it without the resources or tools to sufficiently respond," the association wrote.

And the problem is only growing. 

The big city mayors have launched a public campaign to put pressure on higher levels of government to provide increased and consistent funding to municipalities for supportive housing, harm reduction programs, crisis centres and mental health supports.

"Both levels of government have answered the call with some funding for programs over the last year. But it's not consistent or enough, it's piecemeal. Taking on the homelessness crisis takes a whole-of-government approach that spans multiple ministries and multiple levels of government," Meed Ward said.

Peter Bethlenthalvy, Ontario's finance minister, has offered some relief to Toronto and Ottawa, but seems reluctant to do much more than spend the $28 million he has allotted to fight the problems. Big city mayors say that is not nearly enough, given that there is an estimated 240,000 homeless people.

To put pressure on the government, the big-city mayors have launched a Solve the Crisis campaign, which I encourage you to visit and offer your perspective to your federal, provincial and municipal representatives.

The crisis being faced by Ontarians will not be solved by a few dollars more. Nothing less than a total re-uploading of social housing, infrastructure costs, etc. downloaded to municipalizes by Mike Harris will do.

And here's a final thought: for people like Marit Stiles and Bonnie Crombie, who talk a good opposition game, where is your policy on all of this?