How media downplayed Pope Francis' concern for Palestinians in Gaza

 

Ali Abunimah, executive director, talks about the passing of Pope Francis and his support for Palestinians in Gaza, among other developments.

Bethlehem pastor criticises world leaders for ignoring Pope Francis' Gaza plea

 

Munther Isaac accuses world leaders of 'hypocrisy' and claims they have failed to acknowledge the late pontiff's true legacy of speaking out against war and Israel's apartheid policies

A Bethlehem pastor has slammed the "hypocrisy" of world leaders over their tributes to the late Pope Francis, which failed to acknowledge the plight of Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza as well as the "worst ever" Easter weekend Palestinian Christians experienced in recent memory.

"This Easter, in terms of Israel's actions in East Jerusalem, it has been the worst ever," Reverend Munther Isaac, a Christian pastor and theologian, told MEE Live. "It seems that it's getting worse every year."

The pastor appeared on MEE Live to discuss the legacy of Pope Francis, whose death on Easter Monday concluded a weekend marred by air strikes on Gaza, settler violence in the occupied West Bank, and the barring of Palestinian worshippers from holy sites in Jerusalem.

"We should not just accept the annexation of East Jerusalem as status quo," Isaac said, citing Israel's decision to block thousands of Palestinian Christians from attending services in Jerusalem's Old City.

"It's really hard to understand this oppression, this violence against people who just wanted to go to church," Isaac said.  (more...)

Bethlehem pastor criticises world leaders for ignoring Pope Francis' Gaza plea

Pope Francis was the leader Palestinian Christians needed

 

From war-torn Gaza to the occupied West Bank, we are grateful for what he did on earth to champion the oppressed

Not long ago, my cousin in Palestine located our grandfather’s baptismal certificate, which states that he was baptised in a church in his Palestinian village in 1885.  

He lived an incredible life, witnessing two world wars and a sequence of Arab-Israeli wars, including Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. A farmer who rode on horseback and rolled his own cigarettes, he contentedly cultivated his land and nurtured his olive trees - never leaving Palestine, even as several of his children migrated to the United States. 

I’m grateful to have this documentation and the certificate of his baptism, especially since Palestinian existence is always under attack. 

For Palestinian Christians, it’s both laughable and offensive when people try to erase our community’s presence in Palestine. 

Palestinian Christians are an important minority who have been betrayed not by Palestinian Muslims, but by Christian leaders around the globe. This is why the passing of Pope Francis hits us especially hard, because he was a rare western Christian leader who recognised and acknowledged our existence, both lovingly and compassionately.  (more...)

Pope Francis was the leader Palestinian Christians needed

University Teachers’ Association Warns Canadian Academics Against Travelling to the United States

 

Canadian Association of University Teachers warns Canadian academics could be searched and detained over their political views at US border

The national organization representing university faculty associations across Canada has issued a travel advisory to its 72,000 members warning academic professions against non-essential travel to the United States.

The advisory issued last week states travellers to the US are “increasingly vulnerable to preclearance zones and border searches that may compromise research confidentiality and academic freedom.”

Robin Whitaker, vice president of CAUT and an associate professor at Memorial University, said CAUT has been closely following reports of foreign nationals being questioned, denied entry or detained when attempting to cross a border with the United States.

“We took legal advice, and I think the balance of evidence is that (this is) the time for academics to be very, very cautious and concerned about crossing the border,” Whitaker told PressProgress.

CAUT is advising academics who are citizens or residents of a country where there are diplomatic tensions with the US, or who have recently traveled to those countries, to exercise particular caution when considering traveling to the US.  (more...)

University Teachers’ Association Warns Canadian Academics Against Travelling to the United States

The Poilievre Project

 

As Pierre Poilievre pursues power, journalist Martin Lukacs reveals the playbook behind his rise and exposes his radical vision for reshaping Canada.

Masquerading as an anti-establishment firebrand, Poilievre aims to ride anger about inequality and the cost-of-living crisis into office, then hand the keys to the corporate elite.

Drawing on investigative research and first-hand reporting, Lukacs reveals how Poilievre has built a political machine with the backing of tech oligarchs, real estate tycoons, oil barons, and Bay Street billionaires—all poised to profit from a Conservative government in Ottawa.

With sharp and biting analysis, Lukacs traces Poilievre’s trajectory from his early embrace of free-market fundamentalism to later efforts to rebrand his agenda of deregulation, privatization, and cutbacks as worker-friendly populism.

He warns that Poilievre’s commitment to a rapid-fire corporate makeover of Canada would cost the country dearly—from cherished public institutions to hard-won social programs to a liveable planet.

Rebel News again proves that it’s not doing journalism

 

If Levant wants to play politics, he should do so as a politician and see how well his extreme views go over with voters

Until last week’s federal leaders’ debates, Rebel News and its gadfly founder, Ezra Levant, were little more than minor irritants in Canada’s media landscape, like a pesky patch of poison ivy. The spectacle of David Menzies, the Rebel’s so-called “mission specialist,” and his trademark Panama hat being repeatedly splattered against a wall by plain clothes cops for stalking politicians with his microphone thrust like a sabre even provided the odd moment of comic relief. His schtick long ago lost its novelty, however, as he was arrested no fewer than five times last year alone. The lack of consequences for such behaviour, with charges repeatedly being dropped, has unfortunately seemed to only embolden the Rebels. The litigious Levant repeatedly advanced his cause with court victories achieved by hiding behind a shield of press freedom, although he couldn’t fool a panel of journalism experts that advises the Canada Revenue Agency on eligibility for Ottawa’s news media subsidies. It denied Levant’s publication status as a Qualified Canadian Journalism Organization in 2022 after it found that “less than one per cent of Rebel News articles met the criteria for original news content,” and a Federal Court upheld the ruling last fall.

After the spectacle the Rebels provoked at last week’s debates, however, there can be little doubt left that journalism is the last thing on their minds. First, Levant prevailed on the Debates Commission to allow his agitators five questions in the scrum following Wednesday’s French-language debate, claiming that Rebel News had 16 divisions and threatening to again sue, as he did last election in order to gain accreditation. That led to Rebel News and other right-wing news outlets, such as True North and Juno News, dominating the scrum with long-winded accusatory statements that often bore little resemblance to coherent questions. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh wisely refused to even answer them, noting that Rebel News spreads disinformation. Then the following night at the English-language debate, the Rebels crashed the CBC’s live panel, forcing it off the air briefly. Levant was questioned by the Debates Commission, but he and his team were allowed to remain. As word spread that the post-debate scrum was being cancelled over security concerns, however, acrimony grew in press row, with real journalists blaming the poseurs. “I gave Ezra Levant a real piece of my mind,” admitted Ricochet’s Ethan Cox. “And I stand by those comments.” Cox also objected to Keean Bexte of The Counter Signal, a former Rebel News employee, asking questions that were “long-winded statements largely focused on attacking Liberal leader Mark Carney.” Stuart Benson of the Hill Times also got into it with Bexte, and they were quickly joined by Levant and surrounded by a circle of cell phones recording the confrontation even as the debate began. “Bexte and Ezra were doing what they do best: needling someone in the hope of provoking a reaction,” noted Cox.

The fallout has included revelations which leave little doubt that the Rebels are partisans who have no place being accredited as journalists. The first was that both Rebel News and a second outfit owned by Levant called ForCanada were registered with Elections Canada as third-party advocacy groups. A ForCanada truck covered with video screens circled the debate venue blaring ads that suggested Liberal leader Mark Carney has been compromised by China and the World Economic Forum.

Even more troubling was a tidbit unearthed by historian Mark Bourrie, whose new biography of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is titled Ripper. In a bizarre twist, Bourrie revealed that Poilievre was communications director for a political campaign by Levant more than two decades ago. Bourrie noted that while he was a student in international relations, Poilievre was part of an “historically important clique” at the University of Calgary that “became a large part of the core of the modern Conservative movement.” The group also included Levant, then a young lawyer who sought nomination as the Canadian Alliance candidate in the riding of Calgary Southwest. Poilievre helped run Levant’s bid, according to Bourrie, spending more than $100,000 of campaign money on TV commercials and billboard ads. One TV commercial bizarrely even featured Poilievre and his current campaign manager Jenni Byrne posing as an Alberta family.  (more...)

Rebel News again proves that it’s not doing journalism

It’s all kicked off again. This time it’s journalist Ethan Cox calling out Rebel News pic.twitter.com/0gji6w2Mkv

— Harry North (@hsnorth_) April 18, 2025

Meet the Corporate Lobbyists Connected to Pierre Poilievre and his Inner-Circle

 

Geoff Dembicki from DeSmog is pulling back the curtain on the influence of corporate lobbyists on Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives

Who is lobbying Pierre Poilievre? An interactive map from DeSmog shines a light on the links between Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and various corporate lobbying interests and right-wing advocacy groups.

The map connects the dots between top figures in Poilievre’s Conservative party, including Poilievre’s top advisor Jenni Byrne and Campaign Chair John Baird, with big names like Elon Musk, Stephen Harper and Koch Industries — no wonder top Conservative Party officials voted down a resolution  that would ban lobbyists from seeking top positions in the party.

Journalist Geoff Dembicki from DeSmog joins PressProgress’ Alberta Reporter Stephen Magusiak on this episode of Sources to talk about his interactive map that pulls back the curtain on the lobbying connections inside Poilievre’s inner-circle.