From vilification to criminalization

 

Conflating Palestine solidarity with antisemitism can only produce distorted results

It has become almost routine for people who express solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people to be subjected to ugly intimidation tactics from Israel’s supporters. A depressingly long list exists of those who have endured false accusations of antisemitism, often linked to threats to their employment or attempts to deny them venues or platforms.

Since the current genocidal assault on Gaza got underway, however, we are seeing a redoubling of efforts to take this McCarthyist process further still, with even moderate criticism of Israel now treated as anti-Jewish hatred. Those mounting the charge are extending their efforts into the realms of criminal law and the policing of public protests.

In Toronto, as in many other cities, Palestine solidarity activists have used the tactic of hanging banners at highly visible locations; for obvious reasons, overpasses that span major road arteries have often been selected for this purpose.

According to Global News, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw stated that “many, particularly members of Toronto’s Jewish community, are feeling increasingly unsafe amid the ongoing protests.” He, therefore, took it upon himself to ban pro-Palestinian protest actions at the Avenue Road overpass over the highly trafficked Highway 401.

It is true that a significant number of Jewish people live in the vicinity of this overpass, but the protest has actually involved mobilizing members of the local community. More to the point, no evidence has been presented to suggest that any threats or hostility have been directed towards Jewish people who live in the area. It is simply a prime location from which a banner can be seen by large numbers of the travelling public.

That a police chief should take it upon himself to decide that constitutionally protected rights of assembly and expression can be arbitrarily extinguished at a given location on flimsy and vigorously disputed grounds is alarming in the extreme. That such a dictate should be applied to members of a racialized community who are challenging a grave injustice is nothing short of reprehensible.  (more...)

From vilification to criminalization