Press release: Halifax Police chief Dan Kinsella owes an apology to the pro-Palestine drivers and their passengers at the Free Palestine COVID Safe Car Rally
Halifax Police chief Dan Kinsella owes an apology to the pro-Palestine drivers and their passengers at the Free Palestine COVID Safe Car Rally which gathered at the Saint Mary’s University parking lots on Saturday. The thousands of dollars of tickets (fines of up to $2,000 per person) that police issued must be shredded. And the one man (at least) who was handcuffed and arrested has suffered humiliation, injury to his self-worth, and a profound violation to his personal freedom. He deserves much more than a “sorry”.
Stephen Wentzell on the injunction banning protests during the current lockdown: “This is a slippery slope that we as Nova Scotians should pause and reflect on. And as we have seen before, when given the powers police will disproportionately focus on poor and/or racialized people.”
“Ten years ago, my family and I stood shoulder to shoulder with Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. We saw the Orthodox Jewish settlers invading the area and doing what they could to evict Palestinians from their homes.” Judy Haiven at yesterday’s webinar on the Nakba and the current attacks on Gaza.
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, today, on Saturday, May 15th, we are providing the community with the answer to that question and the historical context of the Nakba. This will be done so with a panel discussion of 6 individuals, whom all have fought vehemently for Palestinian rights in Canada. The discussion will be moderated by Rana Zaman.
The Dalhousie Muslim Students’ Association, in collaboration with the Dalhousie Arabic Society, Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace, Independent Jewish Voices – Halifax , Human Rights Coalition and Free Palestine HFX is organizing a demonstration regarding this issue on the 22nd of August (Saturday) at the Victoria Park. We will be working on lobbying efforts to our politicians to ask them to not keep quiet while such human rights violations occur and would appreciate your help in these efforts. It is sad to see a lack of salient intervention from the international community, especially from a peacekeeping country like Canada.
800 people gathered on the Halifax waterfront on this Canada Day afternoon to protest Israel’s illegal plans to annex large swaths of the occupied West Bank.
This September Nova Scotia’s Town of Windsor formally commemorated the little known fact that David Ben-Gurion, future prime minister of Israel, was trained along with the rest of the Jewish Legion at the town’s Fort Edward. But while Ben-Gurion came to fame as the founder of Israel, there was a darker side to this Zionist leader that is too often ignored, writes author and Cape Breton University teacher Garry Leech.
“I have been reading about the prisoners’ strike at Burnside. I understand that the conditions are not humane and that prisoners at Burnside are asking for necessary improvements in health care, exercise, visits, food, quality of air and library access. As a Palestinian and former resident of Gaza, I get the feeling that I am reading about the people of Palestine in general and Gaza in particular.”