[rad-green] Free speech, but not for Palestine [Setting the record straight on what happened at York University]

*https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-free-speech-but-not-for-palestine
<https://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/opinion-free-speech-but-not-for-palestine>*

*Toronto Sun          November 28, 2019*

*Free speech, but not for Palestine*

Mona Dennaoui, left, and Hammam Farah. (Supplied photos)


BY MONA DENNAOUI AND HAMMAM FARAH

On Nov. 20, Israel advocacy group Herut Canada at York University held an
event with former soldiers from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). The IDF
has held recruitment drives in Toronto, and it’s illegal for a foreign
military to recruit in Canada.

As the Palestine solidarity club on campus, Students Against Israeli
Apartheid (SAIA) York, we decided to protest our university
administration’s decision to provide space for the event.

Despite us reaching out to the administration with concerns about
harassment and intimidation by pro-Israel groups and their allies in the
Jewish Defence League (JDL) — classified as a terrorist organization in the
U.S. — the event was approved. Our concerns proved to be well-founded as
JDL members began physically assaulting protesters soon after the event
began.

Among those affected are York students and community members and their
families whom the event was intended to intimidate into passivity.

But this is not how local and national media outlets reported the event.
Despite there not being a shred of evidence, figures from the political
elite as prominent as Justin Trudeau, Michael Levitt, Andrew Scheer and
Doug Ford were united in claiming that pro-Palestine activists engaged in
racist chanting and violence. But the available video evidence — widely
shared over social media — reveals the exact opposite.
[image: image.png]

Some of the manufactured controversy apparently revolves around our use of
the Arabic term “intifada,” which means “uprising.” This is ridiculous, and
the JDL and their allies are snowflakes for being offended. The term is to
be understood within the context of ongoing Palestinian resistance to
Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Palestinian land, violations of
international law and documented war crimes. In fact, the majority of
resistance activities against the occupation have been incidents of civil
disobedience and nonviolent protest in the face of the might of the Israeli
army. As late as last week, 34 Palestinians, including eight children, were
killed by Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and collective punishment.
[image: image.png]

Let us be clear — we believe that the purpose of this event was to harass
and intimidate York students and, in particular, Palestinian students. The
documented instances of physical assault by members of pro-Israel groups
bears this out.

But if members of pro-Israel groups at York University have the freedom to
host a lecture by members of a foreign military that violates the rights of
York’s Palestinian students and their families, it must also be recognized
that Palestinians at York and supporters of their rights have the freedom
to peacefully express their opposition to this.

This is our right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And we
will fight to protect it should the university administration — or the
government — seek to deprive us of it.

*— Mona Dennaoui is a former exchange student at York University and member
of Students Against Israeli Apartheid and Hammam Farah is a York University
alumnus and co-founder of SAIA York*

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