Canada recently adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which is nothing but unmasked anti-Palestinian racism that looks to criminalize criticisms of Israeli State. The Ontario Progressive Conservatives are going to pay organizations like CIJA $550 million to teach that definition in schools. Our hosts remind us all of this is coming at a time where the Canadian state is spending unprecedented resources on weaponizing the legal system against activists. The repercussions are already being felt.
Within days of the adoption of the IHRA, the Crown dropped charges against a woman, not because she didn't commit the violence she was accused of, but because it was justified by the mere mention of a Free Palestine.
Why is Canada so invested in defending Israel's occupation and genocide of Palestinians? People may not like the answer....
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Welcome to Rabble Rants, I'm Santiago Hilo Quintero and alongside Jess McLean, we're going to unpack
Speaker:the stories that have us most riled up and challenge the narratives around them. Alright so the
Speaker:other day I tweeted out that I was absolutely horrified that the Ontario provincial government
Speaker:announced you know half a million dollars or more funding for anti-Semitism education in
Speaker:our schools. And I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's until you find out that they the organizations
Speaker:that they are providing all this cash to are the same folks we have been talking about for
Speaker:400 days. And that is primarily the Israeli lobby group. We're talking CJA, Friends of
Speaker:Simon Weisenthal and Liberation 75. Yeah, they're all going to split like $553 million and go
Speaker:round to our schools. and they're going to teach them about what anti-Semitism is. And if you're
Speaker:a long time listener of the show, you'll understand why. We're going to completely unpack it because
Speaker:I think the lengths to which this ties into Canada at the same time, I mean, the same week,
Speaker:adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, they're not the first country to do it. Some
Speaker:municipalities and provinces have adopted it worldwide. It's becoming very common, even
Speaker:though the objections to it are great. So that's primarily what this rabble rant is going to
Speaker:be about, not just unpacking the Ontario funding, but the definition and what that means for
Speaker:people working within the movement right now. even if we just kind of set aside the definition
Speaker:problems right now, because those organizations, they all completely push this definition of
Speaker:anti-Semitism, which conflates anti-Zionism or even anti-Israeli critique with anti-Semitism
Speaker:or being anti-Jewish. And you know, that's a problem for so many reasons. But these organizations
Speaker:are not the ones to be teaching our children, even if they had a well-defined. you know,
Speaker:idea that they were providing. It's the tactics that they have employed and the fact that these
Speaker:organizations have been actively celebrating the actions of the Israeli troops. They have
Speaker:been at the forefront of harassing Palestinian solidarity activists, any media that dares
Speaker:to challenge the Israeli narrative. And they have been a formidable presence here in Canada
Speaker:to try to suppress Palestinian solidarity. They spew anti-Palestinian racism daily, unchecked.
Speaker:And the fact that they're so tightly embraced and this definition is being adopted with a
Speaker:legal framework, you know, officially. is very, very dangerous. This is a slippery slope to
Speaker:fascism. The issue isn't that, like from looking at it from their perspective, like what they're
Speaker:talking about, like our issue with it isn't that they're anti- like it's not anti-racism,
Speaker:it's anti-racism against Jewish people specifically as it relates to things like Israel, right?
Speaker:If you were truly concerned about racism, there would also be a concern about the anti-Palestinian
Speaker:racism, which is not a concern. And it's this constant equation, equating of Judaism and
Speaker:Israel. I mean, Lately, I've been spending a little bit less time on Twitter lately because
Speaker:I've been quite busy. When I am on Twitter lately, I'm actually horrified at how much legitimate
Speaker:anti-Semitism I am seeing. I mean it's a lot. We're talking Nazi type antisemitism. There's
Speaker:a lot of antisemitism coming from the right wing. There's a lot of antisemitism in society
Speaker:in general. That is true. That is not the type of antisemitism, or at least, yeah, that isn't
Speaker:their primary concern here when they're talking about antisemitism. They're talking about Palestinian
Speaker:liberation. They're talking about advocate against the genocide of Palestinians. Against colonialism.
Speaker:You can't do that here. You know, and that's what I mean when it's like this slippery slope
Speaker:into fascism because it's we have now the state telling us it's essentially criminal for you
Speaker:to advocate for Palestinian liberation because that means the erasure of Jewish people. That's
Speaker:what this definition does, right? Like seven out of the, what, 12 points or 11 points that
Speaker:are there is directly tying those two together as though the idea of Zionism, you know, that
Speaker:there is a land without people and a people without a land. That is just textbook. colonialism,
Speaker:right? And why the Canadian state feels it upon themselves to protect that kind of definition
Speaker:that is the Jewish people can only operate in the confines of Zionism, which we already know
Speaker:is not true, then that becomes that dangerous step to can we then criticize the Canadian
Speaker:state? If they're able to do it this way for a foreign state, surely that opens the door
Speaker:for other things. We're already seeing like direct implications too. Um, because it frames
Speaker:Palestinian solidarity, you know, as anti-Israeli, which it is. I mean, who supports it? I mean,
Speaker:it's any reasonable person at this point should have legitimate criticism of Israel, but then,
Speaker:you know, you also have people who are yelling from the river to the sea in. an assertion
Speaker:of Palestinian autonomy, of liberation. And the Ontario Crown has essentially used that
Speaker:definition to then greenlight violence against Palestinians or Palestinian solidarity activists.
Speaker:So in the case of Haifa Abdel Khaliq, Ms. Abdel Khaliq was waving a Palestinian flag at the
Speaker:Ontario City Hall back in May. She was chanting from the river to the sea and a Zionist woman,
Speaker:Lorna Birnbaum, came up behind her and ripped off her hijab. And, you know, thanks to the
Speaker:power of the internet, she was identified and charged. The case just came to a point where
Speaker:the Crown went before a judge and explained that they were actually dropping the charges.
Speaker:And the reason that they're dropping the charges is because she was chanting, the victim was
Speaker:chanting from the river to the sea. They said that equated to the genocide of Jewish people.
Speaker:So not only does... You know, this focus on anti-Semitism really tried to erase anti-Palestinianism.
Speaker:Like it's like that it pays it no mind. It actually is anti-Palestinian racism. That definition,
Speaker:that definition that, you know, the assertion of one's liberation to its original state is
Speaker:somehow violent and criminal and means the erasure of people. Like only a Zionist would assume
Speaker:that. Right? We've talked about that before. So in this case, you have the prosecutor, you
Speaker:know, representing the Crown, representing the people, saying that it was okay that she attacked
Speaker:that woman, that Laura Birnbaum attacked that woman and ripped her hijab off. They acknowledged
Speaker:that actually was a form of violence to do that. The judge agreed, and but there were mitigating
Speaker:circumstances that provoked her to do it. And I mean, what is all of this going to mean for,
Speaker:you know, other activists? This, this is dangerous. It's also just really strange from a legal
Speaker:framework. Like if, like, does that mean bar fights are legal now? You know, like if, if
Speaker:someone pisses you off enough, if someone says something mean to you, are you allowed to just
Speaker:punch them now? is no they've said it's more than just insulting it's not that they thought
Speaker:lorna was insulted that she genuinely could fear that this was someone calling for the
Speaker:erasure of her people because your bar fight you aren't backed up by things like the ir
Speaker:the ihra definition this is creating a legal framework to assert that yes this is violent
Speaker:speech and people saying as much, you know, you need protection from, that it's reasonable
Speaker:to want to lash out at those people and enact violence on them. And if you do so, you won't
Speaker:face charges. So you asked me earlier though, can that, can I punch a Nazi? And I would say,
Speaker:yes, you can, because a Nazi would generally be advocating for this, actually be advocating
Speaker:for a Jewish genocide, right? Like there would be no arguing that. So I would say we've, although
Speaker:there's a dark side to that, surely we can all punch Nazis now legally. I mean, I, I've been
Speaker:at rallies where I've both photographed and seen people doing Nazi salutes in front of
Speaker:police. Police obviously do nothing. Not that we would expect them to. Be nice to know that
Speaker:we can just punch them apparently. I mean, I'll take that win, but clearly that's not who this
Speaker:is targeting, and it's not who they're concerned about. I mean, I've genuinely heard very little
Speaker:conversation about the legitimate rise of old-school anti-Semitism. That doesn't seem to be a topic
Speaker:of conversation for these groups that are apparently so concerned. with anti-Semitism. Well, it's
Speaker:so easy to understand, though, especially in this time where people are inundated with images
Speaker:of what the state of Israel is doing. And I don't mean like overhead shots of bombs. We
Speaker:are seeing the implications on people's bodies, like children's bodies. And, you know, then
Speaker:you're telling people that Israel is directly related to all Jewish people. that their actions
Speaker:are intertwined, their goals are intertwined, that they're inseparable. But the whole point
Speaker:of anti-Semitism, you know, well, not the whole point, there's old tropes and awful stereotypes
Speaker:that are perpetuated and violence. But you know, the idea that you could like blame all Jewish
Speaker:people for what Israel is doing, that's anti-Semitic. But it ceases to be when you tell them that
Speaker:any critique of Israel is anti-Semitic. You are telling them that they're one in the same,
Speaker:Zionism, Israel, and Judaism, and there's no exception. And we're seeing that played out
Speaker:in the streets, you know, where Jews say no to genocide or any Jewish person objecting,
Speaker:lots, thousands. They're like being disowned. They're being shouted down as not being a real
Speaker:Jew. And so there are many people working to solidify this conflation. of these two ideas.
Speaker:And so it's no wonder when you see all these images that you become anti-Israeli. And so
Speaker:by definition, you then become anti-Semitic. So how much does that term mean after that?
Speaker:The irony being, of course, that anti-Semitism and pro-Zionism can both exist in harmony.
Speaker:And they do. Right? And that's kind of what I'm talking about here. Like there's a lot
Speaker:of people who are anti-Semitic, who are pro-Zionist. Right? They see it as, okay, well, if the Jewish
Speaker:people want to go and as long as they're not here and they have their own country over there
Speaker:where they can do whatever they want, as long as it's not affecting us, that's fine. Right?
Speaker:Like you think of like the Christian Zionists as an example. Right? So that's more what I
Speaker:mean here is like it as a definition of anti-Semitism, it really just fails to capture what, in my
Speaker:opinion, is a much more common, much more aggressive, hateful, threatening form of anti-Semitism.
Speaker:Yeah. Right? Yeah, you're now associating Jewish people with the most horrific things we've
Speaker:ever seen and apartheid and all of these things we've been told to hate. And so, yeah, it's,
Speaker:but, you know, those people obviously don't give a shit about actually stopping anti-Semitism
Speaker:or any kind of racism. We need to be clear. It is the only reason for it is to suppress
Speaker:Palestinian... solidarity or resistance, rather. It was a response actually to the gains Palestinians
Speaker:were making in the international community being recognized. And so it immediately puts the
Speaker:brakes on that because it tells other states that even recognizing Palestine, what are its
Speaker:borders then? Where do you envision its borders? Because based on that definition, you could
Speaker:or could not be in contradiction with this definition. Right? If you don't agree, if you see Palestine
Speaker:as its 1946 borders, you would be considered genocidal by the Israeli state and by this
Speaker:new definition. And so it puts the brakes on so much, not to mention, you know, questioning
Speaker:the Canadian colonial regime, which is ultimately what they're protecting. Right. The imperialist
Speaker:project. I mean, not to mention that, like, OK, seen as genocidal versus actively advocating
Speaker:for ongoing genocide, you know. where the concern is here is clearly misplaced. I want to go
Speaker:back to the story from Ottawa of the charges being dropped against Lorna Birnbaum. Fun not
Speaker:so fun note. The crown in this case, Moyes Karimji, is on the list of people we know sitting on
Speaker:the
Speaker:General's Office of Ontario. This is the secretive committee we spoke to the breach about, who
Speaker:have been very specifically tasked with monitoring the legal situation around protests involving
Speaker:conflicts in the Middle East. It's very specific, the definition. It's very explicitly racist,
Speaker:the definition. Their actions have been explicitly racist. We've talked about how this committee
Speaker:has been encouraging and walking police through the process of increasing charges, using harsher
Speaker:bail conditions, all wrapped up in Project Resolute. I will link many episodes to more deep information
Speaker:into this, but you know. Now we see how this group is playing out in court on the prosecution
Speaker:side, not just the policing side. And then we're seeing justices like Trevor Brown agreeing
Speaker:with it and green lighting it. So the family of Haifa Abdel Khaliq are launching a petition.
Speaker:They are asking people to appeal to the attorney general's office. and to reconsider the Crown's
Speaker:decision to drop those charges. It's such a dangerous precedent, but one that is completely
Speaker:supported with this definition being adopted. And the timing becomes even more worrying when
Speaker:you think of the fact that of the 90, I think, six plus activists just in the Toronto area
Speaker:alone that are facing charges under this hate working group, right? Like not directly under
Speaker:them, but you know, their cases are likely being man handled by this group completely, who are
Speaker:now then equipped with this new definition.
Speaker:I really see this as another weapon in their toolbox to be able to then frame those arrestees
Speaker:in a new light legally. You can't just imply that they're genocidal people, you know, trying
Speaker:to bring down the state. It's almost like there's by definition they are. And so, you know, police
Speaker:actions against them. What does that mean? I wonder what this means for our comrades in
Speaker:the streets now that folks know simply chanting a chant about Palestinian liberation is enough
Speaker:to excuse the violence. Yeah, it brings up questions about, you know, the fears about the vigilantism
Speaker:that we're seeing, right? Like these, these groups that like the ones that we've been seeing
Speaker:at UFT campuses, right? Um. It is a very dangerous president. Does that mean that they can just,
Speaker:you know, go up and just bare-knuckle brawl with a large crowd of Palestinian supporters
Speaker:the second they say to the river, from the river to the sea? And what other chance? Yeah. You
Speaker:know, people are getting arrested for waving Hezbollah flags. I mean, that really is what
Speaker:the president... would say, right? that there would be no charges then. Well then, I mean
Speaker:that really is starting to look like fascism. Right? Oh, absolutely. Because also the victim
Speaker:in the case that we're talking about, she reported that she felt really coerced. I mean, not to
Speaker:mention the fact that she faced so much harassment and hate that she had to leave Canada and her
Speaker:job. But she felt pressured to accept these charges being dropped by the crown. You know,
Speaker:she, she doesn't detail what that meant, but knowing that Moyes, Karimji sits on this hate
Speaker:working group and has been missioned with criminalizing Palestinian solidarity, then you really see
Speaker:how fascism plays out on all its levels. It's Palestinian solidarity now, but it's entirely
Speaker:designed as a means to suppress that ultimate critique of the system. Any system that they
Speaker:deem so important that they would protect it this way. You know, I mean, we know the answer
Speaker:to what I'm about to ask, but it would be interesting to see them argue. if a Palestinian supporter
Speaker:was to punch a Zionist who was saying any of the number of hateful things that I've witnessed
Speaker:at Palestinian rallies when you have the counter protesters, you know, I mean, they actively
Speaker:will talk about killing children as a good thing, you know, like they will say like all kinds
Speaker:of genocide, literally like, like there's no sugarcoating the genocidal wording that they
Speaker:use.
Speaker:What would be the legal response if they were punched in the face? You know, like legitimately.
Speaker:I mean, we know that they're unlikely to fall suit, but if we're setting precedence here,
Speaker:if what is seen as genocidal language and we are living through what the ICJ says is a plausible
Speaker:genocide, does that mean that... people can start punching Zionist counter protesters?
Speaker:No, no, because like I said, there's no legal framework to back up our feelings that it's
Speaker:a genocide. Canada hasn't adopted that stance fully. The ICJ international law doesn't mean
Speaker:shit. It doesn't mean shit. Even Demetri Lascaris will tell you now, right? It doesn't mean anything
Speaker:to these depraved politicians. Not even the shaming of the fact that you are in contravention
Speaker:of international law on genocide, not just some fucking trading law or something. It's on genocide.
Speaker:And that was just it was not enough to even move them in the slightest. It might have seasoned
Speaker:their statements a little, but I would argue it made them. more resolved to just distance
Speaker:themselves from their obligations to the international community. So, you know, but if you're talking
Speaker:to the UN too, the UN has not adopted this definition and every NGO that, you know, you can think
Speaker:of Amnesty International and the list goes on in Canada, the list of organizations again
Speaker:is long. that have implored politicians and even one of the authors, Stern, has backtracked.
Speaker:I don't resolve him of anything, but he objects to the way that it has been weaponized against
Speaker:Palestinian solidarity. So knowing our schools are going to be disseminating this and it's
Speaker:going to be backed at a federal level means a lot of folks are going to have to... start
Speaker:to take this into account. You know, we didn't want to have to second guess what we do, but
Speaker:you know, as we see the implications unfold, it's, I hope it doesn't have a chilling effect.
Speaker:I mean, it's emboldened our media. Did you see that to be even more outrageous than they normally
Speaker:are? Did you see the press conference with UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese? Yes.
Speaker:What was the question? Um, so yeah, she goes on and tells everyone the scene sets the stage
Speaker:in Gaza, you know, reminds everyone what's going on. And, and what was the question? Uh, about
Speaker:Israel's right to exist, I believe. Yeah, do you, it was like, do you support Hamas? But
Speaker:it wasn't quite that. It was, yeah, do you think Israel has the right to exist? As though those
Speaker:two things were related. Um, I think, you know, that just demonstrates how it just confuses
Speaker:this shit out of people, or it makes it easier for other people to confuse people on what
Speaker:antisemitism actually is. or what it means to just simply advocate against genocide. Like
Speaker:she wasn't up there calling for complete Palestinian liberation. I mean, not explicitly. I mean,
Speaker:she does advocate for a ceasefire. And in her language, in her answer, that was purifier.
Speaker:Right? You know, talking about that there are no actual legal parameters within the UN, within
Speaker:the body that she represents, that give a state the right to exist. They either do or they
Speaker:don't. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Like and she was saying like, you know, Italy exists. And if
Speaker:Italy wanted to unite with France and become like France or something, then they would exist
Speaker:and they could do that. You know, and put that there is no right to exist for any nations.
Speaker:You know, nations either exists or don't exist. But what is protected is a people's right to
Speaker:exist. right, a people's right to exist without, you know, genocide. It was a very good answer.
Speaker:Yeah, it says a lot about our Canadian media that you can unapologetically not wearing a
Speaker:mask, get up there and ask that as some sort of legitimate question to somebody who has
Speaker:just described what they had described. Yeah, no, and I mean, we always say on this show,
Speaker:like, fuck, we don't believe in Canada's right to exist. You know, that would make some liberals
Speaker:head explode, though. Like, that's the thing. It was good that she picked Italy and France
Speaker:in a way, because I think it brings the ridiculousness more than us being like, well, Canada doesn't
Speaker:have the right to exist here. It's also a settler colonial state that's built on the foundation
Speaker:of, you know, like. Which is true, but I think the example of Italy and France got the message
Speaker:across maybe a bit more palpably than who would have if I had been the one answering it. I
Speaker:still can't imagine asking somebody that when we are witnessing the opposite, like we're
Speaker:witnessing the attempted erasure of Palestinian people. That is so hard to argue now. Any re-
Speaker:I don't know how you can see that rubble and know the state of the hospitals and the displacement
Speaker:and hear what the state of Israel has to say and not recognize they are trying to completely
Speaker:erase Palestine and take it over. The West Bank is also under attack. Lebanon is under attack.
Speaker:I mean, they're just a colonial state trying to do what it does. You know, they're doing
Speaker:what it does. And you... Does that not call into question anyone supporting that their
Speaker:right to think Palestinians have a right to exist? Do you know? Is that not such gaslighting?
Speaker:It is, especially when, like, again, we mentioned there is no legal framework for a nation's
Speaker:right to exist, but there is a legal framework for, you know, I don't know, right to self-defense,
Speaker:for example, you know, right for Palestinians to resist. That has legal framework. They're
Speaker:not as concerned about that one. Right. Like there's.
Speaker:The question is so frustrating because it's like, okay, like you're ignoring all of these
Speaker:rights. You're actively violating all of these rights. I would love to ask that reporter,
Speaker:do you think Palestinians have the right to exist? Do you? Or force politicians who stand
Speaker:up there and defend this destruction and death and ask them And with the follow-up, how is
Speaker:that possible? Because they have to say yes. But I'll tell you, there's footage of Dmitri
Speaker:Laskaris. He's outside of some weapons conference for Ukraine. I don't remember the name of it.
Speaker:It was in Canada somewhere. I apologize. You can go to his feed and check it out. And he's
Speaker:out front. They won't let him in, obviously. And he's asking the attendees, who know that
Speaker:they're being filmed, who know that they're being filmed. Do Palestinian lives matter less
Speaker:than Ukrainian lives? Or, you know, he'd ask it vice versa. Do Ukrainian lives matter more
Speaker:than Palestinian lives? And I think he only got one person to say yes, and that was after
Speaker:they kind of shook their head and laughed, like they didn't know what to say. And he follows
Speaker:up, he's like, yes, no, maybe. Is this a hard question for you? Right? And most people like
Speaker:were shaking their head. meaning they likely thought no, like no, they weren't worth the
Speaker:same. And it was, you knew that's what they were thinking too. And I think some people
Speaker:would say, no, it doesn't have the right to exist. And that is the argument to take. And
Speaker:they're not the ones that are labeled genocidal and they're not the ones that are facing legislation.
Speaker:And that's just because like you said, like most of actual acts of anti-Semitism, anti-semitism
Speaker:come from the far right and those are completely unshacked. Like remember that time that there
Speaker:was a literal Nazi in parliament and... No one will ever forget that. I mean they'll try.
Speaker:They will try. But everyone references it so often it's impossible now. Like genuinely I'd
Speaker:like to know how these organizations responded to that almost. Right? Like... Like, where
Speaker:is the outrage here? Like, what was Siege's response to that? I'm almost curious, right?
Speaker:Because like, there is all kinds of actual support that the Canadian government provides for literal
Speaker:Nazis. You know, there's all kinds of literal Nazism that is brewing in Canada. Well, we've
Speaker:got a list of 900 names that the Canadian government refuses to release. Remember, we had to cleanse
Speaker:the monument. Folks were trying to donate money and honor Nazis for the monument for the victims
Speaker:of communism. And as we know, the bulk of the victims of communism were... Sorry, the bulk
Speaker:of the victims of communism were fucking Nazis. So... that just put them in a bit of a conundrum.
Speaker:So they know who these Nazis are, folks that came over and had asylum here in Canada for
Speaker:whether it be legal or just in reality, that's what they ended up with because they weren't
Speaker:persecuted and they lived lives here. They won't share that list with us. So not only does it
Speaker:exist, they know it exists, they know. the history of it and they want to hide it from us. And
Speaker:the fact that the stress of this prioritization of a fight against anti-Semitism. At this time,
Speaker:do you not all see how questionable this is? To tie this in with the act of Israel in this
Speaker:moment? Like such a push? Like why is this being prioritized amongst all the other things, and
Speaker:actual acts of anti-Palestinian racism that are happening over and over again? I mean,
Speaker:we saw just the other day a Zionist. jump out of his car, leave his kid in the car running
Speaker:on an overpass so he could attack the people flying a Palestinian flag on that overpass
Speaker:with a sign that said it was literally just a ceasefire sign. It wasn't, you know, we got
Speaker:some more fire signs out there and this was really, it was like honk for a ceasefire, something
Speaker:along the lines of that. And he lost, very basic, you know, from our point of view. We do respect.
Speaker:the work. It's not to shit on the sign. No, what I mean by basic is I mean like standard.
Speaker:Like, very normal. Yeah, and there's no violence within it, like a ceasefire, like how you could
Speaker:couch that and say that was a threat to that man. I'm sure someone somewhere will. But either
Speaker:way, he jumps out. I mean, he ended up bloodied up and taken away by cops. But it's. You know,
Speaker:these events are happening over and over and over again. This is an actual problem. But
Speaker:it's a problem that it's being fed into by our state. I mean, that is appreciated by the state.
Speaker:That fucker is doing something, the police job for them. The police would have loved to go
Speaker:onto that overpass and haul those people away and smash their flags and tear down their banner.
Speaker:And they couldn't. So, you know, a Zionist does it. Well, he doesn't. He didn't really get
Speaker:away with anything. But, you know, this these are not isolated incidents. And it. Frankly,
Speaker:it feeds into anti-Semitism to try to prioritize
Speaker:that definition in this moment.
Speaker:I was just thinking about like, just like racism in general right now, right? Like, like all
Speaker:the racism we're seeing in Canada, like the anti-immigration racism, like, and it's like...
Speaker:Just like right now. Like we have a racism problem in Canada that we need to address.
Speaker:And so much of it is getting unchecked. Meanwhile, like everyone knows that this has nothing to
Speaker:do with like legitimate, like we've been saying in our episode, it has nothing to do with legitimate
Speaker:racism or anti-Semitism against Jewish people. It has everything to do with cracking down
Speaker:on Palestinian protesters for like uplifting the state of Israel and in support of their
Speaker:genocide against Palestinians. But like, we have so much brewing right now that is of genuine
Speaker:concern, like the actual rise of fascism. And like at the end of the day, these efforts undermine
Speaker:any of our ability to address all of the other forms of racism. Right? Like it undermines
Speaker:our institution's abilities to do anything about it. Right? Where it seemed that like racism
Speaker:is to be weaponized for some sort of political gain, as opposed to something that just should
Speaker:be opposed universally in all circumstances. And I think that's really frustrating right
Speaker:now because... It's a really bad time for us to undermine that. You know? It is. And like
Speaker:when you contrast that with it's not that they're just not addressing racism. You have the liberals
Speaker:like we talked about in the last episode, the last rabble rant, actively feeding into xenophobia
Speaker:and racism. So then you really start to see this as white supremacy, right, of prioritizing
Speaker:anti-Semitism over all the other over all the other isms, so to speak. And that's nothing
Speaker:but fucking white supremacy at work. I don't care what they say. They're not white. They're
Speaker:fucking white. For the most part, I know Jews are not a homogenous group, but the idea of
Speaker:the Zionist state is an act of white supremacy. It's, um, it's an incredibly racist state.
Speaker:Uh, obviously. Yeah, I mean, even if you don't define it as like white supremacy, it still
Speaker:is a form of supremacy, you know? Like it's still oppression, genocide. I don't give a
Speaker:fuck what color it has in this moment. Like it's... it's obvious that we need to oppose
Speaker:it. And they're making it harder. I'm gonna round out the episode by going back to the
Speaker:beginning. We talked about Ontario schools getting extra funding for anti-Semitism education.
Speaker:And just to give you an idea of where we're already at, boards like the Toronto District
Speaker:School Board, just fucking up royally. all over the place. I mean, they started by issuing
Speaker:an apology for students attending the river run for grassy narrows. And apparently settlers
Speaker:were asked to wear blue and it was all twisted and people got upset. And you know, yeah, the
Speaker:school board issued an apology to parents and said they would revisit the policy of sending
Speaker:kids to protests and field trips or anything kind of political in nature. And then we find
Speaker:out that there's this field trip to the Shabbat on Bayview. who have been one of the sponsors
Speaker:of the, I think, weekly celebrations of the IDF. I mean, these are full court press.
Speaker:genocidal celebrations. They are antagonistic. They have held events that would horrify you.
Speaker:And this is okay with the TDSB. And this is without, you know, deepening the relationships
Speaker:that they already have. And I'll remind you that CJE also launched a campaign within the
Speaker:school systems this year. that encouraged teachers and students and community members to tell
Speaker:on other teachers or students who were advocating, other teachers and students who were advocating
Speaker:for Palestinian solidarity. It like, can you not scream fascism any louder? Right, we're
Speaker:encouraging people spying within the education system to make sure. we don't speak ill will
Speaker:of a foreign state? How can you not draw the hop there, that conclusion, that at some point,
Speaker:maybe someone like Pierre Poliev would think, well, if that stood up without too much pushback,
Speaker:then surely people wouldn't mind if I did the same with objections to the Canadian state
Speaker:and our actions as being unpec- unpatriotic, treasonous, terrorism. They already look at
Speaker:indigenous land offenders as terrorists. They treat them as such. They try to define them
Speaker:as such. And so this is not a stretch. This is fascism. So, you know, we try to end on
Speaker:a high note sometimes for these episodes, but I'm frankly, with the adoption of this definition,
Speaker:there are none. I mean, it is very McCarthy as well, right? Like... Absolutely. It's McCarthyism.
Speaker:It's very 1984 to overuse the reference, you know. And it all serves to protect the same
Speaker:thing, right? The imperialist, the capitalist state and its projects, right? Here it's got
Speaker:a little more of a colonial flavor to it, but it doesn't really matter. Cause anybody who
Speaker:does this will face this kind of opposition at some point when you become a problem. All
Speaker:of this, again, is in response to gains in Palestinian solidarity. So I guess if you should see a
Speaker:silver lining, it's the fact that they have to start employing these so openly brazen fascist
Speaker:tactics that we can see, we can talk about and criticize that, you know, that mask is slipping
Speaker:and slipping and slipping. And that is the whole point of keeping attacking them and forcing
Speaker:them to up the ante, because eventually it will show just how de-legitimate they are. You know,
Speaker:they're getting desperate. They're getting desperate. But it will be something for folks to have
Speaker:to navigate through the legal system now. And, you know, now our fucking schools. So. And
Speaker:this is after people were getting gains by, you know, having the, you know, TDSB, for example,
Speaker:introduce anti-Palestinian, sorry, introduce anti-Palestinian racism as part of the curriculum,
Speaker:not to perpetuate it, but to learn about it and help define it. And. It's gone the other
Speaker:way. What's crazy is like, sorry, just to, you know, as part of the wrap up here, but I'm
Speaker:thinking back to like when I was in school, you know, learning about world history, um,
Speaker:learning about, you know, the 20th century and, you know, always thinking, you know, as, as
Speaker:many people do like, oh, like how how could people ever let that happen? How could these
Speaker:things ever happen? Will the world change and things like this won't ever happen again. And
Speaker:just like every day, it's another thing which is like very history repeating itself. We're
Speaker:seeing it happen again. It's like, oh, I guess that's how it happens. I guess it's a hell
Speaker:of a lot easier for that to happen than I thought. And it's just really frustrating. And it's
Speaker:kind of ironic in a way too, like when we're talking about them wanting to change what is
Speaker:taught in schools, the fact that like I was taught about all of these horrible things in
Speaker:school, right? Like we learned about the Holocaust. Yeah, the Holocaust and also just how like
Speaker:how fascism rises, you know, how we got to the Holocaust, you know, how we got to the World
Speaker:Wars, how we got- But not really, not really. Yeah. Or even like beyond that, like we even
Speaker:learned like how we got to the genocide in Rwanda, you know, like we like how slavery happened,
Speaker:like we learned all these things and it's like just it's like yeah, it's just every day. It's
Speaker:another check on the checklist of history repeating itself in the exact same way as before Yeah,
Speaker:it has a really infiel to me too, as though they've just taken the actual definition of
Speaker:anti-Semitism and put it down that chute, you know, that the workers had in 1984, where it
Speaker:just kind of... They rewrote history and they just took out a new piece of paper and they
Speaker:just completely rewrote this definition that makes no fucking sense and actually does the
Speaker:opposite of what they tell us that it'll do. And they all adopt it like that's perfectly
Speaker:fucking normal. And this is what it's always been. And it would be crazy to question it.
Speaker:Um, you know, the parallels, you could just keep going. And that's the thing, right? Like,
Speaker:like having been well read through all of these things and reading all of these dystopian novels
Speaker:and all these things is like, you're like, I used to look at dystopia as a genre where it's
Speaker:like, okay, well we're exaggerating things to reflect things about our society right now,
Speaker:like kind of. You know, like... No. But every day it's like, no, actually dystopia doesn't
Speaker:exaggerate shit. It's just a warning, you know? They are predictive texts. Like... and like,
Speaker:it's not new. Everyone lives through this in history. You know, history does kind of have
Speaker:that cyclical nature to it, but it's just, you know, I feel like we're in a Greek tragedy
Speaker:or something, you know? Like, it's... It feels very... Yeah, just what the fuck? What do we
Speaker:do? What lessons can we learn from the past to allow this not to happen again? Because
Speaker:like they didn't stop at that time. So what do we do this time? You know, well, let's hope
Speaker:we've sounded the alarm or sorry, let's hope we've sounded the alarm a lot sooner. And because
Speaker:not only do we learn from revolutions, but hopefully bouts of fascism and the rise of. authoritarianism
Speaker:and all of these other things, we kind of can see them for what they are. But you know, it's
Speaker:not like we haven't been sounding the alarm for some time now. But you know what? No, I
Speaker:think the mask is really, really slipping. I mean, even, I know this is totally unrelated,
Speaker:but even, you know, there's this squirrel. There's a squirrel that like the state took from some
Speaker:guy in the states and they euthanized this pet squirrel and the outrage that people felt.
Speaker:I mean, they mobilize so much so that all of the buildings that this institution, I don't
Speaker:know, animal services or whatever the county services that it was, had to shut right across
Speaker:the county or right across the state because they had a bomb threats and all these threats
Speaker:because they had taken this man squirrel and killed it. And it's like, how long can the
Speaker:state behave in such a violent and oppressive way that people don't all start looking around
Speaker:at each other going, none of these fuckers are looking out for us. No, no. That's too much.
Speaker:How easy it is to manipulate that feeling. And point it the wrong way. It'll be like, none
Speaker:of these fuckers are looking out for us. But Trump is, you know? Yeah. Oh,
Speaker:yeah. Or like or Poliev, like how many people are like none of these fuckers are looking
Speaker:out to us. But you know who is the career politician who has been in politics his whole life in
Speaker:the house? You know, like that guy is looking out for us, right? And it just I mean, for
Speaker:fuck's sakes, we're talking about Orwell. You know who else is a fan of Orwell? Apparently
Speaker:Elon Musk You know like he posts about all the like references to 1984 and I'm like is there
Speaker:anything that can't be twisted Is there nothing like it's not a secret? But that's the point
Speaker:right is that like that's the great fucking irony of it like I mean George Orwell was a
Speaker:socialist You know, and yet you mean also that means a Nazi, right? Like isn't that isn't
Speaker:how they twist it? That doesn't mean shit to the political. That's the thing, right? Is
Speaker:that like they somehow manage to like twist everything like any like that's a problem of
Speaker:hoping that like people will have these enlightened realizations. All of it can be twisted. That's
Speaker:the lesson. Everything can be twisted. It really is difficult. And human psychology is a difficult
Speaker:thing. And it's... And people's angers, like... Strong emotions are easy to twist. Right? Like...
Speaker:It's all... There's no easy path here. You know, there's no... Like, we can't just hope... I
Speaker:mean, maybe it's a message for, like, against accelerationism here for a second, but you
Speaker:know, like, a lot of people sit around and say stuff like, you know, capitalism will eventually
Speaker:destroy itself. I mean, sure it will. But that doesn't mean that people will just awaken to...
Speaker:That it was wrong, you know? Like, fascism is waiting. For fuck sakes. I mean, also random,
Speaker:no? It was like 22 degrees on November 5th yesterday. What the fuck? Well, we're not waiting. That's
Speaker:why people should just share our podcasts with everyone. We are trying our fucking darndest
Speaker:to like scream from the rooftops, you know? No war, but class war. They just, you know,
Speaker:we need to expand our reach, that's all. That is a wrap on another episode of Blueprints
Speaker:of Disruption. Thank you for joining us. Also, a very big thank you to the producer of our
Speaker:show, Santiago Julio Quintero. Blueprints of Disruption is an independent production operated
Speaker:cooperatively. You can follow us on Twitter at BPofDisruption. If you'd like to help us
Speaker:continue disrupting the status quo, please share our content and if you have the means, consider
Speaker:becoming a patron. Not only does our support come from the progressive community, so does
Speaker:our content. So reach out to us and let us know what or who we should be amplifying. So until
Speaker:next time, keep disrupting.