2024-03-26 BCCLA LT Ontario Crown and Toronto Police Service

2 For the reasons below, the BCCLA strongly condemns the Raids and the Charges and urges the Crown to immediately withdraw the Charges as they are not in the public interest. [...] Serious overreach: the distinction between antisemitism and political expression; criticism of the state of Israel, Israeli military, criticism of a charity or corporations, or calls for Palestinian human rights The BCCLA is extremely concerned with the nature of the Raids and the Charges used against the alleged Activists for calling for an end to genocide and those who support it. [...] On the contrary, the conflation of Jewish people as a whole with the state of Israel is itself antisemitic.15 Suppression of criticism of the state of Israel also suppresses such criticism by Jewish and Israeli people. [...] We reiterate our call for a permanent ceasefire, and end to the occupation and siege of Gaza, and an end to Canada’s government and corporate complicity in Israeli apartheid.”16 It is essential to democracy that freedom of expression for everyone in Canada includes the right to criticize the activities of all foreign states, foreign militaries, as well as charities and corporations. [...] It also seriously raises questions as to political pressures on the TPS leading to this response and/or the lack of the TPS education on important subjects, including the history of Palestine, the creation of the state of Israel, and Palestinian human rights.