Israel’s Right Wing Is Trying To Squash Progressive Speech

Progressives in Israel are facing attacks on their free speech from the country’s right wing, in what activists say is a concerted effort by right wing NGOs and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The Israeli government has long maintained that it believes in a two-state solution. But under the right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, such an outcome looks less feasible than at any other time in recent history. The situation for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories has long been dire, but now activists and human rights workers say the country’s right wing has Israeli progressives in their crosshairs.

Let's Hope The Liberals Overcome Lobbying Pressures To Silence Free Speech

On most issues, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau are light years ahead of the Conservatives, but on a select few, like allowing criticism of Israeli state practices, they appear to be just as regressive as the Tories.

Like Stephen Harper, Trudeau referred to the non-violent grassroots movement to boycott Israel until it respects Palestinian human rights as "the new form of anti-Semitism in the world." He even went so far as to condemn the boycott movement in a tweet, stating, "The BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] movement, like Israeli Apartheid Week, has no place on Canadian campuses...."

Dare Call It Treason

Few traditions are more American than freedom of speech and the right to dissent. But an equally powerful American tradition has been the effort by government and private "patriots" to suppress free expression in times of crisis. During the fighting in Iraq, former military leaders who criticized planning for the war were denounced for endangering troops in the field and warned to remain silent. A number of scholars, including myself, were branded "Traitor Professors" on a television talk show. If criticism of a war while it is in progress makes one a traitor, that category will have to include Abraham Lincoln, who denounced the Mexican War while serving in Congress in 1847; Mark Twain, who vehemently attacked government policy in the Spanish-American and Philippine wars at the turn of the last century; and Martin Luther King Jr., who eloquently called for an end to the war in Vietnam.

Inside the Orwellian Launch of Tories' Anti-Terrorism Act

Reporters in Ottawa became surly quickly Friday when it was discovered the government lock-up they attended for a briefing on proposed anti-terror legislation was light on information and heavy on restrictions.

The federal government was tabling Bill C-51, Canada's new ''Anti-Terrorism Act'' meant to bolster authorities' powers to prevent and dismantle terrorist activity.

Journalists were corralled in a so-called lock-up to hear details of the new proposed law. Media lock-ups are frequently used to provide journalists with extra time to pore over information on a complicated subject, such as a budget. The reporters can't publish their pieces until a set time, usually when the government announcement becomes official.

The idea is that when the government unveils the news, the public will have instant access to the finer points of whatever is being released.

CSIS powers to be expanded under Harper's 'Anti-Terrorism Act'

The government has tabled its massive new prevention of terrorism legislation.

It includes a new offence: knowingly "advocating" commission of terrorism offences "in general."

The key words here are "in general."

Currently, it is a crime to advocate or promote a specific terrorist act. Now it will be a crime to more broadly promote something at once more general and more ephemeral, in ways the law does not define.

New Anti-Terror Bill Could Put Chill On Freedom Of Speech

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last weekend that new anti-terror legislation to be introduced on Friday will, among other things, “criminalize the promotion of terrorism.”

Such a move, however, could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in Canada and would not necessarily contribute to effectively fighting domestic extremism, according to legal experts.

The new bill aimed at combating domestic threats was promised by the federal government in the weeks following the October attacks in Quebec and Ottawa that left two members of the Canadian Forces dead.

CSIS To Be Given 'Power To Disrupt,' Not Arrest, In New Anti-Terror Bill

Canada's spy agency is expected to be given new powers to stop would-be Canadian jihadists before they leave the country as part of sweeping new anti-terrorism measures being unveiled Friday.

Sources familiar with the proposed legislation tell CBC News the goal is to give the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service the kinds of legal tools that are available to intelligence services in other Western countries.

Stephen Harper keener about free expression away from home

OTTAWA—The real test of standing up for strong principles, most would agree, is defending them at home and afar.

The current federal government has taken strong stands on gay rights (for), abortion (against) and maternal health (for) in foreign nations.

Yet here at home in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is a bit more hands-off on those very matters.

So it is at the moment with freedom of expression and the attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris this month.

Harper's anti-terror bill to criminalize the ‘promotion of terrorism’

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government will introduce promised new national-security legislation on Friday, including a provision that draws a line between free expression and endorsing terrorism.

Highlighting the new bill in a speech on Sunday, Mr. Harper said he will protect Canadians from homegrown extremists by giving authorities new powers – including the ability to prosecute people for “the promotion of terrorism.”

“Jihadist terrorism is not a future possibility, it is a present reality,” Mr. Harper said.

Here come the thought police

Yesterday in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared his intention to fast-track legislation expanding CSIS and police powers of “surveillance, detention and arrest.”

Nobody should be surprised to see this government seize the moment created by Wednesday’s tragic events in Ottawa to advance its surveillance and law-and-order agenda. That’s what they do.

After all, most of the Harper government’s criminal justice policy is reactive — seizing upon sensational incidents to provide a veneer of necessity and legitimacy. Recall that this is the government which — under the guise of combating bullying — pushed to recklessly expand state powers over the search and seizure of personal Internet data, despite the criticisms of experts, crime victims and our country’s highest court.

A War on Campus? Northeastern University Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter

The Northeastern University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has become the latest student group to face reprimand for organizing around the Palestinian cause. Northeastern has suspended the group until 2015, barring it from meeting on campus and stripping it of any university funding. The move comes just weeks after student activists distributed mock eviction notices across the campus during Israeli Apartheid Week. The notices were intended to resemble those used by Israel to notify Palestinians of pending demolitions or seizures of their homes. We speak to Northeastern Students for Justice in Palestine member Max Geller and Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the new book, "The Battle for Justice in Palestine." His new book includes a chapter titled "The War on Campus."

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At Sochi, Igor Kharchenko Becomes Second Activist Jailed In 3 Days

SOCHI, Russia - An activist who has been monitoring environmental fallout from the Sochi Olympics has been jailed for five days for resisting police, apparently part of a continuing harassment campaign against local activists.

Igor Kharchenko was grabbed on the street in the regional capital of Krasnodar late Tuesday afternoon as he left his house and found his car smashed, an associate, Olga Soldatova, said Wednesday. Police charged him with resisting police orders. Soldatova, who was with him at the police station, said Kharchenko was given a blank sheet of paper instead of a protocol sanctioning his detention.

Whose freedom of expression is the Harper government protecting?

Last week, in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's address to the Israeli Knesset, he equated criticisms of the Israeli state and its policies with anti-Semitism. He stated that "most disgracefully of all, some openly call Israel an apartheid state," continuing on to say that "it is nothing short of sickening."

Mr. Harper's strong condemnation of individuals who criticize Israel's policies and practices raises serious concerns about his government's commitment to protecting political speech in Canada. His comments should be seen in light of his government's claw‑back of hate speech legislation in the name of freedom of expression. In acting as a champion of freedom of expression, while targeting critics of the Israeli government and its policies, Mr. Harper has attempted to redefine political speech as speech that would meet the definition of hate speech under the Criminal Code. These contradictory actions should raise serious doubts about whose expression the Harper government is actually committed to protecting. 

Some Hill staffers forgoing raises, refuse to sign gag order

Some Hill political staffers are forgoing salary raises in order to not sign a mandatory lifetime loyalty and confidentiality agreement currently causing alarm bells to go off in some MPs’ offices.

The secretive Commons Board of Internal Economy (BOIE), an all-party board which oversees House administration, sent a memo to all MPs’ offices explaining there would be a change to standardized confidentiality agreements in March, which would take effect starting April 1.

Shooting the Messenger

There is a deeply misguided attempt to sacrifice Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning and Jeremy Hammond on the altar of the security and surveillance state to justify the leaks made by Edward Snowden. It is argued that Snowden, in exposing the National Security Agency’s global spying operation, judiciously and carefully leaked his information through the media, whereas WikiLeaks, Assange, Manning and Hammond provided troves of raw material to the public with no editing and little redaction and assessment. Thus, Snowden is somehow legitimate while WikiLeaks, Assange, Manning and Hammond are not.

Atheist Ads Banned In Vancouver

Vancouver's billboards will not play host to an ad promoted by the Centre For Inquiry that endorses an atheist worldview, because the company that owns almost all of the advertising hoardings in the city has refused to run it.

The Centre says that Pattison Outdoor—owned by local businessman Jimmy Pattison—has refused to run ads that feature "parables that replace religious morality with humanist ethical wisdom."

Harper government faces legal challenge over rules restricting pipeline comments

Environmentalists have launched a court challenge attempting to strike down Harper government legislation that restricts public comment on energy proposals, including Enbridge’s proposed Line 9B Reversal, which runs in part through the Toronto region.

ForestEthics Advocacy and activist Donna Sinclair — represented by civil rights lawyer Clayton Ruby — filed the suit Tuesday in Federal Court. The application asks the court to throw out new rules created by the National Energy Board, on the grounds that they violate Charter rights and silence dissent.

Unmasking Bill C-309: Newly passed legislation threatens freedom of expression

Last week, Bill C-309, the 'Preventing Persons from Concealing Their Identities during Riots and Unlawful Assemblies Act,' was given royal assent. Also known as the "Mask Legislation," the law makes it illegal to incite a protest wearing a mask or any face covering, including face paint.

Wearing any type of face covering while participating in a riot or "unlawful assembly" can lead to criminal conviction. Despite opposition from Civil Liberties activists, the law has moved maximum penalty from five years to ten years in prison if convicted.

Quebec Corruption: May Day Rally Brings Hundreds Of Arrests

MONTREAL - Hundreds of anti-capitalist protesters were detained and ticketed in Quebec as they tried to tie this year's May Day demonstration to the theme of corruption.

The protesters tried to gather Wednesday outside a private club where politicians and construction executives have been known to meet.

The Slow and Painful Death of Freedom in Canada

Less than a generation ago, Canada was a world leader when it came to the fundamental democratic freedoms of assembly, speech and information.

In 1982, Canada adopted the Access to Information Act -- making it one of the first countries to pass legislation recognizing the right of citizens to access information held by government, and as recently as 2002, Canada ranked among the top 5 most open and transparent countries when it came to respect for freedom of the press.