WAS THERE A FAIR & DEMOCRATIC DEBATE CONCERNING THE ARAB AND SOLIDARITY COMMUNITIES' VIEWS ON POLICE CHIEF'S VISIT TO ISRAEL?
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SUPPORT THE ARAB , MUSLIM AND SOLIDARITY COMMUNITY IN HAMILTON. JOIN US FOR THIS IMPORTANT EVENT, WITH PRESENTATIONS & DISCUSSION ON WHY WE FEEL THAT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ISRAEL & THE HAMILTON POLICE IS A THREAT.
STOP THE IMPORTATION OF ISRAELI POLICE TACTICS TO CANADA.
SUPPORT FREE SPEACH.
WHEN: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30/2005 AT 7:00 PM
WHERE: Health Science, Room 1A5
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Background
On Tuesday, March 1, 2005 more than 30 senior Ontario police officers and other provincial and federal officials traveled to Israel for a week. The stated purpose of the trip was to learn various Israeli "security measures". During this trip, the police chiefs met with Israeli police, politicians and the Israeli "Defense" Forces who are the main military front of the Israeli government. The delegation included the Hamilton Chief of Police Mullan. In response to this trip, McMaster Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) filed a formal complaint with the Hamilton Police Service Board who had approved this trip as well as approved spending taxpayers' money for it. Similar complaints were filed by organizations across Ontario to their local boards. Locally, the Community Coalition Against Racism (CCAR) also lodged a complaint.
Lack of Response of the Hamilton Police Service Board (HPSB)
For months, the Hamilton Police Service Board (HPSB), and its Chair Bernie Morelli, made no response to the complaints. Finally, SPHR and CCAR were informed that the HPSB is sticking by its decision. When CCAR requested delegate status to the HPSB meeting in order to present its views, the HPSB never responded. It was only through a press release in the Hamilton Spectator that both SPHR and CCAR were made aware that a Public Meeting regarding this complaint was to be held on Wednesday, September 21/05. Neither CCAR nor SPHR were invited to attend or speak. Like any person, we had to register to speak and were given 10 minutes to give our views. We were given no guidelines although we did request them.
This meeting was in itself not an appropriate process for an internal complaint. Nonetheless, rather than actually being given an opportunity to speak, the Police Service Board and its Chair Bernie Morelli made clear that the whole Arab and Muslim and solidarity community of Hamilton was not to be allowed a voice. The norms of any democratic discussion, and democratic rights to register a complaint were fully violated.
How the Meeting Violated Democratic Principles
Right from the beginning of the meeting, the Chair Mr. Morelli made it clear that he has no interest in listening to our opinions at all. Indeed it was clear that he took his cues completely from the accompanying crowd of very vocal and aggressive pro-Israeli Zionists. The first speaker, Ken Stone of CCAR, was repeatedly interrupted by the Zionists, who shouted him down and made it literally impossible for him to speak. Morelli only made a token comment asking this to end. But his actions were to reinforce the bullying and aggression because he repeatedly took direction from the Zionist audience members. Morelli simply mimicked the antagonistic Zionists who shouted repeatedly to Mr. Stone that he was "off topic". When these Zionists screamed "no politics" to speakers, Morelli turned to the speakers and parroted "no politics".
It is important to note that no such guidelines have ever been given. Moreover, it is clear that in fact, the whole issue is political. The next speaker, Mariam Ibrahim from SPHR began by informing the audience that she would not tolerate being interrupted and that everyone could have registered to speak if they so desired. She too was cut off from her chance to speak by being shouted down. Ms. Ibrahim turned to Morelli, saying that she would like to remind him that as the Chair of the meeting, it was his responsibility to keep the audience in check. To this, Morelli claimed that anyone who interrupted would be escorted out and that if they could not be escorted out, the meeting would be shut down. What does it mean that the police cannot escort someone out of a room? The only time the room was quiet was when one speaker was making comments in support of the trip, showing that only the Zionist audience members were acting like undemocratic bullies. By the fifth speaker, Morelli ended the meeting, admitting that he could not control the audience. But without ever even attempting to escort the disruptive people out of the room.
In What Way Did Mr. Morelli Fulfill the Expected Non-partisan & Non-political Role of an Independent Chair?
We argue that he did not fulfill a non-partisan role. His behavior in fact exposes the anti-democratic nature of the functioning of the HPSB in regards to this issue. The Zionists had a week during the trip to have their views heard by the Hamilton Chief of Police, while we were not even given 2 hours to air our views. Morelli allowed people to attack a speaker, shout threats at her (in front of a news camera), interrupt her power point presentation and made no effort to defend her or the integrity of the meeting. Rather, he asked her to step down from the podium. Our right to speak was not acknowledged. It is not surprising that in a letter published to the Hamilton Spectator, the McMaster Zionist club thanked Morelli for shutting down this event. SPHR submits that Morelli facilitated the shut down of this meeting by the Zionist crowd. They have a history of censoring the truth from the public out of fear. How will Mr. Morelli, in light of this, prove that he is fit to chair the Hamilton Police Service Board, which is meant to be a bridge between the police and the community? SPHR demands the right to have our views heard directly to the HPSB who approved this trip. Such a Public Forum cannot be considered due process for our complaint.
BACKGROUND ON THE POLICE TRIP TO ISRAEL AND OUR COMPLAINT
"The trip to Israel was organized in the offices of Monte Kwinter, the Ontario Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The purpose of the trip was for police chiefs to learn from Israel anti-terrorist methods. If training had been its purpose, then Mr. Kwinter's ministry would have funded the trip. Instead, he snuck the junket through the back door by arranging for sixty per cent of the expenses of the trip to be borne by the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), the Israeli government and private sources such as an Israeli airline. The trip was initiated by Bernie Farber, CEO of the Canadian Jewish Congress, a man viewed by many Canadian Jews as a right wing extremist and Zionist not representative of the voices of most Canadian Jews. The pro-Israeli groups that organized the Canadian police trip did not include a visit to the occupied territories of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, or Palestinian refugee camps on their tour." (Taken from Suzan Howard-Azzeh, available at: http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/policecomplaint.htm)
"Are you aware that in Israel, ordinary, law-abiding Palestinians in the thousands are routinely rounded up by police and soldiers, in middle-of-the-night raids without search warrants, and are jailed for years in conditions unfit for animals, without the benefit of lawyers or trials, or even seeing the evidence against them? These prisoners are often subjected to extreme forms of torture.
"In Israel, the government has a policy of selective assassination of persons engaged in the lawful struggle to end the illegal occupation. The real terrorists are to be found in the Israeli government that has stolen the lands of the Palestinian people, ethnically-cleansed them from their homes, farms, and villages, chased them out of the country into refugee camps where they have languished for over half a century, and killed them in many massacres. The State of Israel is in violation of literally hundreds of
resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly. Among these are Resolution 242, which calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Occupied Territories, and Resolution 194, which declares the right of return for all Palestinian refugees forcefully dispossessed from their lands. All resolutions have gone unheeded.
The current Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, has been investigated by the International Court of Justice as being complicit in war crimes. We refer of course to the slaughter of at least 900 innocent civilians (mainly women and children) at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Israel has been constructing a barrier around itself mainly on illegally occupied territories. This wall, 25 meters high, is referred to as the "Apartheid Wall". The International Court of Justice in The Hague found that this wall was illegal and ordered it to be dismantled. Israel refuses to do so." (Taken from Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-McMaster complaint, available at Niagara Palestine Association Complaint Website, http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/policecomplaint.htm)
For Full Text of all the Complaints filed across Ontario, the relevant organizations and related material: http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/policecomplaint.htm
www.november16coalition.ca, www.ccarhamilton.ca .
Amnesty International- http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/israel_and_occupied_territories/index.do
B'Tselem (Israeli Human Rights Organization)- http://www.btselem.org/English/index.asp
Palestine Center for Human Rights- http://www.pchrgaza.org/
National Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights- http://sphr.org/
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