Canadian Government threaten hate charges against those who boycott Israel

[Lolretadin]

There are already laws, most centuries old and heavily used, for all the crimes you just listed.

The only crime that I listed was the attacking of Jewish people outside of their temples, which is not being stopped by police; the police have been staying out of many of the attacks and letting them happen.

[Zecora]

That's not even remotely the same thing, less hyperbole would be nice.
The reason that it's happening is because some of the anti-Israel protesters (usually those of Arabic descent) have been going outside Jewish temples and beating people for the "crime" of being a Jew. I also have huge issues with these boycotting groups that support terrorist organizations like Hamas, and it doesn't help that these groups disseminate pro-Hamas messages along with the anti-Israel ones.

With all due lack of respect, bullshit.

Boycotting a country's products makes perfect sense if you disagree with the politics of that country, and this is the important part: DOING SO IS IN NO WAY HATE SPEECH. Rather, it is "voting with your wallet" (something a lot of people on this forum always advocate, until it happens to someone THEY support), and encouraging others to do the same. So long as the people who encourage boycotting do not use racial, religious or ethnic slurs to get their message across, their actions cannot be called hate speech.

This attempt is rather more of the same we have seen from so many Israel-supporters for years, an attempt to link any criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. And it remains not only disgusting, but also a threat to every non-Israeli jew as they become increasingly linked with Israel in the public mind, and risk being made a target for Israeli actions which they do not even support!

As for me wondering how long it will be before we see legislation against boycotting the products and services of different companies, bear in mind the enormous lobbying power several companies have. We could easily see similar laws targeting those who boycott and / or encourages others to boycott a large and powerful company.

[Deleted]

The only crime that I listed was the attacking of Jewish people outside of their temples, which is not being stopped by police; the police have been staying out of many of the attacks and letting them happen.

Then that is the fault of the police, assuming the crime has been reported by someone. It does not matter how many new laws you add if they are not enforced.

[Lolretadin]

With all due lack of respect, bullshit.

Don't lie to me, Yirrah, I know what bullshit is: this is bullshit.

This attempt is rather more of the same we have seen from so many Israel-supporters for years, an attempt to link any criticism of Israel with anti-semitism. And it remains not only disgusting, but also a threat to every non-Israeli jew as they become increasingly linked with Israel in the public mind, and risk being made a target for Israeli actions which they do not even support!

The problem is that a lot of anti-Israel protest in Canada is linked in some way to Antisemitism; a lot of people who protest Israel don't differentiate between Israel and Jewish people. This really seems to be an issue of the dog chasing its own tail.

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Then that is the fault of the police, assuming the crime has been reported by someone. It does not matter how many new laws you add if they are not enforced.

While I agree insofar as to say that it's the fault of the police for not stopping the crimes, I would put a lot of the blame onto the organizations that disseminate the messages that instigate the violence.

[satimy]

To learn who rules over you, simply look at who you can't criticize

[Kraenen]

The only crime that I listed was the attacking of Jewish people outside of their temples, which is not being stopped by police; the police have been staying out of many of the attacks and letting them happen.

Right, then it's totally not a non-sequiter to criminalize boycotts....

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The problem is that a lot of anti-Israel protest in Canada is linked in some way to Antisemitism; a lot of people who protest Israel don't differentiate between Israel and Jewish people. This really seems to be an issue of the dog chasing its own tail.

No I'd say the problem is you're not allowed to boycott some country as you should in the free world. Most people who protest Israel can see the difference between the ultra right wing government and moderate jewish people across the world.

[Lolretadin]

Right, then it's totally not a non-sequiter to criminalize boycotts....

I'm not referring to the boycotts, you can boycott whatever you like. I should have made it more clear that I was referring explicitly to the organizations themselves that disseminate Antisemitic ideas, which has led to violent incidents in Canada. I don't believe that the government is doing it because of the boycotts, rather they are doing it and the boycotts are being used as a way to deflect from actual issues with these organizations.

[Zecora]

The problem is that a lot of anti-Israel protest in Canada is linked in some way to Antisemitism; a lot of people who protest Israel don't differentiate between Israel and Jewish people. This really seems to be an issue of the dog chasing its own tail.

Once again, bullshit. The issue is the attempt trying to link protests (in the form of boycotting products) against ISRAEL with HATE SPEACH. And the two have nothing to do with eachother. Unless those boycotting ALSO starts throwing racial, religious and ethnic slurs into it, but there are already laws against that as it is.

This is nothing more than yet another pathetic attempt to link criticism of Israel with anti-semittism.

[Lolretadin]

Most people who protest Israel can see the difference between the ultra right wing government and moderate jewish people across the world.

And I agree that most, rational individuals can differentiate between the state of Israel and Judaism, but many advocacy groups support extremist ideologies. While I am not strictly speaking against groups supporting Hamas, I am against when they disseminate these ideas to try and rile racial tensions against Jewish members of the public.

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This is nothing more than yet another pathetic attempt to link criticism of Israel with anti-semittism.

Except that's not what I'm doing, you need to read my posts.
I'm criticizing the established groups that protest Israel, not criticizing the criticism of Israel. You're 100% free to criticize and boycott.

[Zecora]

Except that's not what I'm doing, you need to read my posts.
I'm criticizing the established groups that protest Israel, not criticizing the criticism of Israel. You're 100% free to criticize and boycott.

Then you are in the wrong thread, because this thread is about the proposed use of anti-hate speech laws against people boycotting Israel.

[Lolretadin]

Then you are in the wrong thread, because this thread is about the proposed use of anti-hate speech laws against people boycotting Israel.

While I understand that...

Canada signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel earlier this year pledging to combat a movement known as Boycott, Divest and Sanction, or BDS, which began in 2006 at the request of Palestinian non-governmental organizations.

I am erring on the side of believing the government when they are stating they are using provisions and laws that are already in place:

She (Josée Sirois, a spokeswoman for Public Safety Canada) also highlighted the "hate propaganda" provisions in the Criminal Code criminalizing the promotion of hatred against an identifiable group and referred to Criminal Code provisions requiring that a judge consider hate, bias or prejudice when sentencing an offender.

While I agree that the means seems odd, it's known that many of the advocacy groups in Canada that protest Israel also support Hamas and use their venues to disseminate hate speech. I really think that the reason why the established boycott movement is being focused on is because of the organizations that are promoting it, not the boycott itself.

[Endus]

While I agree that the means seems odd, it's known that many of the advocacy groups in Canada that protest Israel also support Hamas and use their venues to disseminate hate speech. I really think that the reason why the established boycott movement is being focused on is because of the organizations that are promoting it, not the boycott itself.

If people are engaging in BDS campaigning because they're Jew-hating antisemites who want Israel to be destroyed and all Israelis killed, then yeah, that latter stuff is hate speech, but it isn't the BDS campaign itself.

This net's being cast far wider than that, however. And that's the issue.

[breadisfunny]

Wow, that is disgusting! How long before they push laws against boycotting certain companies or products?

you just gave the american companies a new idea!

[Vyxn]

I take pleasure when a law that the left championed and advocated for is turned around and used against them
it is poetic justice

[Gheld]

I take pleasure when a law that the left championed and advocated for is turned around and used against them
it is poetic justice

I take pleasure when partisan shills that try to turn everything into a left vs right debate stop moving their mouths.

[Deleted]

Another "win" for the freedom of speech. Every peaceful opinion should be allowed, even if its sexist, racist, anti whatever. It only crosses the line when you actually call out to take criminal action against certain groups.

[Vyxn]

I take pleasure when partisan shills that try to turn everything into a left vs right debate stop moving their mouths.

so we should just ignore who championed and advocated for hate speech laws? the very laws that now are being used to silence the very people that championed and advocated for them

[Gheld]

so we should just ignore who championed and advocated for hate speech laws? the very laws that now are being used to silence the very people that championed and advocated for them

This situation is a clear perversion of hate speech laws. You would have to be a partisan shill to not see that.

[Vyxn]

This situation is a clear perversion of hate speech laws. You would have to be a partisan shill to not see that.

hate is very subjective
I guess the ones that advocated for those laws thought it would only be used against the lefts opponents never did they think it would also apply to them
what is the saying "your chickens have come home to roost"
but it boils down to this if Canada didn't pass these anti freedom of speech laws we wouldn't be even having this discussion now would we

[Synros]

Fascism at it's finest.