Ii is important to point out that I do not thing this ought to be forbidden. Not at all. I think it is perfectly within his right to spew hateful garbage all he wants: if his audience is not willing to listen, they can walk out.
What I do object to is the blatant double standard being exhibited by our rulers:
‘Nuff said!!!
Edit: edited title for clarity
For a society to thrive, all citizens must be equal before the laws.
Justice must be done – and must be seen to be done. Otherwise, the society will tear itself apart…because identity politics reduces people to members in a group, not to individuals who are responsible for their own actions, and only their own actions.
So, when a man is jailed for non-threatening speech while a violent thug who beats people up so badly, they need treatment in a hospital goes free, it is the very foundations of our society which are being undermined!
Please, remember that Eric Brazeau got no bail and 20 months in jail for non-violent, non-threatening politically incorrect conversation on public transit. The prosecution’s witnesses all agreed that there was no hint of violence and that they never, ever felt threatened during the conversation.
Yet, 20 months in jail: when the prosecution was seeking 6.
And a reminder that ‘language can be a weapon’….and then the judge imposed ‘a weapon ban’ on Brazeau!
Aside: Can anyone explain to me how one can impose ‘a language ban’ on someone? Are we talking a lobotomy here?
So, let’s recap: Brazeeau was not violent, did not call for the death or beating of anyone, and the most offensive thing he said was that he hated someone. Not that anyone else should, just expressed his own emotional state.
20 months in jail.
Now, let’s look at what had happened in Calgary:
Pro-Palestinian protesters not only shouted ‘Heil Hitler’ at pro-Israel demonstrators, they actually physically attacked them and roughed them up! Forcing them to flee to avoid more serious injury!
Here, see for yourselves:
What do you think our judicial system will do with someone who not only shouts hateful things at their political opponents, but actually physically attacks and injures them?!?!?
Well, if 20 months is the punishment for a conversation, then threats and actual physical violence would earn one at least a few years behind bars, right?
Wrong!!!
From my inbox today:
Dear Xanthippa,
The first rioter from last year’s pro-Hamas rally in Calgary was sentenced today for his assault against peaceful Calgary civilians. And his sentence is so lenient, he won’t spend even a single day in jail.
He has one year probation, and some community service. That’s it. For beating up Jews, on Calgary streets, that sent a half dozen peaceful pro-Israel protesters to the hospital. You can watch a video of the riot here.
I can’t even tell you this thug’s name — since he was 17 at the time of his violence, it’s against the law for me to identify him. So his name and face are a secret. Not only will he serve no time in jail, but he won’t suffer any social marginalization or shame from his role. No employer will know; no neighbourhood will know.
Today I spoke on the phone with Jake Birrell, one of the victims of the riot. He told me that while his sister Samantha’s victim impact statement was read out in court, the young thug actually smirked and smiled — he appeared completely remorseless.
I wanted you to know about this right away. I will have Jake and Samantha on my TV show tomorrow at 8 & 10 p.m. ET (6 & 8 p.m. Alberta time). I’ll send you an e-mail with a link to the video tomorrow night, in case you miss it on TV.
I’ll have them describe what it was like going to court — expecting justice — and watching this young anti-Semitic rioter just walk right out of the court with a smile.
We have so much more work to do on this — starting with our justice system, that has chosen to treat a violent pro-Hamas thug as if he’s just some random street urchin.
I’ll keep you posted.
Yours truly,
Ezra Levant
P.S. Jake tells me that the other rioters had their court dates rescheduled — when I confirm those details, I’ll let you know. Maybe if the judges see real citizens in the courtroom, they’ll feel moral pressure to hand out real sentences too.
And that is what passes for justice in Canada!!!
From Sun News:
From Ezra Levant’s email:
Dear Alexandra,
Today the Calgary Police Service charged three pro-Hamas rioters with assault, and are seeking a fourth suspect.
You’ll remember that disgraceful riot – on July 18th, right outside Calgary’s City Hall, a mob of pro-Palestinian thugs beat up an entire Canadian family while shouting “death to the Jews”.
That was bad enough. But even worse, Calgary’s police were nowhere to be seen. This was right downtown – right outside City Hall. But the police just weren’t there.
For that one moment, it was more like Gaza than Canada – mob rule, not the rule of law.
Calgary’s civic leaders let us down – both the police chief and the mayor downplayed the incident, refusing to call it a riot, and being willfully blind to the anti-Semitic nature of the violence.
So you and I stepped in to fill the gap.
We set up a petition, where literally thousands of Calgarians and other Canadians demanded criminal charges, and a clear denunciation of the riots. It was the largest petition ever received by the Calgary Police Commission.
We raised funds online to hire a lawyer for the riot victims, to help them navigate the police bureaucracy.
We held a massive pro-Canada, pro-Israel, pro-freedom rally on the steps of City Hall – proving that pro-Hamas thugs don’t control the city’s streets.
And, when criminal charges still had not come after two full weeks, we set up a website called www.RiotStoppers.com — based on the Crime Stoppers model. We showed pictures and video of six rioters and offered a $500 reward to anyone who could give us information about their identity.
Within half a day, we received quality tips on four of the suspects that we immediately passed on to police. But we did not make this news public, so as not to tip off the suspects and interfere with the police investigation.
Well, three charges were laid today, and a fourth is expected as soon as tomorrow.
We will continue to hunt for more suspects on our website.
But this is a major step forward in bringing these violent rioters to justice.
I should mention that the two street cops on this file have been exemplary. I’m talking about police who spend their time fighting crime, not playing politics like the chief. They have taken a meticulous approach, and were closing in on these suspects even before we sent in our tips. Our tips merely came from someone sleuthing the Internet – something the police obviously did too.
I’m sure they would have got these suspects. But I’m equally sure that the public message sent by our rally, our petition and us finding the suspect ourselves added positive pressure to the police chief to do the right thing this time – and not sweep this all under the carpet.
So thank you: to Calgary’s finest, for laying the charges. And to Canada’s finest: you, the viewers of the Sun News Network, who have signed the petitions, raised the funds for these projects, and smoked out four of the suspects.
Here’s my special edition of the Source that I taped tonight right after the police laid the charges. And please visit www.RiotStoppers.com. The police haven’t found everyone yet – let’s give them a hand.
Yours gratefully,
Ezra Levant
In Ezra’s own words:
And in his own words from an email his supporters receive:
Dear [name redacted],
After two delays, my week-long free speech trial finally starts tomorrow in Toronto. You were kind enough to contribute to my legal defence fund. Thanks to you, I feel like I’m well equipped with an excellent lawyer. I appreciate that.
You may remember that the person suing me is Khurrum Awan. He’s the former youth leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress, the same guy who went after Mark Steyn at the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. In fact, he’s suing me for my critical comments about him at Steyn’s trial.
So this is the next battle in that same war.
The trial is expected to go till Friday. If you’re in the Toronto area this week, I’d love it if you could stop by the court house – seventh floor, 393 University Avenue. I hear Mark Steyn might even be there himself!
I wanted to tell your contribution didn’t just help me financially, it’s an enormous morale boost, too. To know that so many Canadians care about freedom of speech, and want me to stand up to these bullies, gives me great confidence.
The whole point of Islamic lawfare is to exhaust their target”. In fact, even though Mark Steyn technically “won” his case in B.C., Awan still boasted afterwards that “we attained our strategic objective — to increase the cost of publishing anti-Islamic material.”
He admits that lawfare is his official strategy. So I’m so glad you’ve helped cover my costs.
Since this lawsuit deals with events that happened before I joined the Sun News Network, the Sun’s lawyers aren’t helping me. I’m on my own – but you’ve made sure I’m not alone.
If you can’t come to the court house, you can still keep up with the trial on my website, www.StandWithEzra.ca. We’ll give you a brief daily update and post links to any press coverage.
Thanks again for your help. And if you know anyone else who might want to join our fight for freedom please ask them to visit www.StandWithEzra.ca too.
Yours gratefully,
Ezra Levant
P.S. Thanks again. Now let’s go win this thing!
Xanthippa's Chamberpot 