Imperialism and colonialism

Community Open Letter Denouncing the Jewish Defense League’s Rally in Support of the English Defense League

Linchpin — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:13:01 -0800

On Tuesday, January 11, 2011, the Jewish Defense League of Canada (JDL) will be hosting a rally in support of the Islamophobic English Defense League (EDL) in Toronto. The JDL is hosting an online address from Tommy Robinson, the leader of the EDL. Both groups have a history of violence aimed at Arab and Muslim people. We are community groups that work daily to fight racism. We have come together to condemn the Jewish Defense League for their Islamophobia and for their support for the racist English Defense League.

Who is the English Defence League (EDL)?

An "Unpriviliged Combatant"

Linchpin — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 15:33:55 -0800

By Brandon Gray

It is not often that white people in imperialist countries like Canada get to know the individual names and faces of the people their government kills and maims. The Vietnam War is remembered as tragic because of the near 60,000 American lives lost, whereas the three to six million Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians killed remain long forgotten, if ever known at all. Omar Khadr, a fifteen year old Canadian citizen of Afghan origin is a rare exception to this rule, and the fact that he was convicted for war crimes offers a fitting example of the type of justice found under the jackboot of Anglo-American imperialism.

Building solidarity with Six Nations: An interview with Tom Keefer

Linchpin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:21:19 -0700

Tom Keefer is a founding member of Upping the Anti (UTA), a semiannual Canadian publication that describes itself as “a journal of theory and action.” He is a well-known organizer and an enthusiastic advocate for indigenous rights who has written extensively on the ongoing land claims in Six Nations and the reactionary anti-native campaigning of Gary McHale in Caledonia. His most recent article, available in UTA # 10, is entitled: Marxism, Indigenous Struggles, and the Tragedy of “Stagism”.

Note: An edited version of this interview appears in the print edition of Linchpin

Could you briefly explain the history of the current land dispute taking place in Caledonia/Six Nations?

Israeli Apartheid Week hits Sudbury

Linchpin — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 19:20:48 -0700

By Scott Neigh
Northern Ontario Correspondent

SUDBURY - March 4 to 11, 2010, marked the first ever Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) at Laurentian University in Sudbury, a small city in Ontario's near north.

According to Marwa Dimassi of the Palestine Solidarity Working Group (PSWG), which organized the event locally, they wanted, "To educate people about what Israeli Apartheid Week is and to get a mobilization for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaigns."

Colonial courts attack Barriere Lake's sovereignty

Mick — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:23:28 -0800

By Krishna E. Bera, Lori Waller, and Greg Macdougall

In Feb. 2010, the Mitchikanibikok Inik – or Algonquins of Barriere Lake (ABL), a small First Nation community located 130km north of Maniwaki, Quebec, presented arguments in the Supreme Court of Canada defending their latest leadership selection.

A few weeks later, the court decided the selection was not held according to ABL's customary governance code. The judge misinterpreted the customary governance code with inconsistent logic in his arguments, which might play a role in paving the way for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada to impose section 74 of the Indian Act. This would abolish the customary method the ABL use to select their leaders.

This follows a notice Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl sent to the ABL in October that he would not recognize their legitimate leadership. Instead, he said he will impose elections on the community in April 2010.

Out Against Apartheid and Marching with Pride

Mick — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:41:21 -0700

By Sue Goldstein,
6 July 2009, Toronto
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid

This year’s Pride march was marked by intense pressure from pro-Zionist forces to keep Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) from participating.

Anarchists call Police report comparing activism to hate crime "chilling"

Alex_Hamilton — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:12:33 -0700

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Anarchists call Police report comparing activism to hate crime "chilling"

May 24, 2009

HAMILTON- Local members of the provincial anarchist organization
Common Cause fear Hamilton police are seeking to criminalize local
organizers after a Hamilton police report identified the 2nd annual
Hamilton Anarchist Book Fair as a potential source of hate crime.

While presenting the Year-End Hate Crime report (available online)
to the Hamilton Police Board on May 19, acting sergeant Michael Goch
stated police would be “actively monitoring” the book fair scheduled to
take place on June 6.

Alex Diceanu, Ontario Treasurer of Common Cause responded, "As the
organizers of the annual book fair, and as local anarchists and
activists, Common Cause is deeply disturbed by these statements.

"This is a manipulation of hate crime laws to criminalize activism. At
this time of economic and environmental crisis, alongside increasing

2nd annual Hamilton Anarchist Book Fair, June 6

Alex_Hamilton — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:22:47 -0700

For the second year in a row, Hamilton will be home to Ontario's only Anarchist Book Fair, happening June 6, from 10am to 4pm at Westdale Collegiate, 700 Main St. West . Over 300 people from all over southern Ontario took part in Hamilton's first anarchist book fair, held last June.

For those not familiar with anarchist book fairs you can expect a couple dozen or so publishers and book stores to be on hand offering literature in various forms (as well as the occasional t-shirt) at affordable prices. You can expect to find just about every social justice issue covered from the environment, to women's struggles to radical history and theory. Many local activist groups will also be on hand to share information about important struggles happening in our community and beyond.

Canada Rescuing Afghanistan? A review of The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar

AndrewL — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:45:30 -0800

Andrew Loucks
LINCHPIN

If you are a political junkie of some sort, you will likely be fascinated by Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang’s multi-faceted answer to the question of how the Canadian government came to help invade and occupy Afghanistan. The role of Ballistic Missile Defense and the Iraq war; the transitions from the Chretien to the Martin and Harper governments; the bravado, patriotism and military marketing skill of Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier; the imbalance between civilian departments and the military; and the ever-present consideration of remaining favoured members of the US imperial sphere are all factors impressively explained and documented in The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (Toronto: Penguin Group, 2007).

Justice for Gaza: why we cry out

AndrewL — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:26:32 -0800

Andrew Loucks
LINCHPIN

The Israeli government strangles and plans an attack on Gaza for months, times its provocation for the biggest of US election days, then launches an audaciously brutal bombardment upon a people trapped in the most densely populated land in the world. It bombs infrastructure, schools, mosques, homes and aid depots, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, clean water, adequate food and access to medical care.

It calls its own cease fire on its own terms, content with battering a defenceless people until they submit, cognizant of the need to stop just before Obama’s inauguration. There is outrage all over the world, but in Canada the mainstream media largely laps up and regurgitates the propaganda of the powerful, and the federal government applauds enthusiastically.