Chrystia Freeland’s Liberal Party leadership launch was brilliantly disrupted Sunday. Anti-genocide protesters derailed her speech and captured much of the spotlight.
A dozen individuals heckled Freeland. They did so in sequence prolonging the disruptive impact by repeatedly forcing the former international trade minister to stop speaking. One protester carried a Palestinian flag onto the podium and two others stood behind the former foreign affairs minister with a banner stating “Freeland: Our deputy PM gravedigger”.
Once the protesters were escorted out of the venue they reportedly banged on the walls, making it hard for those inside to hear Freeland. The well-organized action included a press release that was immediately distributed to journalists explaining the rationale for the disruption.
The protests garnered significant attention from an establishment media that’s generally deferential to the former senior Globe and Mail and Financial Times editor. The protest trended on X and was widely circulated on other social media.
The disrupters delivered a major blow to Freeland, taking the spotlight away from her message that she was best placed to stand up to Donald Trump. The protesters also drew attention to Canada’s complicity in the horrors in Gaza. They were quoted saying, “you support a genocide”, calling for a two-way arms embargo and complaining that Freeland had repeatedly refused to meet constituents on the subject.
Freeland is deeply anti-Palestinian. Standing next to her at the launch was Israel-first MP Anthony Housefather, who threatened to quit the Liberal Party over its minimal concessions to opponents of genocide. Over the past 16 months Freeland has attended multiple genocide rallies. As Israeli officials ramped up their genocidal rhetoric, Freeland declared that “Canada stands with Israel”. After the International Criminal Court announced it would seek arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister and Defence Minister and Hamas leaders in May Freeland said it was “entirely inappropriate to equate the terrorist leaders of a terrorist organization [Hamas] with the democratically elected leaders of a democracy [Israel].” When I asked Freeland in April if she condemned Israel’s killing of 14,000 Palestinian children she declined to respond.
During three years as foreign affairs minister Freeland promoted the genocidal, apartheid, state. Canada’s voting record at the United Nations during her time as foreign minister was deeply anti-Palestinian. In December 2017, for instance, Canada sided with the US, Israel and some tiny Pacific island states in opposing a UN resolution supporting Palestinian statehood that was backed by 176 nations.
Freeland promoted the expansion of the Canada Israel free trade agreement and largely ignored Israeli violence against Palestinians. But she often expressed outrage when Israelis occupying Palestinian lands were harmed. In December 2018 Freeland tweeted, “horrified by the shooting in the West Bank in which eight people — including a Canadian and his wife — were injured.”
In fall 2018 Freeland visited Israel. During an Israel Council on Foreign Relations gathering she declared, “Canada’s commitment to Israel’s security is unwavering and ironclad.” At the November 2018 event alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Freeland added that if Canada won a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in 2020 it would act as an “asset for Israel.” In an embarrassingly sycophantic speech that should be read in full, Freeland added that “the world also needs more Israel.”
As the successful disruption of Freeland’s launch highlights, the Liberal leadership race offers some opportunities for grassroots organizers to force Canada’s contribution to the holocaust in Gaza into the spotlight. The candidates will be holding many public events, which offer opportunities to ask them tough questions or interrupt their speeches. Additionally, Liberal voters are more sympathetic to the Palestinian cause than the dominant media would have us believe. Some of the candidates are likely to tack left in a bid for votes.
If the anti-genocide movement were able to contribute meaningfully to derailing Freeland’s bid to become prime minister that would be a significant victory for the Palestinian cause. Freeland deserves to pay a political price for her promotion of an apartheid state that’s committed a holocaust in Gaza.
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