hate crimes unit, the situation was explained in a emails and is as follows:
Last February, we held an event at McMaster organized by SPHR and McMaster
Muslims for Peace & Justice where Dr Norman Finkelstein gave a lecture. As
he was delayed, someone without authorization played a video from Youtube
where a heavily edited interview with Finkelstein seemed to misrepresent his
stance on the Holocaust. The Hate Crimes Unit people were there, said it was
a good event, and later told us that tho they have received a complaint
about this, they were dismissing it since they found it groundless,
especially as they were there at the Finkelstein event and saw no problem
with it. Right after the video was shown, the MMPJ President apologized, and
shortly after, McMaster SPHR issued an official public statement regarding
this issue (we will send this statement in a separate email). We never heard
anything about this issue again.
As you may know, a few weeks ago, various university presidents including
that of McMaster issued a press release against the recent motion in the
British union of university and college professors to discuss taking up the
academic and cultural boycott of Israel called for by Palestinian civil
society. As we had signed up to the boycott campaign a couple of years ago,
we issued a statement reiterating the justness of the boycott and calling on
all McMaster academics to take it up. Seemingly by coincidence, the Hate
Crimes Unit of the Hamilton Police contacted us shortly after demanding a
meeting. At first, they would not say what the meeting was for, who was
attending etc. They contacted Manal's personal cell phone, even though they
should not have the number. Manal insisted they send a formal email to our
formal email address, which they eventually did. She asked what this meeting
was about, and finally they said that it was a meeting regarding a "criminal
investigation" against the organizers of the Finkelstein event (last
February) relating to Section 317 of the Criminal Code which is "promotion
of hate". This investigation was supposedly initiated after a complaint they
received about the event, though they would not tell us who complained or
even what they said in the complaint that constituted "promotion of hate".
These are the same exact individuals who told us after the event that
they saw no problem with the event and that they were not taking up the
complaint. This is the exact words of the Hamilton Police Hate Crimes Unit:
"The Hate Crime Unit investigates reported hate crimes. As I advised you ,
this investigation has to do with a complaint brought to my attention
regarding the Finkelstein event at McMaster co-sponsored by SPHR. The
investigation is in regards to section 317 of the Criminal Code of Canada :
the wilful promotion of hatred.
My job is to investigate and I need to speak with the organizers of the
event. I appreciate your concerns and would expect you to be concerned
however this is an ongoing criminal investigation and I am not in a position
to disclose the information that you are requesting.
Please advise me when I can meet with your organization representatives."
So, we are trying to get a lawyer to consult with us and tell us how we
should respond to this news. We welcome all ideas, comments or assistance
that anyone can provide.
Sincerely,
Jamila Ghaddar
on behalf of McMaster Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
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