Free Palestine!
The Thorn on Thursday | May 20
Free Palestine!
This past Saturday, May 15, protesters took to the streets in Vancouver to denounce Israel’s latest escalation of violence against the Palestinian people. Full story.
The Thorn stands in solidarity with the Palestinian People in their time of need.
Welcome to another issue of the Thorn on Thursdays!
Local
Vehicle dwellers at 12th and Slocan served eviction notices
"It's not that we won't go, it's that we can't, because there's nowhere for us!" - Slocan RV-City resident.
The residents of a community of vehicle dwellers at Slocan and 12th avenue in East Vancouver have been served eviction notices by the city for May 26. The area, which is bordered by Van Tech's forested buffer on one side and a massive Lowes parking lot on the other, and has been a location for so-called Slocan RV-City for approximately two years.
Vancouver City traffic bylaws forbid overnight parking of vehicles over a certain height and there is no parking allowed for more than three hours during the day on city streets. Bylaws such as these criminalize poverty and, as the struggles of homelessness grow, more cities in BC are adopting similar punitive measures. When asked where they were supposed to park their homes, Slocan RV-City residents were told to find some private property to park on.
Encampments such as these, and there are more throughout the city about to be served eviction notices, act as survival spaces for our unhoused citizens and what, on their website, the Red Braid Alliance for Decolonial Socialism describe as spaces of political transformation where working class and Indigenous people can realize their collective political agency.
Vancouver, and other cities, need to build permanent social housing at welfare and pension rates. Until this is done, the unhoused will live on our streets, and they will live together in community to keep themselves and each other safe.
The RV and car-dwellers are calling a rally on May 26 to defend their community from displacement. You can find out more on an event page here.
Labour movement issues boycott, pulls millions of dollars in business from Hilton Metrotown and Pacific Gateway Hotels in support of workers
On May 13, the British Columbia Federation of Labour issued the following statement in support of hotel workers at the Hilton Metrotown (locked out since April 23) and Pacific Gateway (on strike since May 3):
(Unceded Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam territories — Vancouver, BC) The BC Federation of Labour (BCFED) is calling on the public to boycott the Hilton Metrotown and Pacific Gateway Hotel as UNITE HERE Local 40 workers battle draconian layoffs and wage and benefit roll backs. Representing nearly fifty affiliated unions with some 500,000 members across the province, the BCFED is asking its members and the broader public not to cross picket lines or do business with the two hotels.
“Our affiliated unions are cancelling bookings and avoiding future events worth millions of dollars a year,” said Laird Cronk, President of the BCFED. “It is shameful that these hotels are drawing on government COVID relief money and wage subsidies while they fire or refuse to call back workers and seek to undermine decades of worker gains.”
UNITE HERE Local 40 has launched the BC Unequal Women campaign to call attention to how women, especially racialized women, in the hospitality industry are being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The hotel industry is using the pandemic as an excuse to get rid of long-term workers and exploit replacement workers with lower wages and fewer benefits. According to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy registry, both hotel owners have drawn on this government support.
“Nearly 50,000 hotel workers lost their jobs when the pandemic hit. Hotels have been opposing giving workers, mostly racialized women, their jobs back and the government won’t require it,” said Zailda Chan, UNITE HERE Local 40 president. “This boycott sends a powerful message that the public expects hotels to return their long-term workforce to their pre-pandemic jobs when the work comes back. No one should lose their job and be replaced because of a temporary crisis."
The BC government has provided over $130 million to the hotel and hospitality sector on top of nearly $400 million in recovery grants to businesses with no requirements for workers to get their jobs back during the recovery; this despite commitments in August, 2020 to do just that. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to do business with the Pacific Gateway Hotel as a site for COVID-19 isolation, despite the labour dispute.
“I’ve cleaned rooms at Hilton Metrotown for nearly 15 years and raised my son on this job. Hilton Metrotown fired 97 of my co-workers and locked-out the rest of us,” said Jaswinder Bassi, a laid-off room attendant from Hilton Metrotown. “I’m worried I could be terminated next. We deserve the right to go back to our jobs because we’ve given so much of our lives to our hotel.”
Provincial
Police arrest 7 protesters at Fairy Creek logging blockade
Over two days this week, the RCMP arrested 12 people as part of a raid on the Caycuse logging blockades on southwest Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew. Protesters have been maintaining several camps around the Syracuse River and Fairy Creek for several months, with the aim of stopping the logging of some of the last old-growth forest on Vancouver Island.
On April 1, Teal-Cedar Products was granted an injunction against the protesters. This injunction bars the obstruction of logging activity, but allows access and protest on the backroads. On Monday, the RCMP set up a large exclusion zone to restrict access to the Caycuse Valley, but bowed to pressure and backtracked a day later.
Of course, the real crime is that old-growth forest is being cut, and the root cause of these actions is the delay and inaction of the BC government on behalf of old-growth forests.
Read more:
Police arrest 7 protesters at logging blockade on southern Vancouver Island | CBC
Five Arrested at Fairy Creek Old Growth Blockade | The Tyee
RCMP backtracks on excluding journalists from logging protest site facing police raid | Ricochet
National
Greyhound Canada shuts down all bus service permanently
On May 13, Greyhound Canada announced that it was shutting down its remaining routes in Ontario and Quebec due to financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. The company previously pulled out of Western Canada in 2018. This effectively leaves Canada with no intercity bus service, which is a major impediment to travel between communities for low income folks and those who don’t drive.
Avi Lewis announces run for federal NDP
On May 17, climate activist and public intellectual Avi Lewis announced his intention to seek the nomination for the federal NDP in the riding of West Vancouver--Sunshine Coast--Sea to Sky Country. Avi Lewis is a founding member of the Leap Manifesto and is an avid champion of a Green New Deal. Avi lives in the riding with his wife, author and activist Naomi Klein; and his son, Toma.
Avi is the grandson of former federal NDP leader David Lewis, and the son of former Ontario NDP leader and diplomat Stephen Lewis.
Avi will be acclaimed as the candidate in a virtual nomination meeting/campaign kickoff on Saturday, May 22, 4:00pm-5:30pm PDT. Register here.
Read the full story in the Georgia Straight here.
International
Palestine under attack. Palestinians and global solidarity movements fight back!
Israel is in the second week of an intense attack on Gaza, the fifth major air and ground attack on the territory in a little over 12 years. This is part of Israel’s ongoing war against the Palestinians.
The spark that set off the recent atrocities are Israel’s plans to evict six Palestinian families from the Sheik Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. Palestinians began protesting the planned evictions on May 6. Israeli settlers and the Israeli military responded to the protests with brutality, injuring over 1,000 Palestinians. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was set on fire on May 8. Brutal pogroms have also taken place against Palestinians in 1948 Palestine, most notably in Jaffa.
Since May 10, the conflict has escalated into an all-out Israeli air and ground attack on the blockaded Gaza Strip. Reports are that at least 253 Palestinians have been killed, and 1620 have been injured; and the United Nations reports that by May 17, Israeli airstrikes had either completely or partially demolished at least 94 buildings comprising 461 residential and commercial units. Bottle rockets fired by Hamas from the Gaza strip have killed 12 Israelis.
Of particular note is that Israel bombed and demolished the building housing the offices of the Associated Press and other journalism organizations on May 15. Fortunately, all the journalists managed to escape unharmed. Israel has also targeted and killed at least one Palestinian journalist in what is clearly an organized attack on the ability of the press to report on Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
Hamas proposed a ceasefire on May 13, but this was rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The United Nations Security Council has met twice since May 14, in the hopes of passing a call for a ceasefire; unfortunately, the US used their veto at the UN Security Council to block the resolution calling for a ceasefire. US President Joe Biden says that he supports a ceasefire, but has stopped short of openly calling for one. It should be noted that the United States provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel annually, upon which Israel relies to continue it’s ongoing war.
The European Union issued a call for a ceasefire, though Hungary’s far-right government chose not to back the call. In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially took the Biden administration’s position on a ceasefire. Then earlier this week, Trudeau reversed course and called for a ceasefire.
The Mainstream media in the advanced capitalist countries have tried to portray these latest atrocities as a two-sided conflict between opposing powers. This ignores the fact that Israel is a colonial occupying power and an apartheid regime, and the Palestinans are a colonized people resisting the ongoing occupation of their land by Israel. It also ignores that Israel has the largest military in the Middle East and 20th largest in the world, while the Palestinians have no proper military to speak of, or even a proper state.
Significant protests against Israel’s atrocities have taken place around the world. A partial list of such protests is available on Wikipedia here.
In Canada, federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh demanded that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau end Canadian arms sales to Israel. This comes on the heels of a motion passed at the federal NDP’s convention last month in support of an arms embargo on Israel, and marks a move away from the NDP’s previous stance of calling for restraint on “both sides of the conflict”.
Palestinian-Amercian Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib delivered an absolutely inspired speech in the U.S. house of representatives. This is part of a change in which a minority of U.S. lawmakers are openly breaking with the longstanding unanimous two-party support for Israel.
Further reading:
NDP takes major turn by condemning Israeli attacks on Palestine | Christo Aivalis
If Israel is an Apartheid State, Shouldn’t it Be Sanctioned?
Gideon Levy makes sense of the violence consuming Israel-Palestine (Youtube)
If you're looking to help:
Palestine Children's Relief Fund - https://www.pcrf.net/
Medical Aid for Palestinians - https://www.map.org.uk/
Doctors Without Borders - https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Left wins big in Chile
Last fall, the people of Chile voted to replace Pinochet’s neoliberal constitution.
On May 16, the people of Chile defeated the right -- and elected an alliance of social movements, Indigenous peoples, and left and independent political representatives to bury Pinochet’s constitution and write a new future for Chile. Also notable is the left’s gains at the municipal level in these elections. For example, the Communist Party’s Iraci Hassler, a 30-year-old feminist and former student activist leader, has been elected the Mayor of Santiago with around 40% of the vote.
Chile será la tumba del neoliberalismo!
Read more: Progressives Won Chile’s Election. And they won big. | Ariel Dorfman (New York Times)
Upcoming Events
Vancouver: Palestine Vigil and Rally
Saturday, May 22, 6pm
750 Hornby St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2H7, Canada
The Palestinian uprising isn’t over and we’re going to keep up this momentum and continue pressuring for change. Families in Sheikh Jarrah are still waiting to hear from Israeli colonial courts next month on whether settlers will take their homes, Gaza is being heavily bombarded with air strikes, and Palestinian protests are occuring from Ramallah to Haifa.
On Saturday, May 22, we will hold a vigil and then a rally. The vigil will begin at 6 PM at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where we will commemorate the lives of those recently killed by Israeli violence in Gaza, Haifa, and Jerusalem. *Disclaimer: this vigil is not associated with a specific religion, we are here in unity to amplify Palestinian voices.* We will have a few speakers, and provide candles, flowers, and the names and pictures of those killed. Following the vigil, we will be marching to the U.S Consulate with a list of demands for both Canada and the US as well as a call to action. Stay tuned for program details. The route for the march will also be published here so you can follow it.
Also endorsed by:
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
(Please bring your mask and observe appropriate physical distancing.)
Defend the Slocan RV Encampment
Wednesday, May 26, 4pm
Slocan and 12th Ave, Vancouver BC
RV and car-dwellers are calling a rally to defend a community of vehicle-dwellers from displacement.
The Slocan RV camp has been at Slocan and 12th for two years, but now the city is enforcing bylaws and ordering residents to leave by May 26th, attempting to hide the housing crisis by banishing vehicle-dwellers from sight. City director of streets Taryn Scollard has said that the city will be cracking down on other RV encampments as well.
Slocan RV-city residents demand an end to the city's enforcement of laws and bylaws that criminalize and displace people who live in vehicle-homes. Everybody has a right to stay in their home without moving constantly from fear of being towed or ticketed. As one resident put it, "it's not that we won't go, it's that we can't, because there's nowhere for us!"
We are calling for the construction of permanent social housing at welfare and pension rates. Some vehicle-dwellers want to live indoors but can't afford market housing and don't want to live in supportive housing or SROs, where residents are surveilled and their tenant rights trampled on by non-profit service providers. The government should be building quality housing so that everyone has the option of living inside.
Value Co-op's Hot Pot Talks Fundraiser
Saturday, May 29
6:00 PM
Join 'Hot Pot Talks' co-hosts David Ng and Jen Sungshine, with guest Orville Lim, board Vice President of the Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Association | 林西河總堂九牧公所, as they share a conversation about Chinatowns and the work that VALU CO-OP is doing in collaboration with the Association.
ACORN People’s Forum: Tell the BC NDP they’re not the Liberals!
Join us at the ACORN People's Forum to let the BC NDP know our demands for a more just, equitable society and remind them that the Liberals are no longer in power!
WHEN: Saturday, June 12 11:30 AM
Click here to register: https://bit.ly/3bFqkey
Or if you're joining on the phone, please dial 778 907 2071 and enter the Meeting ID 827 9672 4396, then press the # key twice.
For more than a decade, BC ACORN members have worked tirelessly to make affordable housing, living wages, healthcare, tenant protection and disability rights a priority for our provincial government. But the BC NDP, the party of the working class, has failed to prioritize the needs of the people ahead of developers and big corporations. We are demanding more from the BC NDP. Join us on Saturday, June 12 at the ACORN People's Forum to remind the government that they're notthe Liberals! We are demanding: Affordable & Livable Housing, Above poverty disability rates, Living wages, Better Healthcare, Rent Control, Increased Tenant Protection and more!
The people united will never be defeated. Click here to register for the People's Forum. Reply to this email if you have any questions. We hope to see you there!
Media Roundup
The Montreal building on the front lines of Canada’s rental crisis
Pathway to critical and formidable goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is narrow but brings huge benefits, according to IEA special report
Imperialism: A Syllabus