Faisal Bhabha, an associate professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, said Cooley “should be seriously considering a civil action for malicious prosecution and unlawful detention by the police.”

“It appears there never was a basis for the charge to be laid. Any alleged basis was clearly improper and quite likely discriminatory,” Bhabha said. “The laying of the charge would have had a chilling effect on the free exercise of Charter rights in the city and across the country. Therefore, the police should investigate to determine how such an error was made.”

  • corsicanguppy
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    1 year ago

    I’m glad this has been partially rectified, and I do hope there’s a little settlement for any lost wages and a LOT of policy re-vamping here.

    If he truly was supporting a cause merely of Palestinian independence - let alone a restoration of proper boundaries and safety from continued invasion - then I don’t see where this is more than hate-filled prosecutorial over-reach.

    In their defence, though, there’s been a concerted effort to conflate a religion with a government, and that’s as wrong a bandwagon for us to jump onto as much as it is disenfranchising the thousands of people living there but practicing a different system of beliefs (or none at all). It’s the start to an exciting internal purge based on beliefs from a people who should know better. Personally.

  • Free Palestine 🇵🇸@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    It’s sad that we live in a world where such harmless statements will get you charged with hate crime. Those who try to silence the opinions they don’t like are the ones truly committing hate crime.

    • cygnus
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      1 year ago

      Advocating for the dissolution of a country isn’t harmless to the people living there, but I agree that it shouldn’t be illegal.

      • Free Palestine 🇵🇸@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Stopping the oppression of Palestinian people doesn’t have to mean the dissolution of Israel, the Israeli government could also just stop the oppression in the first place.

        • c0c0c0@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Depending on who you talk to, it actually might. Even this phrase, a sensible request for freedom on its face, is absolutely a call for the dissolution of Israel to some who use it. Finding an innocent in the conflict, outside of a maternity ward, is mighty challenging.

        • cygnus
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          1 year ago

          From which river to which sea do you think that saying is referring to?

          • sederx@programming.dev
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            1 year ago

            You do realize gaza is on the sea and west bank on the river yeah?

            You think it’s acceptable to have a country split in two? Thats all the slogan is calling for attributing any ntisemetic sentiment to it just shows your anti Palestine stance.

            • cygnus
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              1 year ago

              You do realize gaza is on the sea and west bank on the river yeah?

              Read the Hamas charter and superimpose the four corners of their proposed borders on a map. I also never said a word about antisemitism, so you can dial back the histrionics.

              • sederx@programming.dev
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                1 year ago

                I don’t give a fuck what hamas says. Why would you apply their reasoning to peaceful protests around the world clearly calling for peace?

                Again your palestine=hamas shows your bias.

      • Poplar?@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I suppose occupying for sufficiently long makes it legitimate. Might is right etc etc

      • quindraco@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Yes, it is. Watch, I’ll do it right now:

        “I think North Korea should be dissolved.”

        And yet, zero people were hurt by my advocacy.

        Canada proves they need stronger free speech protections every time anyone is arrested for “harmful” speech outside of fraud.

    • gmtom@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Exactly, that’s why the British were in the right for fighting the various revolutionaries across the empire. How dare they call for the dissolution of the British Raj