Organizers and attendees of a pro-Palestine rally, and a Defund HPS
action demanding increased funding to support unhoused Hamiltonians,
have been issued multiple tickets by the City of Hamilton and
face fines of up to $100,000 and 1-year potential jail
time. In both these instances, young Black, Palestinian, and
racialized community members, Sarah Jama, Wala Al-Soofi and Hashid
Mansur Ali, were targeted by the Hamilton police services,
intimidated, and charged with breaking COVID-19
rules.
Hamilton, Ontario has proven itself to be a city of
solidarity across issues, organizations, unions, and individuals from
all walks of life. We have shown up for each other over the last few
years to feed each other , to push for vaccinations to be given to
those who need it the most, to defend 2SLGBTQ+ pride, and to fight against bigotry and white
supremacy.
At the same time, it is a continuing and
growing trend that those who speak out against hate, oppression, white
supremacy, and settler colonialism are policed and intimidated by the
City of Hamilton. At the two protests mentioned above,
Black, Indigenous, Muslim, Arab, and other racialized folks
were blatantly racially profiled and harassed by Bylaw officers
and Police.
On November 23, 2020, community members from across Hamilton
came together at City Hall, pitched tents, and announced: we are here
and we will not be ignored; we will not let the City ignore our
unhoused neighbours, the people who have died in this city, the people
that have been killed by police in this city; we are here calling to
defund the police, we are here calling to invest that money into
housing and resource our communities. This was the beginning
of Freedom Camp. On November 30th, 2020, in the pouring
rain, Hamilton police, bylaw officers and tactical units instigated an
attack on Freedom Camp protesters and unhoused people - evicting
people from their tents in the wet and cold, throwing tents and
belongings into garbage compactors. But we came back. We sat in City
Hall demanding a public meeting with the mayor. Instead, Black and
racialized youth and supporters were dragged out one by one by police.
And yet again, today, we are are still making the same calls for
investing in our communities:
Because that’s what Hamilton means to us. Because that's
what community does.
Fast forward to May of this year: thousands gathered where we
are gathered now today, to speak out against the ongoing ethnic
cleansing of Palestinians by the settler colonial state of Israel. The
Hamilton Rally for Palestine on May 16 was a peaceful,
family-friendly event, which abided by COVID-19 guidelines.
We saw an enormous outpouring of support from the Hamilton community
for Palestine. In response, Hamilton Police Officers and City of
Hamilton By-law
shamefully and unjustly choose to target and ticket 14
visibly Muslim community members , two of whom face the same fine
of up to $100,000 and 1-year potential jail time.
Wala Al-Soofi and Hashid Mansur Ali face the same repercussions for
being voices for the community, calling for liberation from oppressive
systems and speaking out against an apartheid regime.
These struggles are linked. In both instances, young Black and
Palestinian community members, Sarah Jama, Wala Al-Soofi and Hashid
Mansur Ali, are being targeted by the Hamilton police services - an
arm of the canadian state - and are being intimidated and threatened
with legal repercussions for peacefully protesting and speaking out
against oppression.
We will not let them get away with this. The fight for the
freedom of Palestinians and the fight to defund and abolish police are
connected. Here and across the world, Black people and Palestinian
people are policed and killed by the state on stolen land for no other
reason than to protect the existing systems of power and oppression.
We are strongest together, and we will fight these
oppressive tickets together to defend our right to speak out
against injustice .
We ask for your continued solidarity and support in
fighting these tickets.
We are asking for a combined $30,000 to #FundtheFight to
challenge these discriminatory tickets so that no one has to pay
them. There are a total of 15 tickets, three of which
are up to a maximum of $100,000, and we ask that you follow our
campaign using #DropTheChargesHamOnt to learn more
about the fight against displacement and policing in both Hamilton and
Palestine. Finally, we ask you to visit
http://dropthechargeshamont.ca/ - going live later
this week - where we will continue to update information and resources
with other important ways to help us get these charges dropped.
