Restaurant staff losing their jobs for cheering on a pro-Palestinian protest. A Palestinian Canadian journalist fired for her social media posts calling for a #freepalestine. Medical residents flagged to potential hiring committees for their support of Palestinians.
These are just some of the many instances across Canada in which employees and students have faced firings, suspensions or calls for them to not be hired based on their publicly stated political stance on the Israel-Hamas war. It’s a trend that has been reported not just in Canada but also in the U.S. and Europe, and across various industries, including media, law, health care and the service sector.
According to three Ontario-based lawyers who spoke to CBC News, some employers and institutions have been quick to take action against employees or students, creating an environment in which many are afraid they will lose their jobs or face consequences to their education if they express a political stance in favour of one side — Palestinians — during this war.
“I can tell you personally, in the last month and a half, I’ve probably spoken with someone at least once a day [about this],” said Jackie Esmonde, a labour lawyer at Toronto-based firm Cavalluzzo Law. "They’re not always cases that we take on, but we do have in the range of eight to 10 cases that we’re actively working on at the moment.
“I’m not seeing people making what I would consider hate speech or discriminatory speech.”
I am condemning terrorism, and any act of aggression towards civilians. I am definitely not pro-Hamas, no matter how you try to twist my words. But I am also not feeling obliged to condemn them in every of my comments, but if you look through my comments you will see a fair bit of me condemning them.
I am also not anti Israel, I know Israeli people, I have visited the country on a couple of occasions and I still believe there are a lot of sane and good hearted people there who also want to find a peaceful solution to this conflict.
You on the other hand didn’t say anything good for Palestinians or expressed any human empathy towards their suffering.
How is starving the whole population of Gaza justifiable in your eyes, or the internal displacement? Or crippling their entire health care system?
Why do you think terrorism isn’t flourishing during peace and prosperity? By killing them and making them live through this hell you won’t achieve anything other than radicalizing those people and giving birth to more Hamas or replacing this with the next terrorist organisation fighters. When did violence have been a basis of long term peace?
Any killing of civilians is unacceptable obviously. But all you so called pro Palestinian peace activists need to find a solution real quick for Israel to stop being constantly attacked if you keep criticizing the way it reacts.
But the truth is you don’t have a better suggestion, because luckily your country is not in this situation. But at least don’t be an hypocrite about it and just admit you don’t know what Israel should do but what you do know is that it apparently shouldn’t eliminate the terrorists next door.
As for the starving of civilians please spare me the Hamas propaganda, there are hundreds of trucks entering Gaza everyday, but Hamas is stealing a lot of the aid unfortunately, as they be been doing since they’re in power.
Israel is fighting anti-west Islamism which will ultimately benefit you too but all you are able to do is criticise it with zero valid arguments.
Ah yes, all the human rights watch groups, WHO, the UN, and even your closest ally the US who by the way is flying drones over Gaza is admitting that there is a humanitarian catastrophe, why should I believe them if you tell me that this isn’t the case. But what do I know.
I mean when Ismail Haniyeh leader of Hamas thanks the UN for their decision, yeah maybe reconsider your sources, just a wild thought.