The case, which has as a lot to do with journalistic ethics because it does with the fraught politics of the Center East, dates again to a July 2014 march organized by the Affiliation of Palestinian Canadians
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An Ontario courtroom has sided with media commentators who steered the Canadian Union of Postal Employees was a terrorist sympathizer for taking part in a protest a decade in the past in Ottawa that featured a Hamas flag.
“Their perception that CUPW helps Hamas, a terrorist organisation, is, in my opinion, actually held primarily based on confirmed info. It doesn’t need to be an inexpensive perception. Nevertheless it have to be an trustworthy one,” concluded Justice Graeme Mew of the Superior Court docket of Ontario.
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The case, which has as a lot to do with journalistic ethics because it does with the fraught politics of the Center East, dates again to a July 2014 march organized by the Affiliation of Palestinian Canadians, which was joined by some postal staff who had been invited by their union. However, it solely resolved on Thursday.
The defendants within the case have been Jerry Agar, then a number on the now-defunct Solar Information Community and a contract columnist for the Toronto Solar, then owned by Quebecor however now owned by Postmedia, the identical firm that owns Nationwide Submit, and Avi Benlolo, on the time the president and CEO of the Pals of Simon Wiesenthal Heart for Holocaust Research and now CEO of the Abraham World Peace Initiative and a columnist for Nationwide Submit.
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“This is a crucial vindication of the proper to have interaction in debate and specific actually held views,” mentioned Benlolo in an announcement. “This is a crucial victory for me and one which can be significant for the Jewish group.”
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The Ottawa Citizen, one other Postmedia newspaper, lined the protest on the time and interviewed Adam John, the person who was carrying a Hamas flag, who mentioned that whereas a connection might be made between the flag and the fear group, it was meant to be supportive of Islam on the whole not Hamas particularly.
The presence of the flag, and the lengthy historical past of CUPW activism on Gaza, fashioned the backdrop of the commentary that adopted, and the lawsuit.
Agar, wrote within the Solar: “Would you desire a terrorist sympathizer coming to your door on daily basis?” On the Solar Information broadcast, the place Agar was filling in for the common host on The Supply, a present affairs program, Benlolo, who had been booked as a visitor, mentioned the CUPW management “has a historical past of partnering up with hate teams, anti-Israel teams” and mentioned it was “surprising” that the union “ought to be so political and siding and partnering up with a hate group like Hamas.”
CUPW sued, arguing that Agar and Benlolo argued, primarily, that the union and its members have been terrorist sympathizers, that CUPW helps Hamas and was not on the rally to assist “peculiar Palestinians” and that this was defamatory. It additionally argued that Agar’s Toronto Solar opinion piece was libellous.
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The postal union has lengthy taken a powerful stance on the battle between Israel and Palestinians, with its official coverage on peace and disarmament stating that “the occupation of the West Financial institution and siege on Gaza are main obstacles to justice and a long-lasting peace,” and expressing assist for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) motion. Its insurance policies have been closely criticized in newspaper columns and have been as soon as criticized, the courtroom ruling says, by Bob Rae, then a Liberal member of Parliament.
“I proceed to be astonished by the extent to which concepts which ought to be on the ‘loony tunes’ margins of politics have now been adopted by a union which represents 1000’s of members,” Rae beforehand mentioned, in line with the ruling.
The courtroom ended up siding with Agar and Benlolo.
“We’re upset with the end result,” mentioned an electronic mail from CUPW media relations. “We are going to attain out when now we have extra to say.”
At difficulty was not simply CUPW’s historical past and expressed political beliefs surrounding Gaza and Israel. The ruling additionally handled an emailed assertion, despatched by a CUPW spokesperson, to journalists who had requested whether or not the union supported Hamas. The spokesperson didn’t explicitly disavow that, and that served as a key little bit of proof within the decide’s resolution.
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Benlolo, nevertheless, tried to make use of a reality defence in courtroom — sometimes the hardest-to-use defence towards accusations of libel or defamation.
Though the courtroom famous that when Solar Media contacted the postal union for remark, it “didn’t take the chance to distance itself” from any affiliation with the Hamas flag, and that it supported the Canadian Boat to Gaza initiative, a 2011 push for a flotilla to take humanitarian help previous an Israeli blockade to Palestinians in Gaza, this was not proof sufficient that CUPW knowingly marched with Hamas supporters or helps Hamas, or that mail carriers are terrorist sympathizers. That defence failed.
The 2 males additionally defended their statements as “honest remark,” a well-liked authorized defence towards allegations of defamation or libel. It requires, nevertheless, that the defendant make his or her statements with out malice and that they’ve some grounding in truth. Once more, the decide took up the difficulty of CUPW’s failure to disavow Hamas when reached for remark.
“A believable interpretation of CUPW’s unwillingness to deal with the query … is that CUPW wished to keep away from straight answering the query,” Mew wrote. “Whereas I’m not suggesting that CUPW’s failure to take the chance to disclaim its assist for Hamas might fairly be construed as an acknowledgment that it did, in truth, assist Hamas, it however left the door open for Mr. Agar and Mr. Benlolo to make the feedback which might be the topic of this motion.”‘
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The decide concluded {that a} banner that ran throughout the dialog — “Supporting Hamas?” — was a query, not an announcement of truth.
CUPW, in trying to counter the defence of honest remark, famous that it “repeatedly denounced violence, terrorism, racism, and all that Hamas stands for (albeit with out particularly mentioning Hamas),” the decide wrote, which was ignored by the defendants, and that the assist for BDS or the presence of a Hamas flag of which organizers have been unaware have been “incapable of forming a factual foundation for the assertion” that CUPW was a Hamas sympathizer.
The decide disagreed, discovering that CUPW’s lengthy historical past of activism offered sufficient factual foundation for the opinions expressed.
“Remark doesn’t need to be affordable. It could even be farfetched or excessive,” the decide wrote. “The required factual substratum for the opinions expressed by the defendants has been adequately demonstrated.”
He additionally discovered that Agar and Benlolo acted with out malice and actually consider what they mentioned.
Nationwide Submit was unable to achieve Agar for remark.
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