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Prof in the park speaks out |
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Written by Trish Elliott
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Sunday, 02 October 2011 |
University of Regina professor Emily Eaton finally got her chance to
speak in Victoria Park – and the outspoken academic didn’t mince words.
Eaton spoke at a Charter of Rights and Freedoms Celebration held in the
park on Thursday, Sept. 29.
Eaton was originally scheduled to speak in the park on June 14, as part
of a Profs in the Park lecture series jointly sponsored by the Regina
Downtown Business Improvement District and the University of Regina
Faculty of Arts. When the RDBID asked her to change her topic,
Palestinian solidarity, the whole series ended up being cancelled amid
accusations of censorship.
“It was the RDBID that pulled the lecture, not the university,” Eaton said, stating that the business improvement office hasn’t presented an honest version of events.
Eaton called on the public to recognize that the complaints about her lecture are part of a campaign “to stop certain political discussions.”
“What I am speaking about is dangerous to a particular constellation of interests,” she said.
Unfortunately the censorship issue shifted focus away from the topic of Palestinian rights, she added.
“Although I think what they (the RDBID) did was disgusting, they are not alone in it,” she said. A general “campaign of fear” makes people reluctant to speak openly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she said.
While the Charter provides protection for some civil rights, it doesn’t address the every day experiences that shut down people’s freedom of expression, Eaton argued. She challenged people to look beyond the discourse of liberal civil rights.
“The regular way people around these issues get marginalized, there are no Charter protections for that,” she said. As an example, she cited colleagues who quietly advised her to protect her tenure prospects by making less noise. Similarly, politicians have been advised to shy away from rallies supporting the rights of Palestinians, she said.
But Eaton called on her audience to set aside the censorship problem and get back to key demands, which she identified as: end the occupation of Palestinian land; dismantle the wall; recognize the equality rights of Israel’s Arab citizens, and; protect the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
“Israel has been in contravention of several international laws, and the international community has done nothing about it,” she said.
Eaton’s talk was part of a Charter of Rights and Freedoms Celebration day headed up by education professor Marc Spooner. Throughout the afternoon, event organizers handed out copies of the Charter in several languages, and invited people to make signs and speak their minds at an open mic. Other featured speakers included aboriginal and environmental activist Sue Deranger, political science professor Joyce Green, lawyer Larry Kowalchuk and labour activist Cara Banks.
Related stories:
Video response to RDBID
http://www.actupinsask.org/content/view/919/2/
Events coordinator resigns in protest over censorship
http://www.actupinsask.org/content/view/910/2/
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Is Emily really against censorship?
Written by Bill Whatcott on 2011-10-04 10:58:20
Emily is a living example of why I generally loathe academics. First off her charter rights were not breached, they were upheld. She beaked off and promoted her hateful/ anti-Israeli views and she was neither arrested, fired or fined. The government did not shut her down, she spoke freely. Freedom of speech is freedom to speak without fear of government reprisal, it does not mean she has the right to impose her agenda on a business group that does not want to hear her anti-Israel diatribe. The business group also has a charter right to not listen to her (freedom of association) and they exercised their right too. So sorry Emily, you had to go speak elsewhere and indeed you did just that.
Indeed I wouldn't want to listen to a leftist anti-semite like Emily either. It is nice for her sitting in the relative safety of Saskatchewan to demand Israel tear down its security wall and allow without conditions millions of Palestinians, many who are religious fanatics and anti-semites to settle in her borders. Once that happens, how long does one seriously believe the Jewish democracy would survive? Once Jews start getting slaughtered in mass numbers would Emily and her ilk come to their rescue?Would she even care? Probably not. The reason why the wall was put up in the first place was because of continuous terror attacks against innocent Jewish civilians during the second intifada. Naturally, in Emily's mind the reason for the wall, 300 dead Israeli, men, women and children, along with 1900 Israeli civilians maimed is of no consequence.
What else bothers me with these academics is their self serving interpretation of free speech. For them it isn't enough to be able to give their opinions. They demand taxpayers pay for their opinions and that they have the unfettered right to impose their opinions on groups not wanting to listen to them. On the other hand, in mine and many other Christians cases, when we express our opinions on issues such as abortion and homosexuality and pay for the distribution of our opinions with our own private funds, academics like Emily are the first to utilize the tools of the state, human rights commissions, hate crime laws, etc.... to silence the opinions they don't want to hear. Hypocrites..... |
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