Last week, Victoria’s city council was scheduled to discuss a motion put forward by Councillor Marg Gardiner regarding “ongoing antisemitic actions.”
However, due to a lack of time, it was deferred to the meeting on Thursday, June 20th.
In her motion, Gardiner pointed to a rise in anti-Semitism that has occurred since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.
She then referred to acts of hate expressed on Victoria’s streets.
“In addition to weekly marches in the city during which those nearby have been assailed with hateful words, we may also be experiencing spill-over from the encampments at the University of Victoria,” reads Gardiner’s motion.
“While the City promptly removes anti-Semitic [sic] slogans/graffiti in public spaces, anti-Semitic [sic] actions have become commonplace in other ways.”
She said that the city council has received reports of city funding indirectly supporting anti-Semitic hate speech and others of anti-Semitic graffiti on both private and public property.
In this motion, the rallies Gardiner referred to are the weekly, advocacy rallies for peace in Palestine.
Victoria Buzz reached out to Councillor Gardiner on Wednesday for clarification on her motion and to know whether she had ever attended one of these rallies, but she did not respond prior to publication.
Specifically, her original motion recommended:
- City staff respond promptly to public communications of anti-Semitism, assess whether funding is going towards organizations which advocate for anti-Semitic action
- Prioritizing the removal of anti-Semitic graffiti
Organizers of Palestinian rallies viewpoint
The organizers of these rallies provided a statement to Victoria Buzz regarding Gardiner’s motion.
“As the organizers of the weekly rallies calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza, we are deeply concerned by claims of antisemitism [sic] linked to our events,” the organizers of the Victoria Weekly Rallies for Palestine wrote.
They say the claims Councillor Gardiner made in her motion of Victorians being “assailed with hateful words” on city streets is unfounded.
“Our rallies have been powerful and inclusive spaces where people from all backgrounds unite to peacefully protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people,” wrote the rally organizers.
They added that speakers and attendees represent a broad spectrum of communities and organizations in Victoria, including Indigenous, Muslim, Jewish and Christian voices, with Black and Caucasian allies, among others.
“It is disturbing and deeply dangerous to see support for Palestine being silenced under false claims of antisemitism [sic]. Criticism of the actions of the Israeli government is not hate speech,” the organizers continued.
“[Councillor] Gardiner’s motion risks further victimizing Arab and Muslim communities, many of whom have close ties to and relatives in Gaza, and undermines our civil liberties by impeding our right to peaceful protest.”
They noted that those attending the rallies have been victimized during their actions, with a man attempting to run over a volunteer with a car, an assault on a senior, and an assault on a disabled volunteer just recently.
“We coordinate with the police to enhance safety of our rallies and comply with laws and regulations,” they concluded.
“We also coordinate with the parliament for the necessary rally permits.”
Amended motion
City council was able to speak on the motion in this Thursday’s meeting, to which amendments were made to the original motion’s recommendations by Gardiner which to make it less focused on anti-Semitism, but rather any hateful act and messaging.
After discussion on the recommendations, it was determined that this work in Gardiner’s recommendations is already being done.
Councillor Susan Kim questioned City staff regarding what qualifies as content that is considered hateful or discriminatory—asking if Victoria follows the Canadian legal standards.
Councillor David Thompson said in the meeting that this motion would accomplish nothing and asked Gardiner to withdraw the motion, to which she said no.
Thompson said he has received numerous complaints from the Jewish community members as well as many others who believe this motion is unnecessarily divisive.
Councillor Jeremy Caradonna amended the motion to have it more “reaffirm” the work that City staff already does in terms of not funding hateful endeavours and promptly removing hateful graffiti.
By the end of the meeting, the motion passed unanimously once all council members had a chance to express their opinion on the backgrounder Gardiner wrote and amended the motion to be more focused on discriminatory hate of any kind.
