More than 1,500 Canadian writers call for charges to be dropped against protesters who disrupted Giller Prize gala
More than 1,500 Canadian writers and publishers have signed an open letter calling for the costs in opposition to anti-war protesters who interrupted the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala to be dropped.
During the ceremony on Monday, protesters shouted slogans and displayed indicators accusing Scotiabank of funding “genocide” in Gaza. Scotiabank, which sponsors the literary occasion, has a 3.56 per cent stake, valued at round $431 million, in Israeli arms producer Elbit Systems. Ltd by means of its subsidiary 1832 Asset Management L.P. Scotiabank and Elbit Systems Ltd. didn’t reply to requests for remark previous to publication.
Three individuals are actually dealing with expenses in reference to the protest, in response to Toronto police.
“As writers and publishers, we express our support for the protestors who disrupted the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala,” an open letter, which began circulating on Wednesday, reads.
“We stand with the protestors, and we urge that the charges against them be dropped.”
The signatories on the open letter embody award-winning writers and poets reminiscent of Rupi Kaur, Waubgeshig Rice, Billy-Ray Belcourt and this year’s Governor General Award winner, Anuja Varghese.
Among them are also former Giller Prize winners, such as Omar El Akkad, who won the prize in 2021 for his novel, “What Strange Paradise”, and authors who have been shortlisted for the Giller Prize, such as Noor Naga and Tsering Yangzom Lama.
The open letter noted that signatories were “proud and grateful” to have received nominations, grant funding and awards from literary institutions including the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
But it stated that these literary institutions should “be loud where our governments and news outlets have been silent,” in calling for a ceasefire and pressuring Canada’s government to end its military funding for Israel.
“In the past five weeks, Israel has cut off water, electricity, and communication to Gaza. Over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, the majority civilians and non-combatants,” the letter stated.
“This week, Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza, was bombed until it could no longer be used. Among those who have died are more than 4000 children, many of them infants. This has been the deadliest attack for children in recent times. Many of our government officials and institutions swiftly condemned the October 7th deadly attack on 1200 Israeli civilians and the taking of 220 hostages. We ask that our institutions treat Palestinian civilians with the same concern and humanity.”
A protestor holding a sign saying “SCOTIABANK FUNDS GENOCIDE” is escorted off the stage during the Scotiabank Giller Prize in Toronto, on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Rob Gillies)
The child death toll cited in the open letter align with figures presented by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Global charity Save the Children has called it the deadliest conflict for children in recent times, based on those figures, and a spokesperson for UNICEF, the UN’s children’s agency, made similar comments to The Canadian Press.
The toll on Israel aligns with what has been reported by the Israeli government, which responded to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack with a siege on Gaza, weeks of airstrikes and an eventual ground assault into the enclave, and has stated its navy motion is important to wipe out Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the thought of a ceasefire till all Israeli hostages have been launched.
Elbit Systems Ltd. says it has long provided munitions to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and in July, it was awarded a contract worth around US$60 million to supply the IDF with thousands of 155mm artillery shells over the period of a year.
In connection with Monday’s protest, Evan Curle (25), Maysam Abu Khreibeh (25) and Fatima Hussain (23), are all facing charges of obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of property, as well as the charge of using a forged document.
The initial protest was met with boos from the audience at the Scotiabank Giller Prize gala, and protesters were escorted away by security. But it wasn’t the first time that Scotiabank’s ties to the Israeli defence contractor have been criticized.
Scotiabank got here below scrutiny final 12 months when it grew to become the most important international shareholder within the publicly traded Israeli defence contractor.
SumOfUs, an advocacy group, launched a 2022 petition marketing campaign calling on Canada’s third-largest financial institution to divest its stake within the firm, which had been accused of producing cluster munitions.
As beforehand reported by BNN Bloomberg, Elbit Systems Ltd. has been positioned on lists of banned investments for a lot of companies, and Australia’s Future Fund and Norway’s largest pension fund have excluded it from portfolios over its alleged manufacturing of cluster munitions.
At that point, the Israeli firm denied producing cluster munitions and Scotiabank instructed BNN Bloomberg that it backs the corporate’s place.
“1832 Asset Management does not knowingly invest in companies that directly manufacture cluster munitions,” Scotiabank spokesperson Heather Armstrong stated in an October 2022 e-mail.
“Our engagement with the company confirmed that they do not, and we verified this position with a leading global investment research firm that is commonly used by asset managers around the globe.”
With information from the Associated Press and BNN Bloomberg
