According to an article in the Toronto Star, four Black activists were invited to the Supreme Court to talk about racism with some of the courts law clerks during Black History month. Then the activists were abruptly “disinvited” – apparently because they have posted articles in support of human rights for Palestinians. Read more.
“A group of Black anti-racism activists were dropped from a meeting at the Supreme Court of Canada because of concerns over their online posts about the Israel-Palestine conflict”, wrote Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau chief Tonda MacCharles.
The Black researchers say they were “disinvited” from a Jan. 15 presentation about an anti-Black racism project by Chantal Carbonneau, the top court’s registrar. They claim Carbonneau said she was concerned about pro-Palestinian “tweets, likes and comments” on their social media which had made law clerks feel “unsafe” and harmed their mental health.
The incident has caused some to accuse the Court of “anti-Black and anti-Palestinian racism.”
In an interview with The Hill Times, Derico Symonds, Director of justice strategy at the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute (ANSJI) one of the four excluded delegates, said he and the others have still not been told which posts were thought to be offensive, adding that they had gone as far as to print out their social media feeds to search through them manually.
Another of the excluded delegates, Professor El Jones at Mount Saint Vincent University, told CTIP “The presentation I was hoping to give to the law clerks was about the difficult conditions for Black prisoners in detention in Canada. It had nothing to do with Israel/Palestine“.
“It would have been easy for her to allow those sensitive clerks to not attend the meeting,” continued Professor Jones. ‘The voices of Black prisoners, people who are truly unsafe, were deprioritized for the comfort of some privileged clerks.”
CTIP sent an open letter on February 20th to Mme. Charbonneau asking 5 questions: (see the full letter here.)
Here are the five questions:
- The International Court of Justice has now determined that there is a “plausible” case of genocide against Israel. Why would personal posts about Israel/Palestine, – even any which are very critical of Israel – cause a problem for your law clerks, among the best and brightest law minds coming out of Canadian universities?
- Would posts that support Israel or justify its bombing campaign in Gaza also been grounds for exclusion?
- Can you please share the social posts that you found “concerning”? What was the concern? Were they in any way antisemitic?
- Are there any other issues that might upset law clerks? For example, would a personal article about any other controversial issue, the Rohingya, abortion, medical assistance in dying, or criticizing police violence against Black Canadians, also be enough to bar someone from participating in discussions at the Supreme Court?
- What political prohibitions might there be on applicants for your clerking program? Are Black Canadian law graduates who support human rights for Palestinians automatically screened out from clerkships at the Supreme Court?
We look forward to hearing from the Registrar. CTIP will be happy to share her answer.
Clerking for the Supreme Court of Canada is a highly prestigious position, for which there is intense competition among recent law graduates across the country. The recruitment announcement for the Law Clerks Program lists a number of criteria. Perhaps there should be another one: willingness to hear points of view contrary to your own.
Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 
Thank you for raising this Peter. I admit I had not heard anything about this incident.
It is incredibly disconcerting. I would be disgusted if this happened in the halls of political power but I would not be shocked. But for this to happen in the halls of justice not only am I disgusted I am appalled and disgusted.
My feelings are exacerbated because no reasonable, direct answer has been offered.
The main point being:“The International Court of Justice has now determined that there is a “plausible” case of genocide against Israel“
What possible reason could be stated by anyone ,let alone the Supreme Court of Canada ,for disinviting applicants for clerkship due to their support of the human rights of Palestinians . I am floored ,to put it mildly ,to find that this is happening in Canada .
Perhaps the answer lies in the details. i.e not in the fact that they expressed support for Palestinians but in the way that they expressed it. Has anyone seen the actual posts?
When I spoke to Professor Jones, they had still not seen the “offending” posts.
Well said, Peter. Your letter is perfect and raises very important questions. Thanks very much.
Alex
“The only time it is right to look down at someone is when we are offering our hand to help them get up.” Pope Francis – “Let Us Dream”
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It is beyond belief as to what extent Canadians became enslaved to Israel’s narratives and to the Zionists. For decades they instilled fear in us, relentlessly lied to us, used cover ups, corrupted our officials with their money and consequently brainwashed us to even be afraid to utter a word about Palestinian human rights. In spite of all evidence of apartheid and genocide.
Perhaps never in history logic and evidence were put upside down on their heads.