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Journalist "Terrorized" At Anti-Terrorism Rally!

 
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Maurice Ali



Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 284
Location: Toronto, Canada

PostPosted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 1:04 am    Post subject: Journalist "Terrorized" At Anti-Terrorism Rally! Reply with quote

Journalist "Terrorized" At Anti-Terrorism Rally!


By Maurice Ali, Journalist



This Was One Nice Woman At The Event So She Gets The First Photo!

Toronto, Canada - July 26, 2006. A large rally was held at The Centre For The Arts and at Mel Lastman Square. The reason for the rally was a statement against terrorism as per a segment I heard on the largest all-news AM radio station in Canada. More than 100 Jewish and non-Jewish organizations from across Toronto joined together to sponsor "Stand with Israel", a community-wide rally of solidarity. Primary organizational support for the rally was provided by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, Canadian Jewish Congress Ontario Region and the Canada-Israel Committee.




The event was also stated to be an open rally and not specific to religion or nationality, as this was in response to a direct question as to the nature of the rally. As I cover rallys and protests and make it a habit to attend all I can physically cover - the event seemed as sure thing.



This was a rally of a different kind. It was held in the swanky upscale area of Toronto (where I live by the way.....) and the speakers were to address the crowds in the centre which has been home to many operas and such. I felt uncomfortable at trying to cover the event inside as I simply had never seen a rally held indoors before. No matter; I would go down there and cover the event if it was out doors and not if it was indoors.



Wow, was this event big! I had trouble getting there as traffic was jammed and then noticed all the people and some Israel flags, so there was an outdoor rally after all.



It appears that the speeches and such at The Centre For The Arts were to be projected onto a large screen at Mel Lastman Square. With that I mind, I parked my car and walked over to the venue.



This was a large crowd in the thousands. most of the ushers to the outdoor event were draped in the Israel flag, one women is photographed in this article in such garb but also made it a point to display a same sized Canadian flag when I showed up - so I snapped her photo.



There was an unusual amount of private security at the event, in addition to the police who are a fixture at all large events. People were not searched and such, though the general feel of the venue was that very few non-white members of society were at the event. Myself and an Indian couple and a family of dark skinned possibly Middle Eastern background; were the only visible minorities at this huge gathering.

The venue got started with the fist speaker talking about the situation in the Middle East. It was about this time that one person entered the venue with what turned out to be the only placard at the event. Initially I rushed to get a photo of this as that was my mainstay of photographing protests and rallys these three years.



What I found was one man , pictured above, with a placard stating:

"No U.S. and Canadian Backing Of Israeli Crimes"

He was surrounded by security and organizers, but did not seem to be making a disturbance apart from enterring the rally with a placard.



This is nothing new as dissenting protestors have be photographed by me on a regular basis at these events. However, this was the first time I saw someone with a placard getting in trouble just for showing up with one.


The security Guard Making Me Leave The Rally!

Me and one of the cameraman from a TV network got balled out by organizors/security for recording the man and I was told to leave the rally even though I was a member of the press and just taking pictures. One of the security guards even bashed in in my camera (only left a smudge on the filter - Hurray for the Nikon D70/SB800!).



I did keep taking pictures and even interviewed the guy later on the sidewalk - and he turned out to be a pretty intelligent fellow. Funny thing is the cameraman who left us and then came running back when he saw me interviewing the protestor on the sidewalk as security unlawfully approached us (nice gesture by this guy and he kept the camera on me until I left, this was my protection - Thanks guy! There is still camaraderie among journalists.....).



CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO OF THE ALTERCATION (400K)

The artifacts found on this man were pretty tame stating his views on the subject, including a button from 1981 about some peace organization he belonged to back in the day.



And that was about it for coverage of the rally. I was told to leave by security and organizers - even though I am a member of the press - because I was just taking pictures of this commotion surrounding this guy and for no other reason. I actually have the "honor" of being the first person to be ejected from the rally as the placard man got more consideration and probably was not physically handled like I was. This really bothered me at the time, but I was so interested in getting the story that I just kept shooting.

As the title of the article states, I felt "terrorized" at being denied my constitutional rights as a journalist, even off the property of the venue - this is not a police state! Rights are all we have in the end, and the absence of those rights is terrifying. This happened where I live; this is my neighborhood where I pay my taxes and have lived for 31 years; that makes this fight that much more personal and important.

I have made a decision to investigate further what rights individuals and the press have at these gatherings. Having slept on the experience and seeing the laughter on some of the faces of the patrons (I know it should not bother me but it does.....), I really must protest my treatment here and demand an explanation from organizers who said it was open to the public. This marks the first time I was ever asked to leave an event and the first where I was ever physically handled.

The fact remains that I came to this rally simply to record the event and was prevented from doing so by force - Unjustifiably So!

Post Script

After one day later and much thought, the IAIJ Corporation will investigate the actions of the organizers of the event to see if any rights were violated with regard to our journalist Maurice Ali under the Canadian Charter. We are still in discovery and will request a copy of the permit for Mel Lastman Square on July 27, 2006, to see what if any restrictions were in place at this event, why no copy of the permit was available for viewing, why a member of the press was asked to leave for simply taking photographs while another videotaping the same event was not, why a resident, tax payer and journalist could not participate in the venue taking pictures on public property and why he was approached in a threatening way by security for the event on the sidewalk of the event, - once again just doing his job as a member of the Press. Based on our primary research; the IAIJ Corporation will then consider possible remedies from the primary sponsors of that outdoor event.
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Maurice
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Joined: 08 Jul 2006
Posts: 185

PostPosted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just a note that as of August 13, 2006; the investigation is ongoing into the particulars of the event permit.
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