News Flash: Free speech not safe from attack by Canadian media corporation

News Flash: Free-speech advocates rally for support in lawsuit by media conglomerate

New Event: Activists sued by CanWest speak out in Vancouver Sept 26

VANCOUVER- Sun owner Canwest has launched an unprecedented civil lawsuit against three local activists: Mordecai Briemberg, Carel Moiseiwitsch and Gordon Murray. In this direct attack on freedom of expression, the activists are being sued for a four page parody of the Vancouver Sun satirising Canwest’s well-known bias for supporting the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

In fact, the media giant’s founder, Izzy Asper, boasted that “In all of our newspapers… we have a very pro-Israeli position…we are the strongest supporter of Israel in Canada.” Now Canwest is attempting to bully and silence criticism of its political position – we can’t let them do that.

The Seriously Free Speech Committee has been formed to resist this bullying, demanding that the suit be dropped in favour of an open public debate of the important issues of Israel and Palestine.

As the Supreme Court of Canada said in its June 2008 unanimous decision about freedom of expression, “the law must accommodate commentators such as the satirist or the cartoonist who… exercise a democratic right to poke fun at those who huff and puff in the public arena.”

New Honourary Members of the Seriously Free Speech Committee*:
Paul Moist, National President CUPE*; Phyllis Bennis, author and analyst, Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies (Washington D.C.)*; Nick Dyer-Witheford, Associate Professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario*; Dorothy Kidd, Associate Professor, Department of Media Studies (University of San Francisco)* and member of Media Alliance*; Ali Mallah, Canadian Peace Alliance steering committee* and vice-president Canadian Arab Federation*;
*affiliation for identification purposes only / à des fins d’identification seulement

For a complete list of the committee’s honourary members, click here.

Media giant Canwest files suit over parody of Vancouver Sun, threatens free speech

Canwest: Media Bully

VANCOUVER- In a direct attack on freedom of expression, Canwest has launched an unprecedented civil lawsuit against local activists. They are being sued for “conspiring” to produce and distribute a four-page parody of the Vancouver Sun which satirised Canwest’s biased coverage of Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.

Canwest is the largest media corporation in Canada. In 2003, Canwest’s founder, Izzy Asper, boasted “In all of our newspapers… we have a very pro-Israeli position…” A 2008 editorial in Canwest’s flagship National Post declared that “Israel is blameless” for the killing of Palestinian children by Israeli army shelling and referred to the “Palestinian people as one collective suicide bomber”.

Instead of respecting Canadians’ right to free speech, Canwest is abusing the courts to try to silence criticism of its editorial position. It’s a classic SLAPP suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), an attempt to bully and intimidate critics by forcing them to pay huge legal costs to defend against a politically motivated lawsuit.

The Seriously Free Speech Committee was formed to resist this bullying – demanding that Canwest drop their lawsuit and supporting an open debate on Israel and Palestine.

In response to our international campaign, Canwest recently dropped their legal action against Mordecai Briemberg who distributed but did not produce the parody. Calling it a “significant victory,” Mordecai said Canwest’s strategy has backfired. “Instead of silencing our voices, it amplified them.” The Seriously Free Speech campaign will continue until Canwest also abandons their suit against Gordon Murray and Carel Moiseiwitsch.

Canwest’s misuse of the courts to attack free speech highlights the need for anti-SLAPP legislation to ensure a free public debate on contentious issues. Please join concerned citizens around the world in supporting the Seriously Free Speech campaign.

As the Supreme Court of Canada said in its June 2008 unanimous decision about freedom of expression, “the law must accommodate commentators such as the satirist or the cartoonist who… exercise a democratic right to poke fun at those who huff and puff in the public arena.”

What happened

A parody of the Vancouver Sun, highlighting its pro-Israel bias, was distributed in June 2007. Six months later, Canwest launched a suit, against a long-time advocate for the rights of Palestinians, even though he did nothing more than hand out a few copies at a bus stop. In July 2008, Canwest added two more names, members of the Palestine Media Collective who went public on why they did it. Read more…

The parody

There is a long and rich history of political parodies that skewer the rich and powerful. Read more…

Legal process leads to witch hunt

Canwest’s suit claims a commercial violation of trade mark, as if a political parody is the same thing as a Nike knock-off. Read more…

Who are the defendants?

Carel Moiseiwitsch and Gordon Murray produced the parody after a trip to the occupied Palestinian territories. Both Carel and Gordon have worked for indigenous rights around the world for many years. Former defendant Mordecai Briemberg, is one of the hosts of Co-op Radio’s Redeye program and a founder of the Canada-Palestine Network. Mordecai has spent a life-time working for peace and justice for both Palestinians and Jews. Read more…

Who is Canwest?

If you read or watch the news in Canada, chances are that you read or watch news selected, edited, and shaped by Canwest. The largest media conglomerate in the country, Canwest owns national, metropolitan and community newspapers as well as the Global Television network. Read more…

Who are the Seriously Free Speech Committee?

The committee was formed by individuals deeply concerned about a giant media corporation using the courts in an attempt to silence opposing views. Members work to raise awareness of the dangers of media concentration, and the importance of a full and open discussion of all points of view around the contentious issues of the Middle East, and to raise funds to cover the legal costs. Read more…

Why should you care?

This is a classic SLAPP suit – a legal suit launched by the rich and powerful to bully critics and shut down public discussion. If they can bully Mordecai, Carel and Gordon, they can bully you. Read more…

What can you do?

Tell everyone you know, get your group to pass a resolution, write to Canwest to demand they drop the suit, and donate money to cover legal costs. Find out more…

The Canwest suit lists a print shop and Mordecai as named defendants, and then pads the list out with six unnamed defendants: John Doe #1, John Doe #2, John Doe #3, and Jane Doe #1, Jane Doe #2, Jane Doe #3. While ostensibly centering on a commercial violation of trade mark, the charges read like a political attack. They  assert that Mordecai and the six John/Jane Doe  defendants have been involved in “anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian media activities”, and have written or spoken “harshly critical of the State of Israel and of the plaintiff and anyone who publishes articles or views which the defendants perceive to be contrary to their own views”. In Canwest’s Writ of Summons Mordecai’s name is repeatedly linked to Canada Palestine Support Network, a group that is not even alleged to have anything to do with the parody. They demand a sweeping variety of remedies including an injunction restraining the defendants from “publishing injurious falsehoods by way of newspapers or other publications, on the internet or otherwise”.

Is Canwest to be the arbiter of “falsehood”? Imagine the implications of that for the Charter right to free speech.  Galileo had a similar problem with the Pope on the question of whether the sun revolved around the earth or vice versa.

Answering the accusation of being involved with the creation of the parody, Mordecai responds- “I have always been proud to publish anything I have to say under my own name, and to hold myself accountable for my words, ideas and actions. But, I had nothing to do with the conception, creation, production and financing of this satire and have no idea who did”. The lawyer for Canwest has confirmed in writing that they have no documents whatsoever showing Mordecai Briemberg’s involvement in any of the allegations made against him. Yet Canwest still refuses to drop their suit! So… for the act of picking up and distributing a handful of parodied copies of the Vancouver Sun, lying on a table at a public meeting, Mordecai has been taken to court by a media giant with unlimited financial resources and a big time grudge against any criticism of Israel.

Who are Carel Moiseiwitsch and Gordon Murray?

Carel and Gordon decided to create the parody after a November 2006 trip to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to assist Palestinian families harvesting olives on their ancestral lands. Some of the olive groves had been untended for more than five years because of killings of Palestinian farmers or other violent intimidation from Israeli settlers and soldiers.

Once they returned home, they were outraged at the lack of any reflection of what they had seen first hand in the local media, especially Canwest’s “paper of record,” the Vancouver Sun. In Vancouver, Canwest dominates the news market through ownership of the Vancouver Sun, the Province, the National Post, Global TV, the Vancouver Courier, the North Shore News, and the Now suburban newspaper chain. With so few news sources to provide alternative views, they concluded that a newspaper parody would be the best method to point out Canwest’s anti-Palestinian bias.

Carel Moiseiwitsch is a Vancouver activist and visual artist who has exhibited internationally. She taught drawing at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design for many years and was a freelance editorial illustrator for the Vancouver Sun and Province for over a decade.

Gordon Murray is a Vancouver activist and information technologist who was involved in alternative publishing for more than 10 years.

They have both worked to support indigenous rights in Canada, Palestine, Mexico, South Africa, Western Sahara, and around the world for at least 20 years.

Who is Mordecai Briemberg?

Ex-defendant Mordecai Briemberg is a long time activist in peace and social justice causes. He has a long involvement with anti-racism work: in Canada, combating racism against first nation’s peoples and immigrants, and internationally, against apartheid in South Africa and the racism of Israeli state policies and practices against Palestinians.

Mordecai, who is a co-host of the Redeye program on Co-op Radio, has written for magazines and papers, published research, spoken at union conventions, churches, peace forums, universities and colleges, been interviewed on television and radio, interviewed others on radio, organized demonstrations, organized public meetings for, among many others, internationally renowned Palestinians like the poet Mahmoud Darwish and Jewish-Israelis like the late Professor Israel Shahak, chairman of the Israeli League for Human and Civil Rights. In short, Mordecai has been a prominent, vocal and effective voice in the intense debate about how to achieve peace and justice for Palestinians and Jews in historic Palestine. That is why they named him in the original writ.

Canwest is the largest media conglomerate in Canada. What they don’t own is a shorter list than what they do. They describe themselves as “Canada’s largest publishing of paid English-language daily newspapers with an estimated weekly readership of 4.8 million people. Our papers include the National Post, ten major-market dailies and several community newspapers.” They own the Global television network, the History, Food and Showcase channels and through various shareholdings are involved with many more outlets in every medium. If you read or watch the news, chances are just about certain, you read or watch Canwest news. In Vancouver, where this case is based, they own about seventy percent of the news outlets- from dailies to weeklies to television.

The company is owned by the Asper family of Winnipeg. Founder Israel (Izzy) Asper died a few years ago and the company is now in the hands of his son Leonard. Father and son were/are passionate Zionists and make sure that what they own echoes what they think. In an interview in the Jerusalem Post in August of 2003, Izzy Asper stated: “In all our newspapers…we have a very pro-Israel position…we are the strongest supporter of Israel in Canada”. For more about these folks and their political views you can look for The Asper Nation — a book by Marc Edge, published by New Star Books or The Tyee online issue of Nov, 23, 2007- “The Asper Slam on News Media,” one of three Tyee excerpts from Marc Edge’s book.

If you believe in freedom of expression or if have ever expressed a view contrary to the status quo, you should care a whole bunch because you too could face legal action.  It’s called a SLAPP suit – Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation -  an abuse of the legal system by the rich and powerful, governments or corporations, to bully critics and shut down public discussion by threatening dissidents with legal costs and broad prohibitions against speaking out.  If they can bully Mordecai, Carel and Gordon, they can bully you.

Canwest’s actions set a dangerous precedent for any and all who express an opinion that someone with money disagrees with. Canadian troops in Afghanistan? Environmental issues? Aboriginal rights? Tasers in the hands of the police? You name it; they can sue you. They may not win, but it will cost you plenty in time, money and the stress of wondering if that article or speech will land you in a whole mess of trouble. Its intent is to bully those who don’t own media conglomerates and have legions of lawyers on retainer, i.e. YOU!

• Don’t let Canwest intimidate you into silence. Recommend this website to as many people as you can, in all walks of life. Those who share a commitment to defend, maintain, and use the democratic right of free speech need to know about this case.
• Write letters to Canwest demanding they drop the lawsuit and mail them c/o their lawyer: David Church, Church & Company, 900-1040 West Georgia Street, Vancouver British Columbia, V6C 3H4, Canada. Please copy the Seriously Free Speech Committee with your letters.
• Write letters to the non-Canwest mainstream media asking them why they aren’t covering this important case. Including: CBC, CTV, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, etc.
• Encourage your organization to adopt resolutions or issue public statements critical of Canwest’s actions and in support of the SFSC campaign. Please send copies to info@seriouslyfreespeech.ca. For examples please click on the ‘Support’ Tab.

• Contribute financially to help defray the unavoidable legal costs. Make donations payable to: “Seriously Free Speech Committee” and mail them to the address below:

We have a dossier on the case which includes the text of the parody, the writ, background materials on Canwest and SLAPP suits, etc. This information is all posted on our web site