Woman from British Columbia arrested for alleged hate speech participates in online seminar with Hamas official
A leader of the pro-Palestinian activist group Samidoun, who was arrested last week by Vancouver police in connection with an alleged hate crime, engaged in an online discussion with a spokesperson of the terrorist group Hamas this week.
Charlotte Kates, the international coordinator for Samidoun, participated in a discussion on May 5 with Osama Hamdan. Mr. Hamdan has been a media spokesman for Hamas since the mass killings in Israel on Oct. 7 and previously represented the group in Lebanon.
Ms. Kates discussed her recent encounter with law enforcement in a video, stating that she was arrested by the Vancouver police for giving a speech in support of the Palestinian resistance.
Ms. Kates was arrested as part of a police investigation into a potential violation of hate speech laws after endorsing the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas as heroic and brave, which resulted in around 1,200 civilian deaths in Israel.
Ms. Kates was prohibited from participating in protests, rallies, or assemblies until Oct. 8 following her arrest and is currently facing undisclosed charges, as stated by Samidoun.
Mr. Hamdan characterized the Oct. 7 attacks as a response to efforts to eliminate the Palestinian struggle, describing the violence as an initiative to reignite the Palestinian resistance.
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According to Ms. Kates, Israel has no future in the region. She expressed that the events of Oct. 7 demonstrated the possibility of a Palestine free from Zionism and an imperial-free region achievable by Palestinian resistance.
Both Ms. Kates and Mr. Hamdan discussed the recent pro-Palestine occupations at major Canadian and American universities.
Ms. Kates remarked on university students protesting on campuses and streets, demanding that universities acknowledge complicity in genocide to operate normally.
Mr. Hamdan praised the university occupiers, referring to them as heroes and emphasizing the importance of ending the occupation beyond the aggression against Gaza.
Samedin, the pro-Palestinian activist group Ms. Kates is affiliated with, faced criticism for supporting the actions of Hamas regarding Oct. 7 and was banned in Germany last year.
The Federal Minister of the Interior in Germany, Nancy Faeser, criticized Samidoun for spreading anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda under the guise of promoting solidarity with prisoners and supporting terrorist organizations like Hamas.
Although Canada has recognized Hamas as a terrorist group, Samidoun has not faced any bans or restrictions on its activities by the federal government.
Conservative Party Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman noted the ties between Samidoun and terrorist entities like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and questioned the government’s actions against Samidoun and its members.
In response, Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety, stated that the government takes terrorism threats seriously but did not specify groups considered for terrorist classification.
The Epoch Times reached out to Samidoun and the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) for comments but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
