Syed Hussan's blog

Those that fight it are called terrorists, and those that survive it are called criminals.

hussan — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 02:30:32 +0000

Edited text of my speech from C-51 can't stop us forum in Toronto. Videos of the other, far more amazing, talks from the forum will be up shortly.

The purpose of C-51 and all of these others laws, they say, is to defend Canada.

But what is Canada? Is it the lush land that feeds us and our families? The water that quenches our thirst? The air that watches over us or the stories that keep us together? Is it the communities of people that hold on to each other, hold on tight, and continue?

For if that is Canada, than I love Canada. You love Canada. A love that forces us to ask questions, make amends. To find new places of realization and truths, to re-build new worlds, better worlds, worlds that fit all of our broken selves.

A few more words about Bill C-51 – a discussion blog for organizers and activists

hussan — Fri, 13 Mar 2015 22:49:47 +0000

This blog doesn’t detail what’s wrong with Bill C-51, for that read this, and this.

What's missing from the coverage of the Amanda Lang-RBC saga?

hussan — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:32:26 +0000

News of CBC anchor Amanda Lang trying to "kill" a CBC story on RBC hiring of foreign workers back in 2013 has hit the airwaves. Initially revealed on Jesse Brown's Canadaland, the story is now being covered in many mainstream media outlets.

Four reasons why shutting down TFWP is no solution to migrant worker abuse

hussan — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 15:14:04 +0000

(Blog post by the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change)

There has been massive media attention on the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) in the last few weeks. Mainstream and social media is full of analysis and solutions. Some critics and commentators insist that the only appropriate way forward is shutting down the low-skilled temporary foreign worker program. They are wrong.

I got my permanent residency, and it's complicated.

hussan — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 06:59:31 +0000

This is a bit longer than a tweet, and more personal than I intended it to be. I am writing it as an update to everyone that has supported me in a million different ways in the last seven years, and more importantly in the hopes that in asking personal questions, we can come up with collective answers. I’d appreciate not receiving a wave of congratulations, though if this strikes you as meaningful, please share with others, and join me at this rally against immigration enforcement on Friday, February 28, 2014.

Life and Death: Waljis, Migrant Strike and Political Will

hussan — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:14:48 +0000

Mohamed, Shyroz and Qyzra Walji are dead. The police call it a homicide-suicide. Their friends and families know different. At a vigil held for the family, Qyzra Walji’s teacher for five years, Nichole Wardyce insisted “I have no doubt that if Qyzra and her family had been granted their Canadian citizenship, they would still be here, and Qyzra would have continued being a leader and a voice for others with disabilities."

Life and Death. Wajis, Migrant Strike and Political Will

hussan — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 20:13:59 +0000

Original article at http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/hussan/2013/11/life-and-death-waljis-migrant-strike-and-political-will

Quebec bans symbols but all of Canada bans migrants

hussan — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 18:27:52 +0000

Thousands are outraged at the Parti Quebecois charter of values -- a charter that proposes to prohibit the wearing of religious symbols by public employees.

Open letter to David Suzuki: Canada's immigration policy is 'disgusting' but not because Canada is 'full'

hussan — Thu, 11 Jul 2013 21:39:38 +0000

Dear Grandfather Suzuki,

I was raised to treat my elders with respect, and to call them with their appropriate titles, so I hope you will let me call you Grandfather.

The politics of fear, the necessity of hope

hussan — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:32:08 +0000

I ran into Silvio yesterday in the subway. I hadn't seen him in two years and he didn't look good. His eyes were red, his cheeks flushed, and his dirt encased hands were shaking.

"It's just so hard with the kids you know, never knowing what will happen next" he said.

His wife had called him at work. She had heard about the immigration raids in Vancouver, and had demanded that he leave his job and get home. She herself was going to pick up the kids from school.

Tom Flanagan's firing not all it seems.

hussan — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 06:40:40 +0000

Hey All .. I've taken this down for now. Had too many friends write to me about it - and I feel like those conversations are better had in person with more time than emails and the like.

Reflecting on racisms

hussan — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 13:20:09 +0000

A few months ago now I was in court for another one of Mohammad Mahjoub’s court hearings, another day in the 12-year trauma he’s had to bear, living in indefinite detention without being charged. On the witness stand was Egyptian lawyer Magdy Salem, who had spent nearly 20 years in Mubarak’s jail and had taught himself law, recently released and speaking from Cairo via video link and through an interpreter. To accommodate the time difference the federal court was unusually sitting on a Sunday and starting at 7 a.m., and it seemed everyone’s nerves were fraught.

Kenney and the mass email saga: You learn something new every day

hussan — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 06:03:50 +0000

Every so often I wake up and think that today is the day I finally *get* mainstream Canadians. Been here for almost seven years now, and been keeping a close watch on them for a while, so I must have finally grasped them. And then suddenly, boom, something happens and I am caught scratching my head.

This happened to me early this week. Many of my friends and I received the now infamous email from Kenney titled LGBT refugees from Iran. I skimmed it, and deleted it.

T.O.: Youth get shot, cops get cash

hussan — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:42:49 +0000

Ontario just gave Toronto Police $5 million and the provincial police $7.5 million to "combat gun violence", the money directly going into a program called TAVIS.

TAVIS for those that don't know is the Toronto Anti Violence Intervention Strategy. The pinnacle of Toronto's community policing strategy.

To understand how community policing works in Toronto, lets go back to June 8th to a community meeting in Jane-Finch.

Can Canada's self-congratulation please stop?

hussan — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:09:57 +0000

Imagine a country, a large resource rich country, say surrounded by three oceans.

Now imagine that this country is ruled by a right-wing government with well-known connections to xenophobia and ultra-nationalism. Say like the Golden Dawn or Shiv Sena or the Taliban.

Next imagine that the government is dissolved and the ruling party kicked out on charges of corruption and contempt.

In a closely fought election, the right-wing corrupt party, strangely comes back as a majority government.

Casseroles Night in Canada: On the necessity of democratic volatility

hussan — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:50:54 +0000

My first demonstration was at age of five. On the shoulder of my aunt and then my uncle, mini-me, with about 40,000 other people, chanting, screaming, singing. An open air rally at sunset. At one point, a few thousand people, me on shoulders included, suddenly marched and drove out on to the streets circling neighbourhoods in the city for hours. I remember getting home, my voice hoarse, my mom feeding me warm milk and me being so excited that I couldn't sleep all night.

After years of being in protests and demonstrations, that excitement that comes from being an active part in something larger is rare, and I miss it sorely.

Canada's counter-terrorism strategy: Still terrorizing Muslims

hussan — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:45:00 +0000

The response to Canada's unveiling of its counter-terrorism strategy has been predictably limited.

If you are reading the mainstream press or following your Facebook feed, you'd think that the "strategy" was all about silencing environmentalists and anti-capitalist activists.

The Building Resilience Against Terrorism -- Canada's counter-terrorism strategy names environmentalists and anti-capitalist only once.

Harper's grand plan: What it is and how to fight it

hussan — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 17:18:17 +0000

"In the months to come, our government will undertake major transformations to position Canada for growth over the next generation" -- with these words, Stephen Harper has thown down the gauntlet. On Friday, in a grand, sweeping, blustering speech (see Aalya Ahmad on the new swagger), Harper has laid out his vision for the future. It is imperative that we understand it, to fight it.

Our friends are in jail

hussan — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 05:07:04 +0000

Today, Leah, went to jail. For the last 18 months, I could not write to her, talk to her, argue with her. We could not hug, or hold hands. There was no texting, no phone calls, no emails. The one person that I talked to a few times a day every day, was someone I was not allowed to make eye contact with if I ever saw her on the street.

And then suddenly a few weeks ago my bail conditions were gone. Our friendship, which was considered a threat for so long was now legal.

After the plea deal

hussan — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:52:37 +0000

On November 22, 2011, 17 people charged as the "G20 Main Conspiracy Group" negotiated a plea resolution to our charges.

Please read our statement about it here.

This is my individual statement on the matter.

------

I will not grieve Mandy, Leah, Alex, Peter, Erik and Adam going to jail for years.

I will not lament the past 18 months of "freedom" on bail where the 17 of us could live anywhere but in our own homes, could talk to anyone but some of our dearest friends, do anything but that which we truly love, say anything but know that it would be twisted and used against us.

#OccupyTogether in the age of conspiracy

hussan — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:59:58 +0000

Let us speak truthfully about what many of you are about to enter in to -- a crime. You are deciding that your beliefs are more important then the law. And that when laws are unjust, they must be resisted.

With Jason Kenney, facts don't matter

hussan — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:18:19 +0000

So Jason Kenney just wrote a blog in the National Post and, guess what, almost every paragraphs contains misinformation.

Well, that's not a surprise. Since 2009, I've been tracking his disregard for facts. (See an article from April '09, here) and it has really just been impossible to keep up.

One of this minister's most endearing tactics is issuing statements in different languages saying different things to different communities. A fact that the English-speaking mainstream press in Canada can't even begin to explore.

Crossing the U.S. border

hussan — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 23:00:50 +0000

"We are just here to ask you some questions Syed."

Said the younger, shorter man who introduced himself as Ryan. This other one said his name was Dave. "We are from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Air Marshall Service." Badges flashed and taken away.

Its 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 28, 2011. I've just been put in an interview room with blood stains on the floor and clothes strewn around. I've been at the United States border, the Peace Bridge, since 4:45.

"I understand you are under house arrest, Syed."

"No, I am not."

"I see, why are you trying to enter the United States today, Syed."

'You can't stay at home': G20 reflections and Ford

hussan — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:14:16 +0000

A year ago today, I was at the first protest of the anti-G20 mobilizations in Toronto. We had decided to travel in pairs, and so I paired up with an organizer from Guelph whom I knew distantly. Lets call her B., and as many have suggested since, she was probably an OPP officer who had infiltrated activist organizations in Ontario for the previous two years, as part of a multi-million dollar police campaign against social justice. See Tim Groves' recent article in Briarpatch on infiltration here.

Gaza Island

hussan — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:47:50 +0000

The Freedom Flotilla 2, with 12-plus boats carrying humanitarian aid and 1000-plus peace activists, is sailing to Gaza in late June. Alice Walker, who's sailing with us, calls this the Freedom Ride of our generation. We want to help open this Palestinian port and end the illegal Israeli blockade, which has caused so much suffering. Meanwhile, the global BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement is calling on Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson and Kiri Te Kanawa to cancel their 2011 Israel concerts and get on the boat!

Why is The Hobbit being filmed in the Tar Sands?

hussan — Mon, 30 May 2011 01:24:10 +0000

Speculation is rife that the Alberta Tar Sands, what Naomi Klein calls the apex of disaster capitalism, will serve as the location for The Hobbit's Mordor scenes. You can watch what seems to be a Peter Jackson's video blog here, an Alberta government's film site here. Already a facebook group has emerged condemning it. (See here)

Why Alvaro's arrest matters

hussan — Sat, 28 May 2011 04:51:33 +0000

Update: Alvaro's deportation was stopped. See here.

I just returned from an event hosted by the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty in honour of the ongoing work of John Clarke.

In closing remarks, Liisa said OCAP is a place where poverty is not a place of shame, its a place of empowerment.

Its time we start talking about living without immigration status, about so-called illegality, as a place of empowerment, and not a place of shame.

'I won't give up': Queer artist Alvaro Orozco speaks from immigration detention

hussan — Sat, 21 May 2011 04:46:31 +0000

At 8pm on Friday May 13, award-winning undocumented queer artist Alvaro Orozco was arrested by Toronto Police after being 'randomly ID'd' on his way to dinner with friends. Now in detention at the Toronto Immigration Holding Centre, he faces imminent deportation to Nicaragua.

In this exclusive interview for Rabble.ca, Alvaro Orozco speaks from detention directly to his supporters. Alvaro shares his hope for the future and reflects on his experience as an undocumented artist in Toronto.

Do you have any message for your friends and supporters that you want to share?

I think it’s been amazing. I feel blessed and happy to have all of the support from all of the organizations I know.

A step-by-step guide to fighting Harper

hussan — Mon, 09 May 2011 05:07:46 +0000

Many have written about what we can expect from Harper and the austerity agenda. You can read more here, here, here and so on. Many have also written about what we should do.

To vote or not to vote

hussan — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 19:03:44 +0000

For those of you not religiously following this blog, I've a usual sign off that among other things reads 'Neither voting nor avoiding the vote are sufficient to create the kinds of worlds we wish to live in.'

Over the past month, several people have criticized their approach. Some say I should insist that people vote, others that I insist people don't vote, and many asking me well if not this, then what.

A few days ago, someone actually took the time to find my email address and send me a note suggesting I go back to where I came from, etc, but also saying that 'protesters' like me won't change anything.