Concerns Raised After Calgary Protest Organizer Arrested by Police for Stating "From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free"

Charged with "disturbing the peace," the police told Khaled that the charge was related to his use of the chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which the police decided to treat as an “offensive anti-semitic comment.” We reject these attempts by Canadian politicians at all levels of government to demonize such protests and falsely accuse protest organizers as antisemitic, when protesters are simply calling for Palestinians to be able to live in their homeland as free and equal citizens.

Excerpts from the statement on the arrest from Justice for Palestinians (JFP) explain:

"JFP is appalled at this clear attempt to silence opposition to Israel’s ongoing genocide with which the Canadian government is complicit. Palestinian solidarity demonstrators have used the chant “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” for decades. As part of the Israeli propaganda campaign to demonize support for Palestine, apologists for Israel have attempted to mischaracterize the chant as calling for the expulsion or death of Jews living in the land of historic Palestine; this is a blatant lie.

"As we have always made clear, JFP stands completely opposed to all forms of racism including antisemitism, as have all serious campaigners for Palestinian liberation. On the contrary, the chant expresses the desire for Palestinians across historic Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, to be free from the systems of ethnic cleansing, apartheid and settler- colonialism imposed on them by the Israeli state since 1948. We believe, along with all other campaigners for justice in Palestine, that the only way forward for all the people living in historic Palestine is to end these injustices and establish real peace based on equality, justice, and full national and political rights for all the people of that land, from the river to the sea."

The JFP press statement also states:

"Calling for Palestinian liberation with the well-worn and internationally recognized protest chant, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is being contorted into something unrecognizable and weaponized by elements in our cities to muzzle Palestine solidarity activism for the benefit of a racist, apartheid state that has oppressed Palestinians for 75 years.

"Muhannad Ayyash, a Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University who was born and raised in Palestine says that 'this incident is an outrageous silencing of Palestinians and their supporters and a brazen attempt to criminalize these protests. The Calgary Police continuously tells us that they ‘police behaviour and not beliefs’, but they are apparently policing beliefs here since Mr. Khaled was not disturbing the peace throughout the rally in any of his behaviours.'"

Click here to send an email to the Alberta Justice Minister, Calgary city leaders, and police community liaison reps.

Demand that Alberta immediately drop all charges against Palestine protest organizer Wesam Khaled!

Statement from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM):

We have been following with great concern the arrest of a protestor at a Calgary rally under Criminal Code sections relating to the breach of peace.

Our initial review of the facts suggests a grave overreach of Calgary police in this instance. To be clear non-violent and peaceful protests about Palestinian human rights should never be criminalized.

The fact that release conditions for this individual include the requirement not to use a loudspeaker or march in rallies for Palestine speaks further to how problematic, at least at this point, these charges appear to be.

Therefore, we will be retaining expert outside legal counsel to ensure that the individual has a right to a fair trial - and, as we learn more about the facts of this case, a potential full challenge of the charge itself.