A pro-Palestinian activist group says its international coordinator, who was arrested in a hate crimes investigation in Vancouver, has been released with orders not to attend any protests for the next five months.
The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network says Charlotte Kates was arrested by Vancouver police after she gave a speech last week praising the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas as “heroic and brave.”
Samidoun, a Vancouver-based international activist group that has organized protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, says in a statement that Kates was briefly detained by police before being released on the condition that she not attend any “protests, demonstration or assembly” until the court date of October 8.
It says she has been charged, but a spokeswoman for the British Columbia Prosecutor’s Office says it does not have a file on Kates and is awaiting a police report to the Crown.
Samidoun’s statement calls the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas “a legitimate military operation,” but Hamas is designated a terrorist entity in Canada.
The attack killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, triggering Israel’s offensive in Gaza that, according to the Health Ministry, has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.
A later email from Samidoun says Kates did not write his original statement, which is attributed to the Canada Palestine Association. The group did not say who specifically wrote it.
During question period in the British Columbia legislature on Thursday, BC United member for Vancouver-Langara Michael Lee said there is a disturbing pattern of hatred against Jewish students at the province’s universities.
“Anti-Semitic encampments have spread from (the University of British Columbia) to the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo.”
Lee said Kates is supporting the camps on behalf of the Samidoun group.
“Samidoun has received government funding, but has strong connections to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the PFLP, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.”
While McGill University has asked police for help to protect the safety of students at a pro-Palestinian camp there, BC has done nothing, Lee said, asking why the government has not acted.
Lisa Beare, minister of post-secondary education, responded that celebrating the murder is completely unacceptable and that it is disappointing to see people using tragedies like this to promote hate.
“Universities, colleges and institutes across the province have policies in place that allow for peaceful protest, while ensuring everyone on campus is safe, and I hope all institutes find that balance,” Beare said.
A representative of the University of BC camp said she did not know the details of Kates’ case and declined to comment on the allegations on Thursday.
“What happened a few days ago was certainly unfortunate,” the spokeswoman said, identifying herself only by her first name, Sam.
“We are a decentralized camp with no affiliation with any specific group or people or organizations, off-campus and on-campus,” Sam said.
“People here are here of autonomous free will.”
Vancouver police did not respond to a request for confirmation of the conditions under which Kates may have been released. They previously said a 44-year-old woman had been arrested for a speech last Friday in which she “referred to several terrorist organizations as heroes.”
Samidoun is a federally registered non-profit organization based in an east Vancouver home that is also listed as Kates’ address. He has been involved in promoting or organizing numerous pro-Palestinian protests since October 7.
Video from Friday’s demonstration shows a woman leading the crowd outside the Vancouver Art Gallery in a “long live October 7” chant and calling the attackers “heroic and brave.”
BC Premier David Eby said the speech was “the most hateful” he could imagine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2024.