Community Peacemaker Teams condemns the arrest of our Canada Coordinator, Rachelle Friesen. On September 30th, Rachelle Friesen was arrested by Toronto Police Services at Pearson International Airport. Friesen was going to the US for a short trip to visit her colleague. Her return ticket was for October 2nd. She was arrested for allegedly taking part in nonviolent direct actions holding weapons manufacturers accountable to their participation in the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Friesen was detained by US customs authorities at Pearson on the basis of a warrant that Toronto Police had issued in July but had not, in violation of procedure, notified her about or made any apparent attempt to execute. This despite innumerable opportunities and despite knowing where she lives.
We believe their false and defamatory framing suggesting Friesen was “fleeing the country” (a framing uncritically picked up and repeated in several major media sources) is an attempt to cover over their incompetent and/or vindictive failure to follow due process. Not only do we condemn this framing and manipulation by the Toronto Police, TPS’s lack of communication around Friesen’s warrant is part of a pattern of targeted harassment.
This is not the first instance of TPS harassment in May, TPS conducted a search warrant at Friesen’s home. Despite the search warrant, TPS said there was no arrest warrant. The items the police searched for seizure in May were items of clothing, earrings, a kuffiyeh, and political banners. The search and seizure of protest materials, including a kuffiyeh is a clear example of the state’s desire to induce fear among those supporting Palestine. Yet we know the demand and resolve to stop the genocide is stronger than the fear the state aims to induce.
Millions of people around the world have taken to the streets in rejection of Israeli aggression on Palestinians in Gaza who have endured 360 days of genocide resulting directly and indirectly in the deaths of an estimated 200,000 civilians. At the same time, Israel currently holds 9300 Palestinians prisoners in Israeli jails, 3424 of whom are hostages under administrative detention without charge, and 250 of whom are children.
Friesen’s arrest comes at a time of an increasingly concerning global trend of state criminalization and crackdowns by law enforcement of people standing in solidarity with Palestinian liberation from Israeli apartheid and genocide. Across North America and Europe, police have violently stormed student encampments, shut down and outlawed demonstrations, and targeted and arrested organizers. Friesen is part of a community of people in Toronto being criminalized for standing for the liberation of Palestine. In Toronto alone, police have arrested 91 people for alleged involvement in actions calling attention to the genocide of Palestinians, at least 16 of whom have since had the charges dropped. Freedom of speech and the right to protest are pillars of a democracy, and CPT condemns this infringement on the rights of those who are bearing witness to the horrors of genocide.
We know, from our work with human rights defenders around the world including Iraqi Kurdistan, Colombia, Palestine, Lesvos Greece and Turtle Island, that police repression arises when the state fears their oppressive structures are being challenged. We also know that despite the repression, people will continue to demand justice unafraid.
CPT is part of a global movement to transform violence by dismantling systems of oppression through creative nonviolence, advocacy, and accompaniment. As an integral part of CPT, Friesen’s work contributes to our crucial objective of intersectional solidarity, connecting the anti-colonial movements of Indigenous solidarity, housing justice, prison and police abolition, demilitarization, and of course, liberation for Palestine. We at CPT unequivocally support our colleague’s efforts to confront these systems of oppression, and specifically in this moment to hold the Canadian government accountable for its complicity in genocide against the Palestinian people.