There has always been a longstanding exception when it come to freedom of expression and Palestine.  This exception has intensified over the past year where the suppression of all forms of expression related to Palestine has played out in all settings.   This panel will bring together experts to discuss the manifestation of this suppression, and their responses in the arts, activism, academia and the workplace.  

Panellists:

Jackie Esmonde, partner at Cavalluzzo, is a social justice lawyer who has been representing workers facing anti-Palestinian racism in the workplace, as well as one of the lead lawyers representing University of Toronto student in the encampment injunction case. Jackie has over 20 years of experience in public interest litigation, including supporting Indigenous land defense, employment and labour rights and pay equity.

Arash Ghiassi, associate at Savard Foy LLP, is a criminal defence lawyer who is representing numerous protesters facing criminal charges over their activism. Arash is dedicated to representing people who face criminal charges at all levels of court with an anti-oppression lens, understanding that the legal system can be a place of great injustice. He has also worked at well-regarded civil liberties organizations on both sides of the US-Canada border.

Esmat Elhalaby is an Assistant Professor of Transnational History. He works principally on the intellectual history of West and South Asia. Esmat also sits on the steering committee of Hearing Palestine Initiative at the University of Toronto that supports academic freedom on campus and challenging the university’s institutional anti-Palestinian racism.

Luis Jacobis a Peruvian-born Toronto-based artist and curator whose work destabilizes conventions of viewing and invites a collision of meanings. He is also Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Toronto. He, along with other artists, have challenged the Art Gallery of Ontario’s removal of their Indigenous curator, Wanda Nanibush, for expressing support for Palestinians.

Moderator:

Leila Pourtavaf, assistant professor York University, holds a PhD from the Department of History at the University of Toronto, and was most recently a visiting assistant professor at NYU's Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Her research stands at the intersection of gender, modernity, and Middle Eastern history with a focus on Qajar Iran. Leila’s work on Palestine intersects the fields of arts, activism and academia.

Copresented: by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association