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Global Justice Activist
Detained At Canadian Border!
By Starhawk
11/13/01
On Monday, November 12th,
Lisa Fithian and I were travelling together to Ottawa when I was flagged by
Immigration for a more extensive screening. We had both been invited by OPIRG
(The Ontario Public Interest Research Group) to offer trainings on activism
in preparation for upcoming demonstrations against the G20, the IMF and the
World Bank which are meeting in Ottawa November 16-19. I was also scheduled
to give a lecture at St. Lawrence University just across the border in the U.S.
Ottawa is the nearest airport. Lisa had cleared Immigration but when I went
to tell her I might be delayed. They tagged her, too. We spent nearly five hours
waiting, being questioned, photographed, fingerprinted, and searched. We were
told that I was picked out because I had been arrested in Seattle at the WTO
protests in November of ’99, although I was never convicted of any crime there
and my charges were, in fact, dropped. At one point, the Immigration Officer
said he knew I had been in Seattle, and asked if I were "a member of the WTO."
We were treated courteously by the officers and we remained calm and co-operative
throughout. Eventually, I was admitted to Canada but my computer was held to
be examined by Canadian Intelligence. Lisa was allowed to sleep overnight in
Canada, but was required to return this morning, Tuesday, November 13 at 11:00
AM for a further interview to determine if she could remain.
At that interview, she
was told that she was ineligible to enter Canada. She was given the choice to
leave voluntarily, or be arrested.
Lisa refused to leave and
was arrested. She is a courageous woman who made this choice for the following
reasons:
- Only by being arrested
could she be entitled to counsel or legal representation, or have hopes of
appealing the decision of Immigration.
- The closing of borders
to activists is part of the attempt to stifle legitimate dissent against the
institutions of global corporatization. As an act of nonviolent civil disobedience,
Lisa refused to cooperate. She chose to stand in the doorway to prevent the
door from closing; to protect our right to dissent by exercising it. Her act
is the opposite of terrorism: she risks her own freedom and physical well-being,
not that of others; she stands openly for what she believes in, and she exemplifies
the nonviolence of the world she strives for.
- In jail, Lisa joins
hundreds who have been detained since attacks of September 11 because of the
color of their skin or for some minor infringement of visa regulations. She
is a forerunner of those who would be jailed for their beliefs and political
principles if two Canadian ‘antiterrorist’ bills are passed. C36 would allow
the authorities to detain people for up to seventy two hours for virtually
no reason. C35 includes provisions that protect foreign dignitaries who are
terrorists, such as Pinochet, from demonstrations.
- Open borders are one
of the things we are fighting for. Corporate globalization allows corporations
to move freely across borders, without ties or responsibilities to local communities,
in search of the lowest wages and the most lax environmental and safety standards.
But people are not allowed to cross borders in search of economic opportunities
or better lives. Our border difficulties are mild in comparison with the immigrants
who die of thirst or freeze to death attempting to come to the U.S. from Mexico.
All over the world, displaced people seek refuge at borders. The borders that
guard the wealthy countries are increasingly closed to those who seek political
asylum or economic relief. Hundreds of thousands mass on the Afghanistan/Pakistan
border, seeking to escape from the devastation of U.S. bombs. The possibility
of starvation, rampant disease, and their ongoing suffering haunt us.
The issue is much, much broader than what happens to any individual. The corporations
have laid claim to the resources of the globe, and "free trade" demands that any
borders which interfere with their profits be dissolved. We lay claim to a different
freedom. We say that if capital has no borders, then people should not be constrained.
The institutions of corporate globalization are international, overriding local
and national laws, offering no legal way in which citizens can hold them accountable.
Because they are international, we must be too. The essence of democracy is the
freedom to dissent. No walls should bind our freedom to make our voices heard.
-- Starhawk
Addendum from November
14:
Hi everyone -
Good Work! Lisa was freed
this morning. Immigration met and decided to release her without charges. I
got my computer back, and all is well. We'll write a more detailed report when
we stop scrambling to catch up with all the work of organizing the actions.
Please keep us in your
protective circles. Temperance keeps coming up, so if you can visualize pouring
Temperance into the river and flooding the streets with justice, we'd appreciate
it.
Love from a happy but exhausted
Starhawk
Copyright (c) 2001 by Starhawk.
All rights reserved. This copyright protects Starhawk's right to future publication
of her work. Nonprofit, activist, and educational groups may circulate this
essay (forward it, reprint it, translate it, post it, or reproduce it) for nonprofit
uses. Please do not change any part of it without permission. Readers are invited
to visit the web site: www.starhawk.org.
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