Last minute events - Sunday and Monday

[Angela Bischoff]

2 Last minute events:

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>
> Last night Israel announced the end of the blockade of Gaza
> and this morning they bombed over 200 Gazans to death and
> wounded over 300.
>
> This is a war crime on an industrial scale.
>
> There will be a demonstration outside the Israeli Consulate
> in Toronto
>
> Where: 180 Bloor Street West
>
> When: 2:00 p.m. on Sunday 28th December 2008.
>
> Supported so far by:
> Canadian Arab Federation
> Palestine House
> Women in Solidarity with Palestine (WSP)
> Not In Our Name (NION): Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism
> Muslim Association of Hamilton
> International Jewish anti-Zionist Network – Toronto
> Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
>
To learn more:

Israel Launches Air Strikes on Gaza, 192 Dead

Ibrahim Barzak, The Associated Press: "Israeli warplanes retaliating  
for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip pounded dozens of security  
compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of  
airstrikes Saturday, killing nearly 200 people and wounding 270  
others in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years. Most of  
those killed were security men, but civilians were also among the dead."

http://www.truthout.org/122708A

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Dear housing activist and community members,

After 8 years of legal battles the city and police have finally  
backed down and paid up. Please join us at our press event:

Monday, January 29 at 12 noon
in front of Toronto City Hall (100 Queen St. West)

We'll announce the details of the victory and the formation of a new  
trust fund to continue supporting grassroots housing initiatives. We  
will also be protesting the City's continued neglect of public  
housing and Toronto Police's continued harassment of homeless  
individuals and activists.

Activists, housing experts and the legal team involved in the case  
will all be present. Speakers include:

Peter Rosenthal
Vilko Zbogar
Alex Brown
Elan Ohayon
Oriel Varga
Cathy Crowe
David Hulchanski

We will also have some food and maybe set up some shelter to keep  
warm! Hope to see you there.

The Allan Gardens Project Crew

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALLAN GARDENS PROTESTERS' LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY & POLICE ENDS IN VICTORY
All awards will be used for housing advocacy

PRESS CONFERENCE:
Monday December 29, 2008 at 12 pm (noon)
In front of Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West

TORONTO – After 8 years of delayed justice, the City of Toronto and  
Toronto Police have paid a substantial settlement to three organizers  
of the Allan Gardens Project. The housing activists will be directing  
the entire sum of over $100,000 toward grassroots housing initiatives  
throughout the city.

The Allan Gardens Project was a peaceful protest that began in August  
1999 after the police breakup of OCAP's Safe Park. It included  
students, homeless and other community members calling for public  
housing. For over 120 consecutive Friday nights at Allan Gardens  
Park, protesters decried the continuing housing crisis in Toronto as  
well as police brutality and harassment of the homeless. The sleep  
outs lasted over two years until November 2001. A violent crackdown  
by Toronto's emergency taskforce unit in October 2000 resulted in  
false charges that were later thrown out of court. Three anti-poverty  
activists (Elan Ohayon, Alex Brown, Oriel Varga) promised that such  
intimidation tactics would not cause them to back down and promptly  
launched a lawsuit against the City of Toronto and Toronto Police.  
Now, eight years later, only days before the court date, the city and  
police have finally been forced to pay a settlement, all of which  
will go toward housing initiatives.

The activists had planned to argue, in a two week court trial set for  
December 2008, that given the lack of safe affordable housing the  
homeless have the right to sleep out and set up shelter free of City  
and Police harassment. The activists were to be represented by  
renowned civil rights lawyers Peter Rosenthal and Vilko Zbogar and  
supported by anti-poverty experts Cathy Crowe, David Hulchanski,  
Stephan Hwang and Gaetan Heroux. One of the arguments to be heard in  
court was that a police crackdown on any shelter of a homeless person  
and their advocates, given the lack of housing and safe shelters, is  
a violation of Section 7 of the Charter - the right to life, liberty  
and security of person. The legal team, housing experts and community  
activists involved in the case will be present at the press conference.

Oriel Varga: "The duration of the process highlights the continued  
problems in Toronto housing and the Ontario justice system. Almost a  
decade after the community call for housing to be built and the many  
promises by city, provincial and federal governments, the building of  
affordable housing remains at a virtual standstill. The homeless and  
social justice activists continue to be harassed by the city and  
police. As a consequence of government inaction, homelessness  
continues to be a national disaster and there is an average of two  
deaths per week of homeless individuals in Toronto alone (according  
to estimates by the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee)."

With the repeated extreme cold weather alerts this December and with  
these difficult times, the urgent need for affordable public housing  
remains a Charter-based, life-threatening emergency. The three  
plaintiffs, including one who was homeless at the time, are dedicated  
to forwarding the message that 1% percent of government budgets must  
go toward housing. The funds from this legal win will thus go  
entirely towards anti-poverty and housing initiatives that continue  
to put pressure on all levels of government to build public housing.

Join us at the press conference Monday, December 29, 2008 at Noon at  
Toronto City Hall to hear expert witnesses, the history of the Allan  
Garden's protest and full details of the settlement and trust fund.

- 30 -

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