The AMS has begun an investigation into whether the Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) or any of its partner organizations have ties to terrorism.
According to an AMS press release issued Thursday, the Executive Committee passed a motion instructing VP Finance Elin Tayyar to “investigate any links to terrorism connected to the transfer, inviting submissions from the SJC, the SPHR and the Israeli Awareness Club and also pursuing an independent investigation.”
This move comes after AMS Council passed a motion on Wednesday that cleared the way for a $700 donation from the Social Justice Centre (SJC) to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) intended for the CBG.
According to AMS President Bijan Ahmadian however, Wednesday’s motion was unclear about how Council would be satisfied that the transaction did not support terrorism.
“The wording of the motion says that the VP Finance can go ahead and sign this as long as Council [is] satisfied that there’s no link to terrorism,” he said. “And we never talked about how Council would be satisfied.
“The executives are just following Council’s wishes.”
The Executive Council motion, which says that Tayyar must report his findings to AMS Council at the next meeting, was passed without dissent, with four executives voting in favour and Tayyar abstaining.
SPHR President Omar Shaban said that he was unaware that Wednesday’s motion was not the end of the matter.
“None of the councillors that I’ve talked to were aware of that. Everybody was under the impression that it was over,” Shaban said.
AMS Councillor Michael Haack said he did not believe the motion passed Wednesday required intervention from the Executive Committee.
“I’ve spoken with a couple other councillors and they weren’t aware that [the motion] implied an investigation…or a decision by [the Executive Committee],” he said.
“Everybody was cheering when it passed and if they knew that Bijan and the executive had the final say I don’t think they would’ve been happy.”
In a National Post article published on Friday, Ahmadian stated that, for the investigation, Tayyar might “call CSIS [Canadian Security Intelligence Service] or someone, and see what their impression is.”
However, Isabelle Scott, a spokesperson for CSIS told The Ubyssey that they would not be able to provide any information to the AMS.
“The service does not publicly discuss specific operational activities, including investigative methodology,” she said.
Ahmadian said that Tayyar has spoken to CSIS and they referred him to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), which will be getting back to him this week.
Ahmadian, however, is uncertain whether Tayyar will be able to definitively conclude whether or not any of these organizations are linked to terror.
“How do you investigate such a thing? For God’s sake, we don’t have a terrorism department here,” he said. “It’s not part of our competency to investigate who’s a terrorist and who’s not a terrorist.”
DEFAMATION ACCUSATIONS
The AMS has now come under fire from the CBG, which accused the society of defaming them.
On Friday, the CBG sent a letter to the AMS alleging the motion passed by the Executive Committee and the statements Ahmadian made to the National Post were “highly defamatory of the individuals and organizations supporting the CBG, a volunteer-organized humanitarian aid mission with wide support in Canadian civil society.”
The group demanded that the AMS write a letter of apology, issue a public statement “retracting the accusations and implications that the CBG is or may be linked to…terrorism,” that both of these be circulated in the media—including the National Post—and the AMS immediately cease their investigation.
Haack said that he understands why the CBG would send such a letter.
“I think they were well within their rights to send that letter, and their demands aren’t unreasonable,” he said. “If I were an organization in the same situation, I probably would have had my lawyers send out that letter earlier.”
Ahmadian sent a response letter the same day. In an email sent to AMS Council obtained by The Ubyssey, Ahmadian said that, “Legal advice was sought today because the letter we received seemed like possible basis for taking legal action against the AMS.”
The response said that, “I am confident that the wording of the motion does not make any connection between terrorism and the members of the Working Group.”
The letter was sent to the CBG attached to an email in which Ahmadian stated, “In case any of your [sic] are concerned, I should add that the lawyers advised that the Canadian Boat to Gaza would not likely succeed in a defamation lawsuit against the AMS.”
Shaban said that he believes that the AMS is presently taking the wrong course of action.
“I think what Bijan is doing is dangerous. He’s essentially questioning or making the accusation that SPHR or SJC and their allies could be linked to terrorism. He doesn’t think they are, but he thinks they could be. From a legal perspective that’s a dangerous accusation.”
Both Shaban and Haack also criticized Ahmadian for how he has portrayed this situation to the media.
“If anybody thinks that what happened with the UN last year was bad, this is in my opinion by far 100 times worse,” said Haack. “He shouldn’t have gone to the National Post and said that Elin would contact CSIS or somebody to look into whether or not these organizations fund terrorists.”
Councillors successfully petitioned for an emergency Council meeting to be held to settle the donation issue, as well as address the budget. It will take place this Wednesday at the AMS council chambers.
Shaban is confident that Council will rule in the SPHR’s favour.
“We welcome any kind of examination or scrutiny because we have absolutely nothing to hide,” he said.
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Unfortunately for the AMS and the IAC an investigation into whether the Canadian Boat to Gaza has ties to terrorism is simply beyond their scope. It would take considerable resources, like those of an intelligence agency such as CSIS or FINTRAC to come to any sort of definate conclusion.
It should also be noted that this is over a mere $700. Instead of taking this expensive and apparently difficult-to-prove method of argument, these groups should have pressed the SJC over issues of accountability and the ethics of donating money abroad.
Mr. Ahmadian should apologize immediately to CBG, SJC and SPHR.
Yes!
It’s just $700 and it’s donation for people suffering from terrorism, not a donation to terrorists!
Amen, Omar! Amen, Omar!
I’ll go a step further and add that he needs to resign and reimburse the money he has so far wasted on his so-called investigation and getting legal opinion!
I think the above 2 posters are losing sight of what really stands out about this article: UBC’s most eligible bachelor rocking a pimp suit with a pimp phone. Who needs the olympic torch when you got that bad boy?
HA HA is this the same OMAR SHABAN that celebrated canada day by posting “fuck canada” on his facebook profile?
no wonder this is being investigated!
how do these extremists get into our university?
yes/.. i just googled and the it is the same omar shaban. not that it is completely relevant to this article but here it is http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/corbellareport/archive/2009/07/01/canadian-arab-leader-says-quot-f-k-canada-day-quot.aspx
Should this slime ball be dictating how OUR student funds should be distributed?maybe he should take a one way trip to gaza!
Bijan is an idiot just like the last ams president that said tuition hike was violation of our human rights…clowns
This comment has been removed for violating The Ubyssey’s comment policy.
I don’t want to speak for others, but I believe it is precisely this inability for Palestinians to ‘go back to [their] country’ that is at the heart of their struggle. Your racism is equally matched by political ignorance.
On another note, if we must question the SJC and SPHR for sending funds to Gaza rather than keeping them within the UBC community, should we not ask the same questions about the president of our student union joining the fight against international terrorism? (Is it SJC/SPHR or Bijan who is ‘defending human rights, from here’?) Bijan is working with a guilty until proven innocent formula that puts any law student to shame.
Mods – I`m not a fan of censorship but this author is using extremely offensive language, containing personal attacks and unsubstantiated allegations. It really shouldn`t have a place on this board. There is no dialogue; just hateful diatribe.
If she`s worried about UBC`s reputation, her comment does a lot more to damage it than anything else.
Thanks Natalie for being racist
children dying everyday are terrorists
arabs are terrorists also
you mean that I’m a terrorist, i’m happy to hear that!
the terrorist is who kill people and terrorize them you know, not who suffer everyday because of some animal behaviour
shame on you
There is no right answer to this Gaza issue – he would have been heavily criticized by the Ubyssey either way. He has remained neutral despite some pretty intense intimidation and pressure from both sides.
The most annoying thing like this is critics like Frederick and Haack who criticize, but also don’t offer any solutions. Honestly, we’re all students here and we’re all on the same side so let’s stop criticizing and start working towards some constructive solutions.
Question: Why was the president of pride UBC supporting this political hijinx at the AMS meeting? As a gay UBC student I now feel alienating knowing that the president of pride supports helping a government in Gaza who brutally suppresses homosexuality. I am of asian descent and am not familiar with this issue, however I am greatly concerned as to why this president would be so ignorant to the facts. Shame!
Kendall did a great job. If you watched or listened to what he had to say, you would have found that his position was simply in support of Resource Group autonomy as Pride is a Resource Group and the decision that would have been made for SJC would have set a precedent for what could happen to Pride.
Think about it – 50 years ago, being open wasn`t even thought of. Support for gay marriage was out of the question. But the LGBT community and its supporters in the straight community argued, rightfully, that who they loved and who they were able to marry was their right – their human right. And many in the LGBT community who did come out were put in jail for sodomy etc. It was ILLEGAL to be gay. And now, we can be proud and out. It didn`t come without a struggle. Even today, the struggle isn`t done, even in a country like Canada.
So before we say any struggle for human rights is wrong because it is controversial, let`s remember – we all deserve it and if people didn`t fight for the rights of ourselves and others, we`d all be denied some right, to this day. Including not being able to own land because we were asian or black or jew, or having to go to jail because we weren`t straight.
Let`s support the struggle for human rights everywhere, because at the end of it, we`ll be supporting ourselves.
And ìt`s not support for Hamas, but support for the Palestinian people in Gaza who have been subjected to the Israeli blockade. Google the issue and maybe you can become more `familiar with the issue“.
There’s deeper matters at play here than protecting Resource Groups’ autonomy:
Let’s take best case scenario (or second-best case; best case would have been a non-discriminatory NGO) and say that the boat sails from Hudson Bay to Hamas Bay (Gaza). It is important to understand that no NGO will be collecting it on the other side. Either coast guards, dock staff, police etc. will be collecting it, all of whom are under Hamas control (being the governing body).
People have brought up this case before and it is relevant now: Hamas will not give aid to homosexuals. Why are we crying “autonomy” when we’re giving money to homophobes. We should be thanking the AMS for at least making an effort to distribute this $ equally.
It is possible the stupidest decision so far for council to reject one of their own resolutions to send this money to an NGO. The only council members who can walk out of that decision with PRIDE are those who voted in favour of the third-party NGO.
Thank you Mr. Ahmadian for supporting our values as UBC students!
natalie: i don’t know how racists like you survive in UBC, Vancouver and Canada in general.
There are a few (very few students)who seem like racist bigots-thats because they are ignorant and cant see other viewpoints, and maybe their parents are also racists or they have family problems (or some serious issues in general!)
kick them out then!!!!!
I agree with mandy and jason. racists should just go back to where they came from and then we can have a pure society of nonracists. and no bigots either (oh wait)
btw i am an teen who likes aniime
“The security situation along the coast of Gaza remains dangerous and volatile. On May 31, 2010, an attempt to breach the naval blockade along the coast of Gaza was intercepted by Israeli security forces and resulted in death, injury, arrest and deportation. Canadians are strongly advised against participating in any attempt to break the naval blockade.”
sourced:
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=135000
if there’s even a shadow of doubt with regards to the potential implications of the donation and its recipient, why must the funds be given to this specific ‘charity’?
does this (below) organization not live up to SJC standards?
http://www.croixrouge.ca/article.asp?id=30192&tid=001
surely, the IAC wouldn’t object to a donation to Red Cross.