Starting with hypocrisy, George Galloway, former British Member of Parliament and terrorist sympathizer stopped in the region late last week as part of his cross Canada tour "Free Palestine, Free Afghanistan, Free Speech". He spoke on campus at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta, and at a church in Winnipeg. All three speaking engagements drawing hundreds. Galloway, is an individual who claims to be anti-war and promoting peace, yet does not consider Hezbollah to be a terror organization, gives major sums of cash to Hamas, denies genocide in Darfur, and feels Saddam Hussein was a hero. His speech and presence was full of hypocrisy, and his views are very troublesome since he is praised by many and has a major following.

Earlier this week, I had an opinion piece published in the Manitoban, the campus newspaper at the University of Manitoba.  My article was censored in parts, apparently my nickname "terrorist sympathizer" was too extreme for the paper, and my comments regarding the cancellation of his 2009 tour - and reasoning for Free Speech to be included in this tour - were cut out, as well as a few other comments. Popular belief is that his 2009 Canadian tour was cancelled due to him being barred from Canada, thus denying him free speech. However, the reality is it was recommended he not come to Canada, due to his terrorist ties, he may not be allowed in since he poses a threat to Canadians.

The Legality comes from Amos Guiora's tour. He started at the University of Saskatchewan on Tuesday, spoke Wednesday at the University of Edmonton, Thursday at the University of Calgary and came to Winnipeg Friday through Tuesday. All of his speaking engagements were successful with great turnouts in every city. He either spoke on Morality in Armed Conflict; Lawfare: Whose Rights are Protected?; or Global Perspectives on Terrorism. Fellow Staci Silverman at the University of Alberta created an excellent partnership with the Law Faculty for this event, Kol ha Kavod! In Winnipeg, he spoke at a Shabbat Dinner of students from the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg, and organizers created two partnerships for that event too: Campus Conservatives at the University of Manitoba, and Campus Democracy.