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Don't Let Canwest SLAPP* Briemberg and YOU!

Target:
CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
To the owners of CanWest: We the undersigned say...
    Drop your groundless legal suit against Mordecai Briemberg, and stop your  political persecution of him.
    The contentious issues related to the rights and actions of both Israelis and Palestinians, just like other contentious issues of public interest, require open discussion, one that encompasses a broad spectrum of differing perspectives. Any attempt to silence -- by harassment, intimidation or censorship -- the voices of those with whom one disagrees is anti-democratic and unacceptable.

Find more information at seriouslyfreespeech.ca

Aux propriétaires de CanWest, nous, soussignés, disons :

Abandonnez votre poursuite sans fondement contre Mordecaï Briemberg et cessez votre persécution politique contre lui.

Les questions controversées reliées aux droits et aux actions des IsraélienNEs et des PalestinienNEs, comme toutes les autres questions controversées d'intérêt public, exigent un débat ouvert et englobant un large éventail de perspectives différentes. Toute tentative -- par le harcèlement, l'intimidation ou la censure -- de réduire au silence les voix de ceux ou celles dont on ne partage pas l'opinion est anti-démocratique et inacceptable.

Honourary Members of the Seriously Free Speech Committee include: Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis, Linda McQuaig, Edward S. Herman, Tariq Ali, Gabor Mate.

*SLAPP - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. This form of litigation is frequently filed by corporations to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition.
To the owners of CanWest: We the undersigned say...
    Drop your groundless legal suit against Mordecai Briemberg, and stop your  political persecution of him.
    The contentious issues related to the rights and actions of both Israelis and Palestinians, just like other contentious issues of public interest, require open discussion, one that encompasses a broad spectrum of differing perspectives. Any attempt to silence -- by harassment, intimidation or censorship -- the voices of those with whom one disagrees is anti-democratic and unacceptable.

Find more information at seriouslyfreespeech.ca

Aux propriétaires de CanWest, nous, soussignés, disons :

Abandonnez votre poursuite sans fondement contre Mordecaï Briemberg et cessez votre persécution politique contre lui.

Les questions controversées reliées aux droits et aux actions des IsraélienNEs et des PalestinienNEs, comme toutes les autres questions controversées d'intérêt public, exigent un débat ouvert et englobant un large éventail de perspectives différentes. Toute tentative -- par le harcèlement, l'intimidation ou la censure -- de réduire au silence les voix de ceux ou celles dont on ne partage pas l'opinion est anti-démocratique et inacceptable.

Honourary Members of the Seriously Free Speech Committee include: Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Avi Lewis, Linda McQuaig, Edward S. Herman, Tariq Ali, Gabor Mate.

*SLAPP - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. This form of litigation is frequently filed by corporations to intimidate and silence critics or opponents by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense so that they abandon their criticism or opposition.
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Dear Supporter of the Seriously Free Speech Campaign

Thank you for signing our petition calling on Canadian media giant Canwest to drop their groundless lawsuit against Mordecai Briemberg for producing a parody of The Vancouver Sun.

Your support for freedom of speech, along with that of civil liberty, trade union, librarian, and writer organizations has achieved an important success. Public solidarity in standing up against media bullying has brought an initial victory we all can celebrate. In November, Canwest unconditionally dropped its legal suit against Mordecai Briemberg.

At the same time, Canwest is continuing its legal action against Carel Moiseiwitsch and Gordon Murray, who in July publicly stated that they were solely responsible for the conception and production of the parody that satirized Canwest's pro-Israel editorial policies.

The Seriously Free Speech Committee will continue its campaign to defend Carel and Gordon%u2019s right to use satire to express their political views. The case against Mordecai, Carel and Gordon has been from the beginning a classic SLAPP %u2013 Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation %u2013 in which a corporation is attempting to use the legal process to intimidate its political opponents.

In light of the foregoing, the petition that focused on Mordecai's case, is now closed.

We are confident in your continued support of freedom of speech in Canada and ask you to:
- Send an email to subscribe@seriouslyfreespeech.ca and receive (infrequent) updates on this case. (The committee does not have access to the email addresses of those who signed the petition other than to send this final email.)
- Write a letter to Canwest demanding they drop the legal action against political activists, an email letter can be sent from our website at http://www.seriouslyfreespeech.ca
- Make a donation at our website at http://www.seriouslyfreespeech.ca to help with the escalating legal costs of fighting this case.

Thank you again for your support.

Brian Campbell and Anne Roberts
Co-Chairs, Seriously Free Speech Committee

You can do more! Show me more petitions »
We signed the "Don't Let Canwest SLAPP* Briemberg and YOU!" petition!
# 1,244:
7:06 am PDT, Sep 7, Ulli Diemer, Canada
It's fascinating how CanWest's publications are full of articles pillorying those who attack freedom of speech, while at the same time they are busily engaged in doing the same thing themselves.
# 1,243:
8:28 am PDT, Sep 4, Janet Beck, Canada
This action is disgraceful ( or maybe it is self-satirical?).
# 1,242:
8:24 am PDT, Sep 4, Margaret Rutherford, Canada
# 1,241:
7:23 pm PDT, Sep 3, Roger Beck, Canada
CanWest, have you no shame?
# 1,240:
11:29 am PDT, Sep 2, Cameron Brown, Canada
# 1,239:
8:52 am PDT, Aug 25, Mokhtar Joundi, Canada
# 1,238:
3:08 pm PDT, Aug 23, Dana Sokolowska, Canada
# 1,237:
6:53 pm PDT, Aug 20, Deborah Tegg Daniels, Canada
I thought in this country we were allowed to express our opinions without being bullied by ANYBODY!
# 1,236:
3:31 pm PDT, Aug 20, Kevin Dale McKeown, Canada
One of the few things I know for sure, after nearly sixty years of thinking about it, is that I am as near as you can get to a free speech absolutist. Satire and parody are bastions of free speech that must be defended at every turn.
# 1,235:
12:34 pm PDT, Aug 18, Lloyd Lawrence, Canada
# 1,234:
10:13 am PDT, Aug 18, Paul Graham, Canada
# 1,233:
10:45 pm PDT, Aug 17, Thomas Novak, Canada
As a member of the Manitoba theatrical community, I am deeply concerned about the litigation being brought abainst Mr. Briemberg. Satire is part of our stock in trade. All artistic forms of expression would be much the poorer if artists felt they might be sued if they pulled a satirical arrow or some parody out of their quiver. Indeed, so would the nation!
# 1,232:
4:19 pm PDT, Aug 17, Name not displayed, Canada
# 1,231:
2:26 am PDT, Aug 16, Michael Naish, United Kingdom
All power to your elbow Mordecai. The legal action is an outrageous abuse of power and, I would say, of the legal system
# 1,230:
12:20 pm PDT, Aug 8, Robert Morris, Canada
I wish honor still existed
# 1,229:
7:59 pm PDT, Aug 7, Cheryl Atwell, Missouri
# 1,228:
9:56 pm PDT, Aug 6, John Lannholm, Arizona
# 1,227:
9:01 pm PDT, Aug 6, Barry Weisleder, Canada
The absurd and dangerous attack on Mordecai shows how desperate the media monopoly CanWest is becoming to shore up flagging support for Israeli state apartheid. Drop the law suit, CanWest, and let's have a free and open debate on the issues!
# 1,226:
3:31 pm PDT, Aug 5, Joe Coll, Canada
Canwest Global Communications, Please cease your stranglehold on the free speech of Canada. It is just as immoral as what Joseph Goebbels did during the Second World War.
# 1,225:
1:02 pm PDT, Aug 3, Dirk Buchholz, Canada
# 1,224:
5:36 pm PDT, Aug 2, Robyn Lauster, Alaska
I am deeply disappointed that Canada seems to be following the U.S. in its corporatization of the media and pretty much every aspect of life. I thought you guys were smarter than we are! Well, follow us right down the toilet, because that's where we're headed. My government supports Israel, in spite of its obviously unfair and cruel treatment of the Palestinians, including recently killing 2 children in peaceful demonstrations. Shame on both governments, and shame on the media for keeping readers in the dark!
# 1,223:
9:55 am PDT, Jul 31, Roger Waterhouse, United Kingdom
# 1,222:
7:55 am PDT, Jul 28, Elizabeth Lonbro, Canada
Is democracy lost due to the media dictating who and what we should and should not support? Stop trying to control our minds. Just the facts would be good. We can come to our own conclusions without your interference, thank you.
# 1,221:
12:11 pm PDT, Jul 26, Name not displayed, Canada
I fully support this initiative. The level of media concentration and control in Canada is shameful in a liberal democracy. It only serves the few.
# 1,220:
11:37 am PDT, Jul 20, Joey Hartman, Canada
# 1,219:
5:22 pm PDT, Jul 17, Name not displayed, Canada
The interesting thing is that the media ceased being media a long time ago, when they became announcers for the large corporations. It must be terrible to be a freedom-loving journalist having to work for the likes of CanWest. We are all at war with demagogues such as Harper, Bush and Olmert and their "media" mouthpieces. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance," and the Seriously Free Speech Committee is leading the charge. In my opinion, any media that merely repeats the ideology of the corporations or the government is guilty of bastardizing democracy and truncating freedom.
# 1,218:
7:24 am PDT, Jul 12, Aurélie LeBlanc, Canada
# 1,217:
2:55 am PDT, Jul 8, Clara Birnbaum, Japan
I am a Canadian living in Japan, but I try to stay on top of the news, which, in this case is extremely worrying. When the media so blatantly trivializes our basic rights to free speech, we really must stand up, expose, and challenge it way out loud. The (corporate) media is NOT free and unbiased, despite the rhetoric to the contrary, but we have to keep striving for media that is, and pointing out the reasons that it is not. We have to work so hard, it seems, for a true democracy, one in which the basic tenets are upheld and practiced, not stomped on.
# 1,216:
11:12 pm PDT, Jul 4, Jason King, Canada
Yet another reason to hate Canwest Global and their complete ownership of media, and Canada's medium to self-identity.
# 1,215:
8:41 am PDT, Jul 2, Allan McKeown, Canada
# 1,214:
11:00 pm PDT, Jul 1, Janet Napier, Canada
This action seems to be primarily an undemocratic and egregious harasssment of Mr. Briemberg. To have Canwest undertake such an action at the same time as the Asper family trumpets about human rights and their museum -- for shame!
# 1,213:
8:06 am PDT, Jun 28, Milena Placentile, Canada
How dare you SLAPP! This is NOT what democracy looks like! I am ashamed that you -- Canwest Global -- will do this with one hand, while with the other, claim to represent model corporate citizenry. Will there be a space in the Canadian Human Rights Museum dedicated to the affect of SLAPPs on the social and political wellbeing of communities and nations? I wonder...
# 1,212:
7:30 am PDT, Jun 23, Bruno Dubuc, Canada
# 1,211:
6:04 pm PDT, Jun 22, Marion Abelsen, Canada
# 1,210:
9:54 am PDT, Jun 22, M Meudec, Canada
# 1,209:
5:46 am PDT, Jun 21, Rafael Azocar, Canada
# 1,208:
5:20 pm PDT, Jun 20, Alexandre Gilbert, Canada
# 1,207:
10:26 am PDT, Jun 20, Laurence Arpin, Canada
# 1,206:
5:35 am PDT, Jun 20, Jules Paré, Canada
# 1,205:
4:49 pm PDT, Jun 19, Diane Poitras, Canada
# 1,204:
4:02 pm PDT, Jun 19, Philippe Chaumette, Canada
# 1,203:
2:20 pm PDT, Jun 19, Nicole Bossard, Canada
# 1,202:
8:06 am PDT, Jun 19, Claude Chouinard, Canada
# 1,201:
8:40 pm PDT, Jun 18, Atroun Mohand, Canada
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