Taxpayer-funded Briarpatch Magazine, an extremist publication which has called for a boycott of all Israeli institutions and has praised and glorified Palestinian terrorism, has produced a new anonymously-written opinion column which purports to be a deep dive into Zionism, but which was a dangerous new escalation by an already radical outlet.
Much of the May 20 article entitled: “Understanding Zionism’s fissures,” reads as a rambling anti-Israel manifesto, the kind that the public has seen elsewhere, particularly in CBC News or Le Devoir as of late.
The article’s hatred for the Jewish People’s right to self-determination in their historic homeland is evident everywhere, with the author writing that they “refer to the state of ‘Israel’ as the Zionist entity,” thus refusing to give it any legitimacy.
It refers to Israel as a “colonial project,” an expression which is so ignorant, it is difficult to overstate, given that Israel is the modern-day nation-state of the Jews, who have three thousand years of uninterrupted habitation in their historic homeland.
But these political views, as detached from reality as they may be, are nevertheless entitled to be held by anyone.
However, it is clear why the author of the Briarpatch Magazine article chose to pen their piece anonymously, given that its wording can easily be seen as an embrace and justification of murderous Palestinian terrorism. The only hint given to readers is that the author is “an experienced Palestinian community organizer.”
The article opened by referring to Hamas’ genocidal October 7, 2023 massacres in southern Israel as “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” using the official Hamas name for its wanton rape, torture, murder and kidnapping of Israeli civilians.
The article continued by referring to the invasion as “a Hamas operation that broke the siege on Gaza with the goal of attacking Zionist military troops” and “taking 250 individuals as captives” back to Gaza.
By “attacking Zionist military troops,” Briarpatch Magazine is referring to entire families being wiped out, homes being set ablaze with people inside, and Palestinian terrorists attacking an outdoor music festival, massacring hundreds of people.
By that same logic, every death in Gaza is a Hamas terrorist, and there are no civilians, though it is unlikely the author would agree with such a statement.
As for the author’s description of “taking 250 individuals as captives,” the word “captives” implies that they are legitimate targets, rather than what they are in actuality – innocent hostages many dragged from their homes into the hell of Hamas’ underground tunnel system, where they have been kept, starved, beaten, raped, and murdered, now for more than 600 days.
In fact, the starvation of Israeli hostages being kept by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza was and remains the only actual famine inside the territory.
The column praised attacks on Israel, both military and diplomatic, and ended by saying that “any blow to the colonizer will have multiplying effects that we may not see immediately.” It does not take a forensic scientist to see the meaning inherent in those words: that attacks on Israel – of all forms – should continue until the “Zionist entity” is destroyed.
While it may be tempting to write off such rhetoric as meaningless jargon from an anonymous extremist behind a computer screen and which was published in a fringe and radical publication, pro-Hamas rallies in Canada and beyond have been widely characterized by violence, hate speech and attacks on the public. This article in Briarpatch Magazine not only gives credibility to Palestinian terrorism; it actively invites more of it. As such, HonestReporting Canada has filed a complaint with the RCMP’s hate crimes division and has reached out to the 106 stores nationwide that sell Briarpatch magazine to notify them that they are selling a publication that justifies Palestinian terrorism.
