B.C. MLA has joined a Pro-Israel rally where she announced to the community that she had filed a private prosecution against a Samidoun organizer. Dallas Broudie is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and a leader of a provincial party, “OneBC”. She has filed a private prosecution against Charlotte Kates, a Samidoun organizer.
Samidoun is also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. It was listed as a terrorist group by Canada in 2024 over alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Brodie shared that she had been calling in the legislature and online for the attorney general to lay charges against this group.
The reason for that is Semidoun’s calling for death, burning flags, as well as distributing materials that teach people how to do multifaceted coordinated terrorist attacks. “Super dangerous stuff, and nothing was being done”, Brodie said.
Samidoun describes itself as an international network of organizers and activists building solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom. The group emerged from the September–October 2011 hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. It advocates for the rights and freedoms of prisoners and organizes campaigns aimed at promoting political change for the Palestinian people.
In Canada, a private prosecution allows citizens to initiate criminal charges directly in court, rather than through police or government prosecutors. After filing an information, a judge reviews it and decides if there is sufficient evidence to proceed. If the judge allows it, the Crown prosecutor can either take over the case and continue it, take over and stop the case, or let the private person keep running it.
Brodie joined a pro-Israel rally on September 24, where she talked to the community and received a warm round of applause from its members. Masha Kleiner, who is a grassroots organizer of pro-Israel events and rallies in Vancouver, worked closely with Brodie on the case.
“You may remember the rally where the crowd chanted ‘Death to Canada’ and burned the Canadian flag. So that was the Samidoun rally. We can’t allow terrorism to just run on our streets”, Kleiner said.
Kleiner explained that by organizing rallies, the community wants to show their support to Israel and opposition to the rise of anti-semitism, “and to all the horrible lies that are being told about Israel in the press, politics, and in the hostile rallies on our streets here that are organized by terrorist organizations and terrorism affiliated organizations”.
When marching on the Burrard Bridge, many were triggered by the signs and graffiti on it. “There were so many spray-painted messages calling for death and destruction, and it just breaks my heart,” shared one of the attendees.
Kleiner explained that the inverted triangle painted on the bridge is a Hamas symbol that represents a military target, “so that’s really pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist, anti-Israel, anti-Jewish graffiti.” “I’ve lived here my entire life. I’ve never seen graffiti on our beautiful Burrard Street bridge like I saw today. That’s extremely dangerous language, and I’m actually shocked it hasn’t been removed immediately, and this is escalating.”
Representatives of various communities joined the march. “I came today because I am a Canadian Christian Zionist and I want the Jewish people to know that they aren’t alone, that there are people who care, and we support them. We know the history of the land of Israel and a lot of the Middle East, and we know the truth of what’s going on”, said one of the attendees.
“As one lady from the Iranian community, I’m here to support any action against the activities of the Iranian government. We support King Reza Pahlavi and Mr. Netanyahu against any terrorist attack anywhere, in the Middle East, Iran, or Israel. We try to capture our country, Iran, and we are standing behind the Israeli people,” shared a member of the Iranian community. “The tragedy of October 7 was bad enough, but the response of the world was written on October 8, with the joy on the streets and support for anybody running various organizations, and the hatred towards the Jews was an eye-opener,” shared a member of the Polish Jewish community.
The Vancouver pro-Israel community continues its fight. Now, Dallas Brodie is waiting for a hearing on the private prosecution case and hopes for the best. “I think it’s very important that we lead people and tell people this is getting dangerous. It’s just a matter of time before something terrible happens.”
Together with Kleiner, they are “looking for the justice system to do its job”.
Neither Charlotte Kates nor any pro-Palestinian groups have commented on the case.
– Lisa Kovtun, U Multicultural
