Episode 229

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Published on:

21st May 2026

Setting Precedent: The Right to Protest on Campus, Raheleh's Story (PART 1)

This is Part 1 of a multi-part series that tells the whole story behind the lawsuit activists have launched against the University of Calgary and the Calgary Police in response to a violent encampment eviction back in May 2024.

We start with Dr. Raheleh Tarani's compelling story; a mother from Iran who was on campus to support her son, and to speak up against what is happening in Gaza. Holding hands, singing, and then violently tossed to the ground, pinned and arrested.

She talks about her shock, and the profound impact that night has had on her. But she also talks about how she is reclaiming her power by taking the Police who did this, and the University who called them, to court.

Next UP: Part 2 - Another Plaintiff, Wesam Cooley, was the unofficial Police Liaison for the encampment that night. Hear his unique perspective on Monday May 25th.

Hosted and Produced by: Jessa McLean and Santiago Helou Quintero

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Transcript
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Greetings, friends. My name is Jess McLean, and I'm here to provide you with some blueprints

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of disruption. This weekly podcast is dedicated to amplifying the work of activists, examining

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power structures, and sharing the success stories from the grassroots. Through these discussions,

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we hope to provide folks with the tools and the inspiration they need to start to dismantle

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capitalism, decolonize our spaces, and bring about the political revolution that we know

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we need. Two years ago, students, faculty, and community members escalated their divestment

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campaigns and built encampments on their campuses right across the country. These encampments

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were built after months of pleading and pressuring university administrators to disclose their

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investments and divest from corporations complicit in the genocide. The camps that were able to

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establish themselves and remain for a good period of time became liberated zones of sorts. The

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mission was a free Palestine, but they were also creating models of cooperation and resistance

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that didn't sit well with these powerful institutions. And so we eventually saw injunctions and evictions,

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some more violent than others, but none likely as swift and as violent as what happened at

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the University of Calgary. In March 2025, investigative journalist Jeremy Appel came on our show to

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share what he'd uncovered after looking into the communications between the province, the

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university, and the Calgary police. In that episode, we got just an idea of what happened

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back on May 9th, 2024. We also shared some video of it. It was shocking. not just for the brutal

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suppression of a protest, because it seemed like nothing became of it. The university stood

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by their decision. The provincial government essentially cheered it all on. We wondered

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if this kind of heavy-handed police response to peaceful protests on campus were going to

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just become the norm. And this is why some of those protesters, including our first guest

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in this four-part series, are fighting back. Nine plaintiffs have launched a lawsuit against

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the University of Calgary, the Calgary police, and a slate of named and unnamed officers

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for their actions on that day. Rahele shares a powerful account of what happened to her

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that day and how it's impacted her deeply. She's also going to talk about why she's resisting

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in the way that she is and how she feels about going up against the province and police in

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court. Part two of the series will be an interview with another plaintiff, Wasam Kouli, who was

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the de facto police liaison for the group that night. He has an interesting story to tell

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as well. We then get to hear from their counsel, Chris Wiebe, who goes over the merits of the

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case and explains what a victory could mean for the plaintiffs, for others contemplating

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legal action, and for institutions who think they can reinterpret the charter when it suits

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them. The series will finish off with Dr. Roberta Lexier, an expert on social movements who has

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her own podcast mini series on student power in Canada. She'll help explain why the university

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reacted the way that it did and what this all means for the larger movement to free Palestine.

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We'll roll these out over the next two weeks. We hope that you find it equally as enraging

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as it is instructional. You'll find a link to support the legal defense for these plaintiffs

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in the show notes, as well as more ways to engage on the topic. We also encourage you

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to share it with a friend and give it a rating on whatever podcast application you're using.

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Now let's get right into our interview with Raheleh. Good morning. Can you introduce yourself

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to our audience, please, before we start? Good morning. My name is Raheleh Trani and I am

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a an Iranian-Canadian uh member of board, member of Iranian-Canadian Congress, and

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practicing psychologist in Calgary, and mother of two sons who were, of course, UFC students

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when we attended the protest. So I don't know, do I need to say more about myself? I'm,

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of course. an activist, a leftist. And I don't know how elaborated this introduction should

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be. Yeah. You know what? We get ranges of introductions. Sometimes we get fake names and no credentials.

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And that is fine. Maybe Juan Packmore about you as we go through the discussion. But really

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what brought us here is what your experience was May 9th, 2024. It's the topic of conversation

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for this episode. You're one of the plaintiffs that's in a lawsuit against the University

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of Calgary and the Calgary police and some named and unnamed officers. And we've brought

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you here to talk about your experience. We'll be hearing from some of the other folks that

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were down there with you. I know how these things come together, right? You maybe go into this

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not knowing each other and then... You've been through the wringer for two years with

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one another. So that's probably shifted. what brought you, other than perhaps a free Palestine,

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what brought you down to the campus at University of Calgary on that fateful day? Yes. Yeah,

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of course, as you know, we all were disturbed with the news that like, you know, we were

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getting from Gaza and the killings and like, you know, excruciating like, you know, images

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and all like that we were exposed to and all. And so I learned that the university students

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have decided to have encampment in the university and my son informed me early morning that

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he was there, my elder son. And uh so I had to work, I went to school, I was working at

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that. time as a psychologist for Calgary Board of Education. went and like work with my students

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and all. And then I also work in a clinic. I went to the clinic after school and up

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to eight hours, up to eight PM I was working in the clinic. And then I called my son and

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to see how things are. And he told me that like, you know, we are still here and it's

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a very tense environment and all. And like Of course he was asking me, mom, don't worry,

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you are tired and all, but anyways, I couldn't let him be alone there. And also the sense

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of responsibility that I had. So ultimately I went there. I thought that is my responsibility

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to do something about what doesn't let me sleep every night. Every night I was feeling so

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guilty. It was hard for me. I constantly say that I'm sleeping in this bed, on this bed.

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Like, you know, I am experiencing a totally different environment and people in Gaza, children

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and all those things. You night I was struggling with guilt that I'm not doing anything. So

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I thought I will go there and just do my duty in that regard. I also felt that my sons

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have the right to... be in the campus and ask for what they think is right. They have charter

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rights, so I need to support that as well. So when I went to park my car, I was really shocked

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to see, oh my God, as if there's a big war over there. So I saw an army of police officers.

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I was shocked with the number of police cars and the... whole group of guards over there,

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like, what's going on? Why it is like, you know, they are just a group of students. They're

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asking for what they think is right. so like, why do we need to have all Calgary police gathered

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there? So anyways, I went and like, I realized that, of course, like, know, that most people

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who were there had come early morning and they were getting tired and all. Some discussions

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about that today is Thursday, maybe we should have started on Friday so that we could stay

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overnight. At least next day was Saturday. Some people have to go to work on Friday. So they

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were discussing and all and a group of people left. And then towards the end, the number

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was smaller. And I was just talking to other people uh who gathered there that It might

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be a better idea if we just go back and come tomorrow again, because it seems people have

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left because maybe this was not a day. many people believe that it would have been better

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if we started on Saturday. Anyways, so when the number was reduced, then we decided that

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they should uh just put things. you know, back and like to leave. And so the camps were removed.

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we were like, people there or the organizers were discussing how they can take the items

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to their cars and like how they can take the camps away. And I think there was some argument

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there whether they can bring a U-Haul, they can bring their cars, how they carry this.

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And while they were just discussing that we were standing in a line, know, hand to hand

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and just singing a song. And before that, just moments before that, you I was just talking

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to these police officers there who were standing, you know, in front of us. I was telling them,

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how come you have come with gun? These students need to be brought flowers. You know, they

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are the most responsible, the most, I think, students of this university who have studied

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history, who have studied social. sciences and you know who really like I think internalized

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the values that every teacher would love to imbibe in their students. You were proud mom

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too. I was proud mom of course. I was very very proud to see my son and girlfriend there and

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other university students and I was asking them also another I also asked them another

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question I recall very well I asked them I really would like to know I was genuinely interested

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to know how did you feel when like a few days back, you know, heard UNICEF has announced

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14,000 children have been killed in Gaza. How did you feel about it? You know, like I was

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thinking that we can have communication, just conversation. But like very soon, suddenly

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as if something changed, like they were standing and we were standing and singing. Suddenly,

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you know, it seems that they got an order. I am very sure that some order was like, you

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know, what kind of started all. hold that kiosk that they suddenly came uh attacking us, move,

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move. And it was so shocking, unbelievable that when we were standing like we, hand

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in hand, suddenly with their shields, they pushed us back. like unbelievable, I cannot

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even really even now understand what happened from the group. They pulled me and throw me

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on the ground and the... people like sat on me at least two, but many people say three

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people tried to restrain me. I didn't resist even being arrested if they had stood there

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and said, you are under arrest. So like I would have said, okay, like whatever, like, I would

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not have liked it, but I would not have resisted that. But what was the like necessity of them

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pulling me, throwing me on the ground and restraining me the way they did? And I was wearing a very

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thick, actually, winter coat. And I'm sure that if that was not there, maybe I would have been

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fully crashed under them. So anyway, they took me to the police car. My glasses were thrown

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somewhere and all. And they made me to sit in the police vehicle. And there I realized I

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can't breathe, like something has happened to my chest and all. I was not able to breathe,

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then also I could see that they are throwing this tear gas and lights and shootings and

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all. And that scene reminded me of a very traumatic scene that I still deal with, the PTSD of that

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scene, that how my brother was killed in that type of crowd in Iran in 2009. So it was a

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very brutal. kind of really like killing and all. And so I was just thinking, oh my God,

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like my brother who was killed in that protest was almost as old as my son who is in this

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crowd. And like, I suddenly was thinking, what is going to happen? Am I now going to

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lose my son? You know, like I didn't know what to do and I am not able to breathe. It was

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like, it is really hard to articulate how I felt. But whatever, now I can't recall part

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of it, know, with trauma, we missed parts. How it ended, like I remember that I was

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taken to the hospital and later my son and his girlfriend came, but I still don't try to

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remember how I met them. It's hard to remember. You know, my memory I think has suppressed

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them so that I don't remember. But anyways, like uh I was like, of course having those

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traumatic, you know, experiences and dealing with severe pain, difficulty breathing, crying.

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But at the same time, I was feeling that something also it seems in this feels good. And what

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is that? And I realized that, my conscience is more clear. I don't feel the same guilt

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that every night was not letting me sleep. Like, you know, that I don't do anything, children

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are being killed and all. And to be honest, these two years I have suffered and I... couldn't

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go back to university. Sometimes I had to go to university, but I will avoid. It was so

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painful. So you know that they gave us tickets and all. We again and again, police officers

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came to my place, I think two, three times to make me go to court again and again and

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all whatever. When these things were done, I was feeling very sad that, know, like about

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what happened and all. I had totally lost my faith in this. whole system over here, which

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I initially thought is much better than the condition that we had in Iran. I was very,

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very disturbed. But I was very happy to know that some of our, like, know, some other people

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who got tickets and all have decided to kind of keep these people who, like, impose this

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experience to us, you know, to keep them accountable and to sue police and the University of Calgary.

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the admin, like those who are there who like ultimately like are responsible for what happened.

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I felt that, oh my God, now these days I also, in addition to thinking constantly about Gaza

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and killings of children there, you know that in my country we had a war and like, you US

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bombs killed 168 elementary school students, you know, just in like, of course, triple bombing.

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Like they bombed them three times to make sure that all children have been killed. And I

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have been carrying that guilt and I have been, you know, like angry about that, that, you

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know, like that how could, like, I mean, it's, hard to fathom, you know, what type of mentality

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that is that you can kill 168 children, you know, knowing now we know that they have

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done Israeli, like if they, they did it three times means that there has been there has

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been intention to kill children. And so I felt so happy and so relieved. And I went to

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the campus that day really happily that, okay, now I will get chance to ask them. I asked

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that day, how did you feel about 14,000 children being killed in Gaza? Now I will ask these

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reporters, anyone who is there, how did they feel about 168 little children being killed

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just by US bombs there? And uh yeah, so I excited about, you know, that we are doing something.

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And the main motivation for me is to create more awareness about what's going on in the

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world and over here. can only imagine what I would have done getting a call from my son

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that riot cops, you know, had shown up to what was supposed to be and was a peaceful protest.

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um amongst all the other layers that kind of make your experience with the police here

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a little unique. However, part of the broader problem of how police and universities are

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responding to Palestinian solidarity. em Do you find, you say happy, relieved? Is there

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a sense of gaining back some level of power? Yeah, of course. Of course. think I definitely

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feel much more empowered now. And I think uh if our this action helps all pro-Palestinian

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activists, all people who care for justice in the world, know, more empowered, you know,

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like that will be the greatest achievement. Exactly. Like I feel empowered that I like,

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you know, like I was taken to court a number of times and it was proven I have not done

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anything wrong. now if I have not done anything wrong, why did I, you know, made to go through

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that suffering? And I know that I was not alone, know, other students, even though we are nine

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of us who are suing police and all, but the reality is that everyone there, I think who

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witnessed that scene was traumatized. It was so shocking. Like, you m know, what I know

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is that encampment, like, you know, was not allowed by university authorities, uh protests

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was okay. And it was not even midnight, you know, that in that, you know, I was thinking

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this is my second home. This university is my second home. I have a son who is doing PhD

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here. I have a son who is doing masters here. I have, you know, my car like has been always

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like driving to university, to be in, to just, for different, different, my son did

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his graduation there in like, you know, in high school. So that is my second house. And

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they are telling me I cannot stand here and I like, you know, like just practice, exercise

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my, my democratic rights or my children don't have right to practice what they are being

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taught. If they are being taught that, okay, this is the conditional word, we all have to

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contribute to like betterment of this world, you know, like these students deserve really

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reward. not right police to come and attacking them. Definitely. Now I'm feeling empowered

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with what we have started doing here for sure. Excellent. um There's another part of your

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experience that was unique. You spoke about the police delivering summonses or whatnot.

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because you had a ticket and the statement of claim again is attached to the episode,

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folks, so you can see it for yourselves. But two people ended up with tickets that carried

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with it heavier consequences should you not oblige and required court appearances, which

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are traumatic, time consuming, carry with it other weights. You also had a press conference

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just last week. I've lost track of time a bit, but not that long ago when the lawsuit was

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launched, people shared their experiences. Those experiences were shared with media. um But

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your story was left out a lot of that retelling. There's racism embedded in how the police responded

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to... We talked to the lawyer and we'll talk to experts as to why in general institutions

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respond this way to these kinds of protests. But then in those responses, so many variations

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and layers, intersections of oppression is the language some folks will use there. And

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do you want to talk about that and maybe how validating it is? Because when you spoke about

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it earlier before we were recording, that other people are going to argue this on your behalf,

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that other people witness this and are also helping you do something about it. It's not.

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You're not crazy. know, this this disproportionate response has prejudice behind it, you know,

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that we can name. So what was that like seeing yourself like once you realize what everyone's

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charged with, you get to compare. What was that like? And then maybe you could talk about

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the camaraderie if that existed for folks fighting, not leaving that out of the story. Yeah. Thank

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you, like that prejudice and that like being always discriminated, being a woman, being

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a brown woman, being from West Asia. Like, you know, I, in a way I am almost like, I think

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is used to like, you know, when they gave us tickets, as you know, the tickets that gave

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me and another woman from the same area, like, you know, were given different type of tickets,

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which we wonder why, like, you know. how come we were there and all did the same thing?

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How come we get different types of tickets? And of course, as I say, that was something

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that I kind of am in a way used to it, but it was irony when the other day we had a press

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conference on Monday. so three of us were supposed to talk and we talked and I shared my experiences

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the way the other two. uh Press, like reporters who were there, like, you know, interviewed

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the other two uh speakers. They broadcasted parts of their talk and nobody covered my

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talk nor they had any interview with me. And of course, like I knew deep down why, because

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I don't fit the narrative that they have, you know, like, and my story was like, you know,

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that, someone can be not really like as supporting. Iranian government policies, how and like

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even has paid a price there for freedom, but still is pro-Palestinian and is against what

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like, you know, we are doing. so they saw this different from what they want to portray.

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And so they like, you know, kind of try to ignore me as if I don't exist and all. And

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I didn't like, you know, say anything, but later people said, oh, you're talk was powerful

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and all, was the experience of a mother. I talked there as a mother more than anything. And

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so why didn't they cover that and all? And other people were saying that this is the

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media that we have, corporate media, the media that is trying to ultimately support the

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narrative that all this in general. people in power here, like, you know, they are doing

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the right things. And it is like, you know, that we are the people who cause create problem.

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You know, they wanted it this way to kind of like, as get support for their narratives.

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You know, one thing which I like to share, if you don't mind, Jessa is that, you know,

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like, I really recall that, like, when I was like, kind of, again, kind of reprocessing

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all these things, I thought that Now, when I think about my brothers being killed in 2009,

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at that time I was furious, know, so angry. I had an interview with BBC and I was saying

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how furious I am about what Iranian government has done. But today sitting here, even though

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of course I don't like support all the policies of Iranian government still, but what I remember

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is that what ultimately is happening there also to high extent because of the sanctions and

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because of difficulties people there are going through that makes it so difficult for them.

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They are angry constantly because of class division increasing and they dealing with

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poverty and all. So they are angry. cannot just really like, the protest there was a little

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bit violent. There were people there who were extremely angry with the government and all.

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And now I know that it was not only Iranian government, you if I want to really go to

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like lower layers, again, it's because of what is being imposed to people over there. Like

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the reality is that, you know, they go to Middle East or West Asia, with the excuse that,

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these people are fundamentalists. But being a psychologist, I know that extremism is the

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result of trauma. The traumas of this sort that you create, of course, is going to create extremism.

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So even if I try to use whatever knowledge of psychology I have not to become extremist,

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but the reality is that usually if you suppress people so much and if you traumatize them,

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so it is very normal that they will be extremists. Who is then at fault? Like, you know, we are

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going and like, you know, kind of blame, putting all the blame on extremists, even though these

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traumas that they create ultimately causes that extremism. So I thought it's important to say

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that as well. And I'm just going to interject there as well. just want to say, and your case

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also demonstrates that when people take the peaceful road, when they You know, we're talking

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about a sit-in really overnight. That's all it is. A camp in. Or there's been other demonstrations

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where they're just street protests and, you know, the Canadian police, American police

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respond with such violence or these institutions reject and are so hostile. It doesn't encourage

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people to use those kind of mechanisms for change. They're forced to fight fire with

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fire. to a degree because all the other avenues have been cut off from them with purpose, right?

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Absolutely. Yes, And you know, like, again, sorry, just, like, you know, it was not really

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staying overnight even when we were arrested. It was not even like midnight and the camps

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were dismantled. So like it was just we were standing there and singing song. And while

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Like our friends were just negotiating how to take back the items that they had there.

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So the camps were dismantled. So like even it's not that, you know, we were wanting to stay

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overnight. Like we decided that, okay, we will go and maybe some other time. But at that moment

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when we were arrested, we were just standing there singing while others were negotiating

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how to take the items that they had there. I said, yeah, and you are absolutely right

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when we can get what we want through this type of very civil, very like, think, you know,

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a peaceful kind of protest. Then, of course, then that is a reason that people then sort

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of other other means. Yeah, we're radicalized through the struggle. Which isn't always necessarily

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a bad thing. We don't want things to escalate to the point where, know. that you would describe

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that you experienced in 2009. But our podcast does encourage just more disruptive methods

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because we cover so many of these stories where, yeah, the state is just becoming increasingly

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repressive. Yeah. Thank you so much. I know it's not easy reliving this. and you know,

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you might have to do it again. That's, do you have any, you know, if there was a downside,

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not that I want to end on, you know what, let's just not. But I, I hate it. Okay. But I am

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curious. So I'll ask you and I might just strike it though, but are you. nervous about having

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to go to court on this and go through this system that has been kind of hostile. This

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is civil court. But do you have trepidation there or are you eager to do that? uh In fact,

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I think this is a good question. know, I, the way I spoke on Monday with press that like,

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you know, we are not doing this just to take any type of revenge or anything. This is not

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a personal matter. We are very clear that what we have done was, you know, our very basic

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right. And we don't have enmity against any particular individual. uh because like when

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I think about the police officers who restrained me, who harmed me, actually injured me while

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arresting me, they were boys in my son's age, you know. So I say that I look at them

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like my son, you know, that has got an order and maybe he's doing what he's being told,

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you know, but the reality is that there is a bigger, like, think, thing that has to be

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addressed here. And who passed that order? Who sent them that order? You know, like, of

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course. And it's just like, you know, that I, as I say, this is not personal thing that

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I feel little insecurity when I go to court, I will go with the sense of pride. um I feel

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proud to do what is my responsibility as a human being, as a mother, as an activist, as

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a psychologist. I think it is my responsibility and I have to do it. I do it with sense of

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pride and know, even though just talking about these things, remembering these things is traumatizing

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really. I am re-traumatized every time I have to talk about what happened to us. That sense

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of pride and that sense of like that I am standing for my right, for my son's right, for other

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students' rights, and for justice, you know, like actually gives me a very good feeling.

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And no, I am not nervous about it. like I'm very like, in fact, really excited that we

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are doing this. And I hope this, our energy adds to the energy of other like activists

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who like are, you know. working against all this system of oppressing people and raising

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awareness. That ended up a nice question to end on, didn't it? So I don't know what my

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hesitation was. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your experience and

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for fighting the good fight. It's not easy being a plaintiff, but it's heartening to hear

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that you are eager. and are finding a sense of reclaiming power there. the consistency

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from everyone I've spoken to about this is the constant need to keep centering the larger

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fight. So ah it's nice to hear that. Thank you. so much. Thank you. That is a wrap on

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another episode of Blueprints of Disruption. Thank you for joining us. Also, a very big

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thank you to the producer of our show, Santiago Helu-Quintero. Blueprints of Disruption is

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an independent production operated cooperatively. You can follow us on Twitter at BPofDisruption.

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If you'd like to help us continue disrupting the status quo, please share our content. And

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if you have the means, consider becoming a patron. Not only does our support come from the progressive

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community, so does our content. So reach out to us and let us know what or who we should

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be amplifying. So until next time, keep disrupting.

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About the Podcast

Blueprints of Disruption
A Podcast for Rabble Rousers
Blueprints of Disruption is dedicated to amplifying the work of activists, organizers and rabble rousers. This weekly podcast, hosted by Jessa McLean and Santiago Helou Quintero, features in-depth discussions that explore different ways to challenge capitalism, decolonize spaces and create movements on the ground. Together we will disrupt the status quo one episode at a time.

About your host

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Jessa McLean

Host, Jessa McLean is a socialist political and community organizer from Ontario.