This Tuesday Sept. 2, University of Calgary (U of C) security unilaterally banned our comrade ElShalom from campus. She was threatened with a fine of $10,000 and six months prison time if she is found on university property. As she is a student, this amounts to a summary suspension.
The Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) condemns this monstrous attack on our comrade’s rights as a student at the UofC and on the right to freedom of expression.
This is an egregious abuse of power and a shocking violation of the university’s own policies. El pays tuition for the right to attend courses at the university.
U of C policies stipulate a formal process for discipline, which has been totally circumvented by security. Yet without formally accusing her of any crime, security simply presented ElShalom with a document banning her from campus.
This isn’t our first run in with campus security. Comrades of the RCP at the U of C have had a target on their backs for years. Two years ago, for the “crime” of protesting the genocide in Palestine, campus security accused a comrade of “hate speech” and threatened him with expulsion if he did not provide the names and student ID numbers of every comrade on the campus. Comrade ElShalom has also been targeted in the past.
It’s no surprise that they’re now cracking down further. Since the 2023 incident, the ire of campus security can only have increased. ElShalom is well known in the Palestine movement in Calgary, and was a leading figure in the StudentStrike4Palestine campaign on campus last fall.
Now, this fall, on the first day of class, they see dozens of our comrades selling copies of Communist Revolution, recruiting to the party, and talking to people about the communist solution to the existential crisis of capitalism—about the ideas that aim to truly liberate humanity from all the horrors in the world today. Then they try to intimidate a prominent member with draconian threats.
The conclusion is inescapable—this is a politically motivated attack on Palestine activism and left-wing activism as a whole, and it’s coming from the same university that cracked down and had students arrested at the encampment for Palestine last year.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms covers the freedom of expression, and this is a clear cut case of the university violating this elementary right. Over the past few years, we have been bombarded by the right-wing about how freedom of expression is under attack at universities.
Here is the most clear-cut case possible. ElShalom has the right to express her political opinions and on top of that, as a registered club on campus, we have every right to advertise our events and raise our political ideas with U of C students. This exposes the reality of capitalism—our rights only exist when it’s convenient for them.
These threats are obviously meant to intimidate us into silence. But this is having the opposite effect. Today, RCP members have been out by the dozens talking to students, putting forward the case for a revolution against the billionaires and fighting this scandalous attack. We are working to make sure everyone knows what the University of Calgary really stands for.
Already we are hearing outrage from people we’ve talked to. One professor was shocked about this scandal. Until the ban is lifted we will continue to be out there in force, defending democratic rights.
We call on the UCalgary Student Union to condemn this attack. The student union—of which ElShalom is a dues paying member—exists to protect its members.
We call on the Graduate Students Association, and Faculty Association to do the same.
We call on everyone who is scandalized by this to help us stand up and defend freedom of expression. Help us make sure everyone knows about this. You can start by emailing campus security and talking to everyone you know.
This attack is a product of our success. In a few years, we have built a sizable force of communists in Calgary. We will not allow any repression to stop us.
Model letter
SEND TO: bmaber@ucalgary.ca [Director of Security]
TEXT: I am shocked to learn about UofC security’s attack on ElShalom Bantero, who has been threatened with a $10,000 fine and six months prison time for “trespassing”. El is a student who pays to attend this school—not a trespasser. Banning her from campus amounts to summary suspension, which you have no right to carry out.
It is obvious that this is a political attack on left-wing organizing and the Palestine movement which El has played a key role in, as a leading figure in the Student Strike 4 Palestine campaign. You are violating freedom of expression on this campus and I, along with concerned citizens across the country, are going to make sure university administration, the student union, and every single person on campus knows about this. I demand that you rescind this threat immediately.
