Jenny Peto: Hater of the Week!
Update: I originally described Richard Klagsbrun as a conservative- he has corrected me that his views are more centrist/libertarian- I can see that, he’s a very reasonable person…
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I was walking through the crowd at last night’s anti Jewish National Fund rally (as an observer) quietly filming the crowd when I heard someone behind me make claims that I’m a racist, sexist homophobe. My first reaction was to think “oh yeah, I’m at an old-left rally- it was bound to happen. This is what they do when they disagree with someone- start throwing around unfounded hate. Using anti-oppression as a weapon is the old-left’s ultimate form of oppression…
She then looked at me and accused me of being homophobic. Unfortunately for her, she made a big mistake. You see, I am the only straight man living in the house I’m in- and, I am totally comfortable in this environment. You could see her deflating when she realized her fatal error. She responded with a sarcastic “good for you!”.
As the conversation continued, I asked her what she knew that would make her say such terrible things against me. And, of course, she didn’t have an answer. I’d never seen nor heard of this woman before, and it was puzzling why she would be taking such an active role in slandering me. At first, I thought she was just a lost sheeple who had fallen into old-left groupthink.
A few minutes later I ran into Richard Klagsbrun – a conservative blogger who writes Eye On A Crazy Planet. I met at the No One Is Illegal rally against Jason Kenney. I like Richard, our politics are rather different in many areas, but we can still talk to each other respectfully. That’s what the world needs to see- people from all political parts of the political spectrum engaging in honest conversation. Yesterday’s rally was the opposite of that.
Richard began sharing his knowledge on some of the people at the rally, the first person he pointed out to me was Jenny Peto. I laughed when he pointed her out to me saying- “that’s the same woman who was just slandering me!”. Well, it turns out that Peto is quite the character.
First, she is one of the members of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA)- a hate group who have been a divisive force in Toronto’s Gay Pride. I call them a hate group because they act in hate- yelling out accusations of racism and hate at what’s supposed to be a unifying event. Regardless of one’s feelings on the Israel/Palestine situation- most people agree that this organization is the opposite of what Pride stands for. Anyhow, this is why she attacked me- I’ve written about and exposed the anarchists behind QuAIA.
Peto made a name for herself back in 2010, during the Jenny Peto Scandal at the Ontario Institute for Studies In Education. OISE is a place I know well because it’s where the Occupy Toronto Activistorats have held many of their meetings. They are also a very far-left leaning school- many people are uncomfortable about this as they believe that teachers should be more politically neutral than they often are. I agree with this entirely, it scares the bejezus out of me to imagine a state institution teaching political values- schools need to be neutral and to teach critical thinking skills rather than dogma.
Peto wrote a paper at OISE titled “The Victimhood of the Powerful: White Jews, Zionism and the Racism of Hegemonic Holocaust Education”. It was so vile, and full of illogical conclusions that eventually it became a laughing stock across the country. Ultimately, a former University of British Columbia professor did an audit on papers submitted at OISE. His conclusion was that OISE has some serious problems.
Peto is the poster-girl for those problems, and yesterday’s performance only confirmed that. It scares the holly bejezus out of me to imagine she could be a teacher one day. In many ways, she’s the Sasha Wiley-Shaw of Eastern Canada. She’s also OISE’s Jason Bowman– her family joined in on her public disgrace when her brother wrote a letter to the National Post. She said that her Jewish Grandmother would have supported her ‘Israeli apartheid’ activism, her brother quite vocally disagreed.
As much as Peto helped discredit OISE with her (arguably racist) paper, she also discredited the cause for anti-homophobia. She’s a lesbian, and therefore (unfortunately) likely to be the victim of a homophobic attack sometime in the future. The next time that happens, people may take her accusations less seriously- this gives the real homophobes more opportunity to act with impunity.
I hope she’s proud of herself…
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It was good to see you there Greg and I have to compliment you on your blog, which I`be been following for a few months now. It`s been educational and I have to say frightening when considering the insidious aspect some of the activities and people about whom you`ve reported.
I tell people interested in municipal politics in Toronto and Vancouver that your blog is required reading.
Richard
Author
Thank you very much, I appreciate that. And, yes, what’s happening here in Canada is rather disturbing at times. There’s a small, cohesive, group of people working together to try and push their antiquated ideologies on the rest of Canadians. It wouldn’t be so scary if they did’t have control of important institutions like our teacher colleges and environmental organizations.
The best way to keep their influence balanced is to expose them. I’ve noticed that you do a great job at that too…
This is the sort of political dialogue I expect in Canada—polite, reasonable. The vibe I get from the old-left “activists” is that they really never left primary school and think that it is how the world should be: there is a central authority (teacher) who tells everyone how it is, and if you don’t agree, you “fail.” Certainly, that is not even how my primary schooling was, but I am coming around to the idea that you get out of education what you put in. If what you put in is an obedient disposition that associates obedience to authority figures (whoever they may be) with “success” and disobedience to authority figures with “failure”, it really is impossible to get much out of education—it ignores the whole middle ground, which, in my view, is where reasonable political action occurs, not on the fringes.
In the late 90s I got involved with Palestinian rights movement. Back then it was in the process of being hijacked by anti-semitics. Looks like it is even worse now. One key thing I found out. The leaders of these groups do not actually care about Palestinians. They are just a pawns, used as a reason to mask racist anti-sematism. Try asking them when then plan to protest the Lebanese embassy to demand an end to human rights abuses against Palestinians there. And try pointing that almost every country in the middle east is an “Apartheid state” the next time they scream about Israeli Apartheid. Back then leaders would usually respond with “Are you Jewish?”
For those not aware the Jenny Peto came out after a series of anti-semitic incidents at York University. The worst of which is when members of the York Federations of Students led an attack on a meeting of a Jewish students outside their association office. The Jewish students were called “Zionist Racists” and the activists chanted for them to get off Campus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12hApMpQlds
The Jewish students had to baracade themselves in their office and took a video of the mob outside. The leader of the activists went on to become the Federation of Students president at York.
The video is appalling. And you will all see familiar tactics. Attacking all of them as racist, a woman accuses “Zionists” of harassing her and other women all over campus, another person saying “Zionists” have been following him.
Some more coverage:
http://www.jewishtoronto.com/blog_post.aspx?id=1260
Author
Wow, that was disgusting. And it kinda confirms my thoughts that Jenny has been projecting her ‘isms’ on the people around her…
Um, actually Jenny Peto wasn’t there. Nice try though, Hammer.
Author
It sure looks like she is…
I don’t see her. Can someone give me a timecode for the frame she’s in?
I didd not say she was there. This is an example of the tactics of the so called Palestinian Rights movement. This attack was not led by a fringe joke like Jenny Peto. It was led by the president of the York Federation of Students, Krisna Saravanamuttu.
This video shows how intrenched anti-semitism has become within the activist movement. Krisna Saravanamuttu led this attack, he is now on the executive committee of the Canadian Federation of Students and is heavily involved in many activist causes.
So she wasn’t actually there or involved but your just tarring her by association (with something that she wasn’t associated it). How is not that a smear, Hammer? (And Greg, how did you see her in a video that she’s not present in?)
There was no smeer. Never said she was in it. This was to show the rise of anti-sematism at Toronto universities. Which Jenny is a part of. There is no need to smear Jenny Peto anyway. She has already digraced herself enough. She is now in a catagory with Ernst Zudel and James Keegstra.
Author
Indeed- Peto has made a name for herself without needing the help of others…
What a self righteous circle jerk you guys have going here. I’d be surprised if one of you has actually read her thesis before passing judgement.
Author
She’s a hack who runs around throwing false allegations. Good luck with your love affair with Jenny…
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