EDITORIAL: Pro tip for activists: Check your facts first

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It is utterly mystifying why so many activists on the left demonstrate such naivete and blinkered judgment when it comes to events in the Middle East.

The latest two examples are CUPE Ontario, which announced earlier this week that it was promoting and supporting a “Stand with Iran” protest at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, to be held Sunday.

That comes on the heels of a bizarre and failed “March for Gaza,” in which an estimated 40 Canadians joined protesters from 80 other countries, intending to hold a three-day march to Egypt’s Rafah border with Gaza to join a peaceful demonstration.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot since Egypt made it clear the marchers weren’t wanted there.

One of the co-ordinators, Tatiana Harker of Palestine Vivra Montreal, was quoted by CBC complaining about the way they were being treated by Egyptian authorities.

“A lot of people are being detained, left in the (heat) without any answers, for two to three hours,” Harker said last week. Egyptian authorities confiscated their passports at a checkpoint without giving a reason.

She complained that Canadian embassy officials in Cairo had not answered their calls.

“Our government is completely ignoring us,” she said.

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When you choose to visit a country that neighbours a dangerous, war-torn region, intending to stage a political demonstration, you do so at your own risk.

According to the London Daily Telegraph, protesters were recorded shouting, “F— you, Egypt,” which is a peaceful protest in a way, but vulgar and ungrateful, given that Egypt was hosting these people against its will.

One South African demonstrator posted a map purporting to show their route. Sadly, it misplaced Rafah, Cairo and the Suez Canal. Try Google Maps next time.

As for CUPE Ontario, in a later post it said its earlier statement about the demonstration was a “draft.

“The approved flyer for this event will be shared shortly and it will clearly identify Sunday’s event as an antiwar rally.”

That’s a relief. We’d hate to believe any Canadian union would support a regime that hangs gay and lesbian people, murders women for not wearing hijabs and cruelly violates the human rights of their citizens — including union members.