Susan Jones
| Morning Editor
| Published: Oct 04, 2002
Canadian customs officials have seized a shipment of brochures entitled, "In Moral Defense of Israel." They said they detained the shipment because the brochures may constitute "hate propaganda."
Dr. Yaron Brook, executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute, said he was sending the brochures to the University of Toronto ahead of a pro-Israel speech he plans to make there on Saturday.
"The brochure is a collection of reasoned essays arguing for support of Israel against our common enemy, militant Islamic terrorism," Brook said. "Nowhere in the brochure do we incite hatred or urge any illegal private violent action."
Brook issued a press release decrying what he perceives as "censorship at the border." He said it makes no sense for Canadian Customs to block literature in defense of Israel, while the world is "flooded with anti-Israel 'hate propaganda' sponsored by Arab/Islamic governments."
Brook is urging Canadian Customs to release the brochures immediately. "One of the foundations of Western Civilization, freedom of speech, is at stake," he said. Neither Americans nor Canadians should tolerate it, he said.