Rabbi Avi Shafran Condemns Trucker Protest in Ottawa
Rabbi Shafran reaches a new low by falsely defaming the millions of people heroically standing up to tyrannical covid governments while defending some of the most wicked people in power today
It is necessary to preface the objectives of this article in order to explain why I am writing this in such a vicious and polemical style.
One of the disturbing developments during the pandemic is the plethora of articles regarding covid-related subject matter that are flagrantly false to the point of being genuinely manipulative. These sorts of articles, published in prominent media, inflict emotional abuse on the many people whose intuition, experience, and/or research tells them that the mainstream narrative regarding covid is false.
The primary objective in writing this article is to provide catharsis to these people and empower them to articulate their positions, intuition, and experience -- something that is stolen from them by articles such as the one that I am about to attack.
A critical component of this is to call out not only the factual inaccuracies or lies, but to also highlight the immorality and injustice that is being perpetrated against these victims of what is a constant intellectual and moral persecution and bullying of everyone who disagrees with the mainstream covid narratives. Ad hominem is only inappropriate where it is either untrue or unnecessary, neither of which is the case here.
Rabbi Avi Shafran (AS) supports fascism. No, not Nazi ideology, but fascism as the organizing political and social philosophy of government. That is the inescapable conclusion of his most recent article, “Maple Leaf Meshugas // Some trucker protest, eh?”.
To be clear, this has nothing to do whatsoever with a “difference of opinion”. The issue here is that AS lies and dissembles about millions of people with callous disregard for even the pretense of honesty, which is what we will explore. There is a world of a difference between expressing an opinion - even a delusionally misguided one - versus brazenly lying about other people.
So let’s explore the highlights of this article (it would be too lengthy an article if we would go through every single one of AS’s problematic statements therein).
False Context
After introducing us to the trucker protest as a “response to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s requirement that truckers crossing the US-Canada border need to be fully vaccinated”, AS immediately points out that “According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, the “vast majority” of the country’s trucking industry is vaccinated”. This seems to be intended to provide ‘context’ that is disparaging towards the truckers by implying to readers that the truckers by and large are protesting something they are personally unaffected by, and therefore lack a rational basis to protest. This stands in stark contrast to the trucker’s stated motivations that they are protesting the authoritarian governance itself that such mandates constitute. This also neatly elides that the truckers - and by the way also the millions of Canadians who support them - are protesting the entire covid policy regime as absurd and evil, not just the tyrannical and abusive vaccine mandates.
If you think this is bad, wait until you see what follows.
QAnon
AS then proceeds to inform us that QAnon is the animating force behind the trucker movement. Later in the article, AS chooses to cite Marjorie Taylor Greene and Trump. And towards the end AS brings up the specter of confederate flags and swastikas. In other words, AS is not-so-subtly trying to spin a tale that the trucker protest is an evil and destructive plot cooked up by the same cast of wicked “far-right” characters that are routinely vilified by the mainstream media (usually in order to push the radical far-left social justice cause célèbres).
Now, this all would come as a surprise to the truckers. I strongly support the truckers. I also never heard of QAnon before the mainstream media decided to raise the profile of what was an obscure group that was mostly irrelevant to ideologically conservative politics. I don’t care what they say. But I do support the truckers. Does that make me a QAnon wacko? AS would seem to think so.
At any rate, this is a bald-faced lie, a lie that AS would have realized is farcical had he troubled himself just a little to actually consult with anyone on the side of the people he is so maliciously defaming. AS knows nothing about the trucker movement, the organizers, their supporters, or even why they are so upset or their objectives. Accepting libelous accusations about someone without giving them the chance to explain their side is a decrepit character trait that normal people properly see as repulsive. Publishing this sort of unfounded accusations is even more repugnant.
AS furthermore is seemingly content to portray millions and millions of people as deluded conspiracy theorists. AS can’t conceive that perhaps the truckers and their supporters worldwide have genuine issues that are not based on lunatic conspiracies. Elitist and snobbish paternalism, and of course spreading malicious lies about others, should be disqualifying for a Rabbi (or any sort of leader).
Returning to the article, not content with merely stating that QAnon is behind the protest, AS tries to further cast aspersions by complaining that the group Canada Unity “contends that vaccine mandates and passports are illegal under Canada’s constitution and the Nuremberg Code”. The fact that this contention is prima facie accurate is apparently of no import. And even to those that would ultimately disagree, the notion that such a contention is radical or fringe is absurd. There are numerous mainstream scientists and ethicists who believe that vaccines and vaccine mandates do indeed violate the Nuremberg Code and basic human rights codified in the constitutions of Western democracies, including Canada. AS though is trying to falsely insinuate that such a position is crazy talk.
Freedom as a far-right construct
“But, it must be conceded, “freedom” has morphed considerably from when it meant the desire of slaves to live normal lives or the goal of colonists to throw off the yoke of King George III to… the refusal to help stem the spread of a disease.”
This sentence stands out as uniquely Pravda-esque gaslighting, so let’s analyze phrase by phrase so that we can appreciate the audacious mendacity here:
“it must be conceded” - AS declares that no one can rationally oppose what he is about to say. This is standard abusive manipulation - “If you disagree with this, you’re obviously crazy (or evil)”.
“ “freedom” ” - freedom is in quotes, in order to disparage that anyone could possibly think of the truckers’ aims as sincere and with merit.
““freedom” has morphed considerably from when it meant the desire of slaves to live normal lives or the goal of colonists to throw off the yoke of King George III” - “morphed considerably” is an outright lie as well - anyone remotely familiar with the writings of the revolutionary period, or of prominent slaves/abolitionists, would know that the most foundational freedom is bodily autonomy, which is the “right to be secure in one’s own body”. Or in the words of the Supreme Court in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health, "every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body".
“to… the refusal to help stem the spread of a disease” - Perhaps someone ought to inform AS that the covid vaccines, even per the CDC, do not stop transmission. More importantly, even if they did stop transmission somewhat, this is still some of the most depraved and audacious gaslighting I have come across. The right to freedom being asserted here is freedom from government molestation - in other words, that the government cannot summarily declare “emergency” as a pretext to abrogate sacred and foundational individual rights. Where there is little trust in the government, and little societal cohesion, there does not exist institutional credibility for faction of society to make a unilateral determination of “emergency”, that “vaccines are safe and effective”, that “vaccines are necessary for public welfare”, and so on. It is the prerogative of AS to choose to be a part of the medical community cult and believe their churlish idolatry about the magical vaccines and other similarly ill-founded claims regarding covid. It is certainly not his prerogative to be an evil tyrant or foster unfounded hatred of those who are not as delusional as he. And advocating that society violate the bodily integrity of others who disagree that the government/mainstream medical community has institutional credibility is depraved. How would you feel if prominent individuals within your community were writing to the public how you are irrational, a conspiracy mongerer, and a menace to the community who should lose your job? To lie about this and characterize the position of the truckers - freedom from the government being the arbiters of what is factually true that underlies freedom from the government violating bodily autonomy - as “freedom to refuse [sic] to help stem the spread of a disease” is disgusting.
Remember, AS chose to forgo doing the slightest bit of research that would have at least informed him that his cartoonish perception of the trucker protest was vile CNN propaganda.
One more point regarding “freedom to refuse [sic] to help stem the spread of a disease”: The people who wish to avoid vaccination have legitimate fears about the vaccine’s safety, and understand that the vaccine has zero efficacy on transmission (it actually has negative efficacy, meaning that the vaccinated are more likely to contract covid than the unvaccinated). They have legitimate fears that the government has become a tyrannical authoritarian regime that has no respect for individual rights whatsoever. Yet AS portrays this as “freedom to refuse [sic] to help stem the spread of a disease”. This is diabolically manipulative and emotionally abusive to anyone who’s intuition or research tells them that the truckers are in the right, or even that they are a reasonable position. Such abhorrent lying should not be acceptable in polite society.
Painting the truckers as evil
“And, aside from the disruption to lives and commerce the protesters have caused,”
AS was an ardent supporter of lockdowns. Lockdowns were the most evil and destructive policy ever implemented by a civilized society, based on pseudo-science models and lies by top medical “experts”. Consider this, which is only covers a small portion of the catastrophic effects of lockdowns:
Now AS is suddenly bothered by “the disruption to lives and commerce the protesters have caused”. Hypocrisy doesn’t even begin to describe this.
“the actions of some of them have been somewhat… disquieting. Like the man who was filmed dancing on Canada’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, or the protesters who, a homeless shelter claimed, demanded free food and threatened staff members.
Or those protesters who waved Confederate and Nazi flags, or brandished signs supporting QAnon and right-wing militias.”
AS is accepting yet another libelous accusations about the truckers and their supporters without any regard for the truth. The drunk who was dancing on the Tomb was just that, some random drunk. And the claims of an unnamed homeless shelter sound like opportunistic griping from people either politically against the truckers or just annoyed at the disruption to their everyday lives; they are not verified, and stand in stark contrast to the actual protesters.
Consider this: Street crime fell in downtown Ottawa since start of freedom convoy protests.
If AS would actually care to be intellectually honest and do a little genuine investigating, he might find actually out the facts on the ground instead of crazed legacy media conspiracy theories.
I would suggest watching or listening to this interview with world-renowned expert vaccinologist and immunologist Dr. Byram Bridle, who paints a picture on both the science and the protests that is a full 180 degrees opposite from the scurrilous lies proffered by AS here.
Pro-Fascists
Finally, AS approvingly cites genuinely evil government officials lying and mischaracterizing the protests:
Ottawa City Councilor Matthew Luloff asserted that “Some of the most well-known radicals in this country have now descended upon the capital. Some of them are calling for violence… threatening individual politicians.
“There are people within this group with legitimate concerns. But,” he asserted, “you don’t have a productive conversation at the business end of a gun or the grill of a semi truck.”
Prime Minister Trudeau complained that the protesters “are trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives. It has to stop. The people of Ottawa don’t deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods. They don’t deserve to be confronted with the inherent violence of a swastika flying on a street corner or a Confederate flag or the insults and jeers just because they’re wearing a mask.”
“That’s not,” he continued, “who Canada and Canadians are.”
We sure hope not. But, just to be on the safe side, you might not want to bump into a Canadian these days.
Firstly, it is important to point out just how stupid this is - nobody in Canada has Confederate flags, because the Confederacy is simply not a part of Canadian culture. This is literally made-up nonsense (aside from the one government plant who was waving a confederate flag specifically in order to give the news media the ability to spout this lie). The swastika fairy tales are more of the same.
Secondly, approvingly quoting the abhorrent propaganda of evil tyrants without ever quoting someone from the other side is a brazen violation of elementary fairness and honesty.
Thirdly, you would think that AS would be a bit more hesitant to lob accusations of “Nazi sympathizer” considering that he recently wrote a whole article to pillory those who are (reasonably) comparing Fauci to prominent Nazis.
Fourthly, was AS ever bothered by the often unhinged emotional and verbal abuse heaped upon people who didn’t want to wear a mask outdoors? No. So AS is only bothered selectively when it suits him.
Fifthly, the alleged “insults and jeers just because they’re wearing a mask” is yet another fairy tale. While I can’t say that I know for a fact that in the entire city involving millions of people not once did anyone ever yell or jeer at someone for wearing a mask. But the point that AS is trying to make by quoting Trudeau here - that there is an abusive atmosphere in Ottawa on account of the protesters - is yet another lie being proffered by AS.
Ultimately, AS supports what is functionally a politically fascist government, where the government can simply declare an emergency - they have the unfettered and sole authority to adjudicate the facts necessary to “justify” the emergency - and then usurp control of the entire economy while abrogating individual rights without a coherent limiting principle.
This article by AS in an unequivocal moral and factual abomination. The truckers and their protest has been incredibly passive, without violence, without hatred, without a mob mentality, without any of the negative characteristics of, say, a BLM “peaceful riot” - and all of this despite the repeated and severe provocations of the Canadian government and law enforcement. Their cause is just, and they are factually in the right. Yet, AS malevolently and deceptively dissembles a series of vile lies to twist reality so that the peaceful law-abiding protesters are somehow cast as radical extremist villains while the wicked tyrants of the Canadian government are cast as heroically trying to do their best to navigate an impossibly tricky situation.
There is a sickness in our community that our culture allows for someone to publish such vile defamation and gaslighting without feeling embarrassed for preaching a series of outright lies.
In truth, this accounting of the abhorrence and propaganda of AS’s screed is far from complete, but this is hopefully sufficient to accomplish the objectives set out at the beginning.
Not the first time this clown expressed his dangerous views:
https://www.amimagazine.org/2020/08/05/dont-kick-the-donkey-2/
Remember, this guy is is Agudath Israel's Director of the Office of Public Relations. That translates to mean that every article he writes are expressing the beliefs of Agudah.
This was a response to that article.
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/why-is-agudath-israel-defending-the-democrats/2020/08/20/
When Shafran realized that Jews weren't voting the way he wanted (democrat), he published this:
https://www.rabbiavishafran.com/open-letter-to-the-torah-community-sinai-not-washington/
Meanwhile, Agudah went and gaslit anyone that dared question the way they operate.
https://agudah.org/a-note-about-an-unfortunate-article/
Read the above links and decide for yourself. Who does Agudah truly represent?
https://dangerousdocs.substack.com/p/holding-the-cossacks-hand
I hope that this was sent to Ami, if they have the guts to print it. This is not the first time I have wanted to hurl the magazine while reading his articles. Many times, I skip reading them as to not ruin my Shabbos.